REVIEW: 7936 Level Crossing

[Matt Dawson]

WRITER'S NOTE: Due to a clean-up of my Flickr account a lot of the images in this review no longer exist, and therefore what appears before you is a restructed and less image-heavy review.

Welcome to one of the most anticipated reviews of the year! (well, if you don't say so, it isn't)...

My order of Lego arrived today, and I only ordered it Saturday - Well Done Lego! My further order of PAB pieces must be coming later....anyway...

Brickset page

7936-1: Level Crossing

Raise and lower the crossing gates and repair the tracks!

Lower the crossing gates when a train comes by and then raise them again to let traffic pass over the level crossing. And use the road-rail excavator to repair the tracks or work on the road. Drive on its regular tires to the level crossing and then lower its special rail wheels for running on the tracks. Includes 1 railroad worker minifigure. Includes 1 railroad worker minifigure Features 1 level crossing with crossing gates and 4 straight tracks Raise the crossing gates! Lower the special railroad wheels on the excavator to drive on the tracks! Excavator rotates 360° and has a hook and shovel attachments Note: Tracks are not compatible with LEGO 9V trains.

Statistics:

UK Price/per piece: £14.99 (10.556p)

US Price/per piece: $19.99 (14.077c)

Pieces: 142

Range: City (sub: Trains)

Released: 2010

Under starters orders, box images and instructions. The front of the instruction booklet, like most releases, mimics the front box art.

Box front (from Brickset):

One comment on the image is that it shows the level crossing spanning 2 pieces of RC track, instead on one in the instructions.

The instruction manual also carries an advert of the current city trains line, with a City Corner in the background.

The back of the box showing it's functions:

Incidentily, the box has two "tabs" for the opening end, though is well secured with a good spread of glue.

The contents of the box are as follows:

> bag 1 containing the pieces for the digger/crane unimog vehicle.

> bag 2 containing the pieces for the level crossing parts

> 4 pieces of RC straight track

> 1 instruction leaflet

> 1 sticker sheet (please note that apart from the minifig head, there are no printed pieces)

And this handy instrucxtion page shows you that....

Bag 1 build notes - the crane/digger Unimog

From the small parts pack within Bag 1, the only part left over was the trans-red cheese slope. And also note the 1x2 cheese slopes in yellow. Yes, you read that correct.

The completed undeframe is eactly the same one end/side to the other.

Bag 2 build - rail crossing & barriers

When you are going to start the barriers/warning towers, you need to open the small bag inside bag 2 containing the detailing/small pieces. This yielded 2 spares (1 standard technic pin, with resistance; and a 1x1 round plate in trans-red):

The barriers are quite simple, really:

Lances! Are the knights coming to help, I wonder? Also, I noted the ramp parts, although exactly the same number, use a modified/new mould as some of the numbering is missing and what remains re-arranged.

The 1x4 green plate rests on 2 sleepers on the track to secure the barrier/light tower to the track. It's sortof alright, but it's flimsy, and prone to knocks and easily comes loose unless you are moutning the set on baseplates.

The barrier in part form. Note that the barrier pattern is done from stickers; probably the only time I've ever got stickers near perfectly straight and inm position was for this set review!

Now then....the final images....the one's you've all been waiting for....

The unimog-type vehicle is quite stable on the tack when lifting the "spare" piece of track:

Conclusion

The set itself is, in my opinion, excellent value. 4 pieces of straight track, a small vehicle, and a level crossing for £15? Bargain...

The digger/crane vehicle is probably the main let-down of the set. Although it's been nicely done, in my eyes, it doesn't seem tp have appropiate shape/dimensions, leading to an "unheavy" look. Compare it to the real thing...

The level crossing itself, i.e. the barriers, infil and ramps, are very likable, and stay upright, without the slightest hint of movement. My only minor niggle is that they look unbalanced, which would be solved by moving the actual barrier along one stud.

The minifig is a compilation of other figures, but looks nice in my eyes - certainly, he makes a change from either "Engineer Max" or "Scruffy Joe".

Lastly, the only other fault with the set is the lack of an equipment cabinet for the electrics for the barriers and towers.

