MojoLego

I don't think Lego was aiming for one particular engine, but I find it is closest to a BR Class 92 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Rail_Class_92).

It may not mean anything, but both of the current City trains are in backorder at US S@H. Would be interesting if TLG decided to do more frequent set redesigns and smaller production runs. I had expected 7938 and 7939 to be around for two to three years.

How about a DB Class 290? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DB_Class_V_90

I think it is too soon for a new train set, but this is great to see how they worked out some of the details of this classic design. Looks like they've given the battery compartment a red-sticker siding. Thank you for posting!

Agreed. Retailers don't want this stuff and there is no perfect box assortment. Track belongs in pick-a-brick with, and this is key, one-click order options for parents ("Buy an oval").

I know that parents are confused, mainly because Lego does not make clear what it takes to provide sufficient track. Is that one box of track or two? Parent comments on Amazon are enough to show this many times over. I've written this before and I'll write it again with the hope that someone at Lego is listening. For the sake of parents, give them the ability to buy, in a single click, an oval of track or whatever (a la carte as well). As the prior poster suggests, make track a pick-a-brick item, but allow parents an easy way to buy an entire layout in one click. Stop trying to come up with the perfect box assortment (there isn't one) that requires a global roll-out, boxes, etc. The brick-and-mortar retailers are barely stocking the stuff anyway. Pick-a-brick is the way to go, and emblazon all train sets with "Buy your track layout at Lego.com." The same should be done for motors, that is, a one-click option for buying a motor, battery, and RC modules for motorizing the Hogwarts Express. Yes, you can get these a la carte already, but many parents are completely flummoxed by the options. Inevitably, there will be someone on this list noting that Lego does not derive much income from AFOL train-heads, but the sales of Hogwarts Express and the Toy Story train were incredible this holiday season. I was checking Amazon over the last few weeks and the Hogwarts Express was thumping sets that we usually assume are the best sellers (e.g., the police station, many Star Wars sets). These numbers will even out over the year, but it is still impressive. Many of these families will be looking for, and not finding easily, track and motors from Lego.

A British store is showing it available Dec. 17 at £13.95. I expect $19.99 in the U.S.

So long as you are able to assist on the build and provide occasional maintenance (e.g., when the train slams into a Lego fire truck), I think this is a great train. I think the Lego trains work fine down to four years old, especially if they are already doing Lego. I would consider the cargo train (7939) because it has some extra pieces that you may end up buying anyway, and it has more going on with the cars, cargo, etc. Either way, I think you are wise to get a full set (train and track). There is a decent guide to Lego trains on the U.S. Amazon site: http://www.amazon.com/gp/richpub/syltguides/fullview/RXFSIU63PESVG/ Cheers

On another thread (how should track be sold) I've been remarking that Lego needs to make the train buying experience simpler for parents. The web site should, for example, include a single-click option for buying an oval of track. Similarly, there needs to be a one click option for buying all of the parts to motorize. Lego does not need to come up with a dedicated oval or motorization set, just do the leg work for all those parents that don't have time to figure out how to get all the right parts. What many people may not realize is just how many Lego trains are being sold. Of all the Toys and Games on Amazon, Hogwarts Express was #152 today, and #12 among building sets. It is the Harry Potter effect, but Amazon is selling more trains right now than Lego police stations. The Western Train Chase, by the way, is at #427 in Toys and Games and #47 in building sets. I really don't expect Target and TRU to carry all the track and motor options, so it is important that parents be able to quickly find what they need from Lego.com.

You're right. I rarely see trains in our independent toy stores (which are, incidentally, stocking larger amounts of competitor bricks as Lego focuses on big box sales). I actually think trains are dead at brick and mortar stores. But parents, and especially parents with both money and interest in their kids' play (e.g., see sites like GeekDad) are doing much of their research and purchases on-line. Hogwarts Express, while obviously benefiting from the movie release, has been a top seller at Amazon over the last few weeks. It is currently #13 in Amazon's list of top building sets and spent 6 days in the top 100 of all toys. That is a boat load of trains. I would argue that Lego should drop efforts to stock brick and mortar with trains and, instead, make sure their on-line offerings are well presented (e.g., a one-click option for buying an oval of track) with better variety. On the matter of police sets being more profitable, yes, that is always going to be true. But, and I say this in a polite, not snippy voice, Lego is a bit like an auto company that offers both high performance cars and minivans. The UCS Millenium Falcon, the Green Grocer and train sets may not be affordable for the vast majority of people shopping at Target and TRU, and profit margins are probably not as good as a police station, but they add significantly to the brand. Whenever my kids buy a $10 Star Wars Lego set, they are really imagining that someday they'll be able to afford the $100, $250, $400 Star Wars set. You do the low volume, low margin sets in part because it defines the brand and helps drive volume of the high margin sets. Oh well, I'm probably speaking to the converted.

