7777: The 1981 Trains Ideas Book
Posted by Huw,
This week's #ThrowbackThursday article has been written by Holger Matthes (HoMa).
The 80-page 7777 Trains Ideas Book was a fantastic resource for LEGO train fans when it was first published in 1981 and remains so today. In this article I take a look at the wealth of ideas and inspirational photographs within it as well as the impact it had on my childhood.
This idea book is set up as a mixture of full- and double-page photographs of train layouts together with cropped pictures showing the details and short building instructions. The full page photographs all have the characteristic known in Germany as "Wimmelbilderbuch/Wimmelbook" where you can sit for hours exploring every dot of ink to discover everything about trains, trackside structures and train techniques.
The longer you spend looking at the pages you might have felt disappointed that your own LEGO train collection didn't offer all the required elements to build the beautiful train models or structures yourself.
The first 'grey-era' train sets were released in 1980 and many of them, e.g. 7740 Inter-City Passenger Train Set, 7750 Steam Engine with Tender and the mail wagon 7820 Mail Van are featured in this book, but the majority of locomotives and wagons shown are "MOCs" or at least "MODs" of official train sets.
The highlight is the huge black steam engine on pages 38-41. If you missed the 7750 Steam Engine with Tender and 7810 Push-Along Steam Engine (as I did as a child focusing more on modern trains like 7740 Inter-City Passenger Train Set and 7745 High-Speed City Express Passenger Train Set) there was no chance to build this monster yourself. This huge 2'C1' steamer definitely requires all the unique elements from 7750 Steam Engine with Tender like large train wheels, red boogie plates or the black 1x2 brick with cut-out for the cable.
Also noteworthy is the little repair wagon on pages 6-7. Using some blue Classic Space elements a predecessor of 1983's 7821 Track & Lighting Maintenance Wagon is shown. This blue wagon has the same turning platform to allow the minifigure train workers to maintain and repair signal and lights as the official set which was released two years later.
Using large brackets (which I assume were invented to hold space craft engines in place) and Technic plates and bricks gives a very nice and unique example of early SNOT building techniques. I can't remember seeing such a building technique in an AFOL MOC ever.
Hidden at the bottom of pages 6 and 7 you will find another great inspiration for your train layout: Using the little gaps of a round 2x2 plate to provide a simple and clever solution to keep all the remote cables in position. Tips like this are spread all over the book which makes it such a great inspiring idea book.
Besides locomotives and wagons, 7777 also focuses on other trains-related subjects, like lighting (such as this beautiful night scene of a 7822 Railway Station on pages 42 and 43), bridges, ramps and other track side structures such as cranes. The authors have given a lot of attention to building bridges and ramps, and right in the middle of the book you will find a great train layout with a yellow bridge and ramp built out of Technic beams.
Curiously, just below the bridge is a track crossing. If you were not such a Technic head in the early days and you were lacking 874 Yellow Beams with Connector Pegs the idea book provides different alternatives to create brick build stands for your ramp. Again, some NPU (nice part usage) is to be found on page 50 where minifigure legs are used as hinges. If you compare the provided building instructions with today's instructions you won't find any parts lists per step or simple steps where just one element is added to the assembly -- children back in time were assumed to have more cognitive skills than today, it seems.
Before the book shifts from the 12 Volt to the 4.5 Volt system, pages 58-61 provide some track layouts including parts list for each track design. Noteworthy is the stencil on page 59 which, if you cut it out of the book like I did, was a great help to design your own layout on paper. Today, if you look out for a used 7777 to add to your paperware collection make sure to check if the stencil is still there.
For me personally the last part of the book is the weakest. Nothing to do with the 4,5 Volt system, but the circus and circus train and the steam engine assembly plant take a bit too much space and there would have been options for another theme. But finally the guy on his old fashioned hand car ends his trip through the great grey era and heads of with a super modern train-space-craft. Unfortunately he never reached his destination and the 7777 ideas book remained the only full train related LEGO idea book.