EDIT: I forgot to mention that the set comes with no tools. Not even a hammer/screwdriver or wrench; extremely odd considering most previous sets of level crossing type contain at least some tool(s)

Comparing the set with it's cousins

The most appropiate comparison is with set 10128, released in 2003 for the "World City" range. While the current set is approx. 1/3 of the price, this set is actually better balanced, containing 4 pieces of track instead of 3.

Edited February 9, 2013 by Matt Dawson

[RoryoCox]

Nice review. I look forward to seeing the rest of it.

This set is really good looking and a few of these would go well with any train collection.

[lightningtiger]

Thanks 'Matt' for the review, I'm buying at least three of these - the only drawback I see is NO TOOLS , so I guess I'll have to take one of the machines and MOC a work vehicle to carry workers with their track repair tools.

Also I feel the crossing warning lights, well they look alien to me - nothing like we have in Australia that I have seen in my travels.

I would also look at how easy it would be to add PF to automate the level crossing - now that would be COOL !

Anyway the turntable piece you speak of has been around a while and I have a few of them, also the 2x1 yellow cheese piece - last year, 8169 Lamborghini had some in it.

It's a great review, thanks again and I'm a conformist! !

[ZO6]

Thanks for the look at this set!

While not the most spectacular level crossing ever, this one is pretty simple and therefore relatively cheap. This type of set is a must have in any town/train layout, and the extra straight train tracks are always very welcome.

[vgsprites]

Thanks for the great review Matt!

I've been waiting for this set all year and looks great!

I do agree with you it does look off balanced especially with that huge bucket.

I would make another attachment with an older 4626 bucket making it look look more slim and able to work in tighter spaces without ripping up the track.

Other than that I can't wait to pick one up here in the US at a decent price.

[Klaus-Dieter]

Thank you very much for this great review, Matt Dawson!

This set is surely

outstanding :wub:

since it includes everything a decent level crossing set needs:

the level crossing itself and a small vehicle.

I personally would have prefered it to come with a civilian car. But of course this set is mainly orientated to kids - so there should better be an excavator included - and the excavator looks really good.

I really like it that it isn't set on a baseplate. So you can add some more plates in the middle in in this way get a level crossing for two tracks. Good solution!

One additional pro is that this set is only very small, doesn't include any more trackside sturctures and is therefore even not that expensive. So you can much easier buy some more of this set if you need several train level crossings for your city.

Klaus-Dieter

Edited June 17, 2010 by Klaus-Dieter

[Mr. Elijah Timms]

Nice review-- the Train series is like the Dark Side of the Force to me... I find myself continually tempted and it seems like just a matter of time before I succumb. Yeah, I said it-- succumb.

If I go through with it this year, I'm guessing I'd go with the passenger train, train station and this set-- all for about $200. Not bad.

[Matt Dawson]

Thank you all for your comments.

@ LightningTiger- I agree, not having tools looks odd. But it makes a differance to not have any.

And regarding motorisation - it wouldn't be too hard. swap the 1x2 technic brick (and technic pin) and 2x1 modified "bumper" plate and swap them for a 1x2 technic brick with x axle hole, and it would be easy to motorise.

And I'm suprised no-one has said anything about the 0-4-4 tank engine in the background...

[pinioncorp]

Personally a bit disappointed in the gate. It has two large 1 × 8 tiles (with stickers no less, yuck!) where a series of 2 × 1 tiles in red and white would have looked far better. Should still have been sturdy enough.

Edited June 18, 2010 by pinioncorp

[jonwil]

Personally a bit disappointed in the gate. It has two large 1 × 8 tiles (with stickers no less, yuck!) where a series of 2 × 1 tiles in red and white would have looked far better. Should still have been sturdy enough.

My guess is that it was a cost thing.

[Matt Dawson]

Personally a bit disappointed in the gate. It has two large 1 × 8 tiles (with stickers no less, yuck!) where a series of 2 × 1 tiles in red and white would have looked far better. Should still have been sturdy enough.

My guess is that it was a cost thing.

In actual fact, it's the 1x8 plates that hold it together; look at this shot:

The 1x8 stickered plates "front" the gate while another row of 1 stud wide plates (1x8, 1x10 and a modded 1x2) strengthens and adds longer length to the barrier.

And while I agree that printed tiles are much better, stickers do not seem to fade as badly.

Edited June 18, 2010 by Matt Dawson

[lightningtiger]

And regarding motorisation - it wouldn't be too hard. swap the 1x2 technic brick (and technic pin) and 2x1 modified "bumper" plate and swap them for a 1x2 technic brick with x axle hole, and it would be easy to motorise.

