DaCheese

I have to say Fred I've thought a lot of what you've said about Lego's handling of their Trains range for a long time. Like I've said on here before, how can you expect strong sales from a product line you're not promoting?

To stop 10194's driving wheels lifting off the track, the front bogie and rear pony truck need to be able to move up and down. Unfortunately there's not enough weight on these wheels to keep them turning as the loco is now! I've often looked at my EN and wondered how the front bogie could be altered to use proper axles instead of stub axles, and to make it look more British a wheelset off the tender needs to be stuck under the cab. The tender should really be non-articulated too, but that's another story... Springing the driving wheels would need the side rods from the front axle to the centre axle to be seperate from the ones running from the centre to the rear axle. It could also reduce pulling power. Not ideal. It's probably best to just try and keep your track as flat as possible I suppose .

I suspect that, although it's entertaining to discuss inspiration for these new sets, like the Emerald Night neither train is based on a single prototype. Lego designers are excellent at turning the stuff we see every day in life into a fairly accurate brick-built form, but I'd hazard a guess that the people who came up with these aren't train nuts. It's far easier to take inspiration from a variety of sources and make something that looks believeable than it is to try copying enough details from a single design to make it recognisable. Also, the Trains range is sold globally, or at least over multiple continents, so they need to appeal to Lego fans in Europe and the US. We all know the Emerald looks a lot like the Flying Scotsman and Tornado, but the latter is one of only a few British locos that have electric lighting on board, and snow ploughs or cow catchers are not commonly seen here. Without these details 10194 probably wouldn't be so popular anywhere else.

Having done some quick research, spot on! Further proof that I don't know my diesels and electrics. I have to say, the passenger train looks nicer in the new picture. The cab design's much better looking than I had previously thought.

Great story banditloon, and gormadoc, it's good to know I'm not the only Eurobricks member from Shropshire active in this subforum!

Thanks for clearing that up Matt, diesel and electric motive power isn't my field of expertise! Personally I think it looks a lot like a yellow class 60 with a pantograph and no entre axle on either bogie, or at least its cabs look similar. As we're seeing clearer photos of these sets now, I suspect (and hope) they'll be available before too long.

The pantograph on the top of the freight loco seems like a strange addition, because the round plates on top are surely supposed to represent the grilles on the top of many diesel locos? It looks nice regardless, I'm not so sure about the passenger EMU though.

About time I put my name down in here. As you've probably gathered from my posts, my interest in Lego Trains stems partly from a primarily Classic Town Lego collection from my childhood and mostly from a deep-seated love of both real and scale model steam-era trains. When I was growing up I quite liked the 9V Lego Trains of the 1990s, but the range was too limited, the prices were too high and the few steam locos that were made didn't look right. They used the standard 9V motorised bogie, whereas to me a steam loco has proper coupled driving wheels and when replicated in model form should use these to put its power to the rails. As a result, 10194 is my first ever Lego Train. You can see some of the tweaks to it I've made to make it more realistic and British looking here. I'm currently just out of education and Lego is still overpriced, so I'll have to wait until I've got a steady income until I can get some locos of my own built, probably based on UK steam engines and generally those that can be seen in preservation.

As others have said, it's got plenty of handy parts, particularly the red wheels for steam locos from mainland Europe. Notice how the driving wheels have no traction tyres though. There's potential for modification there too. I can't help but wonder if an M-size PF motor might go in a tweaked, cut-down cab. Couple the wheels and connect them to modified cylinders, build a small double bogie tender and get cracking on some small bogie coaches!

Disappointingly similar to the one before it. Having said that, the display model does show that the designer has paid a bit more attention to the real thing this time. Take a look at the real 5972: Features that have been reproduced fairly well on the new kit are the curved nameplates, cabside number plates and shed plate (that little ellipse on the smokebox door at the front). I've just discovered that 10A is the shed code for Carnforth, where West Coast Railways, 5972's owners, are based, so although it's a detail that the designer will have lifted straight off the loco without thinking about its meaning, credit is due for including the plate. The headboard (the thing that says "Hogwarts Express") is the right shape too, but it's been made far too big like last time, resulting in the smokebox number being below the poor representation of the smokebox dart (used to open the smokebox door, and much too long on the model) instead of above it. Annoying as this number's the right font! One day, when I can afford to, I'll build my own, and it'll be spot on.

