Train Sets

drdavewatford

^ I have 3 x Ingo tables from IKEA which will be used for a permanent layout :

http://www.ikea.com/gb/en/catalog/products/14630009

I've positioned these side by side, giving me a total area of 1.2M x 2.25M - not huge, but big enough.

They're not white, but you could paint them. They're simple, dirt cheap, and easy to assemble.

MinifigsMe

^ If you have the room, that's a good idea, but our room is only 2.5m wide, we can rearrange furniture and turn it round to have the table longer on occasion, but not all the time.

This looks like a good option, if I get a light vinyl table cloth for it, as a black table would be a bit much in our room (not much natural light, so would be v dark)

http://www.ikea.com/gb/en/catalog/products/70116262

goes from 175 - 265 long :D

Shame the don't do it in white. the pale birch would be nice, but I think it would look odd with the chests we bought.

Si_UKNZ

@Savage_Steel
Buy the Emerald! I did the same with the greengrocer, left it idling in my S@H basket for ages while I ummed and ahhed, and then one day it was gone. I still have some reservations - gets a bit samey when _everyone_ has the same street - but the problem is, I still think its a beautiful building, but the price is a bit harder to stomach now. Not a mistake you make more than once, I can tell you.

I just put a 2nd motor and lights into the cargo train, and I can highly recommend it, the lights especially. You should defnitely try it, the cargo train is already set up to take them so its easy to add them, no modification needed.

madforLEGO

^ I wholeheartedly agree with this this statement, buy the Emerald night now and do not wait on it.. While most sets officially sell out around Christmas you can never tell, and my guess is this set will climb because of all the people waiting for it to be cheaper...

jgadget

^ I agree. Don't delay, order it now.
Shipping isn't expensive these days, at only £3.95, whatever the size of the order.
That's only about 3 litres of fuel, and I use way more than that for most shopping trips.

FYI, it looks like the Fire Brigade set has finally gone.
Just a couple of days ago, it was still listed as available, but is now on back order in all the regions I checked, except the US and Canada.
I'm not convinced that it'll return in 30 days, but will next change to sold out, since I've seen this happen before.
Obviously, I could be wrong.

atkinsar

^ thanks for the warning about the Fire Brigade, I'd been holding off buying it but can risk it no longer.

drdavewatford

^ Looks like I was right to recently buy a duplicate.

@atkinsar - buy it now. Don't get get caught like I was with Eiffel Tower - I held off and held off, could have bought it at £155, then it was discontinued, and 6 months later I paid £235 MISB on eBay.... Still, a used boxed example went for £365 on eBay this week, so glad I didn't wait any longer....

Si_UKNZ

With the Emerald, since nobody except TLG has access to it at anything less than RRP, as soon as it goes out of production, prices have to automatically jump 15-25% (ie almost definitely over £100) to cover amazon/ ebay fees and with a small margin to make it worth the effort, and you can bet postage won't be £3.95 either.

The only hope of finding a cheap one at that point is getting an unboxed one from someone who opened it and didnt like it. But really, is that going to happen??!

(or from someone who's used the carriage for their train and doesnt need the loco, in which case the carriages will become rarer than the loco) - which remind me, if anyone wants a loco only for a cheaper price, let me know!

Si_UKNZ

PS, another train related question; are there any types of track you -cant- use with PF track?

drdavewatford

^ Not to my knowledge. There are even work-arounds to enable people to use the ancient blue and old grey rails.

Si_UKNZ

^ yes, those were the rails I was most interested in since they have grip for gradients, are cheaper, and would be easier to make properly inset tram tracks from. How could I find out about the workarounds? im assuming it's just about keeping them joined to the PF track?

drdavewatford

^ There's a tutorial somewhere on Eurobricks, but I can't remember where.... If I find it I'll send you the link, otherwise just search the Train Tech forum there and you'll eventually stumble across it. IIRC it's pretty simple, just requiring a couple of jumper plates and a few other bits and pieces.

