Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the last several months, you’ve probably seen the new LEGO® train sets coming out in August. We here at Brick Model Railroader have been quiet on the subject so far. The LEGO Group has been very quiet themselves on the new line until very recently, and in light of the lack of information, we decided to wait before publishing anything of significance on the matter. Wild speculation and secondhand rumors are not the kind of news we wish to write about; we would rather wait until we have accurate information and can make a fair and educated assessment of the facts. This hobby is very important to us, and we wish to be good stewards of it.

Now with the release of the new trains coming closer, LEGO has begun to open up a bit about the new sets, and the new Powered Up system that will be replacing the Power Functions line as the power/control system for them. LEGO has even released a handful of sets to LEGO Fan Media organizations for them to examine in depth. And while unfortunately we here at Brick Model Railroader have not been able to see a set in person yet, we are grateful to those who have for sharing their findings with the train community. There is enough information out there that we feel we can talk about the new trains in a hopefully informed manor. The two new trains sets in question are of course the 60198 Cargo Train, and the 60197 Passenger Train. While we could say much about the designs of the new sets, we will wait until we have them in person before writing a full review. Rather what concerns us today is the new Powered Up system that is behind them and what it means to us LEGO train fans and our hobby.

These new train sets, more than any others in recent years, will have a huge impact on the way we experience the LEGO train hobby. That is because for the first time since the end of the 9v train era, the LEGO Group is introducing a new power and control system for their train line, the Powered Up system. On the surface, not much may seem to be changing, the trains are still remote controlled, the track is still all plastic, and the trains receive their power from on board batteries. The Power Functions system we’ve had since 2009 has been governed by the same principals. But when you dig deeper into the new system, you’ll find that it has a number of key differences. So let’s take a look at what we’re getting so far.

Continue reading The Coming of a New Era in LEGO® Trains →