Duq

If this set means more and younger children start with trains then it can only be a good thing for us as it would mean more train sales in the long term. Big difference with the Hogwarts Express: this one looks like a steam engine! This may well turn out to be a cheaper way to get your hands on some large drivers and a bunch of other train parts than the Emerald Night. And for American train builders that cow catcher must be a welcome new part?

Apologies, I wasn't aware of that rule...

And that's no different from the 9V system which also came as a ready to run system (4511, 4512). There were also engines without motor and track (Santa Fe, BNSF) in the 9V system like the Emerald Night now. So I've no doubt next year there will be PF trains that come as a complete set with track.

One train picture for next year has leaked: http://www.brickshelf.com/gallery/Cardman/...597-600x360.jpg Shame about the drivers. I was hoping Lego would start producing them in red...

Exactly. You don't know. There's more to it than just 'add another set to the range'. There's all sorts of overhead costs and marketing reasons behind those decisions that we here on the outside have no idea about. Almost correct. It's not about perceived safety issues, it's safety rules (US as far as I know). But you're right about being able to market to younger kids with the batteries. Phew. Good to see someone with a bit of common sense... ;-) Now for some cold hard facts. Yes, Lego trains are cool and every kid should have one. Now think back to your childhood. How many of your friends had Lego? How many of them had a Lego train? How many of them had more than one? For those of you that are old enough now answer the same questions for your childs friends. Get the point? Lego are obviously marketing trains at two different groups now: children and adults. The RC trains (a passenger train and a freight train) were aimed at children, the Emerald Night is aimed at adults. There's no way they can do two systems so for the adults there's two options: no trains or battery trains. Like Cyclone said: 9V is gone and it ain't comin' back. Finally, Lego may be a family-friendly, family-owned business that we all love, but it's still a business, not a charity. If you want Lego to continue producing AFOL train sets there's only one way to convince them and that's by using your wallet. Even if the Emerald Night is not the train you always dreamed of, buy one. If you can afford it, buy two. If you want a longer train, buy three (and if you don't know what to do with the extra engines just put them on Bricklink).

Source? Pictures?

Just because I haven't replied within two days to an announcement that mainly says 'details will follow' doesn't mean I'm not interested...

Thanks for the kick, I missed this first time around. It's a really tough choice. Passenger trains tend to be the lookers among trains. Just look at a TGV or the 1980's Rheingold with a BR103 pulling a string of cream and red carriages. Freight trains are more interesting because of a greater variety in shapes and colours. With Lego it's a bit the other way around. Passenger trains in recent years haven't been very pretty, and in the freight trains there hasn't been much variety... With the exception of the BNSF for years the freight engines have been the European cab-in-the-middle type. Still, I think for Lego I'd have to go for freight. No need to shorten carriages, short trains that don't look odd and endlessly more playability.

In Delft is a shop called 'A-Tembo'. It's a computer shop whose owner likes Lego. They sell Lego at very little profit and are generally well below prices at Intertoys and Bart Smit, the two major chains. They also stock exclusives. http://www.a-tembo.nl/winkel/category/7/lego.html

Thanks! I'm quite surprised actually. Tallinn even more expensive than Helsinki? Wow... I was hoping Tallinn would be cheaper. On Shop at Home Finland is the only country that's more expensive than Ireland so that doesn't sound good...

I'm going to be in Tallinn and Helsinki for work next week. Are Lego prices interesting there compared to average EU retail prices? If so, where should I go? Slightly off-topic: are netbooks and PSP's worth buying in either town?

In 2001 I found the 1973 396 'Thatcher Perkins' in a little town in Germany. I bought it for the original price of DM35,-! In the same shop I also bought the 5580 'Highway rig' from 1986.

I like the clean design. Still, I think the ideal diameter for the tank would be 6...

Thing is, different people have different preferences. Personally I'd rather spend $140 on two loco's than a loco with two cars, other people wouldn't. By releasing two sets, say the engine at $70 and the carriage at $35 I think they would have sold more of each...

Ameland, dat kom je niet vaak tegen! Mijn familie komt er vandaan, maar ik heb er zelf nooit gewoond. Wel vroeger veel op vakantie geweest, huisje vlak onder de vuurtoren? Je neefje is trouwens waarschijnlijk je nephew. Cousins zijn de kinderen van je ooms en tantes, nieces en nephews zijn de kinderen van je broers en zussen. Back on topic. 10183 is a great choice. There's another topic here with links to the building instructions. Of course trying to build the models just from the box/poster pictures would be even more challenging ;-)

I had a look at the bogie in Railbricks and that should do what you're looking for; it has a sliding middle axle.

10205 would serve your needs as it's a push train. You'd have to get seperate track in that case, which can be the cheaper plastic track that's available at the moment. 10022 although intended for the Santa Fe Super Chief would go nicely behind 10205.

