Constitution Train Chase revealed

This is good news!! I'm more excited about the smaller sets, though....

Well definitely better than expected. A lovely mix of figures for Western MOCs too. Things are looking pretty good for this theme!

I swore I wasn't going to buy a LEGO train. And now I might have to.

Strange pile of rubble in the middle of the track

Indeed, what is this pile of grey rubble? Stones?

This looks like an awesome train set (after the TGV that came out in January) and I am super-duper excited for it.

WHERE ARE ITS SIDERODS?

Come on, Lego, it's like... you have the ability to build siderods, you did it for the Emerald Night. You're even using wheels you designed to specifically allow you to do it! And it wouldn't even use that many pieces... as a steam entheusiast it seriously bugs me when siderods get left out, you wouldn't create a model aeroplane without wings would you?

The train is certainly much better than expected!

Struggling to figure out who the kid figure is? It isn't James badge dale.

Any word on whether this is built to accept a motor and battery pack like Emerald Night? I would assume so looking at it, but I'd like to know for sure. If so, then this is going on the list.

Train looks an excellent locomotive and great addition.

The Lone Shrub is also amusing. Tumbleweed?

Blimey! I wasn't the least bit interested in this series until I saw how good this appears to be. I'm fascinated to see what the cost per brick will be given that it comes with track and 7 minifigs. (^agree about the siderods though).

Fantastic-looking set, and if the price holds up at £79.99 this'll be a must-buy.

Reminds me of the train in Back to the Future Part III. :D

Side rods would have been nice, but as the Emerald Night showed, side rods often require a certain amount of tinkering. For a set that is targeting a mass market and not AFOLs, Lego is saving themselves from complaints from frustrated parents and saving some of their customers from grief.

I didn't mean that I expected the same siderod setup as on the Emerald Night - simple siderods would require 3 round technic pins and 1 long technic bar on each side, nothing complicated about that.

Maybe removing those parts gives them space to add in the random rocks and bush. :P

~£80 seems a surprisingly fair price though.

I'm with you Kumata. I blame the Toy Story train. I think Lego considered side rods on the Toy Story Train (early leaked images had them) but Lego removed them. With that train, the side rods caused problems because the wheels could get into a position in which one end of the side rod was up and one was down. Everything would lock up. At the heart of that problem was the choice to use pins to attach the drivers instead of axles; connecting the left and right drivers with axles would have made the linkages move properly. The pins also allow for undesirable wheel wobble. Rather than redesign the engine, Lego avoided the whole issue by just getting rid of the rods.

The Constitution engine, with three drivers on the side, does not have the same lock up issues. Lego could have gotten away with a side rod across them. Such a design would have worked more smoothly with proper axles. The train's designers must have considered it. But the Toy Story train showed they could get away with a simplified drivetrain.

Again, I'm with you on this. We'll be redesigning ours if we get one.

I love it can't wait add to my train collection got them all and was just looking at modifying a set to get that old west look.

Just amused that deepDALElegend asks about James Badge Dale, an actor I rather like since "The Pacific" and "Rubicon" (RIP), as well as a nice part in "The Departed".

I like the set, looks like it will be fun to build.

£80 is far too much!

Actually it seems a very good price, but I remember when the Haunted House was announced. Everyone said what a great price that was, then Lego decided to put the price up. If we suggest to Lego that its too much, maybe they will just leave it at £80.

Flec

If any Americans are wondering it will be about $120.

The quality of these sets is really impressing me. The summer wave of Super Heroes seems to be solely focused on Minifigs, with some rather poor excuses for models to accompany them. This theme seems to have both excellent figs and very well designed sets. I doubt I'll get them, certainly not because they're bad but simply because I can't afford them (my own fault, even the prices seem decent).

I was disappointed the return to Western would be a licensed theme, but as it turns out I like this theme a lot. Good job, TLG.

There is more to the pile of rubble than first meets the eye. I see Technic parts which would suggest some sort of function that will probably make sense to people that watch this movie. I'm hoping to build this one using primarily spare parts. I don't need more curve tracks and have no interest in the minifigs. The coal car looks like it will be able to hold the PF battery box similar to the same in Emerald Night.

Can you imagine Lego coming up with some new micro-battery and micro-xl motor that is included with this?

Ain't going to happen, but imagine if this was motorized right out of the box.

Shadowfax!

Hmmmm, well! Looks pretty good. ;)

Just read deepdalelegend's comment, and checked IMDb. James Badge Dale certainly isn't a child. I'm guessing it's Mason Cook as "Will", he was the first child I found on the list, plus he's got brown hair.

Huw, you called the Colby city showdown the COLBERT city showdown! How dare you? :D

I'm wondering why there's a gatling gun on the train. As far as I know, they didn't have them in those days!

Interesting tidbit about the siderods originally being included in the Toy Story Train -- any idea where I can see the original image with them included?

Andy

This set looks really great, but I'll wait to pick it up after it goes on sale. I have a feeling these Lone Ranger sets are going to be on sale not too long after the movie comes out much like the POTC and PoP sets went on sale pretty quickly. I just don't see them flying off shelves, especially if the movie gets a lukewarm or worse reception.

lordskylark:

I fished this image link out of the Eurobricks forum on 7597:

http://maskedandflare.files.wordpress.com/2009/12/4184933361_d3f7f63c00.jpg

This set looks fantastic... and will go very nicely with the Cuusoo Delorean! I'd like to add driving rods, power functions, and a few MOCed western-style cars as well, which should make for a number of fun projects. I'll finally have a good use for my two 10015 cars, too.