I can see how that would work, but the warning sign would have to relocated, a 3 long axle and geared on PF just right......when I get my hands on a few of these sets I'm going to try it.

I'm a conformist! !

[aawsum]

Thanks for the review. It does not look like a real special set, but looking at the # of parts compared to the price it might be an interesting set to put on my shopping list.

I must say however that I do not really understand the comparison to set 10128. The difference is not in the number of rails, but in the building and the walk bridge :-/

[greenmtvince]

Thanks for the review. It does not look like a real special set, but looking at the # of parts compared to the price it might be an interesting set to put on my shopping list.

I must say however that I do not really understand the comparison to set 10128. The difference is not in the number of rails, but in the building and the walk bridge :-/

This set is great, because the building and walkbridge are something I could do without (and at the least the tower, has been in every level crossing set since they started making trains) I haven't seen anything like that in North America, Japan's JR or Finland's VR. Straight Track, the crossing itself, and MOW vehicles are something I can always use, and in multiples. Best of all the crossing kits!

Edited June 19, 2010 by greenmtvince

[peterab]

I've been looking forward to this set since the first blurry photo's were leaked.

For my purposes I'd prefer if there were no vehicle with the set, to make it cheaper, but I'll probably end up buying a few of these as my layout needs the level crossings and more straight track is always useful.

[WesternOutlaw]

This is a 'must buy' for LEGO Train fans. The price and what it offers makes it a nice value for any layout. I've added a poll and front-paged this review Matt. Thanks for sharing and I hope to see it in my local TRU.

EDIT: It would be nice to see the stats in the beginning of the review (e.g. piece count, price, etc.).

[Cardinal Brick]

Thanks for the review, it's a nice little set. I'm still undecided as to if I want to move to the new power functions train sets but if I do go for it I'll be sure to get this set.

[drdavewatford]

Nice set, and I agree it's excellent value with the 4 pieces of straight track it comes with.

[Aethersprite]

Great review for a great set? Just how much does this cost?

[legitimatealex]

The two pieces you deem 'new' are actually used in previously released sets Both the 2 long cheese slope and the turntable have appeared elsewhere. The 2 long cheese slope appeared in the Traveler impulse set from this year and that turntable is in I don't know how many different sets.

Great review though. I don't even have any trains and I'm considering this set.

[Matt Dawson]

This is a 'must buy' for LEGO Train fans. The price and what it offers makes it a nice value for any layout. I've added a poll and front-paged this review Matt. Thanks for sharing and I hope to see it in my local TRU.

EDIT: It would be nice to see the stats in the beginning of the review (e.g. piece count, price, etc.).

OP edited. And frontpaged? *faint*

The two pieces you deem 'new' are actually used in previously released sets Both the 2 long cheese slope and the turntable have appeared elsewhere. The 2 long cheese slope appeared in the Traveler impulse set from this year and that turntable is in I don't know how many different sets.

Great review though. I don't even have any trains and I'm considering this set.

Well, those pieces are new to me. And I've had the "big cheese" in last years City Corner (it's in black as the bus drivers display) but I haven't had it in yellow.

And it;s great that we've ensnared another to buy Trains equipment!

Edited June 21, 2010 by Matt Dawson

[-obelix-]

Thanks for a great review. I am looking forward to buying this set!

[Joebot]

It seems odd to me to have a Level Crossing set that doesn't actually cross anything. Where's the damn ROAD???

Remember when Lego used to include roads in their town sets?? Sigh ...

[Matt Dawson]

I agree, Joebot, that a roadplate would have been the icing on the cake. Unfortunately, that would increase cost of the set, not to mention the size of the box.

[Night City Dream]

Well, what can I say out here - I'm a fan of LEGO train theme, but this set is I'd even say awful.

LEGO is getting more and more greedy. They set contains NOTHING. But costs quite much. For what? A mini digger, 4 straight rails and several other pieces? No road plate, no small building for watcher. NOTHING. The worst crossing through LEGO history.

I agree, Joebot, that a roadplate would have been the icing on the cake. Unfortunately, that would increase cost of the set, not to mention the size of the box.

The present set is VERY costly in my opinion because for such a price we get so little.