Ha, classic Train!

This looks like some strange Lego Trains/ Trailer Park Boys crossover set. The shirtless guy in the front just reminds me of Randy lol. Then theres Julian and Ricky in the background both probably doing something very illegal.

More seriously, I don't think I've ever seen this set before--granted, I was never a trainhead, but I definitely thought (at the time) that the 2001 (2002?) steam locomotives were the first. So I'm enjoying this alternate reality where 90s figs and 90s branding is meshing with that.

The build appears to be decent too, though I also cannot explain a pirate chest (at least not as such). The log bricks feel like the most 1998 touch possible, since they were still relatively new then, and this is breaking out of their Wild West origins. I'd probably grade this as something around a B.

1998 feels quite late for this, comparatively.

Still, a 1998 train is better than no Train theme at all!

Actually looks pretty good!

This one and 4559 were the only trains I ever had and I loved them both

One of the first sets I got when I got out of my dark ages.. While not a great train, still holds a special place in my heart.

One of the first sets I got when I got out of my dark ages.. While not a great train, still holds a special place in my heart.

I really like this set except that something about the locomotive just doesnt look right. I think its the cab.

Is it wrong to say that I prefer the design of the carriage and truck to the Locomotive? My issue with it isn't so much the Cab it's the boiler, which stands smaller than the height one Minifig! A real Steam Locomotive boiler is a teensy bit taller than that (unless it's a scaled-down one).

@TomKazutara said:
"sad that trains are dead in city"

Huh.

Huwbot's back in his initial time! I've always been amused by these train sets where all the trains come out of a volcano.

@MCLegoboy:
I mean, you can still see the fiery glow off to the left, so that’s a bit like celebrating your prison escape when you’re leaning against the guard tower.

@Harmonious_Building:
The fact that you already asked the first question should be sufficient answer to the second.

@Zordboy:
Hey, even 75955 forces passengers to jump down onto the tracks because there’s no openings on the side of the passenger car.

@Jack_Sassy:
I’m pretty sure that was a movie on SyFy Channel...

@TomKazutara said:
"sad that trains are dead in city"

How so? We currently have 60197 Passenger Train and 60198 Cargo Train in City - in addition to D2C sets 10277 Crocodile Locomotive and 71044 Disney Train and Station.

Sure, that's a lot less than we had in the 80s and 90s, but it still gives Lego a monopoly in train sets in most shops' toy department.
Toy stores around where I live either no longer stock non-Lego model trains or have a very limited selection. The supermarkets (with large toy departments) will only stock 1 or 2 (cheap plastic) starter sets around Christmas.

Model trains (Lego and other) were popular when a lot of AFOL's were kids, but that's simply not the case anymore. The high-point of the hobby was the early 90's, with model train manufacturers investing heavily in more detailed trains and technology. And then market demand just evaporated. Model train manufacturers have been in terminal decline since, with virtually all of them going through bankruptcy in the 00s and 10s. Those that managed to emerge from bankruptcy are a mere shadow of their former selves (Märklin, Fleischmann, Hornby).

@stlux :
Our LUG got some grief from the traditional hobby train clubs early on, but the vendors love us. We bring in kids, who ask their parents to buy stuff. One hobby train club also runs their own train show, and they know how big an impact we have on attendance. One of their members and his daughter (who loves the Minecraft theme) have even joined us recently. Traditional model trains are a dying hobby (literally) around here. Nearly every member of a local club has white hair, and one of our members once had his brother’s hobby train club try to recruit him as a replacement member when the brother passed away. There’s still money in the hobby, but it’s all retirees who want the high-end stuff, not kids looking for the affordable starter sets. Eventually the market is going to drop out from under hobby trains when there are two many estate collections hitting the market at the same time, and not enough remaining hobbyists to buy them all.

I’m not sure LEGO trains isn’t a dying hobby as well, but the LEGO part of it is definitely growing, so trains has a strong life support network that simply doesn’t exist for hobby trains. You can start out in the LEGO hobby with no interest in trains, and then decide one day to try your hand at it. If it doesn’t work out, you’ve still got non-train themes to fall back on. If you’re hooked, your non-train collection is just as capable of building trains as whatever you were doing before.

Fortunately, too, for LEGO Train enthusiasts, even in this relatively-more-AFOL-driven era, there are still kids into trains... it's just at an earlier age: wooden BRIO tracks and Thomas the Tank Engine and things if that sort. I don't think the through-line to adult models is strong, but for the kids who are into it, LEGO is a good next step and even if the AFOL pool into trains shrinks rather than grows, those remaining should still have something new to look at, because trains-going-choo-choo is pretty much an evergreen small child toy.

All this talk of Lego trains and hobby trains is reminding me of the time my family went to a mall in Charlotte to look at, among other things, the Lego Store there and a Lionel Trains store that was also there.

The only steam engine they made in the 90's. Fun set!

Of the two trains sets released in 1998, this is clearly the better one.

@Formendacil said:
"Fortunately, too, for LEGO Train enthusiasts, even in this relatively-more-AFOL-driven era, there are still kids into trains... it's just at an earlier age: wooden BRIO tracks and Thomas the Tank Engine and things if that sort. I don't think the through-line to adult models is strong, but for the kids who are into it, LEGO is a good next step and even if the AFOL pool into trains shrinks rather than grows, those remaining should still have something new to look at, because trains-going-choo-choo is pretty much an evergreen small child toy."

