peterab

There are a few models in the wild that were given out to fan sites for reviews.

You know the rest of the world just calls them rock dots don't you :-) Donnerbüchsen is a fairly rock n roll name for a train carriage, though in Australia a thunderbox is what some people call a toilet :-)

Ah sorry about that, I should have cut and paste instead of writing from memory. German is my second language and spelling isn't my forte :-)

Did anyone try to get it from www.lehman.de ? As far as my understanding of the 100steine thread goes, it is available for order there, but others speculated if it wasn't available from the publisher then www.lehman.de will probably not be able to deliver.

I guess one has to ask if these designs are really innovative or obvious extensions of a track system. If we wish to use the argument that they are innovative, then of course the first mover is owed some protection. I'm pretty sure the first time these switch ideas surfaced in LEGO track was as modified 9V track over a decade ago. If there was a patent (and I'm not sure you would find a patent office willing to issue one on what are common elements on other track systems, which copy a prototype which has been around for hundreds of years) I hope 4D Brixs has licensed its use. If it were proven TrixBricks has used 4D Brix models I'd be far more sympathetic, but that doesn't seem to be the case.

This is a little inaccurate. The ME models kickstarter offered both plastic and metal track. They started selling the plastic track before they had fulfilled the kickstarter pledges because the cost of tooling had blown out. The plastic track gained a reputation for needing to be glued otherwise it would burst apart if being moved and even when being used. The metal track prototypes failed to conduct electricity well and were eventually replaced with a system that used model railway fishplates to connect the rails. The production costs blew out and many pledges (even all plastic track like mine) were never fulfilled. Essentially it appears the availability of 3D printed single piece track overtook the ability of ME to trade their way out of the cost blow out.

I read that to mean modifying by printing onto LEGO parts rather than 3D printing.

In past discussions with LEGO employees I've been told TLG really hates modified parts for one very good reason; their logo is on them. They get a lot of complaints from parents about all sorts of bricks, it is pretty easy to handle if they can say "that is not one of our products". It is really hard to handle if the chrome is flaking off, or there is a non child friendly print and there are LEGO logos on all the studs. Inferior modifications harm their reputation.

When you see those large displays you are normally looking at the result of a club with many members, or if it is a private collection, one which possibly spans decades. There is no denying this is not a cheap hobby, but it is cheaper compared to some of the high quality model railway brands at least for rolling stock. If you plan on parts intensive scenery the cost rises quickly. Most clubs and their members do end up buying track in those boxes, we have sometimes been able to get track in bulk but in my case not often and only in special circumstances. I've been a club member for a decade now and I cant predict if I'll be able to again. At least it isn't as bad as the cost of the metal tracks, they really do cost a fortune.

It might be a more helpful thread in the future if we knew what the roadblock was and its solution.

Actually what Ashley has said is he saw and handled the new parts so we know the new design is a fact. What we don't know is if they will replace all the future train sets with these wheels. For a little more detail Ashley attended the Melbourne Toy Fair and saw the new train there. He was able to handle it but not take photos. Ashley is on the committee of my train club and I've known him for about 10 years so I have no doubt about what he says.

As someone who knows and loves you; completely un-hinged, stark raving bonkers, bat shit crazy.

As soon as I can get it shipped to Australia I'll buy one. It will look nice next to my German and English versions of the first edition.

I've had another thought, most of the PF train sets will derail in curves at top speed, so any videos will be at some speed less than that.

Assume a standard train is a perfect sphere; sorry that's not helpful but I studied physics. On a more helpful note, if you really need to know how fast a lego train is, you could always calculate it yourself. Start by building a simple track, perhaps the standard oval that comes in the set. Calculate the length of the track, time say ten circuits at top speed for greater accuracy. That gives you enough info to convert to km/h.

Probably not as the link is to a blog post on the now defunct Railbricks site. I guess that is the price of resurrecting a 6 year old thread. Perhaps you should just ask your current question here if the thread doesn't help.

I loved your time lapse video, particularly the guest appearances of your cat.

Since you have this built you could just directly measure the radius by counting the studs. You need to measure from the centre of the circle to the middle of one of the sleepers.

It looks like all the blue wagons have two pin sockets except one. The later red ones also have three pin sockets. I guess this corresponds to the grey era when 12V used 3 pin plugs. I'd love to see the video of removing magnets safely. I've done it but I've also damaged magnets taking them off.

I'll buy at least one of the freight train and probably two of the passenger train. Both because I collect the train theme and because I want to keep the sales figures up. I might buy more depending on the cost and the availability of the bluetooth receiver, and the value of the other parts to me. Having spoken to a few designers and community liaison reps from LEGO, I know the AFOL train fans are too insignificant in number to make a difference to LEGO's sales plans. The lack of new designer trains and the lack of success trains have on LEGO ideas should make that obvious. Train sales just don't compare to really successful sets like police and fire sets. Trains are a marginal theme and need as much support as we can give just to continue, it would be madness to expect a multinational company to pander to the whims of a group who regularly fail to get more than a thousand votes on a LEGO ideas proposal. On the other hand LEGO do value AFOLs who build MOCs and give a lot of support to those who organise and attend public displays. They know the value seeing a large layout has in inspiring kids to purchase a train set.

When it was suggested by train fan AFOLs that LEGO adjust the speed of the motors so they don't derail, the LEGO representatives explained that this was intentional as children like the possibility of crashes. It is considered a design feature.

Today I was the guest of the LEGO stand at the Melbourne Toy Fair. On the stand were the cargo train and passenger train sets. Both were clearly pre-production mock ups since the new passenger nose cone was a prototype part in red and the minifigs were replaced with all white stand ins. Both boxes were marked preliminary. They match the leaked photos that we have seen. I asked about the new receiver and other electronics, and it was confirmed it will be bluetooth, and will come with a controller but will also be able to be controlled from a phone or tablet. Unfortunately there were no more details on a new motor but it was confirmed it would be part of a whole new system. There was no sign of a station or any other sets, just the two trains. One interesting detail; the side of the passenger train box showed it contained 16 curves and 16 straights, though the picture was of an oval that looked to only include about 8. That whole section was marked place holder so I wouldn't be surprised if we only get 4 straights. The passenger train also had stickers on it and there were a couple on the nose sides to blend it into the carriage side colours so it doesn't look so much like a big yellow blob.

I'd be happy just to see them in normal green. I've asked designers about those and they said kids don't see green as an exciting colour so that's probably why they have never been produced. Our best bet is probably a direct to consumer set of some type ie creator expert and there is no indication we'll get another train in that line.

58 stud will mean you have to be careful with the yellow switches on turnout/points. The overhang of the middle of the loco is likely to cause you to hit the yellow switches. We mostly take them off for our club layouts anyway to stop little fingers shunting our trains into each other.

Nabii is Mark Stafford who designs a lot of mechs in Lego sets amongst other things, he is also famous for killing teal and is indeed a Lego designer. There is a sticker in one of the Alien Conquest sets with his tag on it; https://www.bricklink.com/v2/catalog/catalogitem.page?id=109559 Interestingly the great hall set seems to have short legs, and if that is the way they have decided to go with all of these sets there is no way those figures could sit in a train seat. That suggests to me there is no Hogwarts express in the works unless they are going to have different legs in that set, which would be inconsistent with the known set.