Vintage set of the week: Train with 12V Electric Motor
Posted by Huwbot,
This week's vintage set is 720 Train with 12V Electric Motor, released during 1969. It's one of 25 Trains sets produced that year. It contains 369 pieces.
It's owned by 124 Brickset members. If you want to add it to your collection you might find it for sale at BrickLink or eBay.
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22 comments on this article
Trains that were compatible with train tracks, those were the days...
An electric train with a smokestack?
When Lego Trains started to mean business! I had the rest of the rolling stock from that year, but never moved from 4.5V to 12V.
All I can think of when I look at this is wondering how well those traction bands on the wheels have held up.
I got the motor, the wheels and some of the parts from the 107 set in a second hand lot. I want to build an engine but I lack a lot of parts to do that. I'm sure I'll find a way to make use of it, maybe some other way...
Why is he lining up that door with so much intensity like he’s filming Shooter 2?
@B_Space_Man said:
"Why is he lining up that door with so much intensity like he’s filming Shooter 2?"
You've never seen the intensity and love my son has when he plays with trains.
He's 4.
Oh man, those blue tracks really take me back :)
This is THE ONE. THE ONE that started it all 51 years ago.
A hobby, a passion and according to my wife, an obsession.
The reason why I'm already looking for a long time for another house with a lot of space.
Sometimes I wished I started collecting post stamps. :)
@CCC said:
" @MCLegoboy said:
"An electric train with a smokestack?"
Do you think a plastic children's toy train should be powered by burning coal?"
Time for a Lego/Mamod collaboration!
@CCC said:
" @MCLegoboy said:
"An electric train with a smokestack?"
Do you think a plastic children's toy train should be powered by burning coal?"
Where do you think a large part of the electricity comes from?
Burning children's toys of course
Cool set! Bit unusual axle arrangement for a steam engine, but otherwise nothing but greatness.
@CCC said:
"Do you think a plastic children's toy train should be powered by burning coal?"Absolutely! Let's be real: about the one thing back in the day that was cooler (hotter?) than a Lego train was a toy steam engine.....which makes me wonder why they never combined those two?
25 train sets in one year? It really was a different time.
@MCLegoboy said:
"An electric train with a smokestack?"
Yes, those existed. See here on this really cool Museum of odd locomotives (there are WAY, WAY more than just this!): http://www.douglas-self.com/MUSEUM/LOCOLOCO/heilmann/heilmann1.htm
@MCLegoboy said:
"An electric train with a smokestack?"
Also, during WWII (I think it was) Sweden had very little coal for it's steam locos, but plenty of electric-power on overhead wires with not enough electric engines to go around. So, they hooked up electric heaters to steam engine boilers to boil water, added pantographs to the roof to collect the power, and away went electric steam!
@B_Space_Man said:
"Why is he lining up that door with so much intensity like he’s filming Shooter 2?"
He trying to see past the 12v sticker :P
I find it interesting hat this set, which came out in 1969, is in the database as 720-2, while 720-1 came out in 1985.
@TheOtherMike said:
"I find it interesting hat this set, which came out in 1969, is in the database as 720-2, while 720-1 came out in 1985."
Yes, it's the same with quite a few sets with duplicate numbers. Presumably it just depends on the order they were added to the database, rather than the age of the set.
@Murdoch17 said:
"Yes, those existed. See here on this really cool Museum of odd locomotives (there are WAY, WAY more than just this!): http://www.douglas-self.com/MUSEUM/LOCOLOCO/heilmann/heilmann1.htm
Also, during WWII (I think it was) Sweden had very little coal for it's steam locos, but plenty of electric-power on overhead wires with not enough electric engines to go around. So, they hooked up electric heaters to steam engine boilers to boil water, added pantographs to the roof to collect the power, and away went electric steam!"
NEAT!
@MCLegoboy said:
" @Murdoch17 said:
"Yes, those existed. See here on this really cool Museum of odd locomotives (there are WAY, WAY more than just this!): http://www.douglas-self.com/MUSEUM/LOCOLOCO/heilmann/heilmann1.htm
Also, during WWII (I think it was) Sweden had very little coal for it's steam locos, but plenty of electric-power on overhead wires with not enough electric engines to go around. So, they hooked up electric heaters to steam engine boilers to boil water, added pantographs to the roof to collect the power, and away went electric steam!"
NEAT!"
AGREED! :-P
@sjr60:
The numbering has to do with when the set was added to _a_ database, not specifically this one. Peeron/LDraw and Bricklink had their own numbering systems, and it was standard practice to keep the numbering consistent across the various websites.
The 12V motor and pickup brick 433c01 ran until the Western Train 726-1 in 1976 (and the diesel locomotive 727-1 which I've never seen). These were a lot of fun as without the later 4.5V very heavy triple C battery box car could move surprising fast and even do slopes!