I keep reading that the AFOL and kid markets are different and that kids are quite happy with limited track options. I don't believe this is entirely true. The decision to get a train is very much one that parents take and though they are not as aware of what is going on with Lego's corporate decisions, they aren't necessarily buying a set, dumping it with a child and walking away. A year ago I was in a Lego store when a mom came in to look at the train sets, specifically track. She wasn't being helped by the staff so I asked her what kind of track she needed. It turned out the family had a 9 volt system; she was devastated to learn that Lego had discontinued 9 volt and she was repulsed by the idea of controlling a train by infrared remote. "It's not the same!" she exclaimed. She said that the kids set up the train every year at Christmas and that she and her husband bought a little bit more each year to expand it out. She felt very let down by Lego. Likewise, if you troll the reviews of Lego train products on Amazon, you can come across parents who are trying, some desperately, to get all the right pieces for their kids' sets, whether it be motors or track. If you think AFOLers can get frustrated, think about a parent with little Lego experience who is madly trying to get a Hogwarts Express in time for the holidays and is trying to figure out how to motorize it. Parents don't necessarily want the simplest train set up; they want the simplest buying experience. Many parents would be relieved to see a better web page on the Lego train site that provided a la carte track options as well as one-click motorization options (even if the motors and accessories came in typical pick-a-brick bags). So I'm getting a little off-track here. My main point is that I don't think Lego's approach to trains is benefitting anyone. They may have convinced themselves that they are acting in their best business interest by taking a minimalist, cost-benefit approach to trains. But I don't think they've actually ever found out what the kid's market could be if they really tried to serve it. The interest in trains is out there. There are plenty of parents ready to drop a few hundred dollars on these things. They want clear options from a company that appears to want to support a product over the long term.

Does anyone really feel that Lego is properly meeting the needs of this category? Lego does just enough to keep it going and not much more. I am amazed at how individuals have cut up and modified track in order to create new layouts, especially large radius curves. As with Ben's Bricks, I think that if someone made a large curve radius along the lines of Part 3230, the AFOL community would embrace it.

I am waiting for an entrepreneur with injection molding experience to step up and save us from Lego. Its been done with train wheels and mini-fig weapons. Track may be more complicated, but perhaps someone could start with simple straights and large radius curves similar to the old 12 volt track.

And two more... http://roland.arzul.pagesperso-orange.fr/ouest/030tender.htm And http://ferrocarriles.wikia.com/wiki/Compagnie_des_Chemins_de_Fer_du_Midi

This page may also be helpful: http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Musée_vivant_du_chemin_de_fer_(Longueville)

How's your French? I think this is it: http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ligne_Gudmont_-_Rimaucourt Also at: http://www.ajecta.org/images/Actualites/JPO2008_Ciotat0.jpg Cheers

See: http://www.eurobricks.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=41847&view=findpost&p=738640

Some of it goes into the station and level crossing sets. But I agree with your point.

The site is still godaddy.com at my end. Sounds like a buggy DNS update to me.

Yes, the set's price is astounding. I expect the U.S. price to come in at $99. But I can also see how the folks at Lego might figure it is okay. Car: $10 Street cleaner: $20 Bus: $25 Train: $35 That gets you to $90, throw in some structures and another $10. But I think Lego would have made more money [in a parallel universe, there is a Lego marketing person reading these posts] if we could have purchased these individually. There are people who would buy multiple buses. Others would buy multiple trains. I probably would have spent more than $100 buying a few trains. But I can't justify $100 for a set when I really only want the train. Simply put, the set has less value, not more, when everything is thrown together. It's a hodgepodge, and we aren't getting a price cut by having to purchase everything together.

On Flickr I found user Sekiyamalego had the following two galleries of modifications:

So long as you aren't adjusting the speed, you can go without the IR control and just run the engines off the Li-ion battery's built-in speed control. Inelegant (especially stopping and starting) but that gives you more trains on the layout. Rob

Perhaps, if the engine is like the BR Class 92, then it can run on overhead lines or a third rail, depending on what is available. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Rail_Class_92 Rob

There are some new hi-res photos of the Public Transport set (8404) over in the Town forum: http://www.eurobricks.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=32210&st=2130 The light rail cars do indeed use the small train wheels. I assume it will fit L gauge track. Also, for those of you in the U.S., TRU has listed the 2010 train sets. Rob

I'm guessing that the new motor will be available from S@H at the same time as the new AAA battery box is out. Looking at the new Cargo train's part list, the new motor is identified as #4584375 and the old RC motor is #4527072 (not that this helps when you can't order the new one anyway...). Cheers, Rob