Here's how it works: Anybody can ask a question The best answers are voted up and rise to the top I've helped my son put together the Cargo Train set (60052) but now we can't get the remote control to work. It all looks like it's been assembled correctly with new batteries put in, but it doesn't move. The best way to solve this type of problem is to break it down and isolate the fault. You might find that it is easier to remove the Power Functions components from the model for some of the following:Disconnect each cable and re-connect everything. Ensure that the plugs are the right way around (they don't sit right if not) and that they are pushed on properly. Check that none of the cables are damaged. Connect the battery box directly to the train motor, bypassing the IR receiver. Does the train work now? If so, the problem is either the remote or the receier. If not, the problem is either the battery box or the motor. Remote / IR Reciever Problems
If the problem is with the controller / IR receiver: Make sure that there is nothing blocking the signal between the controller and the IR receiver. Check that both controller and receiver are on the same channel. There is an orange 4-position switch on both the IR receiver and on the controller, and this determines the channel. Leaving one switch alone, try all 4 positions on the other. Check that the batteries are inserted correctly in the remote. Take them out and put them back in again. Check that the batteries are aren't worn out. Sometimes even new batteries don't deliver the correct voltage. If you have one, test your batteries with a volt meter. If not, try swapping them with new batteries, or test the batteries in something else to make sure they're OK. Check that the battery terminals are not corroded. Sometimes corrosion isn't obvious. Try taking the batteries out and putting them back in again, or twisting them around until they may contact. You may be able to check that the controller is sending a signal.
Although you can't see the flashes of IR light yourself, you may find that you can use a digital camera (such as a mobile phone camera) to see the flashes of light when you use the controls on the controller. These images are from the LEGO web site, which contains more information on both the controller and IR receiver: Battery Box / Motor Problems Check the batteries in the battery box, following steps 3-5 above. The little green light should come on when they're OK and the battery box is switched on (the green button is the on-off switch). There is a great description of the battery box on the LEGO web site, which might help explain things better than I can. This picture is from that site: If All Else Fails Contact LEGO customer services. They'll be deligted to help. Did you check the channel settings on the remote and the receiver? There are 4 channels, and both the receiver on the train and the controller need to be on the same channel :) It's a little orange switch with the numbers 1-4 written next to it.
I just got two new 8885 remotes. Turns out in my case the plus terminals and the plus side of the batteries were not touching due to the terminals being kept too far away by the plastic housing. I bend the terminals a little by inserting a small screw driver behind them and now it works as a charm. Better to take batteries out when actually doing it not as shown on photo with batteries in it :-) Bit of bad production. We have the same problem as outlined above. We realised that the cheap AAA batteries we bought did not make contact with the positive end of the terminals in the controller. In other words the bumpy bit at the positive end of the battery is not high enough to make contact inside the controller. Solution - buy better quality AAA batteries. They will make proper contact. We have had exactly the same issues with the remote control. We found that by checking the batteries were in correctly and rolling them once inside the unit to ensure good connection worked and the green light came on as well as the light on the reciever.
The batteries fit with the outer 2 going one way and the inner one going the other as instructed. So just bought a brand new LEGO Technic kit number 420030. Both IR remotes do not work when loaded with fresh batteries. I just got off the phone with LEGO tech support on this and here's the information they provided. DURACELL batteries are the culprit as they're too short (that's per LEGO tech support). I beg to differ however as I have side by side remotes (I have a third older remote from a previous kit) both loaded with Duracell and one working one not and the condition remains THE SAME even when I swap the batteries. THIS IS A BAD BUILD ON LEGO'S PART. THEIR TOLERANCES HAVE NOT BEEN CONTROLLED. Applying the manipulation to the positive post on both controllers as detailed above fixed the problem on each. BOO LEGO own your issues! Thank you for your interest in this question. Because it has attracted low-quality or spam answers that had to be removed, posting an answer now requires 10 reputation on this site (the association bonus does not count).