PS. Yes - the only issue is joining them to RC/PF rails.

atkinsar

@drdavewatford, Fire Brigade is ordered, cheers!

drdavewatford

^ You are a wise man !

Si_UKNZ

@drdavewatford thanks by the way. Once we get into next week I plan to have a go at a gradient and bridge, and will see how much of the 12v 'grippy' track I need.

pookie

I also recommend you get the Emerald sooner than later. Here in the Us I'm starting to see out of stock in stores and Amazon has now the set at a higher price.

madforLEGO

^ While I do not advocate holding off on a Fire Brigade, it IS interesting if it sells out this long before Christmas.. Usually those sets last until the end of the year. It is possible they are making their final run of the Fire Brigade, now I know this has been the way it is in the States.. not sure about other countries.

Also, in regards to the 'higher' price on Amazon, do you mean its normal retail price? Or do you mean the price spiked to something higher than 99.99 USD? People need to be aware that there are 'normal' sellers on Amazon in addition to Amazon. So be aware that if Amazon's warehouse sells out on something and you search for that item on Amazon it will default to another seller on Amazon (who usually sell an item about 10-20% higher).
So in the States it appears that the Emerald night, for now, is Sold out via Amazon warehouse, but other sellers on Amazon would be will to sell you one for 130 USD.

gruetzmacherd

@madforlegos, as you suggested, Amazon currently only sells the Emerald Night through third-party sellers, hence the higher price (currently 120.99 or higher).

Si_UKNZ

^ If the fire brigade is on its way out, it might be to make room for the forthcoming modular pet shop

MinifigsMe

Emerald night is on it's way :) along with a medieval village and the grand emporium. Hubby wants the last one, I couldn't talk him into the fire brigade, so by the sounds of it I've missed that one, as £300 today is enough for this month...I hope!

pantenkind

I still have to put my midieval villiage and grand emporium together. Your going to love the emerald night though. You should have got the fire Brigade now and waited on the emporium as it should not go out for a while longer. Either way congrats on the purchase.

atkinsar

MMV is a future classic and such good value for money compared to some other sets. It's not too late to order the Fire Brigade, it's on 30 day backorder. Remember they won't take the money until they ship it so technically it falls into next months spend ;-)

MinifigsMe

^ you sir, are a bad influence!!!
Yeah, the MMV is staying in the box for now, I want it for a christmas display with the toy shop. Hoping to resist it while I play with my trains and hubby has his emporium. He's not budging on getting the fire brigade instead. oh well.

chooo choooooo!

pantenkind

Speaking of the fire brigade....a little off topic here....did anyone else have issues getting the part at the top with the date just right? I mean seriously, that was a pain in the butt!

Si_UKNZ

Back to trains (sorry) ..... I just motorised the tram!! Very pleased with the result, and I only had to extend the middle bit by 2 (the others Ive seen all did 4) I used PF too, so managed to add front and rear lights which look sweeeeet :o) The tram rules!

MinifigsMe

I'm very intrigued by the tram, but I don't think I have room for more rails!! The train sets
are so big!

On a plus note I'm a very excited bunny. I just won an auction for the Holiday train http://www.brickset.com/detail/?set=10173-1 on ebay.

This is one of the first sets I saw online when I came out of the dark ages, and wanted it so badly, but as you know, it doesn't come up much. I have no idea if I got a good price or not, and I'm sure it can be made from bricklink pieces for a reasonable amount, but either way. Happy! My christmas scene is coming along nicely. I just need the bakery and some white things to turn the medieval market white to match :)

Anyone got hints on motorising it with PF?

MinifigsMe

Just finished building the Emerald Night, gosh it's beautiful :) Spent a very happy afternoon doing it with my dad who's a big train fan. Now it's all laid out on my floor with the modern station, which sort of doesn't quite work! looks good with the modulars though.
My mum was even enjoying it, and made my level crossings. Some new 60+ AFOLS created I think!

