REVIEW: 10194 Emerald Night

[Brickthus]

I can't speak for the PF, although I wouldn't imagine that would take too long to install.

Thanks for the review.

How fast does it run with the medium motor, compared to the XL one prescribed in the instructions? I read that with the XL motor it is slower than if the carriage had normal train motors underneath. It's important to make the driving wheels turn at the same speed as they would for train motors if anyone intends to make a long train and finds that they need train motors under the carriage as well as the PF motor in the cab.

Some people have speculated about changing the gear ratios in the loco, but I think a medium motor with train motors might work instead, speeding up the loco but giving it only enough power for itself, whilst the train motors will pull the rest of the train.

Note that the supplied carriage is the dining car, of which there would be one per train IRL. About 10-12 ordinary coaches should be added, one or two of which would be brake coaches. British passenger trains of the era didn't need a caboose or brake van. Hopefully TLG will release a separate carriage kit. I understand the sticker sheet covers that eventuality. Addition of 10-12 coaches might need train motors under the first one because of the load.

Mark

[Eilif]

Excellent job. Your choice of natural lighting and your excellent camera angles made for a very enjoyable review, and you did a good job of portraying all aspects this excellent set in fewer pictures than many other folks use for much smaller sets.

I plan on eventually acquiring this set, and I've seen it in person, but this review is going to make it very hard to wait.

Edited April 24, 2009 by Eilif

[Captain Green Hair]

Great review of a great set!

I plan on getting 2 of them to make an 8 wider.

I voted above average, as a few things, like the pushrods on the wheels, could have been designed better.

The rigid hose on the boiler should be in green as well i think.

Thanks for sharing with us cap'n Z!

[BlueBard]

Nice review, Cpt. Zuloo!

I'm not a Train Lover and I think this is the first time I reply in a Train specific topic but I must say that after seeing this review I think this one is the beatifulest official train TLC has ever released Maybe I could begin become interested about trains...

[prateek]

I like the regular green train better I don't really like this set but I don't know why, so don't ask me why not. Good review anyway

I presume that I'm the only one on EB that doesn't like 10194 EMERALD NIGHT

Edited April 24, 2009 by prateek

[Millacol88]

Excellent review! Like Bluebard above I don't generally collect trains or frequent this part of EB, but I think your review has persuaded me to get this.

[Brickimad]

Excellent review! Like Bluebard above I don't generally collect trains or frequent this part of EB, but I think your review has persuaded me to get this.

I've got mine, and put a 9V motor under the carriage, runs well and doesn't derail, helped by adding the old 12v weight into the loco(even though its quite heavy anyway). Not totally functional scale, but at least it worked. Helped by modifing the other bogey, to look similer

[DaCheese]

A very young relative of mine has been collecting Power Miners kits, so a few months ago after seeing one and wondering what new range this was I decided to visit the Lego website. I noticed the Emerald Night icon on the Trains section of the shop and couldn't resist having a look. Here I am now with the full Emerald Night collection with PF parts and extra City range track, not to mention a fear that I'm going to have a very empty bank account if I completely leave my dark age. After putting the thing together, here are my thoughts, laid out similarly to Cavannus's post:

On the outside...

The box is pretty big, certainly larger than I would've expected if I hadn't seen Lego's introductory video. The best is on the front, with the complete one coach train at a low platform with smoke drifting lazily from 10194's chimney. On the back some of the set's features are shown and the part numbers of the PF components needed to motorise the beast are listed. Enough to get anyone who's never built a lego train before (i.e. myself) excited!

The build...

Describing a Lego kit as hard to build is difficult to justify when the instructions are this well thought out. They aren't perfect; my gripes are that:

- Step thirteen appears to show a cream-coloured gear hovering in a gap until you notice the shaft it fits onto is being pushed through a hole in a Technic beam.

- Fitting PF parts takes a bit of comparing the two booklets suplied if you want to save time and do it during the main build instead of when you've finished.

