AndyC

One word: Bluetooth. Sure the current PF line only has IR control, which is limited, but that's not inherent to the Power Functions system itself. It's perfectly conceivable TLG could bring in Bluetooth control in future (PF is designed to be an extensible system after all). And if there is enough actual interest (i.e. people spending money) on PF trains then who knows what we could see, it wouldn't be impossible to bring back the level of automation not seen since the 12V days if they wanted too. Amen. If TLG don't see much interest in things like Emerald Night, despite the fact it covers a great many of the requests of AFOLs, then why should they continue to invest and develop the Lego Train lines.

And it's not just TLC making the decision. All the big stores will have a say in things as well, they aren't necessarily going to want shelf space devoted to Indy, if they see that as "last years thing". Sure, Indy sold well when there was an Indy movie out, but it's not necessarily going to sustain that once the movie is out of peoples mind and the stores would rather get out early than have shelves full of stock they can't shift. Star Wars is a bit different, it's been a cash cow since the 1970s and shows little sign of slowing. That makes the argument for another year of Star Wars sets a lot easier than many other themes, regardless of how popular they are.

It's probably just about possible to squeeze the power functions rechargable battery box into the RC passenger train even using the original base, you'd just need to redesign the roof a little. You could then hook that up to the motor with an extension cable. I'm not sure this would really gain you much over just using the RC (except less of a need for batteries!)

As someone who was in a similar position not long back, I'll give you my opinions. Firstly, avoid the RC Passenger Train like the plague, it's really not worth it. It looks pretty in pictures and the box art, but the actual model is a big disappointment, especially the cheap plasic front bit that doesn't fit at all well. The supplied track is enough for an oval, which is better than nothing I guess. On the other hand, the RC Cargo Train is an absolute bargain. A nice little engine and a great bunch of rolling stock to accompany it. Even if the train wasn't to your liking, it's easily the best way to get a nice amount of track. It even has some nice points, which lets you have a bit of variety in your layout. The RC system may be officially obsoleted by the Power Functions stuff, but this set is still the most cost effective way to get into trains right now. And all the little accessories like the forklift and truck are pretty nice too. Finally comes the Emerald Night. It's absolutely gorgeous and worth every penny. But it is an awful lot of pennies. Especially if you also invest in the all the Power Functions stuff and some track to run it on. At the moment I'm having to make do with the old power functions remote, which limits it a bit, but I think it's still my favourite of the three. In fact it's probably one of my all time favourite sets.

Hmmm, I'm still sort of torn on this. Looking at the comparison shots you have at the end, I cant help but feel it could have been much improved by the inclusion of a couple of smoke plates to represent the windowed areas. And the main spiral bit just doesn't look right to me. As it is, I'm not quite convinced of it as a display model. It seems crazy, but spending more on something far more accurate and visually stunning like the Taj Mahal makes more sense to me. I can see that it'd be a great souvenir from an actual trip though. But I think interntional jet-setting might be a shade excessive just to justify a Lego purchase. Great review though!

PF/RC/4.5 trains are the most "track compatible", since they're all battery operated they'll happily run on any track type you put in front of them. The only issue you can possibly run into is trying to mix different types of track as the older 4.5/12V rail sections are connected together differently, there are solutions for that though. These are also the only trains that can run on the new PF flexi track. 9V trains are the least "track compatible", they will only ever run on 9V rails, because they get their power from the metal rails themselves. Some 9V trains could possibly be modified to use the PF train motor, as long as you can find somewhere to hide the PF battery box and probably an IR reciever too. 12V trains sit somewhere in the middle, since you presumably can lay the extra 12V middle rails on bits of 9V or RC track too (disclaimer: I've not got any 12V stuff to try with). Obviously that's really only going to work for simple straights/corners though so probably not really all that useful a combo.

Why do I now have a strange compulsion to try this with a Han Solo minifg?

I really want to like this set, I'd love to have some Jawas. But every time I look at it I can't help but think the randomly placed orangy and yellowy bits make it look awful. It could have been so muh better if it had been all brown and had lots of extra greebling on the side to make it look much less flat faced. Trouble is it's also just a little too expensive to buy soley to see if it can be improved upon or to use as a parts box....

Wow, that's just awesome! I think I'm going to have to order me a few more boxes of flexitrack now, just so I can try that out.

Very interesting little build, love some of the details on it. The water effect is certainly very nice, though I do wonder if it might be improved by making it a little less uniform. Did you already try that?

The PF connectors ae different to the old 9V ones, however the PF extension cable can be used as an adapter (at one end the bottom of the connector is a 9V one, the top a PF one).

Some of the train motor side pieces would be nice, as would train windows. To be honest though, just having a reasonable selection of basic pieces in a consistent range of colours would be better. Nothing more annoying than having to change the colour of something just to accomodate a fairly standard piece only being available in certains colours.

You could possibly do it by replacing the train motor with a power functions M motor and appropriate gears to drive the wheels. Not sure how well that would work in terms of space though.

I bought this set recently from S@H and the box artwork all features the sloped design. The actual box car is the straight version though. Maybe this was a reasonably last-minute change after the box and publicity material had been finalised.

What would be very cool is one of these, but with power function connectors that link to the magnetic part, such that when two are joined up functionality can be passed along. Trains with lights in trailing carriages would be very cool indeed.

Wow. That's just stunning. Every little detail just seems so well chosen and the way in blends in with the official sets just shows how amzaing it is.

Another advantage of PF trains is that you can start using far more versatile drive mechanisms than older sets. I'm currently working on a rack-rail solution by lining my track with 3743 rack parts and driving it with a a technic gear midway through the chassis. Exciting new layouts with steep inclines ahoy!