Real nice looking train.

I missed this train. A dark moment from my dark age.

When I rediscovered Lego in 1993 the trains such as this in the catalog inserts with the leftover Castle, Space, and Pirate sets boggled the mind. Town and Trains were so amazing, Lego had captured so much modern life with sets like this.

I miss the 9 volt trains. I loved how you could just plug it into the wall and run your train to your heart’s content without having to deal with bulky batteries that take up a lot of interior space in the vehicle and run out of juice.

I need to do a BrickLink run one of these days to get the equipment to convert my more modern trains to 9 volt before the parts get even more expensive and rare.

I found this in a store in 1996 after I emerged from my first Dark Age (of 2 Dark Ages). I got some extra track too...but I wish I got more.

Wow! A great one! This was the first Train set I ever saw in person! My dad's boss invited the two of us to his house once and he showed us his simple layout of 9V train sets. With some additional track, he added 4555 and a larger loop to the track. But the cars and locomotive were all from Load N Haul Railroad! Seeing that red diesel take off around the tracks was like watching magic happen before my eyes. Oh how I wished to have my own Lego Train! But for the time being, it was not to be.

Twenty years later, I am on eBay, and I am going back and forth on offers for a full set of sealed, NIB Lego 9V Train sets from 1991. Although the much-more coveted Metroliner was part of that collection, I was just as desperately eager to acquire 4563 as well, remembering the layout I saw as a child. I reached an agreement, and just after Independence Day in 2015, I managed to get it shipped to my apartment. It was a victorious day when I held that set in my hand, battered box be darned!

When I opened the set, I built the red engine and laid out the tracks in a circle to test the quarter century-old motor. It worked perfectly, and I felt validated sinking so much capital into an "outdated" Lego Train system. I recently got 4555 sealed as well, so now I am ready to build the 90s Lego train yard of my dreams!

It goes to show how unmemorable the modern City trains are compared to a beauty like this, that I forgot they even had current train sets. I guess having no station doesn’t help either!

While the 9V trains are beloved (and many rightfully thinks that a proper train system should have powered rails), I still think they had some serious shortcomings compared to the PF ones. One is the difficulty of multi-train control, you had three options - a complex and not quite satisfactory multi-transformer system, an even more complex realistic signal system, or expensive DCC digital control (usually requiring modding and non-Lego parts). With PF it's just to set the trains to different channels and off you go.

Another issue is limitations on track layout - you can't have wyes and turnaround loops without creating shorts, unless you're prepared to dig out your soldering iron and try to figure out some more-or-less automatic voltage reversal scheme. The only powered-track system I know of that has an elegant solution to this is Marklin HO, which uses a symmetrical supply with grounded rails and the supply voltage via studs in the middle.

Do the 9V fans have any good solutions to these issues?

Replacing batteries can be a bit of a pain, but nowadays you get cheap AAA charger sets which may save you money even if you aren't prepared to shell out for the li-po. One problem is the slightly unreliable IR system and lack of an absolute control scheme (odd, since the PF system seems to support it), meaning the train controller never has the same rock-solid feel as a proper transformer.

One thing that disappointed me is how Lego promised the switch to all-plastic rails would open up for a wider (ie. somewhat decent) track selection, but instead they discontinued the crossing and only delivered the short-lived (and slightly flawed) double crossover. Personally I'm also a little disappointed that they never completed the narrow-gauge system with straights and switches, I feel it had potential as a space-saving alternative when you don't have room for a full-size train layout.

Even 9V system had steps back in control compared to the 12V (which I loved, but was fiddly and needed the conductors cleaning). 12V had remote (wired) controlled switches, stop signals, decouplers and level crossings. Even the OG blue 12V had remote switches.

I know there's 3rd party suppliers that supply a wide range of plastic tracks and powered switches, but what's available from Lego is a bit limited, really.

This is one of the best-looking locomotives ever produced by Lego, together with the Crocodile. I was about 4 when it appeared in the catalogue and unfortunately it had been replaced by another yellow model by I was old enough to get a train set; I played with it a lot, though. This is one of the very few retired sets on my wishlist that I would actually buy one day if I found a decent offer for an MISB.

Same question I always ask when these sets come up- Does anyone know what was the reasoning behind the choice in backdrop/box art for trains of this era?

@PeteM said:
"“It's one of 12 Trains sets produced that year.”
12!"

Good times indeed... Also, look at these sets. Pack of straight rails. Pack of curves. Hopper car. Level crossing. Loco. Small sets and you were able to pick what fits you...

Wow...my first train set.

I remember seeing this during my dark ages, and was one of first trains I retrieved once I got back into LEGO around '98. I'm sure pricey back then, but having no ability to get LEGO trains when I was younger I think spurred me to collect them when I got out of my dark ages (one thought was my dad had Lionel and I had a train line where I could always build and rebuild buildings and trains for my layout).
Great set though, hard to find sometimes with those triangle stickers on the loco.