Subject:
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Re: Getting Started with LEGO Trains - Wait for the 2nd edition!
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.books, lugnet.trains
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Date:
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Tue, 16 Mar 2004 13:23:44 GMT
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Viewed:
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12132 times
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In lugnet.books, Jake McKee wrote:
> If you've already read the book, please post a review on Amazon if you are so
> inclined.
My copy has arrived, and I've read it and I'm not impressed.
As requested, I've tried to leave a review at Amazon, but as they still list the
book as unavailable that doesn't seem to be possible, so I've posted my review
below.
I bought the book as my eldest daughter is starting to get into Lego Trains
(mainly as a way to rebel against being unable to play with Daddy's monorail).
Although our Lego collection is of a reasonable size, we only have one train set
(the World City Cargo Train) and it seemed like the book should be a good
introduction to this unknown area for us and give us ideas as to where to take
our collecting next. (I have extensive experience of railway modelling and have
many fond memories of leafing through Hornby, Peco, Lima, Joeuf, et al catalogs,
track plans and "how to" books and pamphlets as a child. Perhaps those
experiences unfavourably biased me in what I was expecting from this Lego Trains
book.)
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Getting Started With Lego Trains – Wait for the 2nd Edition!
Initial impressions of “Getting Started With Lego Trains” by Jacob H McKee (No
Starch Press) is of a glossy but lightweight book that has no clearly targeted
audience.
The title of the book implies that the target audience is relative newcomers to
the Lego train scene, and indeed the first couple of chapters, with their chatty
style, touching the basics, history and currently available sets of Lego trains
and references to how to set up your first out-of-the-boxes Lego train set bear
this out. The following chapters outline the design of, and give step-by-step
building instructions for, freight train stock. However, these use a large
number of parts which I would not expect to find in a beginners collection
(either by dint of the sheer number required of a particular part in a
particular colour, eg 18 yellow 1x2 plates with handle for the flatbed car, or
the relatively scarce use of the part in recent Lego sets, eg 7 right hand 1x3x1
doors for the loco), but, the instructions use steps with very few parts added
per step which does seem to indicate that they are aimed at the beginner
builder. The last chapter covers some intermediate concepts of track planning
in depth while completely ignoring other more basic ones, so it would seem that
some prior knowledge, and perhaps previous experience of model railways, is
assumed.
106 pages for a RRP of $19.95 (19 cents a page) make it considerably more
expensive than other Lego related books I have recently purchased (which have
averaged 8 or 9 cents a page) so I was expecting the content to be impressive.
The first three chapters are interesting, with a brief history of the different
train systems released by Lego, a review of currently available Lego sets and
train specific parts and a guide to setting up and using your first train set.
Some sidebar information seems strangely misplaced for later reference. For
example, the side bar on the SNOT technique would be more at home in the loco
chapter where it is first used and the sidebar on track composition would seem
to more logically reside in the Technical Details side bar in the Track Layout
chapter.
The next three chapters comprise the bulk of the book and cover the design of,
and step-by-step building instructions for, stock for a freight train. The
chapter introductions and interviews offer fascinating insights to the design
process but leave a number of questions unanswered. What parts inspired a
particular aspect of the design? What general design patterns can be abstracted
from the models presented? How could alternative parts be substituted? What
kinds of alternative designs are possible for sub-assemblies? How can working
lights and sirens be added? Answering these questions, and thereby producing a
reference of useful sub-assemblies, would make the chapters much more useful as
a reference for later building of your own models. Such a reference of
sub-assemblies could also address the glaring omission of stock for passenger
trains, without the need for full step-by-step instructions.
At first glance the building instructions seem clear and concise, if a bit
over-simple in some steps (where only 2 of 3 parts may be added). The most
obvious omission is of a complete Bill of Materials for each model. This
oversight is compounded by errors in the parts list for a number of steps in
each of the models – the Intermodal Container Car has errors in (at least) steps
2, 7 and 18, the Reefer Car has errors in (at least) both sub-assemblies on step
19, and the Loco has errors in (at least) steps 13, 15, 21, 28 (bottom left) and
29 (right). These parts lists errors, although annoying, are minor compared to
the errors in the instructions for the Loco. Steps 10, 11, 16 and 17 fail to
show the parts added, additionally step 16 is actually a “backwards” step (and
therefore step 17 does not seem to follow from any previous step) and step 19
suddenly rotates the loco end-on-end with no indication. Coupled with the parts
list errors these combine to make the loco very hard to build by a beginner.
The purpose of step 3 in the Reefer Car is also a mystery. Either the models
were never “test-built” from the proofs for the book or some serious issues have
occurred during print production.
The final chapter briefly touches on track layouts. The chapter launches
straight into a monster plan of some 110 track pieces; there is no initial
discussion of track geometry or the importance of maintaining track centres
and/or parallel ends. A number of “track patterns” (inner and outer quarter
circles, facing points, points around curves, parallel sidings, passing loops,
junctions, etc) would be a useful introduction to the plans that follow.
There are 10 suggested track layouts but there is no clear progression from one
plan to the next. With designs apparently at random, the beginner is going to
be confused by what to do (or buy) next. I had expected to see a series of
plans all building on the basic out-of-the-box oval and then on each other by
adding more track, for example, oval with sidings, passing loop, twin train
running (by adding a second set), through station, terminus, goods yards, etc.
Furthermore, there is no indication of the space required to set up the plans or
where to attach the power clips. There is a discussion of the perils of reverse
loops but no discussion of the isolating nature of points and the need to feed
power to the toe of the point. There is an in-depth discussion of inclines but
no mention of “loading gauge”. Track layouts (the title of the chapter) are
also far more than track plans – where are the station buildings, footbridges,
signal boxes, signals, engine facilities, goods yard features, tunnels, bridges,
level crossings and associated scenery?
My final impression of this book is one that has been rushed and missed a myriad
of opportunities with shoddy production. It could have contained so much more,
and the numerous references to the Bricks On The Brain web site imply that the
author wanted it to contain more. With the lack of general content, this book
is little more than instructions for three models and a few track plans and,
with the atrocious production of the freight train plans, if I had bought this
book from a UK shop I would certainly be returning it for a refund, however, as
it was bought at discount from the US it will spend its life gathering dust on
the book shelf. Anyone considering this book should certainly wait for the
second printing to correct the building plans, if not for the second edition
which (hopefully) will add all the missing content.
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