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Subject: 
Re: 1999 Train 4561
Newsgroups: 
lugnet.trains
Date: 
Mon, 7 Dec 1998 17:33:00 GMT
Viewed: 
2575 times
  
My thoughts on the 4561 express:

Given that Lego apparently uses playability as a requisite design constraint,
the design makes sense.  It appears you can load and unload the cars, and the
cockpit design of the engine, makes it easy to get the driver/engineer in and
out.  Plus you can play out the scene for mission impossible with the
helicopter chase through the chunnel with Tom Cruise.  The passenger coaches
are a wealth of good pieces and would look pretty good when combined into
longer chains.  If you do not like the engine, build a different one to match
the cars.  That is the magic of Lego.  Also, you get two low boy black train
baseplates.  A feature that keeps the overall height of the train comparable to
the cargo railway.  And like the cargo railway, I'm sure this train will do
near full throttle without derailing; depends how top heavy the engine is.

Lego is apparently going for playability in their train sets; not realism.  So
I find it difficult to be critical of this design.  However, I do wish they
would create more models with realism as a design criteria.  For the time
being, I'm happy to build my own trains based on my own designs.

In fact, after seeing the picture for the 4561, I sat down for 6 hours last
night and build a new 4-8-4 steam engine full of creative ideas for achieving
realism.  Pictures to publish on the web later this week.

Ben



Larry Pieniazek writes:
> which is available July 1, seen here:
> 
> http://www.lugnet.com/catalog/images/4112683-4112684-AM/150/30.jpg
> 
> After what Grahame said about it, I was expecting something a bit
> different. Lego seems to have continued this "futuristic" theme that was
> started in 4559.
> 
> It appears to me that this set does NOT use train windows. Instead, it's
> either using thinwalls or some other sort of other frameless glass in
> the coaches. It's hard to tell from the picture if the coaches use the
> drop center plates like 4559 did but it looks like it. Fairly
> unprototypical as well.
> 
> And the only good thing to say about the engine is that it at least
> seems to be standing alone instead of having an articulation point for
> the front of the first coach.
> 
> The open air station seems interesting but not very prototypical. Not at
> all.
> 
> Sigh. Please, TLG, will you let ME design the darn things?
> 
> --
> Larry Pieniazek    http://my.voyager.net/lar
> For me: No voyager e-mail please. All snail-mail to Ada, please.
> - Posting Binaries to RTL causes flamage... Don't do it, please.
> - Stick to the facts when posting about others, please.
> - This is a family newsgroup, thanks.



Message is in Reply To:
  1999 Train 4561
 
which is available July 1, seen here: (URL) what Grahame said about it, I was expecting something a bit different. Lego seems to have continued this "futuristic" theme that was started in 4559. It appears to me that this set does NOT use train (...) (28 years ago, 6-Dec-98, to lugnet.trains)

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