Fantastic! Looks much better. Just those cylinders and side rods to get connected now.

Lego was a regular and always welcome gift at Christmases and birthdays during my childhood. The kits I used to get most often (and loved) were the vehicles of Classic Town in what were probably its dying days. I remember one year building a small fleet of four stud wide open wheel racing cars and racing them on tracks made of closed-off road plates! We had some Technic, but never as much as I'd have liked. I never had but always wanted a Lego train or two as well, despite there being no proper steam locos. I've been a train nut as long as I can remember, so I'd have wanted a convincing looking steam loco with driving wheels outside the frames, linked by side rods and with outside cylinders! That 9V motor meant no exposed and coupled driving wheels, so even if I'd known about 3225 Classic Train I'd have been disappointed. I put countless hours into Lego Loco on the first PC we ever had regardless. I'm not sure when I stopped receiving kits, but I recall gradually becoming less interested in the stuff coming out of Billund. I was in the Lego Club and the magazines I was getting were full of unrealistic themed crap. In addition, the more realistic town stuff was getting reduced to just emergency services. Over the next few years I got a S@H catalogue or two and kept looking at Trains; this was when My Own Train was about. The prices were too high (nothing new there) and the new MOT steam locos still looked rubbish! The Super Chief didn't float my boat, I was still waiting for that realistic looking, UK-style, loco drive steam engine I dreamt of. I stopped waiting in time because I didn't expect Lego to ever make something that would meet this standard. In 2009, I was proved wrong. My young cousin was collecting these lime green mining-type machines. They put me in mind of Rock Raiders, so curiosity got the better of me and I hit the Lego website to find out more. Power Miners eh? Moving down the list of S@H categories, I saw the Trains logo. The small picture underneath was unmistakeably a steam loco. Long story short, as soon as 10194 Emerald Night went on sale with PF parts, I became £150 or so less well off financially. The build was time-consuming but fun and satisfying, and the end result was spectacular. After that triumph of teenage skill over several bags of tiny bricks and a transparent DSS I bought a couple of City sets, 7641 City Corner and 7635 4WD with Horsebox. I built the bus in 7641 to be right-hand drive, which involved building the thing completely mirrored. Tricky! Despite hating horses, I liked the look of the Range Rover type 4x4 in 7635. Fortunately it proved much easier to convert for UK use! I don't think I'll ever have the skills or brick collection that some of the builders on here have, but despite this I'd love to be able to spend more on Lego. Unfortunately I'm still in that dark age due to financial constraints; Lego isn't cheap stuff and I'm just out of IT training looking for a job. I'm looking forward to this year's trains though (the cargo train loco looks a lot like a yellow Brush Class 60) and ultimately aim to get my hands on or build a replica of the 4999 Vestas Wind Turbine.

Strange indeed. Is it perhaps to do with the current Lego trains range being virtually non-existent and the RC offerings beforehand being less realistic? I'm guessing that to many fans at the time of release the Super Chief, ATSF loco and TTX intermodals seemed hugely expensive (and they were, I remember the S@H catalogue with them in!), but now AFOLs look at these older models and appreciate their likeness to real US trains. Unfortunately the relatively low sales make them hard to come by and, as you say, several times more expensive than they originally were! With this in mind, and seeing as there's no chance of seperate EN coaches, maybe I should just do what Lego want me to do and buy a few 10194s now? They aren't cheap, but having built my first one I'd say it's definitely worth the money. There's plenty of handy parts in there too and if I buy them in a year or so the prices will be obscene.

Over all it looks pretty good, nice work Brickster. The colour scheme probably isn't far off for later in these engines' lives. I expect towards the end of their working lives, when more powerful engines were taking their places on the most prestigious services, small Western-style 4-4-0s would have carried much plainer liveries. I agree with Anthony on the boiler height though; these engines worked on some pretty rough trackwork, so a lot of them had the boilers positioned low over the wheels to keep the centre of gravity down. Perhaps use shorter coupling rods and connect the cylinders to the wheels as well?

If you buy and modify the Toy Story train, don't forget to built a tender for the loco!

I knew I'd see a picture of one taken apart somewhere, but stupidly I didn't realise that the axles are driven by both ends of the motor. You're right, I expect that would be a lot harder to get a replacement for.

