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Set: 3225 "Classic Train"
Train System / 9V (billed as "Classic" Train set in catalog)
Rating date: 17 October 1998
Rated by: Larry Pieniazek (my first review)
Story (ala adequate.com)
It's a sunny day in October 1898. With a shrill whistle, the noon local crests
the hill and rounds the final curve into Durango. Exhaust huffs from the
cylinders as the 0-4-0T slows to a stop, temporarily shrouded in a cloud of
exhaust steam which the wind and sun make short work of.
The bright goldwork on the engine gleams in the sunlight of the little Colorado
mining town. The <-O-> logo and gold number 3225 in the side of the engine
fairly glisten, as well they might, picked out in gold filigree. Life is good
and the 20th century is almost here!
The nattily turned out engineer in his yellow uniform blows a sharp blast on
the cab mounted air horn to summon the local agent. Hard hat on, and clad in
newfangled reflective gear the agent wheels the station barrow over to receive
the urgent ore samples from the dump car, and begins to unload the high
priority contents, with the help of the local mining agent clad in his jaunty
white vest and striped tee.
The mail is here, and what's this? Two crystal chalices have arrived for the
mine owner's mansion, as well as some much needed safety chain and the weekly
payroll. The engineer clears the paperwork in his caboose and releases the
freight to the agent. Just another day's work for the unsung heroes of the
trusty <-O-> line.
---
Ages 7-12, ??? Pcs. (C)1998. (suspect German origin)
24 page manual: 5 models,
56 steps total: 19 (loco), 10(dump),11(coach/caboose), 10(log
gondola), 6(hand card)
Price Range: $66.00 US Dollars at US Shop at Home
RATINGS (Scale: Must-Have Excellent Very-Good Good Fair Poor)
Set: Very-Good / Models: Fair / Playability: Good
DECALS 11, 2 cover multiple bricks
SET DESCRIPTION
A multicolor mixed train, predominantly black, yellow, red. A black steamer
with red accents pulls a black and yellow dumper, a black and brown logsided
gondola and a red coach/caboose. No track or speed control is included.
3 minifigs
SPECIAL ELEMENTS
1 train motor, 8 buffers/couplers/magnets, 6 2 wheel axle units, 3 6x16 black
plates, lots of black slopes, 6 red train windows with trans lt blue glass, two
trapezoidal new style dumper ends, 2 adventurers chests, 1 brown pirate chest
IMPRESSION
This at first glance is a very cute set. It will make a fine introduction to
trains for the non-train head and will look great around the Christmas tree. On
closer examination though, for the hard core AFOL, especially the train head,
this whole set has an "odds and ends" feel.
A note, the catalog has the horn in the wrong place! It's not really mounted on
the smokestack, it's back on the cab. The box is German in origin with no parts
count. Parts content appears to be 100% Billund.
The engine is predominantly black with red trim. The cab has a (non working)
coal bunker suggested in the rear by using inverse steep slopes, and is made of
1xN blocks, open at the sides, with two triangular notched windows suggested by
1x2 slope openings in the cab front. The cab roof is formed from 3x3 and 3x4
low slopes. The cab is very clunky, why not use the 1x2x2 train/plane windows
instead of slopes?
The boiler is formed from medium slopes (normal and inverse) with a 4x4 round
radar dish for the smokebox front. A blocky stack is just behind the smokebox.
No other domes are present (the engine NEEDS at least a steam dome to function,
and the steep grades and tight curves of mountain railroading beg for a sand
dome as well). The boiler sits on a red frame. There is a confusing use of
yellow on the inside of the engine where it is not visible.
Cylinders are merely suggested at, since the power mechanism is the standard
one with outside sprung wheels and no connecting rods on the drivers. It will
take considerable reengineering to mount a light, as the front of the engine is
built on top of the power tap. It's doable though. The twin ditchlights are non
functional.
The locomotive captures the sense of a small steamer (0-4-0 T == tender on
board) about as well as can be, (except for the cab) without a new motor/
mechanism. However the red trim makes it look like a German idea of what a
0-4-0 T should look like. It reminds me of some HO Marklin and Pola engines I
have. (If you give it a tender, make sure to REMOVE the coal bunker and open
the back of the cab up so a fireman can get at the tender's coal.)
It gets 9 of the 11 stickers (4 2l gold on black small <-O-> logos inside gold
filigree trim, 2 2l 3225 numbers inside gold filigree trim, two 7l brass piping
stickers for the boiler sides (with completely non prototypical valves) and 1
6l backhead sticker for inside the cab. A reverse bar, several valves and 2
gauges are suggested.
Next is a yellow dump car. Ho Hum, another dumper. How many of these do we
really need? Well, it's got lots of dark grey in it, as well as 4x8 yellow
plates. A barrel takes up space for no apparent reason, instead of making the
dumper longer. The dumper itself is done with 1x2 technic bricks and 3L technic
connectors for stiffness. Two yellow 1.2x6 x 1.2 train railings are at the
ends. No stickers. There are a whole 8 dark grey 1x1 cylinders for a load, just
barely covering the floor. More of a load would have been nice.
The undercarriage for all three cars is the same, a 4 wheel affair with no
adornment. The wheels are inset two studs from the car ends for better curve
performance.
