LEGO TRAINS! HOGWARTS EXPRESS and LEGO CITY PASSENGER TRAIN
Before we got into the Lego hobby we used to be model railroaders. Eventually we had to give it up because there was simply no room for our fully landscaped 4' x 8' layout in the living room. And we got into other things, like raising two children and paying the mortgage.
When we saw the Hogwarts Express, we KNEW we would have it to fill out the Harry Potter collection. This set (#4841) also had the Flying Car, which was also worth something as a collectible. But it was danged expensive for a train with no motor and no track! We built it, but it looked funny just sitting there motionless.
When we saw the Hogwarts Express, we KNEW we would have it to fill out the Harry Potter collection. This set (#4841) also had the Flying Car, which was also worth something as a collectible. But it was danged expensive for a train with no motor and no track! We built it, but it looked funny just sitting there motionless.
HOGWARTS EXPRESS (#4841 RETIRED PRODUCT)
Now we had no real use for Lego's racy red electric passenger train. I was just going to buy it and pirate the engine and IR receiver and the remote for the Hogwarts train. I also bought some battery boxes and rechargeable batteries, and a couple of strings of lights.
The modern passenger train - I call it the Metro -- comes fully equipped with both the electric motor and the IR remote control, with instructions and space to install them, plus a little circle of track. Such a deal! (July 2014, it's "retiring soon," says LEGO). We would just skip running the Lego City train as we did not have much of a "city" then and didn't really plan to have one. The "Metro" turned out to be a very smooth running train, very impressive. I decided to keep it intact; I bought an additional motor and IR receiver for the Hogwarts train. I now already had the controller. The IR controller has the all-important (rheostat) SPEED control as well as direction. One could hook up the Hogwarts train without a speed control but it would run amok and fly off the rails at the curves. It would have only two speeds: "On" and "Off." You would have to chase it around to catch it and hit the stop button! |
LEGO CITY PASSENGER TRAIN (SET #7938, 'RETIRING SOON')
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By the way, the remote control and receiver is designed to run two circuits (e.g., engine and lights) separately for each vehicle; and it can control up to four vehicles or devices.
FYI: I had at first bought two battery boxes, not knowing which (AA or AAA) would be the right size, plus a couple of sets of LED lights. I installed lights in both the trains; they both take the AAA battery box. -- The AA battery box is quite a heavy monster. It would work as a stand-alone power source but is far too big for inside any small vehicle.
FYI: I had at first bought two battery boxes, not knowing which (AA or AAA) would be the right size, plus a couple of sets of LED lights. I installed lights in both the trains; they both take the AAA battery box. -- The AA battery box is quite a heavy monster. It would work as a stand-alone power source but is far too big for inside any small vehicle.
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THE LAYOUT
We knew we'd need a pretty small layout to fit in this room. We wanted to be able to use the dining room table and have room to walk around it. We calculated a minimum width of about 30" in order to get a large enough radius for the curves. As for length, the layout could be 8-9 feet long -- as long as the panels of our "country" wall section. We didn't want another over-large piece of furniture, so this worked. Bought more boxes of track, straight and curved and flexible (the flexible is noisier than the preformed longer pieces). We put the "Metro" train on the other tabletop, near the City pieces. It is a modern Muggle thing, after all, not compatible with our old-timey Country or horse-and-buggy theme.
Now we had: the Hogwarts Express and a pretty boring oval layout. We squeezed the middle section to make a false figure 8, which helped add a little interest to the picture. |
Winter Village cottage,
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Like all model railroads, this layout will never be truly finished. We will be adding new pieces or landscaping forever, I suspect. |
The latest addition (2014) to the railroad layout is a very large English country manor modeled after a famous building called Ightham Mote. See MOC pages for more details on Hogsmeade station and the English country house we call "Buxton Manor." Here we are, lighted for Xmas season.