Helmantel

I have a lot of trains as well as an almost three year old son and although I certainly understand that you would like to buy him a train, I think he's probably a little too young for it. He will probably enjoy it more if he's older. On the other hand, it's Lego and therefore pretty robust so there's not much that can go wrong.

That could be very possible. I also have some of them and they all came with either the 7735 or 7745. I've also seen them many times in Ebay auctions and every time as part of these two sets.

You would rather cut of your nuts than to spend 200 Euro? I'm a big fan of the 12V trains, with the 7740, 7727, 7750 and 7760 being the favorites. Another favorite is an "official LEGO MOC" (LOC?) from the 7777 idea book: Oversized Image Removed Of course, from an objective point of view, those old trains are just rather crude kids toys and some of the MOCs of recent years are much more detailed, realistic and impressive. I like them alot (especially steam engines), but those old 12V trains from my childhood just as much.

Cool, another train, it's starting to look like 1981 :) (when there were two 12V passenger trains, a 12V freight train with steam engine, a 12V steam engine, a 12V diesel engine, a 4,5V freight train and a push along passenger train with steam engine.....those were the days!)

I agree, they won't very well. Reasons for their rarity: they were only available for a few years. They probably didn't sell that many because they were rather expensive so people probably spent their money on something more usefull, like remote points or signals.

Very nice! I have a lot of grey era 12V trains myself (actually, all of them), but I never seem to find the time to finish my layout....

What was they color of the bars if they were the wrong ones, and were they the long ones at the "front doors" (umbrella stand)? I have one engine with dark grey ones while they are supposed to be red. Could that mean it's a Limited Edition? Actually, since the only difference between the regular and the limited edition one seems to be a tile with a number, I don't really care if it is.

I'm a 80's 12V (grey era) collector myself, but 70's Lego is certainly nice, especially when you have a whole layout from the same time. I have a few of the 70's train idea books (239a 241) and they are great.

I own 7822 and 7824 to go with my 12V trains. I really like both but 2150 is the best station Lego has brought out in my opinion. I owned two which I planned to combine and use them with my 9V layout (just a Santa Fe and Emerald Night) and modular houses, but it looked so small compared to the rest that I decided to sell them. Unless Lego brings out a train station Exclusive/Modular, I guess I'll build my own (maybe 2150 inspired). I don't really mind if a layout is not so realistic or if the scale is off, as long as everything is of that standard. That means that I like an 80's house as much as new Creator house, but not side by side.

The curves of 4,5 V and 12V track have ribs only on the outer rails (and the inners are smooth), which allows some slippage.

The van from the Vestas windmill 4999 always reminds me of an older Fiat Ducato

I agree that it's really cool. I actually have two (one is not complete: the control tower is missing).

Early ones have a tendency that the bottom plates lets loose from the cover (I guess the glue they used doesn't last as well). Nowadays, that's an advantage, because it allows you to open the motor and make repairs. If they are still glued together, it's very difficult to open them without damage.

The details are nicer than the building, IMO. I agree that it looks a bit plain. I also really like the Creator houses and of course the Modulars (who doesn't?) although the Creator houses lack the nice City style details. It is nice though that Lego finally offers a house again in the City/Town line. Except for this limited edition one from 1996, the last regular one dates from 1990! Although the Creator houses sort of made up for it in recent years.

I just received and built mine, which was in "Mint in no longer sealed box and bags since we started building but never finished it" condition. There were some left over parts (mostly the typical 1x1 round plates and similar small stuff and, a bit suprisingly, a 2x6 plate), but no technic beams.

Nice work! Especially from the side, they look good and well proportioned. If they were 5-wide, the proportions from the front and top would be better, but I realize that making 5 wide cars is easier said than done.....

Nice upgrade! Maybe it will look even nicer with a set of the new Big Ben XL wheels (black ones of course) Big Ben Bricks http://www.bigbenbricks.com/products/xl8wheelkit_2672x1264.JPG

Really nice! Using the small antenna as a mirror is really clever. It would look really nice in a 50-60's themed lay out (with steam trains, modular houses etc.) which is actually what I plan to build, so I may try and build something similar if you don't mind :)

Well, it seems that the new train sets do not include the rechargeable battery, or at least, not the one that is currently available: http://www.brickshelf.com/gallery/grogall/...box_side_hr.jpg More links to pictures in the Town; City 2010 topic

I can imagine that. Without O rings, the inner wheel can slip a little, to compensate for the shorter path it travels when going through a curve. Ideally, the inner wheel should turn slower, but that's of course not possible since they're connected.

With Lego, it's the challenge to create something realistic with the possibilities that the fairly crude Lego pieces offer. The result is sometimes fantastic, but strictly speaking, it can never compete with the realism of HO (and other scales) trains and scenery. They're just two different things and can't be compared. That being said, I think that using some of the model train scenery materials for background works fine and can be really nice, like grass mats for the underground or plywood elevations or ramps (maybe covered with grass mat too). However, model cars in a Lego town or model train type people in a Lego train or at a train station would look totally out of place. Something in between, like ballast under/between the railroad tracks or maybe real sand in a dump truck looks of course very realistic and is certainly not ugly but I prefer using Lego pieces anyway.

I actually bought two broken 9V motors, to use as power pick ups. Another alternative would be to open a (working) 9V motor, disconnect the motor from the wheels, connect the wheels (or rather the metal pieces that pick up current from the wheels) to two of the four PF wires, connect the wire to a IR sensor and power the motor with the other two PF wires. That would of course require some creativity and a hole in the motor housing to feed the PF wire through, but would result in an IR controlled 9V motor.

That means that you either broke the rules, or you were trying to mislead us :)

If it is going to be a battery box for AAA's, then it must be taller than the rechargeable battery, because an AAA battery is 42 mm long (roughly 4 bricks and one plate) and the rechargeable box is 4 bricks tall. At least, with the batteries standing upright. When laying them flat on top of each other they would fit within a 8x4 and 4 bricks tall box, but that doesn't seem very practical and fool proof to me.

For the Exclusive series, I would love a modular style (although it doesn't necessarily need to consist of modules) big, classic Train station. I don't care what it cost :). Also, a follow up of the Emerald Night would be nice. For the City line, I can think of many things, which all have been released in 9V or 12V form in one way or another. There's nothing wrong with new versions, IMO. After all, the new passenger and cargo trains are also just the latest in a line of many. And of course they should use and expand Power Functions to make all kinds of remote control functional things, like the remote stuff available in the 80's