Push-Along Passenger Steam Train Our community, 342 want it Diesel Freight Train Set Our community, 314 want it Electric Goods Train Set Our community, 416 want it Inter-City Passenger Train Set Our community, 711 want it Steam Engine with Tender Our community, 466 want it Our community, 513 want it Our community, 315 want it Our community, 410 want it Our community, 418 want it Our community, 312 want itThe very first train set, 323 Train, was released in 1965, without any track. It had ordinary road wheels. It was released only during that year, because in 1966 the LEGO Group introduced the first sets with track and battery powered motors. LEGO 4.5V Trains were first introduced in 1966. They had blue rails and white sleepers (standard 8 x 2 plates), and the locomotives used the standard 4-wheel drive LEGO 4.5V motor unit. The wheels were flanged train wheels with rubber rims for traction, that were pushed into the motors.
The batteries were carried behind the engine in a tender, or in a battery box built into the engine in the earlier sets. Since 1969, there was also a 12V train program, which used additional conductor rails mounted between the standard 4.5V rails, and 12V motors contained in the same housings as the 4.5V motors, but with additional metal contacts attached to the bottom of the housings. This first period of the 4.5V and 12V trains, sometimes called the Blue Era because of the rails colour, lasted from 1966 till 1979. The second era (1980 - 1990), also called Grey Era, is characterized by dark Grey ties (sleepers) and light grey rails. Wheels were red or black. Both 4.5V (battery powered) and 12V (DC powered using add-on centre conductor rails) sets were available during this era, too. By real model train fans, this time is considered as the greatest era of LEGO Trains because of the rich availability of many automated accessories like Remote Controlled Switch Tracks (7858, 7859), Remote Controlled Signals (7860), Remote Controlled Road Crossing (7866) or Remote Controlled Decoupling (7862) - those remote controls could be combined with the Transformer / Speed Controller to a large extendible keyboard for controlling all functions from one central position.
In addition to this the world around the trains could be illuminated by some electric lights (7867) - for a bright flair even beyond the rails. The introduction of 9V-trains in 1991 marked the end of the earlier two voltages. This third era is characterized by integral moulded dark Grey rail/tie assemblies with metal conducting rails. Later the former outstanding standard Trains theme was integrated in the LEGO World City theme line. The 9V era was finished with a special experts model of the Factory line called Hobby Trains in 2006. In the same year LEGO Company introduced the new completely different RC system. These trains get their energy from batteries on board and are controlled via a Infrared remote control. For these trains, new non-electricity tracks (7896, 7895) were introduced. From now the Trains theme became part of the LEGO City theme line. In 2009 the special edition engine Emerald Night was released which had lovely designed details like new steam train type wheels.
With the set came many new Train Accessories based on Power Functions including Power Functions Rechargeable Battery Box, Power Functions IR Receiver, Power Functions IR Speed Remote Control and Transformer 10VDC. In 2010 the change from the unpopular first RC system to the more efficient PF system was be completed with the introduction of the very first completely Power Functions based train sets. Not mentioned here are DUPLO Trains and the Monorail-system.LEGO City 60051 High-Speed Passenger Train Set, brand new and sealed, sent boxedDuplo Lego Thomas Tank Load and Carry Train Set No. 5554 c 2005 & trackLego Train 12V Passenger Car / Sleeper 7815 in a good but used conditionThe requested URL /lego-instructions.php?cat_id=15 was not found on this server. Additionally, a 404 Not Found error was encountered while trying to use an ErrorDocument to handle the request.Finding the Missing Bricks: Rebuilding Vintage Lego Train Kits imageLego introduced its first train series in 1966 with set number 080.
In the years since, the Lego Train product line expanded considerably, which made it necessary for Lego to retire old sets in order to...Read More about Finding the Missing Bricks: Rebuilding Vintage Lego Train Kits“I didn’t know LEGO made trains!” That’s something I’ve heard a lot at shows. The LEGO train product line has been around for 40 years, yet so many people have never seen them, as the big box and toy stores (in the US at least) generally didn’t stock the train lines – you had to buy them direct from LEGO. Here’s a brief overview of the different types of trains LEGO has made: Introduced in 1966, the first LEGO trains were powered by three C cells carried in a special battery box, and ran on plastic tracks. The tracks consisted of individual blue rails that you would snap onto white 2×8 plates. If you ever come across blue 1×16 plates with a sort of ridged rail top, that’s where they came from. The ridges provided extra traction for the motor, which had rubber tires on the wheels.
