Anticyclone

Nice layout! I also like that J class 4-8-4.

Ouch. Those poor trees kept getting wiped out.

That's insane. That last video I was afraid the train would fly off the track!

Welcome back to EB!

Thanks guys. I appreciate the feedback. I actually just added the Metroliner to my collection. I can now understand why many are disappointed with 4559 after a such a classic passenger set. My only other passenger train I have is the Railway Express (Don't get me started on that). I wonder if LEGO will someday release a passenger set that will be just as good as 4558 and 7740. So far nothing has really wowed me.

Haha! This is fantastic! The kids face is hilarious.

Daw it's cute! Nice work.

Good question. I normally build trains so for me I start with an idea by going through photos online or magazines until I find something I think I can build with what pieces I have. I have my laptop beside what I'm building for easy reference. To make sure I can actually build it I'll grab a small bin and start piling certain pieces I think I'll be able to use (driving wheels, detail parts and parts of the same color). This way I can keep track of parts without covering my entire work desk with bricks. Eventually my desk does get covered toward the end of construction. When I think I have enough parts to start off I'll just start tinkering with certain part combinations and making small prototypes of the cab, chassis, etc. Sometimes I'll use LDD to make a prototype of the entire MOC. I don't really go into my MOC's with a load of planning like drawings but just observing a few photos of the real life object being modeled. Most are just experiments that have been sitting around until a creative spark comes along and I can finish it. Other times I'll realize I don't have enough parts or the right type of part and I'll try to change it into something else instead.

That's pretty ingenious, domboy.

Excellent review, Pandora! I see some very useful pieces in this set. I might just pick one up sometime.

That's what I used to do as well. My bedroom walls were almost completely covered with boxes... and then I had to move. Goodbye boxes! Right now I only have a few(old 9v train boxes) that I hold onto and hang on the wall. Anything else I now buy gets thrown out. I'm already limited for space and I can't have empty boxes take up that space. The instructions on the other hand I keep in a 3 ring binder for reference.

Say, nice legs! I love all the amount of detail with the custom decals.

Excellent work!

I just saw this on bricklink, I must say this is a nice loco you've made. Don't feel so bad about the color, I too have had some great mocs in the building stage only to find out I don't have enough of a particular color (like dark green) but for what you had this still looks really good. I just purchased the new PF train motor and I was thinking of adding drivers to it as well. Any plans on adding some coaches for it?

Very nice. Great parts usage with the cowcatchers on the engines.

Are you looking for hoses in that particular length? You could try Ebay and look for the pneumatic hose on there. It seems to come in various lengths.

Wow thank you very much, Brickster! I remember the catalog too the other train was the Freight and Crane Railway. And also thanks for adding a poll.

Okay I get it now. I was about to ask why not just use the red battery box cover included. How are the rechargeable battery boxes compared to the AAA boxes?

Oh man that's stinks! I think the hardest part with reviewing old sets is trying not to be blinded solely by nostalgia but giving it an honest review.

This is just amazing! Everything is spot on.