Would you like to answer one of these unanswered questions instead? Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged building trains or ask your own question.Very nice set, but the cargo train is more fun My two cents to make this a great purchase Great set, very pretty looking trainOne of the best toys EVER for 7 year olds and older.Fun Train but a little expensiveWe're working on combining a bunch of LEGO train setsand the best one so farHeavy-Haul Trainproduct_label_list_price_accessibility 10 Reviews123451FIND MORE PRODUCTS LIKE THISTrainsCityLoad up the powerful LEGO® City Heavy-Haul Train! Heavy-Haul Train Reviews - page 2As long as I can remember I loved trains. When I was little, we lived on the third floor of an apartment complex, which was a perfect vantage point to see the trains passing in the not-too-far distance. Whenever we heard a train passing, my brother and I dropped everything, ran to the window yelling, TRAAAIN!!!, and counted all the train cars.
We never got tired of this pastime. So much so, that I still stop for trains to count the cars, and my brother moved to a house right next to some train tracks. He said hearing the trains makes him relax. And we both love riding trains too. There is nothing like riding the train through the countryside, hanging out the window with your hair blowing in the wind, and listening to the clickety-clack of the train wheels on the tracks… So with a lifetime affair with trains, you would expect me to have a large LEGO train collection, right? Well, my brother has some awesome LEGO trains, but I never got into them. Because I’m afraid I won’t be able to stop, and I don’t have either the funds or the space to house a whole LEGO train layout. While LEGO only releases a new train every year or two, and they are not super expensive, they also need Power Functions, and track with switches, tunnels and bridges, and a whole city to run around. So I resigned myself to enjoying LEGO trains from a safe distance… at least until recently, when by chance (faith? curse?), I ended up with the #10254 LEGO Creator Holiday Train…
So today I will share with you might thoughts on the #10254 LEGO Creator Holiday Train, and also some of the modifications I have done to it so far. But let’s begin with the official description: Gather the family for some festive LEGO building fun with this charming model featuring a full circle of track, boarding platform with bench and lamppost, a Power Functions upgradable train engine with brick-built smoke billowing from its stack, coal tender, flatbed wagon with a rotating holiday tree, toys and gifts, and a red caboose with a detailed interior and table. The train engine also features large and small red-colored locomotive wheels and the train is decorated with green wreaths, string-lights and white tree elements. This LEGO Creator Expert set includes 5 minifigures: a locomotive driver, ticket collector, grandmother, boy and a girl. The Holiday Train in total measures over 4” (12cm) high, 20” (52cm) long and 2” (7cm) wide. Price: $99.99 – BUY HERE The #10254 LEGO Creator Holiday Train is not the first Christmas-themed LEGO train, as exactly ten years ago, LEGO released the #10173 LEGO Creator Holiday Train (see below).
It is interesting to note that while the earlier train was a regular LEGO train with a full-size engine and cars all dressed up in festive colors, the newer train is much smaller with a cutified look. Some LEGO fans even say that it reminds them of those tour trains found in historic towns and used for sightseeing. However the #10254 LEGO Creator Holiday Train is not the only smaller LEGO train either. The #7597 LEGO Toy Story Western Train released in 2010 has a toy-ish looking engine, but the caboose and cars are quite respectable, albeit a bit on the smaller side. And if you take a look at the #79111 LEGO Lone Ranger Constitution Train released in 2013, you will notice that it appears almost exactly the same as the #10254 LEGO Creator Holiday Train. In fact, the two look excellent together, as you will see on my picture toward the end of this review. I will add here that it is worth reading the #79111 LEGO Lone Ranger Constitution Train Chase review at Eurobricks, as it is one of the nicest LEGO trains LEGO ever released, even though the movie didn’t do well.
The review includes excellent comparison pictures with the #10194 LEGO Emerald Night (a full-size, also dark-green train), which clearly shows that these smaller trains are perfectly compatible with the larger ones, and look good next to each other on the same tracks. Building the #10254 LEGO Creator Holiday Train was a real pleasure. An interesting feature is that the set comes with two instructions booklets, even though the instructions would have easily fit into one. LEGO did this on purpose, so two people can build the set at the same time; one working from the smaller booklet to build the bench, the toys and other accessories, and the other to build the train. This is a very thoughtful arrangement, especially for a holiday set. It took me about an hour to build the train, and it was an easy and pleasant experience. Of course the engine was the most complex, with lots of clever building techniques. The coal tender is simple, but even there you will find some advanced sideways building.
