Subject:
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Re: The Future of Trains
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.lego, lugnet.trains
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Date:
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Wed, 3 Oct 2007 14:02:03 GMT
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Reply-To:
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cjmasi@*nogarbageplease*verizon.AVOIDSPAMnet
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Viewed:
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23712 times
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Steve Witt wrote:
> I'm posting this on behalf of Richard Stollery, head of LEGO Community
> Development:
>
> LEGO 9V Train Communication
>
> Billund, Oct. 1st ’07
> Dear all,
>
> Many of you are aware of the on-going discussions on the 9V train system. We
> would like to thank you all for the input you provided to us directly and
> through different channels. Based on critical business decisions and the
> consultations and discussions with various AFOLs we have decided to focus on one
> single solution in order to avoid the complexity of maintaining two systems in
> parallel and in order to solve the issues we have with the actual 9V system and
> the remote control City train system. We envision one upgradeable train system
> for all ages in the future.
[...]
> These AFOL quotes give you an impression of what will be possible with the
> future system and we will keep you up to date on the development of the new LEGO
> Power Functions train system. We expect to have more information and details to
> share with you before the end of the year.
>
>
> Richard Stollery, Head of LEGO Community Development
Well, I guess at least we now don't have to worry about if or when the
9v line will be discontinued. Like some of you, I am upset. I am upset
that LEGO marketed the 9v line so poorly, but I also suspect that in the
current atmosphere (both corporate and children's play habits) 9v trains
were never going to generate enough of a profit.
I have been a huge supporter of 9v trains. Before 9v, I had the only two
battery powered trains that were available in the US. I also bought all
of the accessories (all two or three of them) that were available at the
time. When I was given a European 12v train by an executive from LEGO
Systems Inc. I asked my parents to buy 12v track for me when they went
to Ireland. I had a K3 of plastic 4.5v rails and eight boxes of 12v
rails, but when the 9v system came out, I didn't care about the loss of
the Classic train stuff (actually, they're not lost, they're all tucked
away in their boxes); 9v trains were simply too cool. I mean... come
on... metal rails. No more batteries. If 9v trains had not been released
by LEGO, I doubt that there would be an adult LEGO train community.
Certainly, the 4.5v battery system wasn't going to get me into the
"hobby". The unanswerable question, though, is, "Would I have reacted
the same way to a super-cool, battery-powered train system?"
What do I, the metal-railed 9v dinosaur, do now? Certainly, I'll buy
some track. I've got a ton, but not enough to do a home layout... well
not the one I imagine in my mind's eye at least. Should I pick up a
couple of spare motors, maybe, but then what?
Some suggest building LEGO trains atop non-LEGO components; like a cross
between O-gauge and L-gauge. It sounds like a good idea, and it'll make
for some great creations especially in the hands of Ross Neal and his
dad... what's his name? :) And even though I'm not a purist--I run Big
Ben Bricks drivers, and I've been known to do bad things to good
bricks--that just isn't for me.
Will I slowly switch over to the new system? Part of me wonders about
the pulling power. You see, I've got a secret. I bought one of the
IR-controlled trains. Here's what I discovered. An IR-controlled,
battery-powered train running around an oval is just as boring as a
metal-rail powered train running around an oval. The IR-controlled,
battery-powered freight engine might go faster than my 1 kg, 8-stud
wide, 59-stud long EMD SD 40-2, but in a tug of war well... let's just
say that the dash-2 goes where it wants to go. But here is what I've
also discovered. Playing trains with my son using two independently
controlled trains (metal rail and IR) is a gas! Rail powered tains
aren't perfect either... my super sized Super Chief is too big for the
three motors that are needed to pull it.
So battery powered trains that can be controlled independently can be
fun (though independent control is possible with powered rails using
non-LEGO equipment). The power of a multi unit lash-up will not be
limited by the ability of the regulator to send power to the track. Will
that be enough to overcome the fact that I'll need batteries, lots of
batteries. Who knows, but if someone wanted to know what might pique my
interest...
A conveniently shaped battery box. I realize that it won't be small, but
I need to be able to build around it. I can imagine a day where I might
want to have two battery boxes in one massive engine.
The battery box should be able to do more than control the speed and
direction of the train. It should be able to send power out over two
other lines with control of the amount of energy going out, and maybe
the polarity too.
Track side charging sounds cool, but an easily changed battery box is a
necessity.
The remote control must work fantastically... forget IR, forget "regular
RF", why not BlueTooth? Heck, isn't everything BlueTooth these days? It
couldn't be that hard to create a simple BlueTooth remote to control the
train could it? LEGO's already got a lot of experience with BlueTooth
and Mindstorms-NXT, no? Why BlueTooth? Maybe people outside of LEGO
could develop software to control trains directly from BlueTooth
equipped computers (I don't know, could you guys do that?) That would be
cool.
I need to be able to buy the motors, battery boxes, and controllers
separately. I'll probably buy sets, but I'll need to be able to convert
my old running gear to the new stuff.
Well, I can't be as upbeat as some of the people who have posted, but
I'm in a good position collection-wise so this change won't be a big
problem for me. If the new system is interesting enough, and if it looks
like it'll work with the big trains I like to build, then I'll start
converting some of my stuff to the new system. I don't see myself buying
much track. The idea of mixing metal rails with plastic makes my nose
wriggle...
LEGO trains are dead... Long live LEGO trains.
Chris
--
http://mysite.verizon.net/cjmasi/lego/
Learn about brittle bone disease
http://www.oif.org/
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Message has 1 Reply:
 | | Re: The Future of Trains
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| Chris brings home a good point. 9V is what it is, probably because of the powered rails. No other LEGO Train system has that. However, I do beleive that one day very soon (if not already) battery technology will allow more power than can be safely (...) (17 years ago, 4-Oct-07, to lugnet.lego, lugnet.trains)
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Message is in Reply To:
| | The Future of Trains
|
| I'm posting this on behalf of Richard Stollery, head of LEGO Community Development: LEGO 9V Train Communication Billund, Oct. 1st ’07 Dear all, Many of you are aware of the on-going discussions on the 9V train system. We would like to thank you all (...) (17 years ago, 1-Oct-07, to lugnet.announce) !!
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