Getting Started with Lego Trains 93
| Getting Started with Lego Trains | |
| author | Jacob H. McKee |
| pages | 101 |
| publisher | No Starch Press |
| rating | 7 |
| reviewer | Tony Williams |
| ISBN | 1593270062 |
| summary | Good book on building Lego trains. Not terribly large. |
Getting Started with Lego Trains is a fairly good guide to designing and building Lego trains. The writing is a clear, simple style that should be understood by anyone, the layout is clear.
Jacob McKee, the author, is webmaster at Bricks On The Brain, a good site which acts as a portal to build instructions. He also has a section devoted to the book which has three example pages and some links to other sites useful to Lego train builders. Both the book and the site itself promise at least a couple of articles by McKee but these are still "to come." I hope they come soon as McKee promises (in the book and on the site) an article on using decals and I'd like to know his sources and methods.
The book starts with two chapters that are absolutely basic; most of the information here is included in the Lego documentation you get with the train kits, such as how to hook up the electrical power and the different train and carriage sets available. There are still some useful nuggets such as the 'Studs Not On Top' technique for getting bricks pointing away from the vertical and interesting trivia such as a short history of Lego trains. McKee also adds some details that may be hard to glean from the Lego manuals such as how an active passing line can cause a short circuit in your track.
The third chapter is only two pages, which once again detail some fairly obvious information such as the various parts of the train couplings and bogies. From that point on, the book gets interesting. The real core of the book consists of the three chapters that McKee has devoted to three different train models. Instead of just giving you the plans to build the locomotive and two carriages, McKee has shared the design process itself and gives some useful design and building tips before showing you the instructions.
The first model is a glorious model of a GP-38 locomotive (if you want to see the finished models then you can get decent-sized pictures on McKee's site). It might have been better to have had this model last of the three, as it is the most complex and I found it the hardest to make with my Lego collection - there are more specialized parts in this model and I to change the design in a couple of spots. Given the great look of the finished model, this isn't too much of a complaint.
The second example is a refrigerated car (or "reefer car" in train yard slang). I found that I couldn't build this car in the all-green of the book design but had the parts to build it in red. Since, as McKee points out, these sorts of cars are to be found in dozens of different paint jobs I don't feel this was a problem. There are considerably fewer specialized parts in this model.
The third example is a container car (with containers), which is the easiest to build and uses few specialized pieces you are unlikely to have if you own a train set already. Once again my only real problem was one of having exactly the same colour as the book -- one of my containers has red doors instead of white, for example.
I hope from my descriptions of the chapter you can see why I think the model order is wrong -- I'd completely reverse the order of these three chapters.
For an early teen (or older) reader, the strength of this book is the tips and encouragement McKee gives in these three chapters for designing your own locomotives and carriages. There are dozens of little tips and tricks on creating a visually pleasing and playable model design. Younger readers may not appreciate McKee's excellent advice on creating your own designs as much as older readers, but they will enjoy building the models all the same.
There is a final chapter on building track layouts, including some useful tips on building track inclines, and finally two short appendices, one on where to buy Lego and a glossary (McKee labels it "terminology").
Originally (before publication, that is), this book was advertised at $24.95. The actual cover price is $19.95, though, and No Starch have dropped the price again. At the new price of $14.95, it becomes much more attractive and I recommend it to anyone who is interested in designing and building their own Lego train locomotives and carriages. The readable, simple style and clear build instructions make it enjoyable for quite young readers and older, more dedicated builders will appreciate the design tips. Lego have train sets that they advise are for 8 years old or older, and I believe the average seven-year-old would have no problem understanding the build instructions in this book.
You can purchase Getting Started with Lego Trains from bn.com. (They're asking the full cover price for now, but that may change.) Slashdot welcomes readers' book reviews -- to see your own review here, read the book review guidelines, then visit the submission page.
Pricey sets! (Score:5, Insightful)
Ofcourse, they should also be able to afford the Lego sets. I love Lego, and had 2 sets when I was a kid...they used to keep me engaged for days at a stretch.
Sometimes, I feel like going out and buying a set or two, but they're too expensive for my liking. For any decent sized model train set (stations, wagons, etc) , you could end up paying around $200.00.
Take a look at the prices on their Train set page [lego.com]. Any decent sized kit is $150+
In general, I wouldn't mind paying around $100.00 for a *general* set of bricks....but these specialized kits are *too* restrictive, and after building the model, you usually have to buy a different set to build anything else.
Lego is a Gateway drug (Score:5, Insightful)
It led to my catching eBayphylis, which led to PayPal Withdrawal symptoms.
Now I limit myself to 4 "Funny" karma points a week. They don't do anything, but somehow they still make me feel good.
Please. Help me out by modding me "Insightful" instead of just "Funny".
Re:Pricey sets! (Score:5, Insightful)
The train sets are actually pretty good for parts. Of course, if you want to build your own stuff (and of course, you do!), it helps to have a lot -- Lego parts are exponentially useful. A lot of the new Lego sets are increasingly "juniorized" (a plague for the last decade at least) with one-use pieces and uncomplicated designs, but the trains tend to be better, since they're geared at an older audience.
But anyway, you're missing something -- these are electric model trains. That's an expensive hobby. It's not uncommon for a non-Lego engine alone to be over $500. And even the cheap crap [discounttrainsonline.com] is approximately comparable in price to an infinitely more versitile Lego train set.
After you have the core parts from sets to get started, I recommend shopping at BrickLink [bricklink.com] -- an online bazaar specifically designed for the sale of individual Lego pieces in bulk (or in small quantities -- whatever!). Get just the parts you need for the project you're working on.
Re:Legos (Score:5, Insightful)
For locomotives, in additon to the above modellers will often:
And that's just what they do for storebought locomotives and rolling stock. Scratchbuilding a locomotive can take weeks or months, depending on the level of detail.
Then there's the matter of scenery. Running trains around a circle of track gets pretty boring (unless you have a cat....). The good news is that you can build scenery to surround the trains. You get to build entire cities, towns, farms, rivers, mountains, hills, canyons, and industries from scratch. Basically anything you can imagine can be incororated into a model railroad. It's world-building in your basement (or garage, or spare room, or bookshelf).
For the electrically-minded, there are all sorts of fun wiring problems to be solved, and you can do many interesting things with computers if you want to (train scheduling, locomotive control, switch control, lighting, etc).
If you like spending time outdoors, you may enjoy harvesting plants, rocks and dirt for your layout so that it has authentic colors, shapes, and textures.
If you're a people person, you and your friends may enjoy operating sessions where everyone has a train and you're working cooperatively to service the industries along your route without creating gridlock.
If you like brainteasers, there are [railroad car] switching problems that can keep you busy for hours or days.
Model railroading is one of those rare hobbies where there's truly something for everyone. You can be as involved as you want, and since you're inventing as you go nobody can tell you that you did a bad job.
Re:Legos (Score:4, Insightful)
(And yes, I do have my own 1,200-piece bucket of legos, which is off-limits to the kids)