Emerald Night vs other trains

[muffin]

Hi everyone. This is my first time posting here so forgive me if the questions I'm about to ask are answered elsewhere in the forums.

My husband has wanted a Lego train set for ages (pretty much since he was a little boy!), so I want to buy him one for Christmas, but I know absolutely nothing about Lego. I really like the look of the Emerald Night train, but am wondering how it compares to some of the other train sets available like the City cargo train or passenger train. Hubby has some Lego around from when he was a kid, but not heaps, so I'm wondering which train set would be best for someone who will basically be starting from scratch as far as his Lego collection goes.

Also if I do get the Emerald Night, what tracks should I buy to go with it? On the Lego website it recommends the flexible tracks but I have read some bad reviews of these tracks and am not sure what I should get in its place.

Thanks - any help pointing me in the right direction will be most appreciated! :)

[drdavewatford]

Hi - welcome !

The answer kind of depends on what your husband will use the train for, and what kind of trains he likes.

Emerald Night is beautiful - for me by far the most attractive and realistic LEGO train currently at retail - BUT it does not come with a motor, remote control, track or trackside buildings. You can certainly buy all the stuff you need to motorise and control Emerald Night, and you can also buy track, a station etc., but it will be more effort.

If what he wants is a train set which he can play with, where everything he needs to run a train and control it remotely is in the box, you might be better off buying him 7938 Passenger Train and/or 7939 Cargo Train. If however he just wants a beautiful model which he can look at OR you don't mind the challenge of ordering all the bits you need to motorise the train, track etc. separately, then go for Emerald Night.

Dr. D.

[Gigi]

Hi, muffin! I don't own any of the power functions train (passenger and cargo), but i am a proud owner of an emerald night, which i really love ! As you could already understand, my suggestion is to buy an emerald night to you husband, you won't regret it! Building it is an awesome experience and an interesting challenge, because it isn't a set for kids :) About the tracks i suggest you to buy a couple of 7896 sets (they are perfect for the EN), but if you want your husband run the train without pushing it with his hands, you have to buy: PF XL motor, IR receiver, Battery pack and a controller.

I hope this helped you!

PS: let me say one more thing: your husband sure is lucky!

Edited October 7, 2010 by Gigi

[MetroiD]

Hey muffin - welcome! Hopefully, both you and your husband will be hooked so we'll be seeing more of you around these parts

As to your specific question - I own the Emerald Night, but still haven't bought the particular pieces needed in order to make the train run, pretty much because the purchase price of those makes the train cost double as much, and because I'm still unsure on what kind of battery box I'd prefer to own. That said, I have borrowed all the PF pieces required and was absolutely fascinated to see my train running (there's a significant difference between the EN and my other trains), so I do believe it is a worthwhile investment. Financial issues aside, there's also the actual process of building the Emerald Night - I wouldn't really call it a complex build, perhaps just more demanding in terms of time and attention, but I actually think it is something that both of you would really enjoy.

Here is the package of the Emerald Night including all of the stuff you'd need to properly run it and you can see that powering the train costs roughly an extra 120 USD - that is, provided that you can actually find this set/package in shops, since from what I've heard it's not readily available everywhere. Your other option is to just buy the EN and then, once you're ready to actually motorize the set, purchase a few of these (I don't think you'd really need flexi-track) and look for this set which comes complete with all you'd need to motorize the train.

On the other hand, the 2010 Cargo Train is also a fascinating set which you can build and then run on the track provided with it straight away - but it's not that much cheaper than a motorized Emerald Night. On the upside, it comes with a diesel engine and as many as three wagons, plus trackside structures and vehicles, which makes it much more fun in terms of actual playing.

The 2010 Passenger Train is, obviously, the cheapest option, which does by no means make it the worst one. Provided that you and your husband enjoy looking at such modern electric trains, that should be tons of fun for both of you - even though the Cargo Train is packed with much more stuff to enjoy/ play around with.

At the end of the day, all three of those are pretty nice sets with the Cargo Train probably offering the best playability. However, in terms of sheer wow factor, you'd be hard-pressed to find anything that could really come close to the Emerald Night. Besides, the image of the EN running under a Christmas tree would really be quite something. So my advice would be to get the Emerald Night, even if it's without the additional Power Functions pieces needed to motorize it - you won't regret it!

[lightningtiger]

Welcome 'muffin' to EB.....now I too own an Emerald Night and it's worth it.

Now I agree with 'MetroiD' on the 7939 cargo train and some 7636 crossings - that will give you a great train layout for starters.

I'm a conformist! !

[fred67]

I agree with the others... it's a tough one. I personally am not enamored by the newer sets, but getting started with the Emerald Night will be 1) a much more complicated and longer build, and 2) 50% or more expensive.

