That's a lot of stickers.
Swapping some parts and changing some colour could improve this.
Now it's just an ugly offspring of 4554 being neither real classic build or fancy modern.

Wow, this looks half-finished.

I haven't followed the trains very closely, what do you guys think was the best train station set?

First train station i had as a child.

@WemWem said:
"Wow, this looks half-finished."
Not best station lego ever made, but can be connected with 4561 and 4557 from same year.

I don't think I've seen this one before, but yeah, it does suffer from juniorization. It's not the worst possible example, though. There's quite a nice slushie machine inside the dining area.

And the trike also... Ugh. :P

Yeah, it's not the best. But as @Zordboy says, it's still a train station and it actually has some charm of its own.

Those raised platforms though. Did they always link up properly with the height of trains?

@Westerbricks the trend started in 1997 with Town Jr. There's also a notable shift in the building style of Fright Knights and UFO towards larger pieces and generally less classic design language (subjective). In 1999 many themes have taken over this style. Rock Raiders for example rely on large specialized pieces over regular parts. Just look at 4950 Loader Dozer.

Could probably have been repurposed as a bus station. That is, if Lego had been making a bus at the time. Or at any point in the 20 years prior or 10 years following, really.

And yes, those trikes really did get everywhere, didn't they?

Fairly sure he’s not allowed to be driving his trike on the platform like that. Especially with a trailer. Health and Safety would be throwing a fit

I just checked the trains sets from 1999. I know it was around the dark age of Lego but they are still better than these days.

Pls Lego give some love to the train lovers.

@TransNeonOrangeSpaceman said: "And the trike also... Ugh."

It was the late 90s.

Those three-wheeled-bikes were in literally every set. I imagine Lego must've produced a surplus of the bikes in their manufacturing plants? Because they spent the next 10 years getting rid of all those bikes.

Not the greatest Lego station ever, but still better than what we got in the last couple of years. Luckily, things have changed recently.

That staircase piece has been around a long time.

@8lackmagic said: "Fine choices all, although I was rather partial to 7937 for the RC/PF era, as I liked the call-back to 7822."

I am too, actually, for that same reason. I think 7937 is gorgeous. And functional.

@watcher21 said:
"That's a lot of stickers.
Swapping some parts and changing some colour could improve this.
Now it's just an ugly offspring of 4554 being neither real classic build or fancy modern."

It would be good to see an improved version.

@VintageDude said:
" @sir_vasco said:
"I haven't followed the trains very closely, what do you guys think was the best train station set?"

As the VintageDude I am,
I must say:
342 and 148"
Ooh i liked 148. Never had it, but i remember it from catalogues i guess.

I’m partial to any that sit back a ways from the track, with passengers expected to walk out to the train and climb up the stairs. The Shellraiser is 13-wide, so it needs 14 studs if clearance, and doesn’t get along with train station platforms.

This will always have a special place in my heart :)

Sure, I’m biased by nostalgia, but I liked the columns (and still use them elsewhere)… it’s definitely unique, and it’s impressive that it has both classical columns and yet an overall modern look.

I liked this one, and that’s enough for me.

@WesterBricks said:
"I didn’t realize they were already starting to juniorize in 1999. This was a valiant effort but falls far short of its predecessors."

They started juniorizing in 1996-1997.

@vzarmo said:
"I just checked the trains sets from 1999. I know it was around the dark age of Lego but they are still better than these days.

Pls Lego give some love to the train lovers. "

The new trains are great.

Pull handle off the roof, add another layer of slopes. Replace the trike and hopper with small wheeled luggage golf cart and trailer, with the tall fence pieces (like on the balcony). Rearrange the interior into previous suggestions. Should then be a fairly standard station.

This fits with the random part of the day.

I will go against this entire comment section and state my (apparently) very unpopular opinion that this set really isn't that bad. It cetainly isn't as good as the train stations that came before and I can agree that it propably should be placed very low if compared to the entire line up of Lego train stations.

But I still like the aesthetic of this set. It's somewhere between a classic station and a modern design - like an older station that has been renovated and updated. I personally don't mind some of the large pieces like the platforms (they were also used in the 1991 and 1996 station as well as the Harbour sets from 1991-1995 - all great sets!) and the window pieces are important for the looks of the set. It is only Town Jr pices for the roof that I really don't like. I would argue that use of all the many 2x2 round bricks goes completely against the juniorised style of the end 90's/early 00's.

The inner details are actually really good. Particularly the kiosk with the cook. It is the same thing with the 1999 passenger train, they have suprisingly good inner details which were unexpected for classic town sets coming before this.

Generally I think the 1999 line of trains is ok. Definitely a step down from before but it is not Town Jr! However, it is something between Town jr and Classic Town, which I do agree is not desireble, but I don't think it is as bad as people let it seem.