- You're ocassionally instructed to apply the many stickers when the parts they go on are part of the model. If you want them neat, do them seperately, and use a craft knife instead of fingers to keep the adhesive side as tidy as possible.

...But they do a pretty good job. Having said that, most of the parts are small and the engine itself will take you a good few hours. The tender and coach go together a bit more quickly, as you'd expect.

The design...

Lovely. This is a model of a pretty big (for the UK at least) passenger locomotive, so calling it beautiful is stretching it a bit, but it's certainly very nice. The colours are well chosen, the attention to detail is spot on for a model built from plastic bricks and not sheets of brass and most of the PF parts are nowhere near as intrusive looking as I expected. There are a few areas I'm not keen on; I agree with Cavannus that the coach could do with some doors on the corridor connections. The ridges on the coach sides aren't to my taste either and the nameplate looks more realistic moved to the central splasher on the running plate instead of on the firebox side as per the instructions (I'll post a picture of this modification at some point). I can live with the battery box showing in the tender but I'm considering a conversion of the tender to something like the one on this Ivatt 2-6-0 to hide it. Build the darn thing though and you'll eventually find yourself thinking that £150 or so for such a large and impressive model isn't too bad.

Operation with Power Functions...

I didn't think I'd get to try this for quite a while as my DC transformer is on order still, but I pressed the green button on the battery box, saw the green LED come on and grinned!

Put the loco together properly and it's a nice runner, not completely smooth but better than I expected. I was worried that the new remote wouldn't allow slow running with notchy changes in dial position. This isn't a problem. Move the dial one notch and you get a nice crawl. It's quieter than I expected in motion and only showed wheelslip going from normal to flexible track. I only have the coach from this set so can't comment on pulling power but I'd expect to be able to move enough for a reasonable rake without resorting to Mark's idea of extra motors. It'll be a case of extending the train slowly I think and seeing how the loco reacts to the addition of each extra coach. Six would be plenty for the room available in the modern house anyway!

The LED lighting is a nice touch with the ability to alter brightness on the other channel. It's a shame that this'll need changing if you're going to run a PF layout at a show, as turning the power on, putting the headlights on and then moving the train away is very cool.

Flexible track...

Oh yes, that. On the whole I agree with Cavannus. It certainly lives up to its name, but it's noisy, not very nice to look at and makes the train unstable at high speed (was the EN you saw running at that show on flexi Mark?) I'm happy with it on the whole because there's plenty in a box and it can be used in some unusual ways, but won't be buying any more.

[Cavannus]

Here I am now with the full Emerald Night collection with PF parts and extra City range track, not to mention a fear that I'm going to have a very empty bank account if I completely leave my dark age. After putting the thing together, here are my thoughts, laid out similarly to Cavannus's post

Thanks a lot DaCheese for your feedback that corroborate my experience of this set!

Fans who read your set analyze and see Captain Zuloo's and Holodoc's pictures will have a good overview of the set pros and cons. Anyway I think this is a significant step in Lego train history -- we're living a piece of History!!

Note that the supplied carriage is the dining car, of which there would be one per train IRL. About 10-12 ordinary coaches should be added, one or two of which would be brake coaches. British passenger trains of the era didn't need a caboose or brake van.

I agree that there should be only one dining car (and no caboose), but I don't know where it is supposed to be: near the first-class cars, in the middle of the train? Is my guess right?

Hopefully TLG will release a separate carriage kit.

I'm looking forward to buying this!

I do really like the interior. It's nice and simple, but it's really good to see the drawers in a set again. The only thing I could improve about the interior is possibly having light brown seats and dark brown table tops.

I like these colours because the white represents white table clothes while the blue represents chic velvet chairs. This dining car is for rich fist-class passengers!

http://www.visoterra.com/images/inter/med-interieur-du-wagon-restaurant-de-l-orient-express-visoterra-10405.jpg

Here is the only thing I've hated: there is a lot of friction, especially on the small leading and trailing wheels that are very hard to turn and consume a lot of power. pirate_thumbdown.gif pirate_thumbdown.gif pirate_thumbdown.gif pirate_thumbdown.gif A lot of energy is lost due to this bad design.