Back to the holiday train - the seller has emailed to say there's not box and instructions and I can back out of the sale if I want. Instructions are cheap enough on bricklink - about a fiver with postage from the US or China. So what do you guys think - is £83 with out instructions a bit much??

Now I've got the emerald night built I'm not really sure I need another green train, EK will be a nice Christmassy train I think...opinions appreciated.

Si_UKNZ

^ that is an absolute bargain, well done!
glad youre enjoying the emerald... its such a stunning set ...

MinifigsMe

You think? It seems reasonable, the pic makes it look fairly complete, but clearly with out instructions they can't really tell me that. It's local enough for pick up, so I might go and check it out. Personally I'm happy with downloaded instructions, but you guys are rubbing off on me, and I feel like I should have the proper ones!

I guess I know who to sell/trade it too if I change my mind ;-)

Si_UKNZ

Not a set Im chasing, but I have seen it go on ebay for 3 times that.
building from the screen is OK, I've done it a few times.

MinifigsMe

lol! Well it's on brickline for £122 - so maybe a price drop recently? I think I'll go for it. I do like it a lot, but I think the EN is likely to be my fave. So much lego recently - eeeeeeek!

drdavewatford

@Savage_Steel - coincidentally, I recently blogged about my love of Emerald Night; given your comments above I thought you might be interested to have a read :

http://gimmelego.blogspot.com/2011/05/favourite-sets-5-emerald-night.html

Regarding the holiday train, £83 without box or instructions actually sounds a bit steep to me - I paid £112 for a complete, boxed example with instructions on eBay earlier this year. The issue is rarity, however - they don't come up that often, so if you're desperate for it you might need to bite the bullet. I'd hold out for one with box and instructions, myself, not least because it'll better guarantee a decent resale value if you ever decide to sell it on....

MinifigsMe

Nice blog @drdavewatford :-) the slope is indeed slippery! I might go with the train now, and grab the instructions from bricklink. I agree that boxes are good for resale, but I think with the train sets, they're really bought to be built and played with. Buying a MSIB is no good to me, as I need to build it.
Did you make any progress in motorizing it?

MinifigsMe

Did you use bricks to cover the battery in the tender? I used mostly black tiles and lefot over slopes to make it more like it's full of coal. I feel sad that the lovely furnace has to be taken out. I think I need a signal box now, they can have the fireplace in there, or in the station master's house.

drdavewatford

^^ I've not tried to motorise the holiday train yet, but given that it was designed to take a motor (LEGO even sold a multipack of train + motor etc.) I doubt it'd be that hard.

^ If you look closely at the pic of my own Emerald Night near the bottom of the blog posting (click on it to enlarge) you'll see I decided to leave the battery box untouched; it's mainly so I can get to the on/off switch and charger socket without any hassle. I agree that it's a shame to have to lose the furnace from the loco, but that's the price you pay for motorisation I guess !

Si_UKNZ

^^^ yes, nice blog indeed :) Ive been wondering about the multiple carriages issue too and heres an idea - get multiple sets but MoC the engine into different engines; have you seen any MoCs based on the Emerald pieces? I think there would be great potential for a shunter for example ... just a thought!

^^ I've left the emerald battery clear as well, mainly because I'm lazy :-) Soemthing like the switch on the cargo train could hide it quite well though I imagine

MinifigsMe

Mocing the emerald night would be good, as it does deserve more carriages, and more 'realistic' trains would be great. But I'd like a blue Mallard really...mmmm

Doing the battery box was minor, it's not a realsistic coal look, I think black studs work well as coal, we just used the left over black little slopes from the set, a inverted dish (like the cargo train for the switch, and a grill tile at the end so you can see if the light is on or off. took two mins and looks much nicer IMHO.