The flatbed wagon comes with a rotating Christmas tree that automatically moves with the movement of the train wheels (I will talk about this section more below). The caboose at the back is a straightforward build, but looks very good. I quite like the color combination of the whole train; mostly green and red, with touches of gold, dark-blue and dark-red, and there are no stickers. All comes together nicely. One of the highlights of the LEGO Christmas Village sets is the small toys included as minifig-size Christmas presents. The #10254 LEGO Creator Holiday Train doesn’t disappoint in this regard. You will learn quite a bit about micro-building by putting together all those tiny toys and vehicles. The back of the larger instruction booklet includes steps to motorize the #10254 LEGO Creator Holiday Train. I was actually pleasantly surprised how easily and elegantly the Power Functions pieces fit in this train. It is clear that adding Power Functions wasn’t just an afterthought.
You will need the #8879 LEGO Power Functions IR Speed Remote Control ($12.99), #8884 LEGO Power Functions IR Receiver ($14.99), #88000 LEGO Power Functions AAA Battery Box ($12.99), and #88002 LEGO Power Functions Train Motor ($13.99). You can find them all under the LEGO Power Functions section of the Online LEGO Shop. The #10254 LEGO Creator Holiday Train also includes 16 standard curved track pieces, which gives you a full circle of rail track with a diameter of 27” (70cm). This is not a particularly big circle, so you might be able to put it around a smaller Christmas tree, but if you want to run the train around your LEGO Christmas Village, you will need more tracks. Below I have included a video-review by JANGBRiCKS so you can see the train in more detail. He also shows you how the train looks motorized, and running through his LEGO city, which is of course fun to watch. All in all, the #10254 LEGO Creator Holiday Train is a lovely set, so if you have any interest, just go ahead and buy it.
You won’t be disappointed. It is available under the LEGO Creator section of the Online LEGO Shop. As far as modifications, there are only a couple of things I didn’t like about the #10254 LEGO Creator Holiday Train, and both involve the flatbed wagon. The mechanism to rotate the Christmas tree is simple, brilliant, and works well. The tree stands on a rotating light-gray 6×6 round plate, covered with some white 2×2 and 1×2 jumper-plates. This is the first thing I don’t like. The round plate is an elegant solution for displaying the tree, but then the curve is ruined with the edges of the jumper-plates jutting out in every direction. It just looks messy. The reason LEGO designers used this solution is because this is the only way they could get the small train to lay out in a circle around the tree. And here is the second thing I don’t like about this section; while the cars of the small toy train are fine, the engine is too big. This makes the train very difficult to circle around the tree, and thus the jumper-plates were needed.
I definitely wanted to remove those jumper-plates, so I played around with different ideas to wrap the train around the tree directly on the 6×6 round plate, but nothing would work. Then I finally came to the conclusion that the engine was just too big and bulky, and decided to build a smaller engine and remove the caboose and one car. So now I have a small train going around the tree, and I also added a few small presents. Once I realized how similar the #10254 LEGO Creator Holiday Train was to the #79111 LEGO Lone Ranger Constitution Train, I just had to buy that one as well. Yes, the LEGO Creator Holiday Train made me buy another train. This is exactly what I was afraid of. Fortunately, even though the train has been retired quite some time ago, I was still able to buy it on eBay for the original retail price. This is quite unusual, as LEGO trains normally go up in price, but somehow – probably because the movie didn’t do well – this excellent little train flew under the radar of LEGO train fans.
I’m quite happy with my two trains. They are smaller than regular trains, so instead of the engine and the cars being 30+ studs long each, they are about half the length. This makes the entire train about half the length as well (from about 40 inches to 20 inches), and thus much easier to display. But they still look good with regular LEGO trains, as demonstrated in the review at Eurobricks I linked to above. I guess I found myself a niche in LEGO trains after all, that doesn’t require such a large investment… at least that’s what I’m telling myself right now… And I will show you one more thing; LEGO fan mouseketeer11 thought the #10254 LEGO Creator Holiday Train was a bit short, and added some extra cars, including a flatbed wagon to transport Christmas trees, more presents and Santa’s reindeer, plus a passenger car, and a super sweet hot cocoa tanker! You can see more pictures here. What do you think? How do you like the #10254 LEGO Creator Holiday Train?