Did you and others notice that? For example I can't make the small leading/trailing wheels turn with a finger when holding the engine, as I can do with the more standard tender's and car's wheels. They immediately stop turning because of this high friction.

I'm wondering whether I did something wrong or not...

Edited May 28, 2011 by Siegfried

[DaCheese]

I can't make the small leading/trailing wheels turn with a finger when holding the engine, as I can do with the more standard tender's and car's wheels. They immediately stop turning because of this high friction.

I'm wondering whether I did something wrong or not...

No, I don't think you've done anything wrong. I've not looked closely enough at mine to see if they're all turning alright when the engine is moving, but you're right, they don't keep spinning for long if you spin them.

I agree that there should be only one dining car (and no caboose), but I don't know where it is supposed to be: near the first-class cars, in the middle of the train? Is my guess right?

I'm glad you asked because not having witnessed the age of steam I've had to go on what books say. The general concensus is that railway companies struggled with this too. In theory you want the dining facilities in the middle so that no passengers have to walk too far. However, what if you don't need dining facilities for the whole journey? It's a nightmare to shunt the coaches around to get the dining car(s) out if they're in the middle, so you'd put them at the back.

If I were to produce a no cash-limit rake of coaches for 10194 to pull, I'd have a brake coach at each end, a kitchen car coupled to the dining car supplied in the set right in the middle and the rest first and third class, not necessarily grouped in order of class. Second class was ditched over here in 1875 by the Midland Railway and other companies were forced to follow suit.

Edited April 26, 2009 by DaCheese

[WesternOutlaw]

For those of you who have this running on their tracks (Cap'n Z/Holodoc, others): how is your train maneuving along turns, and how about reverse? I find that it's somewhat awkward around turns, esp. at higher speeds, and reversing the engine, it sometimes sputters, or gets locked and stops. I'm sure I built it correctly, but not too impressed with its maneuverability. Aside from turning on the track, it's a beautiful engine.

[Captain Zuloo]

Mine manages curves fine, although I have never run it faster than my Metroliner because it's a steam train. So I can't tell you about high speed corners, but at the speed I run her, it's fine. But I'm pretty ticked that when I reverse at a more-than-slow speed, the pistons red jamned.

[Perterz]

Great review man, eventho I wasn't planning on buying the set anyway I still read the review.

I came to 1 (for me important) conclusion: what's with the minifigs?! I can live with 1 side printed torso's but absolutely no prints at all?! That's pretty weak for a set of this calibre imo.

Or was this done on purpose/with a reason I don't know off?

[legotrainfan]

I came to 1 (for me important) conclusion: what's with the minifigs?! I can live with 1 side printed torso's but absolutely no prints at all?! That's pretty weak for a set of this calibre imo.

Or was this done on purpose/with a reason I don't know off?

Good question! I've also been wondering why there's no print on the blue torso with white arms. The absence of print on that torso is the reason why I first thought that set was a fake. But for me this torso with no print creates a feeling of nostalgia; it reminds me of the LEGO era when quite many LEGO minifigs had no print on their torsos. If this was done on purpose since a steam engine also stands for nostalgia, I do not know.

[Brickimad]

Good question! I've also been wondering why there's no print on the blue torso with white arms. The absence of print on that torso is the reason why I first thought that set was a fake. But for me this torso with no print creates a feeling of nostalgia; it reminds me of the LEGO era when quite many LEGO minifigs had no print on their torsos. If this was done on purpose since a steam engine also stands for nostalgia, I do not know.

Also the early Minifigs had no arms!

We're luckly they didn't leave them off this time! LOL

[WesternOutlaw]

But I'm pretty ticked that when I reverse at a more-than-slow speed, the pistons red jamned.