On the other hand, the end result will be a much nicer train... it's definitely something nice to run, but not as "playable" as the other sets, which include other things (like other vehicles and cargo). If you add a station and a few other bits, an Emerald Night solution will cost roughly twice as much.

So... it's probably better to start with one of the current complete sets.

[hoeij]

Hi everyone. This is my first time posting here so forgive me if the questions I'm about to ask are answered elsewhere in the forums.

My husband has wanted a Lego train set for ages (pretty much since he was a little boy!), so I want to buy him one for Christmas, but I know absolutely nothing about Lego. I really like the look of the Emerald Night train, but am wondering how it compares to some of the other train sets available like the City cargo train or passenger train. Hubby has some Lego around from when he was a kid, but not heaps, so I'm wondering which train set would be best for someone who will basically be starting from scratch as far as his Lego collection goes.

Also if I do get the Emerald Night, what tracks should I buy to go with it? On the Lego website it recommends the flexible tracks but I have read some bad reviews of these tracks and am not sure what I should get in its place.

Thanks - any help pointing me in the right direction will be most appreciated! :)

I would buy the Emerald Night, and two boxes of tracks (not the flex track, but the Straight & Curved Rails).

Whether or not to motorize it, you can leave that decision up to him.

If he does want to motorize it, there are two options, one is to buy one of the other train sets, plus one XL motor. That gives you the parts you need to make the Emerald Night run. The other option is to buy just the power-functions parts that you need for the Emerald Night (I did that, but it's not cheap). But I think that you don't have to choose between those two options right now, you can let him decide that.

In any case, I would definitely buy the Emerald Night before it sells out (my guess is that won't happen for at least another year but there's really no guarantee, it could also sell out earlier than that). The other two trains 7938/7939 are sure to stay around for at least two more years because those ones arrived on the market in 2010.

If for any reason he doesn't like the Emerald Night, you can be pretty much certain that when you wait until it sells out, then you can sell it used for more than what you paid for it new.

[legotrainfan]

I have got a copy of the Emerald Night and it's not yet motorised. Buying all the necessary pieces is quite expensive. So either go for one of the cheaper PF trains, where you get all the necessary parts to make them run, or accept that you have to pay quite a bit for a successful motorisation. If you decide to get the Emerald Night, please inform your husband about the following flaws:

http://www.eurobricks.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=37468&hl=emerald+night+fix

http://www.eurobricks.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=28273&st=75

After remedying them, the engine runs more smoothly.

[broomhandle]

I disagree with most. The Emerald Night is a pain to get it to run smooth. and even then, its not very smooth. plus, you have to buy the track and all the controls. My vote is the Yellow Cargo train.

[muffin]

Thanks so much for your replies everyone, I really appreciate it! I'm still not entirely sure what I'll do, I'm leaning towards the emerald night still but probably without the motorised parts based on what you've all said...but I think I'll ask my husband what he would prefer! It will ruin the surprise, but at least he'll get the one he wants :)

[roamingstop]

It will ruin the surprise, but at least he'll get the one he wants :)

Go for the cargo train and dont ruin the surprise!

Most AFOL returning from the dark side (i.e. no lego play for a long time) will remember their childhood, and the fun of a) remote control (of some sort) and b) shunting, rearranging, and driving. The Cargo Train kit allows all of this, with track and points, and great motorised components to start building his own designs.

Emerald Night will hopefully be around for a while and would make a great Birthday present - it is a beautiful model and really an eye opener for how well lego can design models, but it needs track to make it look good... and then all the extra motorised components.

I just wish my Wife would take the initiative and offer a model for me - out of the blue - rather than asking; or even letting me buy and get the money back later. It kind of ruins the 'surprise' and 'wow' factor.

And dont forget to point him towards Railbricks - an excellent site for any AFOL into Trains and such like.

Edited October 10, 2010 by roamingstudio

[Follows Closely]

It will ruin the surprise, but at least he'll get the one he wants :)

If $$ is not an issue buy both the 7939: Cargo Train and the 10194: Emerald Night. If you can get just one, answer this: do you have kids? If yes then I would get the 7939: Cargo Train. As it would be better for the whole family to enjoy.

Also, be careful. You may awaken a AFOL!

[DLuders]

@ Muffin: You can get the Emerald Night set (plus the accessories that MendelevoiD notes) from Shop.Lego.com . You can change the webpage to the country & language you want at the top-center of that webpage.

Lego Trains webpage on Shop.Lego.com : http://shop.lego.com/ByTheme/Department.aspx?d=328 .

Also, you could look at the Lego train "Set Reviews" (halfway down this Eurobricks "Train Tech Index" webpage). You can see the pros/cons of the various sets to help make your decision.

Edited October 10, 2010 by DLuders