Luckily I still have some records which prove that 7777 was my favourite ideas book back in the 1980s. After various Christmases my grey era train collection was not too bad and it was time to set up the major layout with the yellow bridge. Using the stencil I came up with an extended layout with 3 ramps and a switch high up in the air:
And then it was time to realise the largest train and city layout I have ever build as a child. Excuse for the poor quality of pictures but at least I have some memories on glossy photo paper:
As a 8-year-old boy back in 1981, the 7777 ideas book was available for a fair pocket-money price of 5,50 Deutsche Mark (if I read the nearly torn of price tag correctly, maybe you can add a comment here if you have a more stable source on the original price point). Today you have to spend between 15 to 70 Euro on eBay or BrickLink to purchase your copy. But make sure to check the quality before you place your bit or order.
You can view the entire Ideas book, and much more besides, in Brickset's document library.
Further information
- 7777 in the Brickset document library
- BrickList of train sets from the grey era (77xx and 78xx sets)
- Train related catalogues
- "Idea Books" by Benn Coifman in Railbricks Magazine #6, pages 14-16
- 7777 at peeron.com
- This article in German at 1000steine.com
58 likes
37 comments on this article
Aaaaahhhhh the Memories ! Thank you !! Born 1973 myself this was the Beginning of a Lifelong LEGO Adventure
Great article!
I love how back in the time you could assemble a full train in less than 10 steps. :)
Ah, those road plates were the best.
I'm surprised to see that 80ies trains could negociate uphill slopes, that we don't see much of nowadays.
I really enjoy these throwback articles, and love the pictures from your childhood. Keep them coming, and thanks!
I owned this book in the early 80s. Thank you for the memories.
And what happened to all that Lego?
Brilliant article! I'm from the same era, but never had a train as part of my town layout, although I had loads of blue track and a few train parts; I think I owned one of the old train sets, but we got it when I was so young that I don't remember. We may have even got it 2nd hand, not sure!
LEGO trains were beyond what I could afford as a child, but I remember this book. Not sure if I had my own copy. I thought the self-unloading hoppers were fascinating.
I had no idea this book existed as it came out when I was 1. It makes me want to invest in pre-9V train setups which I had previously written off. Seeing your childhood town/train setup is fantastic, thank you for sharing!
Loving this article! 7777 and the Lego catalogues all made me wish I could recreate that kind of setup myself - I was lucky to have a handful of 12V trains and plenty of road plates but could never recreate that 'busy' feel that is demonstrated here!
Loving your own setups too, the raised bit really makes it stand out!
Fantastic article - thank you! :) I never got into Lego trains as a kid, perhaps because I had a Hornby Thomas the Tank Engine set already. But I always liked the look of them, especially the 80s ones - the industrial landscapes in the catalogues had something convincing about them. I really love your layout!
I like the points on the slope! Very dangerous! Did you get any derailments? I made a large layout like this when I was also a kid that featured the 9V system combined with the airport monorail. Loved it! I had to raise the monorail and station by two bricks in order for the 9V train to successfully go underneath. Those were the days...
I used to have a 4.5 volt Blue train with masses of track, I could let it drive around the complete living room. For these interested, a few afols in 2011 did this on flickr. Some modern remakes of the 7777 ideas. If you're looking for fresh ideas. https://www.flickr.com/groups/1753302 @N21/.
When I was a kid, I wanted a Lego train set so badly. I never got one! I just bought my very first LEGO train set just on Black Friday special (and got the free snow globe) and I am forty. Can't wait to build it!
Actually, one could build the steam engine without owning set 7750. I bought service pack 5071 at the time to do precisely this. Ooh, that feeling of a busy industrious city, with loads of trains and tracks and great buildings and lights! It just sprang off the cover right into my heart and never left the place.
Thanks for the great article on my favorite book from when I was a kid. I still have it, now very battered and held together with tape. I only had blue track and a 171 train (plus a battery tender) but was able to build lots of the bridges and other structures, and am now doing so all over again with my son.
Awesome article! These throwbacks are my favorite, keep up the great work.
That being said, I can't seem to get the book to load in the Brickset Library - help?
It's been a couple of years i look at brickset from the outside but this article just made me create an account. I HAD to comment on it because it's a huge chunck of my childhood.