I was under the impression that inside the bogie casing of the 9V 'motor', there's just a few gears and a Scalextric size or similar can motor. Finding a replacement with the same response characteristics might be tricky, but surely this actual motor could be replaced?

As long as it looks vaguely like the real loco, GWR "Hall" class no. 5972 Olton Hall, and uses PF to drive the loco's wheels I'll be happy. if some of the details look a bit odd I can always tweak them like I've done with 10194. Ideally I'd love alternative stickers to name the model Olton Hall, but that'd probably require Lego getting permission from its owners, West Coast Railways. For some reason I can imagine Lego deciding to keep the boiler diameter the same as the previous model. Fitting a PF motor could as such be tricky. I just hope that they don't reuse that awful printed smokebox door from the old model. I know printing is preferable to stickers, but it was terrible! The headboard was too big and the number was incorrectly positioned as a result. The number was also the wrong size and font. Yes, I'm being pedantic when it's just intended to be a toy, but what can I say? My other trains are mega-detailed 00 scale models!

I apologise for constantly bringing this up, but if Lego want better sales from Trains products, they need to push them a bit more. Expand the range and actually market it. Like I've also said before, with enough parts in the box a single kit could allow several coach types to be built for the Emerald Night. I'm sure a lot of people would consider the models available in such a kit to be "very specific and appealing" as Jamie put it, and taking a purely selfish viewpoint I'd happily sacrifice a Star Wars model for this. After all, we were given what is I'm led to believe the most powerful Lego locomotive for years and years...but nothing for it to pull. I could of course build my own coaches and this has crossed my mind. Unfortunately the rarest parts used for the coach, such as the windows, aren't available on DesignbyMe in the more common colours, let alone brown chocolate and tan cream! I realise I could use BrickLink, but don't really want to do so. It doesn't make sense for me to buy several more complete 10194 boxes either. This is probably what Lego want us to do but who really wants or has space for another four or so identical engines?

Great to hear you've finally joined the 10194 locomotive trust Mark.

A modular kit is exactly what I had in mind. Inside the box would be parts and instructions that would allow you to build a brake coach, luggage/full brake coach, sleeping car, kitchen car or another dining car. They aren't to my taste but I'm sure some people would appreciate an observation car too (large windows in one end, not a huge glass section on top). The roof and chassis construction could be the same for all coaches except the observation car. The differences would lie in the positioning of doors, windows and interior details. The chassis and roof could be built first with instructions for the bit in between following after, which would reduce the length of the instructions a bit.

Regarding the lack of extra coaches for the EN; while I realise that the Star Wars range is tremendously popular, I can't help but feel that a modular coach kit would be preferable to another horribly expensive AFOL SW kit. How many people actually have the Death Star or Millenium Falcon Collectors' models? I know I'd rather spend the same money on four to seven coaches. When you compare the length of the loco to the coach in the set anything less than three is going to look silly, and if an AFOL is going to buy a £160 steam loco so fantastically detailed that it doesn't even look like Lego from a few metres away, they'll surely stump up for coaches? I suppose it once again comes down to Lego predicting low sales from a range that nobody knows about because they won't advertise it. If you're listening at Billund, at least put all the parts in correct colours (including windows) I'd need to build more on LDD DesignByMe please!

Inclines are perhaps not a good idea if you intend to run an Emerald Night. I ran mine on track laid over a slightly uneven carpet and even then it kept stopping with its wheels turning just above the rails because of the loco's complete lack of any springing.

It might not look like a Castle class, but it does look a bit like a Hall! "Hogwarts Castle" seen in the films is actually 5972 Olton Hall. Very nice work Gary. One day Lego train sets will look like this sort of thing hopefully (but with PF).

The Emerald Night does indeed have wheelarches splashers but I don't know why because the wheels are too small to reach the running plate. On mine I've just flattened them off to create a raised section at the height of the spashers and put the nameplate where the middle splasher was. The smoke deflectors and splashers suggest the A3 was more influential to Jamie than the Peppercorn A1 (the system of class naming of this type of engine was so complicated I don't understand it completely, but Flying Scotsman was built to Sir Nigel Gresley's A1 design and Tornado is as close as the A1 trust could get to Arthur Peppercorn's later A1 design. Like you say muffinman by that stage all the A1s had become A3s). You're right in that Flying Scotsman wasn't kept specifically for the train of the same name, but it could well have pulled it at some stage.