I think the holiday train will be doable. I'm going to build my toy story train again, and motorize it and start learning the different ways to doing this, as the holiday is meant to be 9v but I don't want to do that.

brickmatic

@Si_Dorking_Surrey_UK Do you have any pictures of your motorized tram? I'm curious about your technique.

madforLEGO

^^ You can get cars only on eBay.. they are kinda expensive, but you can get them.

legomatt

@Savage_Steel

You can download the instructions direct from lego, just tap in the set number (10173) and download the appropriate PDFs. Of course, you'll need your computer on if you don't print them out, but it saves a bit of money.

http://us.service.lego.com/en-US/BuildingInstructions/default.aspx

(oh, wait. You already mentioned downloaded instructions... colour me stupid).

MinifigsMe

Thanks @legomatt - yep I'm very familiar with downloading them! The ones for the train are a bit rubbish actually, they're very dark. But I do this a lot as I have a few unsorted bulk buys to figure out. I might splash out on the real ones sometime, but actually I picked up the set last night and it's all fully built.
It's very nice, totally cute, but I'm a bit sad it's built already, as I like to do it myself (of course I can take it apart and do it - but I now already know how it looks!!)
I'm pleased with it though, I think I'll make even more carriages and wagons for it. I think my toystory figures should be part of the toys carriage, plus some more mini toys like from the winter toy shop. And of course I need to figure out how to motorise it :)
Though the ideal might be to change the bright green pieces to dark green so that the emerald night can pull the carriages and caboose :)

Si_UKNZ

@brickmatic ... here's a couple of pics ..





At the moment it's next to some sets that just arrived, so couldnt resist using them as a background. I like the idea of a tram running through the jungle :-)

Essentially I demolished the central bit of the tram and built it up again around the PF motor and battery box, and installed the RF transmitter above the driver's head.

Needs a bit of tweaking as you can see; since I'm building another soon was planning to fix the height issue on that one then retro-fit the changes on this one. It's a bit of a fiddle to disassemble as the cabling is a bit tricky inside the middle car - especially since both front and rear lights are PF-ed. There's only 1 brick in each direction around the sides of the motor, so it's a bit of a squeeze for the cabling. Also once done I'll tidy up the cabling inside the front and rear cars so it runs along the floor.

The other thing I'm thinking about is the need to use 3-high tiles on the middle car, so think I'll change the front and rear to match and make all of them blue instead of the black stripe along the top.

The switch is under the orange grill on the top, a bit like the cargo train.

I also removed 2 sets of wheels, so there are just 2 at the front and 2 at the back, and the motor in the middle.

brickmatic

@Si_Dorking_Surrey_UK Thanks for sharing! I like how the Tram is going through the Jungle between the opposing Jungle Villagers and the Spartans, lol. It looks like it's really hard to keep everything compact in the tram, but I think you're heading in a really good direction with your modifications. I like.

princedraven

MMV is a future classic and such good value for money compared to some other sets. It's not too late to order the Fire Brigade, it's on 30 day backorder. Remember they won't take the money until they ship it so technically it falls into next months spend ;-)

Potentially silly question, but what do you mean by 30 day backorder

princedraven

Oops didn't mean to finish there.
Basically really want the Fire Brigade but definitely cannot afford it this month, so if I could order now and it not be charged or delivered till next month that would be perfect. But the website says Available Now, does that not mean that they are in stock??

MinifigsMe

@princedraven - yes, they're in stock. A week ago it was on backorder, which seemed to be the signal that it was going to be discontinued, but it's back, so it's not imminent (though as with all things lego, it could be gone tomorrow, but hopefully not)

peterab

Istokg said:

And speaking of 12V trains... I have a question for the Aussies/Asians on this forum... the 12V blue track series of trains (1969-79) were sold strictly in continental Europe. And when the gray track 12V trains were introduced... were they sold in Australia and/or Asia?

I know they were in Britain/Ireland (as well as continental Europe), which usually means also that they were sold in Australia.

At least a few were, but since I was in my dark ages I don't have direct experience. Some of the younger guys in my LUG had 12V as kids though. 7740 was available here.

Some 4.5V blue track train sets were too, I remember the red battery carriage with the blue roof.