Mine too. I discovered that elevation/climb makes this worse, even forward.

If I reverse the train around curves, the engine sputters and locks.

I'm wondering if I may have not built it correctly. Everythings seems to be according to the instructions.

Any thoughts as to what is causing the problem?

[Brickthus]

Mine too. I discovered that elevation/climb makes this worse, even forward.

If I reverse the train around curves, the engine sputters and locks.

I'm wondering if I may have not built it correctly. Everythings seems to be according to the instructions.

Any thoughts as to what is causing the problem?

The problem is caused by misalignment of cylinder slide with the crank rotational centre in the design. See here

See how my 9F has sloping cylinders (like the real one) to avoid this problem.

Mark

[JimBee]

Thanks, Captain Zuloo! You've convinced me to get the non-motorized version of this set. It has a nice, smooth design, and I can't wait to get my hands on those dark green pieces. I wonder if TLG will add on to this set with modular cars.

[Luke McAwesome]

What I wouldn't give to have one of these.

Thanks for the review. You have helped me make up my mind; I'm buying this.

Edited May 30, 2009 by Striker™

[Piranha]

I finished building it earlier today and I must say it is really awesome :wub:

The locomotive took me about 2 hrs to build and the gear function was really sweet and well designed

Details are everywhere, making this an awesome locomotive

The coal tender is very nice and I built it in about 30 mins and was a much quicker and easier build than the loco

As for the passenger car, it is a thing of a beauty

The new buffers are really nice and I like them better that the old ones

Great Buy and very well designed

Now last night I gathered all my 9V tracks and built the circle, only to find out that one of the tracks has been damaged

The rail and brick 1x1 on the corner of the track has been snapped making it non use-able

I will email Lego for a replacement track

Now for motorizing this beast, any suggestions?

How would you add 9V to it? Or do you like PF?

[WesternOutlaw]

Now for motorizing this beast, any suggestions?

How would you add 9V to it? Or do you like PF?

I'm running the PF system Piranha, and have not tried using a 9V motor. I think some have tried w/ a 9V motor - perhaps someone might add some tips/tricks.

[Piranha]

I'm running the PF system Piranha, and have not tried using a 9V motor. I think some have tried w/ a 9V motor - perhaps someone might add some tips/tricks.

Thanks,

I have decided to use PF since the train was designed for it and it looks pretty good, and I am quite happy that the battery box is rechargeable

Are you running yours on flex track, plastic track (RC) or metal track (9V)?

[WesternOutlaw]

Are you running yours on flex track, plastic track (RC) or metal track (9V)?

9V track, although I've got enough RC track from the Cargo Train if I want to change it. I like the 9V track in look and because I like to run 9V trains as well.

Here's my current layout (Train Town 4).

[Piranha]

9V track, although I've got enough RC track from the Cargo Train if I want to change it. I like the 9V track in look and because I like to run 9V trains as well.

Here's my current layout (Train Town 4).

I see, that's a really nice idea, since the EN has PF and is compatible with all tracks

Nice layout you have there! Much better than mine

Mine is basically the EN on non connected track with nothing around

(work-in-progress layout)

I see you have the 7997- Train station in your layout

Does the Emerald Night passenger car line up even with it?

And how do you think they look together?

I am considering buying one

Thanks

[BillytheKid]

Finally I have this train, bought yesterday. After building..........I thought this train would look big. It's a small one, if you compare with this one:

The 7750 looks very big if you put the 10194 emerald train beside it. .

The emerald has trouble to take 12v switches and it's half stud too wide (mine track lies next to eachother and will colide with other trains passing by). When I look how the train should be powered through the wheels. If you unlucky, the wheels will jam. Rubbish.

The new magnets are terrible, underneath this piece will touch the inner 12v rail and stops where track is slightly not even.

I will try to let it work at 12v, but I guess no more new legotrains for me anymore. The wagon is a good design, that's why I voted average.