A Great 9V Train

Name of Model: VT11.5 VT601 VT602 TEE and IC zug

Created by: sekiyama

Found at: http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?f=177674

Details: I suspect most of you who follow other LEGO® fansites have already heard the bad news: The LEGO Group is no longer manufacturing 9V trains. This marks the end of an era - while most Adult Fans of LEGO (or AFOLs) were around before the 9V line started in 1991, this is really the only format of LEGO® trains that today's kids know. Additionally, the 9V trains were designed as part of a larger catalog of 9V electronics used in LEGO sets - light packs for spaceships, sound effect boxes for police sirens, the Cybermaster, Mindstorms Robotics Invention System, the motorized Technic sets, etc all used the same connectors and voltages. This meant that it was easy for anyone with a varied collection of LEGO parts to build trains that lit up or were controlled by computer. From what I can gather, the new "Power Functions" sets work similarly to the LEGO® MINDSTORMS NXT kit, and the new train line that will be unveiled by 2010 will be compatible with those components. Of course, if that's the case, then there will always be adapter bricks out there... So naturally, I wanted to spotlight a train today. This beautifully detailed train was made with the 9V parts as a base, but then this hobbyist carefully added other LEGO® parts to get the exact effect he/she was going for. I'm not enough of a train buff to recognize whether or not this one was based on a life-size train or not, but I love the LEGO® detailing here - the curves, the studs-not-on-top effects, the lettering, the way the front lifts up...