Bloodwave

@Jetflap You may be right, as several 12v sets from 1980 were not sold in Western European area (France-UK-Italy) until 1982. But I do not suscribe to all the points you have mentionned, especially this one The same goes in Europe. I believe the key to confirm this legal reason is a persisting rumour or not is written in US and Canadian standards about toy safety (files named ASTM F963 and C22.2 No. 149-1972). Unfortunately, you must pay to read it (about 80$ each ) What I know is : in Canada, the definition of a toy is "a product that is intended for use by a child under 14 in learning or play ". hobby train manufacturer advise on their "serious" hoby trains box with AC/DC transformer (like what Gary described) "Recommended for ages 14 years old & up" Lego 12v trains were intended for 8+ kids Almost all hobby trains for 8+ kids findable on Amazon are battery operated but I have seen a model with a 17 VDC transformer, 7 Volt-Ampere (VA), Lego Trains were 12 VDC but 8 Volt-Ampere Well, it would be wonderful, but that guy must be 75-80 years old now, I doubt to see him posting on Eurobricks one day ;)

You are right, but even if their decisions can sometimes be weird, it is strange to imagine Lego throwing away such a huge potential revenue source like the US market. Like you said, HO and O scale trains are popular, I believe it was also the case back in the 70's and 80's, so were Lego toys. On Lego 12v trains boxes, it 's written "from 8 years". Perhaps, it is a question of age restriction (under 12 years old ?), as the target audience for Lego trains is slightly younger than for HO scale train ?

Hi everyone, Reviewing 7750 Steam Engine with Tender, I have mentioned this set was pretty rare, mainly because it was sold in very few countries. Of course United States were not one of these countries as 12v trains were never been sold there. My question is why. I have made some research over the forum and the net but I have not find any official reason. I have even read the US laws concerning toys safety, but like we say in France, it's clear as dirty sock juice... Wandering this forum, It seems that 12v trains did not meet the US legal volage requirements for electric toys but if someone could confirm it, I would appreciate. Many thanks

As 7750 was not available for sale in France, United Kingdom and Italy (see image below from my FR/UK/IT Train Catalogue) it's almost certain that it was not available on the Iberic peninsula too. WP_20180216_19_28_21_Pro by M G, sur Flickr

De rien, avec plaisir :) Yeah, sorry. seems to be a copy/paste issue. It's of course a type 4. Please see the photos below. This motor came with a second hand 7727, I think it is the original motor. WP_20180206_12_55_09_Pro by M G, sur Flickr WP_20180206_12_55_50_Pro by M G, sur Flickr

Here it is : Black type 1 19 0 Black type 1 30 0 Black type 2 15 81 Black type 3 17 4 Black type 3 25 5 Black type 3 29 5 Black type 3 10 6 Black type 4 13 9 Red type 2 14 82 Red type 3 02 3

Hi everyone Here is an engine insired by 7760 alternate model with 7745 livery WP_20171018_17_13_14_Pro by M G, sur Flickr And one inspired by 7777 model #3 WP_20171018_17_17_49_Pro by M G, sur Flickr

Yes it will work. As you said, you will just need to build an homemade adaptator with plates to connect grey era tracks with modern RC/PF tracks.

I have a 1981 train European version catalogue which mentions that 7750 was not available in Italy, UK and France. I assume it was only released in Danmark, Germany, Netherlands and probably Belgium as it's written in French on the box. One more reason for this set to be the most expensive nowadays.

I'm on Windows 10 myself (the best MS OS ever, despite the complotists say ), and LDD works perfectly good.

According to my cristal globe, there will be nothing in the second half as well. If we rely on the 4 years cycle release basis since 2006, the next train will be in 2017, and it will be a Creator one. Year 1 : One passenger train and one freight train (7897-7898 in 2006, 7938-7939 in 2010, 60051-60052 in 2014) Year 2 : One limited release freight train (3677 in 2011, 60098 in 2015) Year 3 : nothing Year 4 : One creator train (EN in 2009, HE in 2013) Year 5 : New cycle I know, that theory can be destroyed with two exceptions : no limited release train in 2007 and the Maersk Train in 2011 so my cristal globe may be wrong

Sorry to bump an old thread, but I have a couple of question for Andromeda. When you talk about that metallic cylinder here (see photo of one of my 12v motor with broken wheel), what tool did you use to open it ? And can the mid wheels on the 12v motors be separated from there plastic axle in order to replace a driving Wheel, cause it seems there is the same cylindric part in those ? EDIT : for the first question I have my answer. As the Wheel is broken, I managed to push the metallic part to the exterior with a screwdriver. EDIT 2 : I have the answer to my second question. Yes, the wheel are the same ! With a tiny screwdriver, I was able to gently pull the plastic axle from the middle wheel, then the cylndrical metallic part itself by pushing it from the external hole of the wheel. After that I was able to replace the metallic part, then the new wheel to my motor driving axle without opening it. One 12v motor back in business ! :)

Just click on the links and then click the "download" button once you are on Imgaeshack, you will get the images.