Out of all the Lego sets that came out during my childhood, none was more sought after by me than this set. It was around that time (1996) that I started getting into Lego in general but I’ve always been obsessed with trains and railroading so naturally I wanted to get my hands on any starter set… or any Lego set involving trains for that matter. Every time I visited Toys’R’Us I would dash for the Lego isle and admire the sets they had but it was this set that caught my eye and made it onto my wish list... for a long time. Due to the price however I could not afford the set or get my parents to buy it for me. It wouldn’t be for another 16 years before I could get a hold of a copy. Does it still hold up now that I’m older? Well let’s find out. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Name: Cargo Railway Set Number: 4559 Pieces: 835 Price: $130 (I paid $90) Year Released: 1996 Ages: 8-12 Minifigs: 7 Theme: Trains/ 9v We’ll start with the box. Here the train and everything included is displayed nicely. We see the traditional 9 volt era blue tunnel with the mysterious orange light and blue fish tank gravel. I like the contrast of the black and yellow against the dark blue background it’s attention grabbing. Also if you couldn’t tell by the large warning label this is an electric toy so use caution. The back shows some of the alternate models you can build. There’s more alternate models shown in the instruction manual but we’ll get to that later. I particularly like the station canopy there. The front flap lifts up to show you all the contents and features as well as a few pieces of interest in the clear plastic tray. Right there it shows you everything you’ve got. Train, track, minifigs, speed regulator, etc. I miss these boxes a lot but I’m sure they were getting too expensive to produce and I’m sure there was a theft problem with having some of the bricks right there on display just waiting to be nicked. Okay enough of the box; let’s get to what’s IN the box. Well this is it after an un-ceremonial dumping of all the pieces into one huge pile. The yellow box contains the power adaptor for the speed regulator. There are 16 curved and 2 straight track sections for a small oval and the smaller light blue manual is the safety information and instructions for the electrical components. I found the sticker sheet inside the manual which includes 2 of the red and blue arrow design for the engine cab and 2 of the Lego railway symbols. Here are some pieces of interest mainly the printed parts. Included are 16 trans-light blue hinge panels and 4 train windows. There’s also a total of 18 hinge bars with the stud on top! One thing I noticed about the color scheme of this set is it makes it very difficult to find pieces that are either yellow or black… like black minifig legs. See how long it takes you find them in the picture. It’s in plain sight. The manual is 47 pages long, 39 of which are the actual building instructions. It’s kind of weird opening an older manual when you’re so used now to seeing the new “Don’t dumps the bricks into a pile and don’t build on a rug!” You do however have to assemble the minifigs first though… that’s what it says. Here’s a nice two page spread of the whole set after the instructions followed by some alternate models. My favorite is the steam engine. It reminds me of the old 12v trains from the 80’s. There’s seven minifigs in this set. Five men and two women. We have the standard station master with yellow suit and red hat, a railway worker with the same head as the station master, an Octan mechanic, a police officer with large mustache, the truck driver with sunglasses and bomber jacket, and two identical girls. Twins maybe? One has a Paradisa torso with the horse and palm tree pattern and the other just has a white shirt. Overall a good amount of classic minifigs. Starting with the locomotive you can see it’s not like any of the previous ones Lego has made in the past. First of all the design is really unusual but futuristic. The front hangs really close to the tops of the rails too. Second; it’s really small. I mean there are only 15 steps to build it. I should say engine “pod” though since it’s designed to hitch up with the first carriage like a trailer truck technically making the first car and locomotive one unit. I think the only other engine that could be smaller is the one from 4561 Railway Express. One thing I noticed is the gap between the roof and the back of the cab the height of a standard brick. Shown here by the red circle. It just looks unfinished and I wish they could have filled in in. It’s a minor detail considering the back is un-noticeable when the engine is hitched up to the rest of the train. I wish too it came with a light brick. Moving on to the train cars themselves. Both of these cars share a similar design. This is the first car that hitches up to the engine. You’ll notice that the front has no wheels for this purpose and has hinge bars that fold down as trailer stands. They’re not very stable and tend to fold inward. Here’s an underside view of the hitch. Completed train cars. Here are the passenger pods. There are two dining and two sleeper pods each one very claustrophobic. The window panels fold down to access the inside. The sleeper pods are very cramped and the poor minifigs have to travel the whole trip lying down with no headroom. It’s also hard to reach inside and remove the minifig on the bottom bunk. The dining pod has seats for two passengers with a table in the center. I suppose they have it better because they’re at least sitting up! Each end of the car has storage compartments for the cargo itself. There’s one for Octan fuel, money, mail, and parcels. The accessories include some letters, Lego money (bills and coins), two suitcases, and two clear goblets. The Octan container has a hose and nozzle for refueling. Each one has little arms that fold down as stands I guess. They slide in and to keep them in place during transit you simply push the yellow handle on top of the train over. It just makes enough contact with the tops of the cargo to keep it secure. Now onto the truck. Keeping in style with the train we see the same black and yellow two-tone with the strange antennae on top of the cab. The roof is on hinges so you can put the driver inside easily. Lastly we have the platform. My favorite thing about this is the gate. You’ll see why. Instead of a simple raise and lower arm this gate has two arms that swing in both directions. Each arm pushes against a shock absorber brick as it turns providing the tension to keep the arms open as long as a vehicle is pushing against it after which it closes automatically. It can also be kept open if you push them all the way. Very ingenious design I must say. And here we have it, the completed set! The whole thing is so big that I couldn’t fit it inside photo area. A shot of the whole train connected. It’s a nice design and color scheme. The blue windows against the yellow and black really stand out! There is no coupler on the end car however this is meant to be a 2 car train apparently. The detail is great as well with all those grille tiles and bricks. I’ll show you how the pods are loaded onto the truck. There’s a technic pin on the back of the trick which connects with the hole on the sides of each passenger pod. I must say it’s a very weird design and is one of my issues with this set. Why are the passengers loaded into pods like freight? Or better yet why are there passengers at all? I think this should have been just a freight train especially with a name like “Cargo Railway” and have each of the pods instead be for things like bicycles, small cars, or just larger crates. I suppose that because the Freight and Crane Railway 4565 was released the same year Lego wanted to include a set with some passengers. Now I know that this is really a small issue since this is Lego after all. They’re meant for kids so I can look past this detail easily. When I saw this I actually thought it was kinda cool and the look of the set overall is what made me want this set. Now for the hard part in reviewing this set. Rating this set. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Design - 8/10: The train has an awesome color scheme going on and futuristic tone. It just looks so good going fast on long straight track. I like that the locomotive at least resembles a train compared to Railway Express 4561 which follows the basic layout of this train. It’s got a classic style to it. The only little thing is cramped passenger pods which are okay but I think it could have been executed better. Playability – 7/10: There’s some amount of playability here. You have a lot of loading and unloading of cargo and passengers and a small oval of track. But that’s pretty much it. When you consider other sets like the Freight Rail Runner where you have a three different train cars each with its own function this set seems a bit lacking. That’s just me though. Parts – 8/10: Nothing too fancy. Loads of yellow and black bricks! There’s also a good assortment of transparent blue windows. Plus you have all the necessary train parts to start making your own trains. Price – 9/10: Pretty good price for a starter set with the amount of pieces it has. Most other sets cost somewhere is the $140 range. Minigfigs – 8/10: Like I mentioned before you get seven minifigs, some civilian and some workers to mix things up. That’s pretty good. Overall – 8/10: A nice set with classic style, design, and charm. I certainly enjoy it a lot. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- So in conclusion if you’re looking for a train set that offers more realistic trains and operation then consider maybe the Freight Rail Runner or the Metroliner if you can find them. Or if you’re just looking for any train set regardless of the latter, want lots of black, yellow, and other interesting parts then you might enjoy this set. I certainly did despite some small issues. I really wanted this set when I was little and now that it’s a part of my train collection I don’t regret buying it at all. It brings back to me a wonderful nostalgic feel of Lego during the 90’s.

Very nice! You should make it motorized next.

Wow, this looks great. My favorite part however is that beautiful snow plow truck.

Nice! The sunburned girl is a nice touch.

I agree. I wish there was a bit more "tunnel". I'm going to pass this one. Great review still.