Next is the log gondola. What I mean by that is that it's built of log bricks,
not that it carries logs. What it carries (loosely, thanks to 4 1x6 grey tiles)
is the mailbox, chests, and a garbage can with tools. It captures the sense of
a work flat or gondola, and the logs are starting to grow on me. However
prototype practice used boards running horizontally in this application, never
vertically aligned logs. Two dark grey train railings are mounted high. No
stickers.
Bringing up the rear is the coach. Some refer to it as a caboose, but since it
has seats, and no cupola, living quarters or work area, it's a coach. Sitting
on the same 4 wheel frame as the other cars is a cute red body. 3 1x4x3 train
windows per side sit on top of two 1x12 red bricks. The ends are the 1x4x5
window frames in black, with no doors. That's gonna be cold come December when
the wind and snow starts blowing through those deep cuts.
There's room for three minifigs inside. The roof is removable, sitting on a
grey tile base, and is formed from 8 3x4 black lowslopes. Dark grey handrails,
red minifig ladders, and two red 12lx2h stickers with the <-O-> logo in black
outlined with gold filigree complete the picture.
One minus on the coach: it has trans lt blue window panes on the 1x4x3 windows,
which interfere with other uses, as most of these have come out in clear.
Finally there's a barrow. I can't believe it took 6 steps to build as it is
basically one 1x4 red tinypin axle, two black small wagon wheels, and the small
dump body. a 1x2 laser handle in black provides graspability.
The back page of the instructions seem to imply that the wheel assembly and the
bodies come apart easily to allow interchange (or new bodies built from other
parts) but every time I tried, the undercarriage disintigrated instead of
separating cleanly, so I have no idea what they were getting on about.
Alternate Model
There are no alternate model instructions, and I haven't tried to build it. It
doesn't look too hard. Pictured on the back of the box and on the back of the
instructions are two very slightly different (not different enough to really be
useful in building) views of another train. This one features a small diesel/
electric (it's schizophrenic) pulling three flats, the last one of which is is
a euro practice brakeman's van (with a small cabin at one end) Most of the
windows are used to make a small stationlike platform.
The more I look at the alternate model, the more I think IT really drives home
the point about this being an "odds and ends" set. Those 2x4 med slopes on the
nose look way too big to be vents. And if there is a pantograph on the roof,
why the dark grey exhaust on the front of the hood? Still, it's nice to even be
shown an alternate.
Set: Very-Good
This set is a good value for the money. It's worth the price for the special
parts (red window prices will drop through the floor now, thank goodness), but
a motor alone is 25 or so, and the wheelsets and couplers it has are about 20
more, and when you factor in the slopes (black! in 3x4 low, 3x3 low 1x2, 2x2
and 2x4 med, and 1x2, 2x2 inverse med) and big plates, you're there. I may buy
a few to part out and keep just the windows.
As I said, if you have track and a controller, you NEED this set. It's just
plain cute, even if it is a bit of a mishmash.
Models: Fair
I think I ripped the models pretty thoroughly in the narrative above, so I'll
just say:
- The loco is euro, the cab is bulky, the stack is way off, no domes.
- Why another dumpcar? And they skimped on the dump load.
- The log car? What's that all about? it's weird.
- Coach has no doors! and only 3 seats...
- Silver stripes and hardhats? talk about an anachronism.
- Stickers that span multiple pieces, and on the END of a 2x6.
But I still like the models anyway! This is an excellent train compared to
4559, and I'm GLAD it doesn't have track or a speed regulator, I don't need
them.
Playability: Good
I know Nik will be just overjoyed with the play possibilities. The odds and
ends that make an AFOL wonder are just more stuff to work with for a kid.
There's lots to do, stuff to unload, dump, people to let into the coach, and so
forth. Good playability.
Other Pluses
- Instructions have a RR track background
- Lots of dark grey parts
- Lots of black slopes
- Lots of town accessories
Would I buy it? Yes. at regular price I'd buy several. You never see trains
discounted much but I'd take 10 at half price.
New parts? (please correct me here, I am not an expert)
There are no completely new castings. One new printed part:
- Minifig torso, white vest, blue/green tee underneath
Parts in new colors? I think some of the dark grey may be new, but nothing
else, I don't think.
Key Parts in dark grey:
- 1x1 w side stud (2)
- train railings (4)
- 1x1 round (8)
- 1x4 plates (4)
- 1x2 slopes (4)
- 1x2x3h extreme slopes (4)
rare parts:
- green chairs?
CONCLUSION
This is the type of set that LEGO should be making more of. It's a trainheads
dream come true. I am hopeful for the future of trains now that I've seen this
one. I plan to get several more.
REVIEWER INFORMATION
Review Written: 17 October 1998
By: Larry Pieniazek (lpien@ctp.com)
Age 39 Favorite Theme: Trains. I like Town and am fascinated by the RCX as
well.
I have a big collection of sets and parts. Most of what I buy I use to further
my layout ambitions.
COPYRIGHT
This review is Copyright 1998, by the author as named above. The
author grants publication rights for all uses, public and private,
with the following exceptions: all information in the document must
be published in full; any for-profit use requires express written
permission by the author for publication in full or in part.
++Lar
--
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.
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Message has 1 Reply:
 | | Re: [Review]3225 "Classic Train"
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| (...) --snipped-- (...) --snipped-- (...) great review, larry i haven't purchased the set yet, but your details give me a much better opinion than i originally had of it ..jg ======== Posted via the LUGNET discussion group web interface ======== (...) (26 years ago, 19-Oct-98, to lugnet.trains)
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