I was born 1980, but i remember clearly having this book and using it a lot to create my tracks and trains (i still have the rails stored back at home). I built the steam engine dozens of times, and some of the pictures posted in the article reminded me of some wagons that i had (like the one with the technician fixing the lights for instance).
A huge thank you for bringing back so many nice memories.
I realised a lot of the ideas of that booklet. Especially the bridges. I still have 7777 in my collection. It is in my archive of building instructions.
^^ Welcome aboard @Balgrim! You'll find Brickset much more rewarding now you're a member.
Those were the days, what a great article. The first technic ideas book also brings back the same memories for me.
I used to spend hours poring over the 7777 Ideas book!
Unfortunately, 7750 (huge steam loco) was always shown in catalogues as being unavailable in the UK. I've never found out why, but it explains why they're so rare, and why getting one (with all the special parts it has) on ebay is usually £200-£400.
I bought this book on eBay quite some years ago. I paid quite a lot for it (and it was still in reasonably good condition) but it was worth every cent.
Every cent.
The train lay-outs are amazing. I love the night-time shot of the busy station (how gorgeous is that photo?), and all the different ideas for building trains (and rolling stock, stations, carriages and buildings) were brilliant.
The monster black 4-6-2 tender engine? I knew my Lego City just *had* to have one of those, so I built one using 9V pieces and wheels. You don't need 7750 to do it, you can do it with the modern train parts, but you definitely need the larger driving wheels for steam engines that they've released in the last few years. And then I built a green version modelled after "The Flying Scotsman" (it's not as polished as "Emerald Night" but it's still gorgeous and I'm quite proud of it).
And the little tank engine that's visible in the background on the first page of the book? I loved that design so much that I built an entire fleet of them (in various colours, which was simple enough to do) to haul trains in my city.
I can't over-state how much I adore 7777 as an ideas book, because it's just so amazing.
Nice article, thanks. The images of your childhood plans took me right back as it looks just like my plans done on graph paper. Oh the number of cities pumped out back then.
My copy of 7777 is tattered, but still a welcome friend. Thanks for the throwback article! Keep 'em coming!
Great article! I got into the train game much later in life - I always wanted a 9V train as a kid in the '90s, but didn't get my first LEGO train until the Emerald Night in 2009. I would love to see a fan-made update of the 7777 Ideas Book.
Agreed with others. The 7777 idea book was amazing, especially with a lot of builds that were electrified as well. The only way it could have been better is if it had a sticker sheet with it (sadly it did not)
Huw, I bought this new from David Morgan (a department store in Cardiff), for the sum of £1.85. Worth every penny!
Very enjoyable article! I didn't know about this book and back then I could only adore the train sets through LEGO catalogues. I'm happy to be able to browse through the book online now and very impressed by your city and track layout.
As a 12V fan, I Just bought one week ago my 7777 copy on EBay for 12€. Love every tricks you can see in that book !
great article thank you for sharing it with us !!
Thanks for the great article. I love this book, it's the best ideas book ever made! Read it from cover to back many times when I was a kid. I can still enjoy looking at it now.
I really like that they included the story of the figure with the black hat.
Awesome that you had enough lego to actually build such a huge track! I could only dream about it...
Very nice article about a classic piece of LEGO literature! Growing up in the 80s myself I never really had this book myself , but I've been spotting through its pages several times online after I exited my dark ages. Another cool feature was that it contained a sticker sheet to further improve your models!! Cool to see your private pics ,seems like Santa was pleased with you back then...
Thank you very much to all readers for 10,000+ views in just a few days! And thank you for all your nice comments. Great to read that so many of you had similar experiences in their childhood and my article helped to refresh good old memories.
I discovered this idea book on Brick Factory, 10 years ago maybe, and i was dreaming to find it. Finally it happened last july, 8 euros on Bricklink, just an incredible price ! The last idea book of my collection.
Such a great article - it was a pleasure to read it. And a great feature, that I was able to browse the whole book in nice quality right here on brickset. My Thanks to HoMa and the Brickset-Team! :)
Me personally, I always liked the 9V-trains as a kid in the early 90s, but never got one. Just recently I finally bought my first Lego train - 4564 with box in as new condition. And right now I am waiting for 4555 (also with box) to arrive, to accompany my train. Happy me! :)