Interesting; this has two real brands represented in one set: Deutsche Bundesbahn and Shell. I wonder how many licensed things a set can have? What's the most there's ever been in a single set (besides racecars)?

@MCLegoboy said:
"Interesting; this has two real brands represented in one set: Deutsche Bundesbahn and Shell. I wonder how many licensed things a set can have? What's the most there's ever been in a single set (besides racecars)?"

Depending on how you licenses it could be quite a few.
For example - Avengers end game set 76323 has potentially seven.
Dr. Strange, Captain America, Iron Man, Spiderman, Ant-Man, Wanda (Wandavision), Black Panther, and Avengers. Yes they are all in the one movie, but might be separately licensed properties.

Would be interesting to look at though.

@MCLegoboy said:
"Interesting; this has two real brands represented in one set: Deutsche Bundesbahn and Shell. I wonder how many licensed things a set can have? What's the most there's ever been in a single set (besides racecars)?"

Off the top of my head, 76958 has a Jeep Wrangler and a can of Barbasol, besides the Jurassic Park licensing, of course. Although if you look at the end of the instructions, it only says"© Universal City Studios LLC and Amblin Entertainment, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Jeep, the Jeep grille and related logos, vehicle model names and trade dress are trademarks of FCA US LLC and used under license by the LEGO Group. ©2023 FCA US LLC. Jeep, the Jeep grille and related logos, vehicle model names and trade dress are trademarks of FCA US LLC and used under license by the LEGO Group. ©2023 FCA US LLC," no mention of Barbasol. Also, are racing motorcycles also excluded alongside racecars?

What? That doesn't make sense. The color scheme is all wrong. And where are the witches, zombies, and skeletons? It doesn't even have any pumpkins. What the heck kind of Fright Train is...huh? Wuzzat? Freight...train? AAAH! Normal people stuff!

@MCLegoboy said:
"Interesting; this has two real brands represented in one set: Deutsche Bundesbahn and Shell. I wonder how many licensed things a set can have? What's the most there's ever been in a single set (besides racecars)?"

You do realize this wasn't just DB licensed? The set came with a stickersheet that included like almost all back then west bloc European railroad companies for you to chose.
The same was true for all 1980-1990 Trains sets.

I am not surprised they went on to invent their own train company logo for the 1991 reboot to save costs.

one of those trains I got my hands on later through marketplace. Now missing stil 2 trains from the 12 V era.....

Still missing this one. Need to get one day to completing my 12V collection…

Funny how just seeing that silver/brown box art image colour scheme evokes many pleasant memories.

This one had a fair amount more play value than the earlier 7730, Lego advanced a long way in the first half of the 1980s.

While the engine is nicely built, my favourite feature of this train is the van at the back, which not only has space for cargo, but a space for train workers, as well as the exterior ladder and rooftop viewing platform, which I thought was really cool.

Ah, the train of my childhood (as I expect to be the case for many as for the latter half of the eighties you could buy this one or 7745). Even comes with a nice baby 7740 B-model locomotive which made for a hard choice, the B-model locomotive OR the yellow boxcar from the A-model... I remember getting the separate 7861 12V train light upgrade which made the choice for me: either build the B-model locomotive or don't use the electric lights.

@T79 said:
"Ah, the train of my childhood (as I expect to be the case for many as for the latter half of the eighties you could buy this one or 7745). Even comes with a nice baby 7740 B-model locomotive which made for a hard choice, the B-model locomotive OR the yellow boxcar from the A-model... "

For an AFOL, the only logical choice is to Bricklink enough parts to have both built at once.

Another one from the golden era of Lego trains! Just over 500 pieces, yet in no way does this look overly simplified. Yet all the play value you could want from a frain. And dare I say I might like that alternate model on the back even more?

I never thought about transporting motorbikes by train. A more affordable way to get into 12V, but most kids still went for the passenger trains 7740 or 7745, so probably quite hard to find in secondary markets.

