ClassicTrains

Thank You all for your greetings! :)

Thanks! :) Actually, it has already begun :) After my first BL orders have arrived, the "magic" box looks like this (all the parts are new or unused, even the OldGray ones - they look terrific)! box

Hello, I decided to share my latest project with You, so I registered on Eurobricks. I hope You will like it, any advices or comments are welcome. :) After my dark ages, it was trains that got me back to Lego. I had no train sets in my childhood (it was very expensive if available at all in my country back those days), but I always longed for one so badly, I would have given all my other sets even for a push-along. :) In 2010 it did begin with a 7938, which I found cool, being that this was the first Lego train that I've seen in real, but something was missing from it. Then I looked at the pictures of the trains from the 80-ies, which I used to know from brochures and which still look so nice and familiar to me, and it all came suddenly clear: I have to collect kits from the gray era, which were so unavailable for me as a child. I don't want to purchase all those kits, as not all of them are so tempting to me, but I definitely have my wanted list. :) Some 1,5 years ago I could even purchase the queen of the gray era, a 7740 set in a really nice condition. It was my biggest dream once! The set was complete with instructions, even the stickers were applied in a proper way - but it was still not *that* experience, which I longed for: there were minor scratches and wear marks on the set, which is unavoidable for a set of this age, unless You are a millionaire to buy a sealed one and be the first one to put it together... Something I would love to do once! :) After a happy year, I had to sell the 7740 and buy a washing machine instead, when moving to a new home. Then I started thinking. How could I ever build an old train so, that each and every element is clean and brand new? Sealed sets cost a fortune, I will never have the chance to buy one - that's for sure. Then a few weeks ago I stumbled upon a blog, which gave me the idea: http://questforbricks.wordpress.com/category/quest-for-inter-city-train/ And this got me thinking again. What if I would not insist on having an original set, but simply pick one, which contains relatively common pieces, most of which are still available/produced today? What if I would buy these pieces as brand new or unused, whereever it is possible, and when all the parts are in the box, then just sit down and build it, as if it was a Christmas back in 1986? :) This idea was so tempting, that I began to choose the right candidate and then jump into Bricklink and inspect the availability of new/unused parts. The choice was quite simple: the little brother of 7740, let's build 7725! I was always amazed of this little red passanger train too, and I don't really consider it to be any inferior to 7740. Actually, talking about a Lego train with small track radii, shorter vehicles look even better in the curves then do the longer cars of 7740 or 7745. And - the whole train being red, consisting of quite a lot of common pieces - I liked the idea more and more. So I started it. :) In this topic, I would like to give You updates about my progress and about any problems or concerns which did or will occur during collecting the parts. I hope that some of You may like it and give some comments and advice on this matter. :)

Hello Everyone, This is cool to be a member on Eurobricks! I am a guy from Hungary, 34 now, with a special interest of Lego trains from my childhood, the '80-ies. Back that time I had no train sets at all, but I usually got some smaller Lego kit for Xmas, birthday etc. I haven't even seen any real train kit back then, not even on the shelves of toy stores - it was something that probably only a few people could afford in my country those days. But those brochures... I spent hours looking at the pictures of gray era trains, dreaming about having at least a small one. A push-along or a 4,5V was just as appealing to me as were the 12V trains. I tried to build something like the nose of a 7740 at least, but it was pretty hard with windscreens only 4 studs wide. :) Then Lego slowly disappeared from my life. After long years of dark ages, in 2010 I have seen a picture on the web, one of the old kits - and it brough back a lot of memories and got me buy my very first train kit which was available then, the red passanger train (7938). This is not the best train kit I admit, but it was a very good start to get me back to trains and back to the best toy ever: Lego. I don't think there will be another dark ages again. :) Greetings from Hungary, ClassicTrains

Hello, I am new to Eurobricks, this is my very first reply actually :) I was also thinking about what could follow PF in the future. I also think this system will last for quite a while, at least as long as 9V did, but probably more. The way of development could be however the use of radio control; bluetooth for example, as a Hungarian startup has just shown it could have a lot of potential in the future: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/sbrick/sbrick-smart-way-to-control-all-your-lego-creation Another improvement could be the use of smaller battery boxes, which will probably become reality as storage of energy develops with new, higher energy density battery types in the future (this is something that is very likely to happen, not in the next 2-3 years though). These two improvements could easily be integrated into Power Functions concept, and with minimizing size, I can even think of a train motor in let's say 10-15 years perspective, which even integrates both a rechargable power source and receiver in its casing. If that ever comes, that system will be a golden age for trains, as it will eliminate all the shortcomings of both internally and externally powered systems, current and previous. No more contact problems with track, no more limitations for locomotive size. I think that after 9V, there will be no externally powered system any more, as it will simply not be necessary. What do You think about it?