Lego train side structures

[rogul]

Perhaps it's time for a Eurobricks 'Build a Trackside structure' competition ? I'm sure there's plenty of ideas out there.

the nice part would be that the structure doesnt have to be some crazy 20,000 piece unique thing, but rather something that instructions can be supplied and people can easily add to their railways.. that is what would be cool!

[Skystorm87]

the nice part would be that the structure doesnt have to be some crazy 20,000 piece unique thing, but rather something that instructions can be supplied and people can easily add to their railways.. that is what would be cool!

Yes! That's a good idea.

[Man with a hat]

Well, I think there is a trend over the entire LEGO-line. Every set includes more play features so it can be used as stand-alone and doesn't depend on other additional sets. That is probably a trend set in due to the change in culture. It is a good one I think. It only doesn't leave much room for track-side structures so we won't see any of the very soon.

The new cargo train set is a perfect example. It not only consists of the train but also includes: Truck, forklift and cargo terminal.

[AlmightyArjen]

I have the new cargo train and the extra cargo terminal is nice, but it's just a little add-on. It cannot compete with the dedicated sets we had in the 80's and 90's. Also understandable: otherwise the new cargo train would become too expensive...

[Heavy2600]

What do you guys mean by "side structures"? It looks like lego has continued to release small stations and platforms. There is a station available right now. I'm new and confused.

[JopieK]

Well, if you look at model railroads, there are famous brands like Märklin & Fleischmann that have excellent trains, there are also companies like Busch that sell entire lines of side structures. To name just a few:

- car docks (to let cars on a train)

- collieries

- sanding and watering installations

- pits for maintenance

- engine sheds

- signals

- signal houses

- rail road crossings (including automated ones)

- catenary stuff

- postal stations

- cattle stations

- etc. etc.

LEGO used to have a lot of such a buildings from 1980 - 1990 but not anymore, only a few, often quite rudimentary structures in larger sets.

@Heavy2600: b.t.w. welcome to Eurobricks in general and Train Tech in particular, why don't you also introduce yourself (see my signature -> New member)?!

[Heavy2600]

Thanks JopieK! I just wanted an idea of what one considers missing from the lego line. I will put together an intro post. Tks again!

[Rail Co]

Ok So I believe LEGO just is to worried about profits and/or how their target age for trains or city line in general (Age 6) will react to side structures. I think it is just a matter of how much money each set will cost! For a kid 100-200 dollars for a set is a lot of money. Then if you make side structures they may not be able to afford it as they shelled out $200 on a set. So I don't know if the side structures will earn a lot of money for LEGO just because of that reason.

I hope in the future (Near future?) that Lego will at least decide to make the basic side structures essential for a nice layout like:

-Rail Crossing (Automated and Manual)

-Engine Shed (Where are you supposed to store your engines? )

-Cargo Bay

-Train signals (How do the drivers know when to stop? )

Those I think are the most essential ones for a good layout as they all have playability for kids through Adults!

Also off topic but, Lego needs to make a shunter of sorts it could be a what $75 set or so with a couple of coal cars to shunt?

P.S. In my signature are links to my friend who is pushing for Lego side structures on LEGO Ideas go check them out :)

Interesting stuff guys, hopefully we can get Side structures Back!

Keep Brickin'

-RailCo

[Heavy2600]

One can't ignore the Thomas and Chuggington following. I imagine this cut deeply into the Lego and model train market. Everyone I know has a kid with Thomas wood toys. They are not cheap. $10-20 a car. Full ready to go set is $100-200. As a parent I can say literally everyone with kids1-4 has either Thomas or cheapo bootleg copy.

I think the train following is as big as ever, just that the market shifted younger and Lego Duplo isn't as big as Thomas and Chuggington. Modern media is the format pushing products. Lego movie needs to be Lego TV. 6-12 yr olds end up on video games instead of toys. Sorry for frequent posts, I can't edit yet.

[peterab]

Also, the idea that 'they were smaller, therefore they could afford to make less successful things' is frankly a bizarre piece of logic. It might be that their design and manufacturing capability hasn't grown enough over the years to include all the old areas plus all the new franchise areas, so the less popular ones have been set aside, and it may also be that they simply don't see a larger trains section as worth the effort any more, but to say they could get away with it before because they were making less money makes no financial sense.

Successful is probably a bad choice of word, popular would be an improvement.

What I mean by that is a small company who makes 1000 of a single set in a market of 1 million toy buyers can successfully sell their whole production even if they are appealing to a niche market. The same company trying to sell 500,000 of a single set in a market of 1 million toy buyers cannot appeal to niche markets, they must appeal to the wants of most of the population. Because of the scale of LEGO's production now, the potential loss of an unpopular product would have far greater impact than when they were a smaller company.