I don't have the shed. I was waiting for it to go on sale but in did I missed the ten minute window before it sold out... Time to think out loud about the options. Train Engine Shed The problem, as is obvious from the existing shed, is that it needs to be BIG for a train to fit in. That means it will always be an expensive set. The next problem is that Lego will most likely make the door 8 wide again, meaning most of my trains wouldn't fit. So, beautiful as the old shed is, I won't be voting for another one. Round House A round house would be pointless without a turntable, making this seriously niche. Plus, it would have all the drawbacks of a normal train shed as mentioned above. Train Level Crossing Always nice, especially if they can manage an automatic one. Train Station As long as Lego make trains they'll make stations. No need to wish for one. It's like wishing for summer. Wait long enough and it'll come around again. Cargo Depot Now this is long overdue with all those cargo trains. There were a few really nice Cargo sheds in the recent contest showing what's possible on just one baseplate. Mill (coal, lumber, or other resource) This could be a nice play set. It would have to come with at least two dedicated cars, a truck and a crane or forklift. Would be a biggie. Switching Tower This could be a nice set, though they're probably not the most exciting buildings for children. I'd prefer the 'over the tracks' type... Water Tower While it could be used away from the tracks as well water towers are a bit of a thing of the past (at least in my neck of the woods). Bridge A tricky one. You either get a tiny bridge that's kinda pointless and unimpressive or a big one that would be expensive and most kids couldn't fit in the layout in their bedroom. Yeah, I think I've made up my mind. For the 'everybody needs a dream' option I'll go for the round house with a turntable. For the 'this might actually be an option for Lego' option I'll go for the Cargo depot.

Guards! Guards! Remove these topic-hijackers please!

Me being a Yurpian means I've a slightly different view. To me a steam engine is black and red, and when I see an American loco I wonder "What's that thing sticking out the front?" ;-) I like this engine Tony, it's a serious facelift. I really like your boiler (I might borrow the design for my next project) and although the piston rod doesn't go into the cylinder I think the solution with the guiding rods is very clever. I also think this is my favourite of your engines for the colour scheme.

At 3,5 years old I would say your son is too young for the Emerald Night. I built it with my 7 year old son and it was tough on him. The 7898 is a great set for playability as it comes with freight and a forklift. If you don't want to use the motor I think it'll be a bit heavy to push; you'd need to get a few extra parts to build a second bogie without a motor. You can probably get them from the Pick a Brick section on the Lego online shop. The 7898 and 7897 trains use an Infra Red control system that will probably be replaced next year, but that should not be too much of a worry for you if you don't use the motor. Lego have said that there will be no extra carriages for the Emerald Night (look for the Jamie Berard interview elsewhere in this forum) but there will be new Lego trains later, probably next year. I don't know how much Lego is available on eBay in Sweden but you could have a look for 10173, the Holiday train or 4758, the Hogwarts Express as both are trains without a motor. They don't come with a track so you'd have to buy that separately. Good luck!

Monorail was only available during my dark ages and I never felt the urge to catch up. To some AFOLs the monorail is almost like the holy grail but it never quite did it for me.

Nope. It just happened again: 3 threads were marked unread. I opened one, read the latest post and went back to the list by clicking 'Train Tech' in the breadcrumbs at the top of the page. Now 2 more threads were marked unread, though there were no new posts since I last opened them. I've refreshed the list by hitting F5 and then by clicking 'Train Tech' again but those two threads remained 'unread'.

Yup, that someone would have been me... I've seen comments about these combination packs of track on various forums and I sincerely hope this has high priority for the ambassadors. There's two types of posts in this topic; the 'wishful thinking' ones and the 'what could realistically be expected'. I find the question of what we may expect hard to answer, especially after hearing the Jamie Berard interview where he explains why there won't be any extra carriages for the Emerald Night. The course of the Lego Train System has been rather unpredictable for the last few years. One thing I remember from the discussions and statements around the end of the 9V system was that in future there would be two types of train sets; one for children and one for the ever growing AFOL train community. The Emerald Nights obviously falls in the latter category. Looking at Lugnet it seems that train sets last about 3 years. The RC trains are from 2006 so you'd expect new trains this year or next. I'm hoping for a TGV-style passenger train with a brick-built front, not one of those playmobil-style noses like the 7897 passenger train and the new airplanes. For the freight train I hope it won't be another European cab-in-the-middle like we've seen in 4564, 4565, 4512, 7898... Most of all I hope Lego will put small train sets back on the shelves in toy shops. If Santa has put the big train set under the tree it would be nice if Johnny could save up to add an extra car to his train As for the wishful thinking... After two American trains (the Chief and the BNSF) I think we're due another European train. I really hope there will be a classic red and black German steam engine with the EN-drivers in red. A separate set with Orient Express style carriages that could go with either the new loco or the Emerald Night would also be nice. I'm still hoping for curves with a bigger radius though I realise the market for them would be limited. Straight track to go with the curves from the Indiana Jones mine train would be great for a narrow-gauge train or maybe a tram...

I'm sorry? Which side of the Atlantic do you live? You're saying that the Emerald Night does not come close to the original? And which of the 30 models in the Hobby Train are you referring to? While the Chief is a nice model it's not quite in the same league as the Emerald Night if you'd ask me.