The best example of this is the original trains set, #113 “Motorized Train Set”. The 4.5V sets continued to be produced and sold through the 1970s and 80s. The next evolution of trains came 3 years later in 1969 with the 12-volt product line, which were powered from the tracks for the first time. However instead of powered rails like most model railroad gauges, there was a pair of metal conductors in the center of the track. The rails were the same as the 4.5V ones, at first in blue, and switching to grey in 1980. A special 2×8 plate was used in later sets to build the tracks for a sturdier connection – it looks like a 2×8 plate but the studs under the rails are replaced with a sort of clip that snaps onto the rail. Trains were controlled by a trackside connector that took power from the AC mains and connected to the metal contacts on the tracks, providing 0-12V DC power. This system also included a bunch of great accessories, such as level crossing gates, motorized switches, and signage.
The 12V line was only sold in Europe, so very few Americans got their hands on them. Examples of this line are #720 “Train with 12V Electric Motor” from 1969 and #7740 “Inter-City Passenger Train Set” from 1980. Beginning in 1991, LEGO switched standards yet again. The 4.5V and 12V systems were discontinued, and the new 9V system was released. The new tracks featured powered rails for the first time, and the rails and ties (sleepers) were a single track component with end-to-end connections that held them together well and provided electric continuity between track sections. This is the system that my Track Layout Geometry page refers to. Tracks were released in dark grey; the color was changed to the new dark stone grey when LEGO discontinued the old greys, but the 9V line was discontinued soon after that. The train motor drew power from the rails using metal flanges, but the weight was carried on rubber tires so that the noise was kept to a minimum and traction is pretty good.
The motor has four studs with metal contacts on them, so you can connect a wire to power a lamp or other accessories (but at slow speeds, the lamp is dim of course). The trains were controlled by a trackside dial that took power from the AC mains and delivered from 0-9V to the rails via special clips that connected to a piece of track. One of the first, and most beloved, sets in this line was the classic #4558 “Metroliner”, which was inspired by Amtrak trains – perhaps the first LEGO set based on an American train. Another beloved train from this era was the #10020 “Santa Fe Super Chief” which represented another great American locomotive. Around 2006, LEGO discontinued the 9V train system. This caused a great deal of consternation among the adult fan of LEGO (AFOL) community, especially since they had just discontinued the classic grey and brown shades in favor of the newer stone (“bluish” some people call it) greys and reddish brown. The tracks lost their metal conductors, but were otherwise the same as the 9V tracks.
Trains carried 6 AA batteries onboard for 9V power, and were controlled by new infrared (IR) remote controllers. These were very unpopular with AFOLs because of their poor pulling power and lack of customizability – the battery pack and IR receiver was built into a train chassis so it was hard to build anything realistic that didn’t look like that chassis. The motor for this era was very similar to the 9V train motor, but with plastic wheels and a wire coming off it with a 9V 2×2 plate connector that would attach to the battery pack chassis. The #7898 “Cargo Train Deluxe” set is a good example of this. Fortunately, this was a short-lived phase in the LEGO train story. Around the same time that the battery train came out, LEGO introduced the Power Functions line for TECHNIC sets, and a few years later in 2009 they released trains using the same system. Power Functions is also 9 volt, but features a new 2×2 plate connector with 4 contacts and a new IR remote control system.
The tracks are the same as the previous battery powered system. When LEGO came out with the #10194 “Emerald Night” set, the AFOL community was thrilled. In all the years of producing LEGO trains, this was the first realistic steam locomotive they had ever made, featuring new large diameter wheels. To power it, you had to build a power train using the Power Functions XL motor and gears to the wheel axles. It carried its battery box in the tender, and was controlled by the Power Functions IR controller. They have also produced diesel trains in this line, such as the #10219 “Maersk Train”, another fan favorite. To power the diesel trains, you would use a motor block similar to the ones from the previous battery powered line, but this time with a Power Functions connector on the cable. The trains sold by LEGO today are all Power Functions with plastic tracks. You can find a lot of LEGO train sets on Amazon. For more information see the “A History of LEGO Trains” page on Brickset.