This is where the comparisons between model train manufacturers and LEGO always fall down. A HO engine which sells a few thousand copies is a huge success, but even LEGO ideas sets need to be likely to sell 10,000 to be considered for production, and they are the smallest niche LEGO currently serves. I imagine a City set would be expected to sell far more, since City is among the higher selling lines.

It seems like the rise of licensed sets has driven the minimization of the train theme, as well. The investment, production rrequirements and potential return from the licensed sets necessarily provides a smaller window for non-licensed themes (as well as direct market competition in some cases, see Pirates and Castle). And, as many inside and outside TLG have noted, train sets just do not register high on the target market demographics, which meansd LEGO prefers to direct it's non-licensed focus at CIty, Friends, etc. Frankly, I am glad we have 2 City trains, a Creator trian, and an alternate (non-motorozed) train in production on a regular basis right now. It's more than enough to keep part prices (relatively) low and quench our thirst for new designs and inspirations..

I think you are partly right on this, but there is also an up side to the licensed sets. We have had a couple of pretty OK trains come out of Toy Story, Harry Potter and Lone Ranger, which we probably wouldn't have had City trains to replace if they didn't exist. Having a train attached to a movie brings them into focus of kids and these sets also help to spread the costs of the moulds of the train specific parts further so the theme is cheaper to maintain.

Edited July 26, 2014 by peterab

[CrazyDalton777]

Clear story Peterab, I think I'll have to agree with you!

But why are the trains these days less popular? Is it because they are battery powered? Or is it simply because the kids these days are interested in other stuff? The best part of a lego train -according to me- is that it brings movement with it. And all kids love that, or don't they these days?

When I look back at 1985 when I turned 6 years old, I got the 7727 as a birthday present. I was so happy about it: it still remains in my memory as the best birthday present ever. Can't the kids of today think the same way? Or is it so that the kids rarther get an Ipad as an expensive birthday present?

I think its due to the era of technology (I can speak from experience) as people in my school are always having new phones and computers and forget about things like LEGO and other hobbies, for example someone I know said that the Grand Emporium is a waste of money but he spent £2,500 on a computer.

I am one of 3 people in my school that still likes LEGO due to the rise of technology. Another factor maybe that parents forget about LEGO. With the trains, they are not advertised as much as they should as people may want something like that but won't know about it as some adults are incapable of using the internet (I don't speak for all, just experience around me) to find the LEGO range.

[lightningtiger]

I would be interested in a track side building contest.......handy if there is......for me I'm building stuff like that soon.

[Rijkvv]

A contest like that sounds great! With different size/parts count categories (not everyone has the pieces to build a 10,000 bricks station) and can be even combined with a category for additional waggons.

I know why LEGO discontinued them, but I still miss the seperate cars and freight stations. The cargo trains used to be the cheaper starter set, and since any car can be pulled by a cargo train they could be more easily expanded than a passenger train (the Metroliner had only one additional coach (Club Car) available). Nowadays you're forced to buy an expensive Cargo Train even if you want the train only and add more cars or a crane later on.

[Dutchiedoughnut]

Well, it's Lego after all so we're nearly unlimited in what we can achieve. And nowadays we have numerous websites that offer us individual bricks so I can very easily see contests for rolling stock or trackside buildings. Why not? I'd just suggest adding a parts limit or a budget limit.

Honestly if Lego were to provide trackside structures where would they start? There are so many different buildings and even era's. A 2010 building is of little use if you're running steam engines.

[Redimus]

You have to wonder how the popularity of Lego trains would be affected by replacing the IR receiver and remote with a cheap and nasty Bluetooth receiver and a simple piece of software for Android/iPhone platforms. Suddenly you have a building toy you can control from your mobile phone or tablet (I can;'t remember the last time I met a child that didn't have one), and Lego don't need to make quite as much technology, because there's no longer a need for a separate controller. I dunno if it'd be a massive boost, but kids do love technology (at least, I know boys do, and I suspect girls do too).

(Side note, a Bluetooth connection would probably be a lot more reliable than the line of site IR set up.)

[Dutchiedoughnut]

Isn't there a kickstarter project to do just that?

[Redimus]

Yeah, but I suspect a 3rd party product that isn't *that* cheap and isn't available directly with Lego sets for kids is unlikely to help the overall sales of Lego trains amongst their core audience, children.

I, however, rather interested.

[Dutchiedoughnut]

Well, they have to do one step at a time.

[*thomas*]

I am sondering what would be the financial loss/profit if LEGO would turn 1 set into 2. The new (and old) cargo train had a track side structure included in the set giving the set a higher piece count, but also a much higher price. The cargo trains have been selling for around €150, which translates to approx €100 for the train and €50 for the extras...

Couldn't they just make 2 sets out of this? I think a lot of kids/parents don't buy the expensive cargo train because of the high price, even if it has the extras. Lot's of them will still see it as a train with some add-ons.