Mr Hobbles

Track pieces are cheap, I'm fine with them not including four pieces of RC track personally. They've previously stated numerous times that Lego trains don't sell well by themselves, they need an added gimmick to sell in the numbers they want (Disney, Christmas, etc), so I think the aiming of this is that it appeals to Lego train enthusiasts as well as adults who want a realistic display model on their desk or shelf. Given that the those people probably value appearance/realism over playability and having 4 pieces of track they wont use, spending the extra pieces on a more realistic display base probably goes some way towards appealing to them. Plus as Lego train enthusiasts, we have plenty of track. :)

Quite possible. :) Also coupled with the “40 years of LEGO trains” thing they’ve got going on (see 40370), I think they see this as the perfect year to release a new AFOL train/locomotive.

This is a different scenario though - both GBHQ and Jurassic Park both reached 10k supporters, and were subsequently rejected by Lego, just to release their own versions. Here, that failed to get the 10k, however Lego is deciding they want to release a product like it anyway, regardless of how few people voted for it.

The main things that are missing are system versions of the Technic motors. We have the basic motor and the boost motor - both medium size. Technic has medium and large linear motors, and large and xlarge angular motors. While I don't expect the angular motors to get system versions, there should be linear versions at least. The use of studs vs pins makes them easier to embed in non-Technic models where there is limited space available. (As an aside, I still miss the old 9v micro motor - though I don't ever expect a modern equivalent). For example, I embedded a Boost motor into 40370 without a single part of the exterior looking different to the out-of-box model, something that isn't possible with any other type of motor. Largely thanks to the studs-based structure of the motor. With regards to this train, I can see them release a new motor for one single reason - only the current train motor offers proper operation with the Powered Up standalone remote. Every other motor provides RC-style bang-bang operation unless used with the Powered Up app. A new motor could allow that functionality. However outside of remote compatibility, it's not essential - you're right in that the Technic 3-wide motor could fit within the 5-wide ends. We'll just have to wait and see. :)

I can’t believe this passed me by until now. I’m in love. Instant day 1 purchase for two to run together, with a further two to keep sealed for later. This locomotive is going to go down in LEGO history. I’m definitely curious about the Powered Up-ability. No doubt it’ll come with instructions to fit it, but the suggestions that we might be getting a new train motor has me intrigued. Historically LEGO hasn’t really cared about the AFOL train market, but they might be seeing this as an opportunity to release a new motor that will set up the AFOL community for years to come. A more expensive but more niche/adult train motor. Either way, color me excited! :D

@meesje That's correct, unfortunately in such a configuration you have to leave the mobile device on and the PUP app running to use the "reprogrammed" controller. But you can just plug it in and set phone not to go on standby if you need to run it for long periods. :)

@meesje In the video you posted, you can see that one of the locomotives the motor is on the front, and on the other its on the back. Both motors are running in the same direction, but he's turned the motors around.

I was shocked that Amazon was selling these and then I checked...it's a third party seller "treasures&more", not Amazon themselves, marking up their excess stock no doubt. Still, if you missed out on the promotion, this is an (overpriced) way for you to get it!

@XG BC I expected that to be the case, however I'll be using plastic tracks, so it shouldn't make a difference thankfully. @dr_spock Yep - in fact that's how I'd hope to achieve this, but I wanted to double check that hooking up a PF battery box in this way would actually drive the motor. Thank you both for the answers, they were exactly what I was hoping for. :) The reason I'm asking is I'd like to convert my Santa Fe to Power Functions. The trouble is using the Power Functions motor, I'd have to use Technic axles to connect the wheels, which wouldn't fit with the light grey bogey sides. This way I can hook up the 9v motor to Power Functions and use the original light bley sides.

Morning! :) Does anyone know if its possible to power a 9v train motor through Power Functions via the plug ontop of the motor, instead of the rails? Thanks!

It depends how comfortable you are with programming, but I have an open source Node.js library I use for controlling Powered Up - https://github.com/nathankellenicki/node-poweredup/ I've used both my MacBook Pro and a Raspberry Pi 3B so far, but I think my MacBook Pro has been able to connect to 11 devices so far, and the Raspberry Pi 7. I don't know if those are the max'es though.

Another thing you can do is after detecting a color, check the distance reported. That way you can try to check that the color reported is actually from a tile you want it to be triggered from rather than the surface under the track. So if the distance from your sensor to the table is 20mm, but the distance from your sensor to the top of one of the colored tiles you want to use is 10mm, you could check to see if the distance is also <10mm when the color is detected.

I'm in for two of each. Based on the branding and appearance of the box, I have a suspicion that these are the start of a series, and the completionist in me can't miss one. Plus the boxes are beautiful.

I think the use of a 6l axle will mean you can just move the wheels a touch further apart to allow for floating, since there's extra axle available on each side? EDIT: Misunderstood - not a solution. :)

That's very true! And also remember that the Trolls theme will be around for 2 years+ since normally sets don't get retired until after 2 years. They will also be reused across all the sets in the theme. The distribution for those sets is also wider than a Gift With Purchase that is only available from Lego stores for a 2 week period. So those new parts will see much larger runs than the train chassis or red buffers would here.

