1. Getting Started with LEGO Trains Welcome to GATS Pleasanton 30 Nov-1 Dec, 2002 Thanks for coming! v3 Prepared by: L. Pieniazek (with help from “everyone”) Bay Area LEGO® Train Club

2. 12 October 2015Michigan Lego® Train Club- 2 - I didn’t know LEGO® made Trains! That is the MOST COMMON comment we get at train shows... GRIN This short clinic is intended to introduce you to... The Train Line The “special” Lego Train parts you’ll need to make your own train creations

3. 12 October 2015Michigan Lego® Train Club- 3 - LEGO® Train History Trains have a long and storied history as part of the product. LEGO bricks date back to the 1950s The first LEGO trains came out in the early 1960s but were available only in Europe LEGO came to the US in 1976 LEGO trains became available in the US with the introduction of the 9V line in 1990 (what??? what’s the 9V line???)

4. 12 October 2015Michigan Lego® Train Club- 4 - LEGO® Train History (cont’d) LEGO® trains are usually divided into three groups based on their operating voltage All are compatible to a certain extent. They all run on the same gauge track, measuring just over 4 LEGO® studs internally. They all use the same coupling mechanism. Battery trains (4.5V) and 12V DC electric trains were available concurrently through 1992. Unfortunately, the 12V sets were never available in North America. The current 9 Volt series has been available since 1990, and is the main focus of our display today.

5. 12 October 2015Michigan Lego® Train Club- 5 - Parts - Track The track is modular Just about 4 “studs” between the rails Not any specific gauge (we call it “L” gauge for fun) Has studs on top and fits on studs on bottom Straight/ Curve LH & RH Points 90º Crossing Track Assortment:

6. 12 October 2015Michigan Lego® Train Club- 6 - Parts – Motors & Wheels One 9V motor unit, with optional side decorations One wheelset One specialty wheel and axle We also use old style (4.5v/12v) wheels (get them in the aftermarket) 9v Motor Motor Decor “Modern” Wheel Set Old Style Wheels Small Wheels

7. 12 October 2015Michigan Lego® Train Club- 7 - Special Parts – Couplers / Bogies LEGO uses magnetic coupling Swivel holder avoids “endedness” Standard Technic pin used for bogie Advanced modelers often avoid the standard buffer coupler magnet (too “european”) Buffer, Coupler, & Magnet Bogie Plate

8. 12 October 2015Michigan Lego® Train Club- 8 - Special Parts – Body Parts/Baseplates Basic building is made simpler by using “train baseplates” for the cars. Advanced modelers often use composite floors. Special doors and windows give “rounded corner effect” Train base plates: 24 x 628 x 6 34 x 6 “lowboy” Train door & windows

9. 12 October 2015Michigan Lego® Train Club- 9 - Ordinary parts Although we’ve just reviewed the special parts, most LEGO Trains consist of 90%++ “ordinary parts”!!! Bricks and Plates, Baby!!! It’s all about the bricks (and plates!) Details often come from other themes For example, how many “Star Wars(tm)” specialty parts can you find in our models?

10. 12 October 2015Michigan Lego® Train Club- 10 - Buying LEGO Trains So how do you buy this stuff? WELL... it is sort of a stealth product! TARGET, TRU, other Big Box retailers have starter sets at Christmas time, (NOW) but few accessories. Or buy from LEGO Direct. On the web at shop.lego.com Or... grab a catalog from the display table

11. 12 October 2015Michigan Lego® Train Club- 11 - So I built a great model! Now what? Share it. Take it to shows and fests Post it to the web (brickshelf.com, etc.) Tell us about it on lugnet.trains Record it Save those pics Make an LDraw rendition of it Get involved! Join your local club

12. 12 October 2015Michigan Lego® Train Club- 12 - Some of the World Wide LEGO ® Train Clubs (LTC) United States: BayLTC San Francisco, CA & surrounding areas www.baylug.org/ GFLTC – Greater Florida LTC Florida members.nbci.com/gfltc GMLTC – Greater Midwest LTC Minnesota & Wisconsin www.skypoint.com/~jkelly69/gmltc NCLUG – North Carolina LTC North Carolina & surrounding areas www.nclug.net NELUG – New England LUG Boston & surrounding areas www.nelug.org NGLTC – North Georgia LTC Atlanta, GA & surrounding areas www.ngltc.org NOLTC – New Orleans LTC Louisiana cmasi.chem.tulane.edu/~lego/index.html PNLTC – Pacific Northwest LTC Seattle, WA, Portland, OR & surrounding areas www.PNLTC.org WamaLTC – Washington, DC Metro Area LTC Washington, DC & surrounding areas www.wamaltc.org ROTW: EJLTC – East Japan LTC East Japan www.geocities.co.jp/Playtown-Toys/4562 FGLTC – First German LTC Germany www-public.tu- bs.de:8080/~rbeneke/lego/fgltc/fgltc.html www-public.tu- bs.de:8080/~rbeneke/lego/fgltc/fgltc.html ITLTC – Itialian LTC Italy www.itltc.org UKLUG – United Kingdom LUG England www.uklug.org.uk VLC – Vancouver LC Vancouver, BC Canada www.akasa.bc.ca/vlc/

13. 12 October 2015Michigan Lego® Train Club- 13 - Any Questions?

14. 12 October 2015Michigan Lego® Train Club- 14 - Thanks! We hope you enjoy the show! Bay Area LEGO® Train Club