The 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.Here are some of our favorite LEGO-related web sites and blogs: PCHLUG – The Pacific Coast Highway LEGO Users Group SacBB – Sacramento Area Brick Builders (on Facebook) LUGoLA – LEGO Users Group of Los Angeles SCLTC – Southern California LEGO Train Club SanDLUG – San Diego LEGO Users Group PortLUG – Portland LEGO Users Group SeaLUG – Seattle LEGO Users Group GPLR – Greater Portland LEGO Railroaders PSLTC – Puget Sound (Seattle) LEGO Train Club Add flexible tracks to your train track system to connect tracks around obstacles and awkward shapes. Make your trains go even further Includes 8 straight tracks and 16 flexible tracks. 5 to 12 years Official LEGO Comments 3 Last Updated 6 months ago. What was it the Engines said, Pilots touching,—head to head Facing on the single track, Half a world behind each back? I know exactly what those engines said: “Chugga-chugga-chugga-chugga-chugga-chugga-chugga-chugga, ding-ding-ding-ding, choo-choo!”
How is this even a question? Anyway, what this fellow was talking about was the Golden Spike Ceremony. It was a special event that took place on 10 May 1869 in Promontory Summit, Utah to celebrate the completion of the First Transcontinental Railroad in the United States. During the ceremony, the rail line was symbolically completed with the driving of a final railroad spike made of solid gold using a silver hammer, ending years of building from both ends of the line from the East starting at the Missouri River and from the West starting at Sacramento, California (it was extended to San Francisco Bay by the end of the year). This was kind of a big deal because for the very first time the East Coast and the West Coast of the United States were connected by rail, revolutionizing cross-country travel overnight. Now, instead of traveling West in a covered wagon for several months along dangerous routes like the Oregon Trail and risk dying of dysentery, you could travel all the way to California in less than a week!
Now, almost 150 years later, the Golden Spike Ceremony is considered one of the most important milestones in 19th Century American history. If you were to make a brand-new Lego set based around one historical event in the USA revolving around trains or railroads, this would be it. Piece count: 2,019 total (Jupiter [bright blue]: 968; #119 [dark red]: 977; track: 8; everything else: 66) Dimensions: 124.8 mm (13 bricks) H x 520 mm (65 studs) L x 256 mm (32 studs) W The Golden Spike Ceremony: 150th Anniversary Lego set is meant to replicate the famous photo taken during the event showing a crowd of people posing on and in front of two steam locomotives facing each other at the point where the two railroads making up the Transcontinental Railroad met on 10 May 1869. The two figures shaking hands are Leland Stanford, President of the Central Pacific Railroad (left); and Thomas C. Durant, Vice President and main stockholder of the Union Pacific Railroad (right). Leland Stanford was meant to be the person to drive the Golden Spike, but when he swung the silver hammer, he missed!
Thomas C. Durant decided to give it a try, but when he swung the hammer, he also missed! At this point, the two men agreed to have a regular worker do the job, who drove the spike successfully. The two figures standing on the locomotives toasting with bottles of sarsaparilla (a popular non-alcoholic drink at the time similar to root beer) are the engineers. Standing in front and away from the crowd is the photographer taking the famous picture with his glass plate camera. Rounding out the remainder of the figures are two women, a soldier, and a worker. The two locomotives are the Central Pacific Jupiter (bright blue) and the Union Pacific #119 (dark red). Their design is based directly off of full-size, operational replicas of the original locomotives at the Golden Spike National Historic Site (the original locomotives were both scrapped long ago). The Jupiter uses wood as its fuel while the #119 uses coal. These different fuel types are the reason why their smokestacks are shaped differently.
Burning wood gives off a lot of sparks, which need to be caught in a large cone-shaped smokestack to prevent them from escaping and starting fires. Coal burns better than wood and gives off fewer sparks, so only a straight smokestack is needed. These locomotives are set upon eight sections of straight track and are compatible with all existing Lego train track. They are also both designed to be compatible with power functions and the top of each tender can be opened to insert a battery box and an IR remote receiver. The back wheel section of each tender can also be easily switched out with a train motor. The same Leland Stanford who was at the Golden Spike Ceremony founded this university along with his wife, Jane Stanford, several years later. The original Golden Spike is currently on display at the Cantor Arts Center on the university campus. Under President Abraham Lincoln’s administration, the Pacific Railroad Acts were passed allowing for the Transcontinental Railroad’s construction and funding.
These acts and most of their amendments were passed while the American Civil War was still taking place. Furthermore, Lincoln himself chose Council Bluffs, Iowa along the Missouri River as the eastern terminus of the new railroad. The current replicas of the Jupiter and #119 locomotives from the Golden Spike Ceremony located at the Golden Spike National Historic Site in Promontory Summit, Utah were built by an engineering company run by Chadwell O’Connor, a personal friend of Walt Disney himself who shared his love of railroads, particularly old-fashioned, 19th Century American railroads. Furthermore, original Disney animator Ward Kimball, who was also a personal friend of Walt Disney and a big-time train buff, did the color matching for the two locomotives and drew the elaborate pictures on the #119 locomotive and tender. Goals and Final Remarks My primary goal with designing this Lego set is to see Lego sell a train set based around non-fictional, 19th Century American railroading.