@JaBaCaDaBra I've been on the inside tour at the factory in Billund and can answer your very question from info we were given. :) TLG keeps the molds in a special fireproof bunker like room in the factory. They are very heavy. They need to be loaded onto a cart with a crane, taken to the correct part of the factory where the machine is, then another crane loads it into the machine. It takes a couple of hours to change molds. The factory has rooms full of machines (I can't remember how many) - 64 machines per room. Each moulding machine has one mold in it. The machines also run non-stop, producing parts for active sets in production. There is little to no downtime apart from maintenance, as its wasted time that the machine could be making parts. To take the mold for the chassis and put it into production would mean that machine is not making other parts for other sets in production. Add to the fact that this is a very niche part - only in use in old trains, and it makes little sense to take the time away from other parts production, when you can just build a different chassis from other bricks. The same logic applies to red buffers - the mold exists (and is in production, for other trains!), but to swap the color for red means for that amount of time it cant be producing black buffers. It also means taking up warehouse space (which is limited) for a simple buffer which can be made from bricks, especially for a GWP.

Type 3C is a temperature sensor (there are two of them, don't know where they're located), 39 is the accelerometer, 3A is the gyro, 3B is the tilt sensor, and 36 is the gesture sensor. I added support for the accelerometer, gyro, and tilt sensor modes node-poweredup, here's the code. It may help you parse them: https://github.com/nathankellenicki/node-poweredup/blob/master/src/devices/technicmediumhubaccelerometersensor.ts https://github.com/nathankellenicki/node-poweredup/blob/master/src/devices/technicmediumhubgyrosensor.ts https://github.com/nathankellenicki/node-poweredup/blob/master/src/devices/technicmediumhubtiltsensor.ts I haven't added the temperature sensor as I haven't gotten around to it yet (and wasn't sure of its usefulness given we don't know its location or what it represents). Same for the gesture sensor. As @AlecDGeneric suggested, this was figured out by querying the devices for their metadata. The documentation hasn't been updated in a while (and I'd be surprised if it gets an update any time soon!)

@Paperinik77pk The train I'm designing is a San Francisco MUNI Siemens S200. Since I moved here in 2018, I've taken a bit of a shine to the workhorse that ferries me to work and back every day. :) I think I'm less bothered about making it 100% scale accurate as I am making it look "just right". As long as it captures the spirit of the real thing with reasonably correct proportions, I'm happy. I'm going to go with 18 studs wide, with 9.5 studs wide tracks as described above. As to the height, I haven't decided, but I think that will be determined by how it looks front-on as I build! My current challenge is fitting two Control+ large motors into the bogie. I don't want anything going above or below, so I can leave interior space for people, and I also don't want them to hang below the wheels so that can clear any switches. The design challenge continues!

@Carefree_Dude Thank you very much, that contains (almost) all the information I'm looking for! There's no absolute height, but I can work it out by counting bricks in those pictures! :) @Paperinik77pk I'm planning a functional model, using the new Powered Up system. I'm planning to use two Control+ large motors per bogie, and utilizing Control+ hubs. A Spike Prime hub will be the brains, controlling the Control+ hubs over Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE). The Spike Prime hub will also power the motors for the doors and pantographs. Control will either be with a standard Powered Up remote connected to the Spike Prime hub via BLE, or to an iPad app I'm planning over Bluetooth classic. Maybe one day I'll get to try it out in a real Legoland. :)

Hi! I want to my hand at a new project - building a Miniland scale train. Unfortunately I'm finding it hard to actually find any details of the system there. Does anyone have any info? Specifically, I'm looking for things like, width of track between rails in millimeters, height to top of train from top of tracks, etc. I can see the trains are 18 studs wide that's all I know thus far. Thanks!

Yeah, I believe this'll be a GWP, not for regular sale. So I'm gonna hold off some purchases until I see this. :)

I love it! I actually want to go the opposite route, and build a wagon to go behind it that I can stick a motor in.

I don’t think they care much about the third party market. I think it’s more the simple fact that Lego trains don’t sell, so why bother investing in designing a new track system.

There was an interview with Jamie Berard, Design Manager at Lego, which stated simply: 1. Trains themselves don't sell as well as they like, outside of your basic City trains. 2. To make a Creator Expert train sell, it needs to be tied in with something else to give it appeal. See Hogwarts Express, Winter Village Train and Disney Train. Here's is the interview: https://www.bricksforbricks.com/blog/2019/3/13/so-thats-why-we-havent-seen-more-creator-expert-trains

There is no official Lego app programming for Control+...yet, though we have been told it is coming as part of the Powered Up app eventually. You can program all Powered Up hubs (including Control+) with third party solutions in the meantime, if you know how to code. Here's my library, there are others I've seen, including some in Python. https://github.com/nathankellenicki/node-poweredup/