The first train I've received was the 7720 Diesel Freight train, I think it was for Christmas 84. As a 5-YO litlle boy, I was very happy, but the 4.5 volts system was so frustrating when I saw the 12v trains in the lego catalogues and all that wonderful remote controlled stuff and of course, that marvellous 7740. Fortunately, during the second half of 80's, parents and other family members bought me the 7735 Freight train, 7823 Container Crane, 7815 and 7819 Wagons, 7866 Road Crossing, manual points, crossing, extra rails, train lights, 7864 transformer and even a 7865 12v Motor in order to allow the 7720 to get more speed. Yes, happy childhood. Cannot count the number of hours I spent looking to those trains cruising in my bedroom. I almost cried when the 9v system appeared. 9V is maybe the reason why I 've definitely turned my back to trains for castles, the other theme I used to play at the same time. Even if my darkage lasted more than 20years, I kept every of my childhood train sets (boxes excepted, stupid idiot I was...) and now I play with those trains (and newer) with my own kids. And last but not least, I've just bought that 7740 Inner city that made me dream 30 years ago :)

Right, diode was not the proper term, my bad. For the intensity difference, as told before and following your advice, I will keep the original Lego lamps exclusively for the level crossing lights in order to have the right intensity and resistance, that way the flashing unit might do its job properly. I will try a 60mA lamp as locomotive light plugged in the 12v motor, I hope that as the locomotive lights are never "full powered", the temperature will not be a problem.

Well, in my case, the lights just do not light at all, and according to Andromeda, the guilty part seems to be the 12/15/18R resistor if I have not misunderstood his post. As the issue you described concerning your unit was lights constantly on, I understand the Mpsa13 is just here to command the flashing, right ? Anyway I'm gonna try to find a seller for both parts ans see what happens. For the red bricklight, I followed your advice and swapped the diode from a white one, of course it works now :). To replace the diode I've extracted from the white brick, I've found a seller near my home who sells 12v 3mm wide lamp, although the lamps he sells are 60mA, not 40 like it seems to be in lego bricks. Hope it will work. Thanks again for your help in these issues ;)

Thanks a lot , I swear I use the search command, but obviously with the wrong key words. My bad. Andromeda's post is very interresting, but very technically "high level". It's almost like reading chinese for me , and I have no DVM or tester. May be one of my friend who is an engineer will be able to help me. Thanks to your link, I was able to open the light brick (and it's indeed pretty easy when you know the trick , see photo ) I think your idea is good, as it seems pretty hard to find a diode with the correct resistance. Thank you very much for you kind help

Hi everyone, I have encountered some issues with my 7866 Level Crossing. First, the flashing unit does not work anymore. I managed to open it (here is a pic from Mark Bellis's brickshelf for illustration http://www.brickshelf.com/gallery/mbellis/Trains/Electronics/set_7866_12v_flash_unit_2.jpg) but as I don't know anything in electronics, I can not see what's going on. I believe that one of the condensators/transistors/résistors/whateverstors is dead but how to be sure and is it repairable ? Second problem : my son let the level crossing gates down all night long and one of the to red lights have burst. I wanted to try to open the brick in order to replace the light inside but with no success (except that now the brick has serious scratches due to my tries). Is there any secret move to open a light brick ? Thank you regards

Really ?! Thanks for the info ! :)

Very interresting solution, as it allows to keep the right track segment size. Too bad that ME Models only ships in the US...

Many thanks !! I can not believe I missed that thread. Even if I have managed to nearly fix the problem by introducing some WD40 Inside the remote controller, this tutorial will be very helpful in the future. Now th ne next step will be to repair/replace the x543 flashing unit as the red leds refuse to flash properly when the unit is plugged. Thanks again anyway ;)

Hi guys. I own the 7866 Remote Controlled Road Crossing 12 V set and I have some trouble with the remote control, maybe because it stayed during almost two décades in a box located in a creepy cave... Trouble is that is very hard to switch between from one position to the other. I mean I can press one button, for example the one to close the gates, but the other stay "blocked/stuck" even if I press very hard on it. Sometimes, I luckilly succeed to switch the blocked button, but then, the other button which previously worked fine become blocked and so on. Before roaming on Bricklink in order to buy another remote control, I would like to try to open it and see what is not going on. I've searched on Internet any tutorials but did not find anything, so I came here to ask some help. Thank you in advance and please forgive me for my poor English writing.