This! My kids, ages 5 and 4 (in a week!), already went through a train phase, and with all of the LEGO in our house, the trains are basically their favorite sets. Or more accurately, their favorite MOCs, as most of the trains we run are designed in-house. At present, they are focused on a DUPLO Thomas engine that we modified to run with Power Functions. Given the source material, it doesn't look too out of scale pulling System cars.

Lego really went off the rails in 1998 and this set will bring a smile to all fans of heavy-handed literalism as a result

@stlux said:
" @TomKazutara said:
"sad that trains are dead in city"

How so? We currently have 60197 Passenger Train and 60198 Cargo Train in City - in addition to D2C sets 10277 Crocodile Locomotive and 71044 Disney Train and Station."

And we also recently had 75955 Hogwarts Express and 70424 Ghost Train Express, which my aforementioned kids both enjoyed!

@ForestMenOfEndor:
The new Hogwarts is not designed to ride on rails, whether you motorized it or not. It’s been noted that the couplings are too short by one stud, which will cause it to bind up on standard LEGO curves (though people running custom rails with a much larger radius might be fine). It also doesn’t come with any track, so there’s a hinges bit at the front that will lock up the articulation in the front bogey, basically allowing you to push it across the floor like a Tonka truck (otherwise the front bogey will pivot to one side and crab).

@AllenSmith:
Yeah, steam train fans are the one group I know of who were happy about the slow switch from 9v to PF (by way of RC). Pusher engines are far more likely to derail, and steam engines are far more likely to do so with catastrophic results. Plus, if the track isn’t perfectly level, steam drivers that aren’t powered stop rotating, which looks really odd (trains aren’t really designed to coast like a 10-speed bike).

@PurpleDave said:
" @ForestMenOfEndor:
The new Hogwarts is not designed to ride on rails, whether you motorized it or not. It’s been noted that the couplings are too short by one stud, which will cause it to bind up on standard LEGO curves (though people running custom rails with a much larger radius might be fine). It also doesn’t come with any track, so there’s a hinges bit at the front that will lock up the articulation in the front bogey, basically allowing you to push it across the floor like a Tonka truck (otherwise the front bogey will pivot to one side and crab)."

I shoved a Power Functions train motor, battery box and an IR receiver into the Hogwarts Express coal tender and added an extra passenger car, and it runs just fine on our standard LEGO tracks. I've not had any issues with the lock at the front of the engine accidentally engaging - you can switch it "on" or "off." The train has been running happily and accident-free around our tree every Christmas for the last several years.

@stlux said:
" @TomKazutara said:
"sad that trains are dead in city"

How so? We currently have 60197 Passenger Train and 60198 Cargo Train in City - in addition to D2C sets 10277 Crocodile Locomotive and 71044 Disney Train and Station.

Sure, that's a lot less than we had in the 80s and 90s, but it still gives Lego a monopoly in train sets in most shops' toy department.
Toy stores around where I live either no longer stock non-Lego model trains or have a very limited selection. The supermarkets (with large toy departments) will only stock 1 or 2 (cheap plastic) starter sets around Christmas.

Model trains (Lego and other) were popular when a lot of AFOL's were kids, but that's simply not the case anymore. The high-point of the hobby was the early 90's, with model train manufacturers investing heavily in more detailed trains and technology. And then market demand just evaporated. Model train manufacturers have been in terminal decline since, with virtually all of them going through bankruptcy in the 00s and 10s. Those that managed to emerge from bankruptcy are a mere shadow of their former selves (Märklin, Fleischmann, Hornby)."

I sparsely ever see them around here except for hobby shops. Hobby Lobby carries one mid sized HO and one mid sized N set from Bachmann, as well as track and a small selection of acessories. They are it. Other stores that did either went under, or train sets were limited time only things found at outlet/closeout type retailers. Even the kid-friendly battery operated sets are nowhere near as common as they used to be.

I am sorta into trains. I have a Lionel set I found at Ollie's (O gauge) for something like $40, and some assorted Marklin stuff as well that needs work. I keep meaning to buy an older set of Athearn Norfolk Western EMD F7 and rolling stock (mostly coal cars, which is the history of this region and a huge part of the early days of N&W). As I understand, in Athearn's golden days, they were the best locomotives you could buy.

I bought two from TRU at 50% discount. I found the cars mediocre. Only the passengers car had some potential for improvement.
No tracks and no battery box - play value from this set alone was poor.

@ForestMenOfEndor:
The bogey lock is only an example of how it was more intended for use off rails, as I know of no other train that has included a means of locking part of the undercarriage in place. But, I was looking at how to motorize it and checking some Youtube videos, and one of them (can’t remember who) mentioned that the mean Hogwarts uses 3L beams as couplers, but if you compare that arrangement to magnetic couplers there should be one more stud of gap. The reason this is an issue is that, particularly with the new sealed couplers where you can’t just ditch them, this causes the buffers on the inside of the curve to press into each other before it’s even fully entered the curve. Once the coupler is in the middle of the curve, there’s no more give from the coupler, and it will cause the wheels on the inside rail to lift off up. Swapping the 3L beams and non-friction pins out for pairs of 4L thin liftarms and non-friction axle-pins was advised (or simply converting to magnetic couplers).