How to recycle the red and yellow doors from the beautiful 7740 Inter City train from 1980. this one is really nice, but I always preferred the passenger trains. Ssame with boats, except lego never made a large mini figure passenger boat, like a ferry-boat. (I don't count nanoscale exclusive boats for ferry companies like 1054 ) And the 60119 has no room for passengers.

One of those great 80's trains I missed out on. I would have loved to have one of these riding circles in my childhood bedroom.

I've always admired Lego Trains from afar. I got 7740 by chance a few years back from a friend. These old trains look fantastic.

@ambr said:
"I never thought about transporting motorbikes by train. A more affordable way to get into 12V, but most kids still went for the passenger trains 7740 or 7745, so probably quite hard to find in secondary markets."

Agree completely, the scarcest 12v sets are now the ones which were probably less popular at the time such as 7750 (which I didn't have) and 7760 (which I thought was a great set in an unusual colour with some unique parts)

It’s a tough problem to solve. There are fans who’d love a return of a decent trains theme, but doing that in the context of modern building techniques results in expensive and heavy rolling stock with less-than-affordable motorisation options.

It’s worth remembering that in the 1980s these 12v sets were outside the price range of many childhood LEGO fans. But that didn’t stop the fans of the day from aspiring to own one, or to try and build their own substitute.

I’m confident that if anyone can come up with a cost effective way for TLG to branch back out into trains as they once did then I suspect they’d bite your arm off.

@jsutton said:
"It’s a tough problem to solve. There are fans who’d love a return of a decent trains theme, but doing that in the context of modern building techniques results in expensive and heavy rolling stock with less-than-affordable motorisation options."
Is it though? Sure, for AFOL-oriented stuff like the Orient Express, absolutely. But for a City train, does it need such advanced building techniques? I mean, even the current City trains aren't all that different from those back in the day.

I'd say the biggest problem currently is that while there are some dencent starter packages, there's just not that much to go from there. And even less so when looking with a kids pocket money budget in mind. They can get some more track (annoyingly always straights and curves combined), and that's about it. Want more trains? Either spend a 3-digit number (at least before discounts) for another big starter set, or get some stuff from AliExpress......those are effectively the options Lego is currently giving you.

I totally get we'll never see a trains theme like back in the 80s ever again, but would one or two sets for a passenger of freigth car be too much to ask? Mostly just an easy and affordable way to get the specific train parts. And well, maybe a small (unpowered) locomotive next?

@deetwenty said:
"509 pieces.
A functioning train, three waggons, a (small) platform, a (small) car and two bikes if you've had your train dose for the day.
A nice box with flap and display window and cute scenes on the back, clean overview what's inside, friendly and calm design.
No bullsh*t 1x1 pieces, no color vomit. Oh, and openable, even proper sliding, doors. Did I mention the included B-models and building ideas?"
While I totally agree with all of your points, one has to remember how extremely expensive those train sets were back in the day. I just recently found leaflets with old LEGO prices while cleaning out the attic at my mother's house, and was shocked by the RRPs of these sets. Same with some of the flagship Technic sets from the era, and let's not forget 6990. There's a reason why I didn't get that one back in the day, no matter how often I wished for it for Christmas or my birthday.

@AustinPowers said:
"There's a reason why I didn't get that one back in the day, no matter how often I wished for it for Christmas or my birthday. "

I still don't get why Santa (either Coca Cola Santa or Sinterklaas) only gives expensive gifts to rich kids. It's not fair!

@WizardOfOss said:
" @AustinPowers said:
"There's a reason why I didn't get that one back in the day, no matter how often I wished for it for Christmas or my birthday. "

I still don't get why Santa (either Coca Cola Santa or Sinterklaas) only gives expensive gifts to rich kids. It's not fair!"

I just checked, and part 80179 never came in chrome.

Regardless of this being a very fine train, I want to put some more focus on the motorcycles. How awesome is it that these are actually a suitable size for minifigs, immensely differing from today’s range of huge motorcycles.