OcTRAINber 2018: The Second Challenge!

New year, new competition!

Hello everyone, and happy Autumn!

With September drawing to a close, and October quickly approaching, the time has come to announce our latest installment of our OcTRAINber build competition!

This year, the challenge is…

Continue reading OcTRAINber 2018: The Second Challenge!

Why Am I Here?

Following the AWESOME events of NMRA 2018 in Kansas City last month, there’s been a lot of discussion about what people are trying to get out of the hobby, defined as “LEGO Trains”. Put another way, why are we (you, me, etc.) here? What kind of reward do we seek from this niche hobby within a niche hobby?

Allow me to offer a few of my own thoughts and experiences which remind me why I’m doing what I am.

The participating AFOLs from the 2018 National Train Show

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Review: 60197 Passenger Train with Powered Up System

Last week we brought you our review of the new Cargo Train set no. 60198. This week we have our review on the second of the new Powered Up train sets, the Passenger Train set no. 60197.

Box Front

The new Passenger and Cargo Train sets are our first introduction to the new Powered Up System, and also the first new City trains in a few years. Naturally, these new sets are of great interest to the LEGO train community. The Powered Up system in particular has been a very hot topic, and has many potential ramifications to how we build our trains going forward. However, we didn’t want to confuse the new system with the set, even though they come as a pair. We want to review the new trains on their own merit. We will have a more extensive review of the Powered Up system itself, and what it has to offer the more advanced builder, in an upcoming article.

The new Powered Up battery/receiver, controller, and train motor included in the new train sets.

For these reviews we are looking at the new train sets based on how good they are as actual train sets. A train set is really the gate way to the larger model train hobby. It’s where almost every LEGO train fan, and modeler starts. It may be a set received as a present under the Christmas tree or for a birthday, or a set purchased from a store to add to your growing AFOL collection. The train set is where most of us start our LEGO train hobby because all the basic building blocks to creating a running train are there in a single box, and will be the gateway for new builders in our hobby for the next several years. Let’s take a look now and see what the new Passenger Train set has to offer us. Continue reading Review: 60197 Passenger Train with Powered Up System

Review: 60198 Cargo Train with Powered Up System

At long last, way too long probably, Brick Model Railroader has built and reviewed the new Powered Up train sets from the LEGO City line!

The complete 60198 Cargo Train set.

Unfortunately, and quite obviously, we are pretty late to the review party for these new trains. While BMR is a Recognized LEGO Online Community (RLOC) and we do have some benefits from that, we were not able to obtain the new train sets before the official release, but we did try. Cale ended up buying one of each anyways so we could provide a decent review for our audience, being the only Train-specific LEGO media around.

Let’s dive into the new 60198 Cargo Train with Powered Up!

Continue reading Review: 60198 Cargo Train with Powered Up System