This is the promotional picture for it:
It was released in 2008 and contains 73 pieces. I built it as the instructions described, and thought that it turned out really nicely. It uses a couple of antennas to give the appearance of a connecting rod, and a couple of "cheese wedges" for the cow-catcher at the front. Obviously, being a small mini set, it was an easy build; it comes with a few greebles,
Completed, the train fits exactly a four wide track.
The Good
- Interesting addition to a train fan's sets.
- Good design for the boiler and smoke stack.
- The real set would probably make a good inexpensive gift (if you could find it) for a train fan even if they aren't into LEGO.
- The color pieces (green) are pretty common, so it's easy to MOC to different colors (see below).
The Bad
- Interesting details, but seems very lacking. The cow-catcher and the roof with only two 1x1 slopes seems lacking.
- Too much gray... I prefer black.
- No companion sets... no caboose, no cars, no tender. I think a full mini train would be pretty cool.
- Too many studs showing, IMO.
So now on to my own pictures... of course, I couldn't leave well enough alone, so I changed the antennas for longer bars; not only did it get rid of the open hole in front, but the longer bar reached back to both wheels. I also modified the cow-catcher by adding two more wedges on the sides and adding a 1x2 plate under the middle ones to give it more of an angular look. I replaced the yellow "lights" with yellow tiles instead, and added several tiles to get rid of the studs. I also redid the roof, and made the underbody more solid. I also didn't like all the gray, so made it black.
Now, I mention all of these because I didn't take pictures before I made the changes, so these are my modified ones. As an example of one of the pros of the set, I did one in red, too.
(ran out of gray wheels)
So there it is... it's a cool little set, easily MOC-able, and if you're anything like me you will be motivated to continue on with additions to a train like this. I know it's a small simple set, but the fact that it excites and motivates me to continue creating is like the very essence of why we love LEGO, and so I think this set, for what it is, is a great one. I spent all yesterday evening playing with modifying this very simple set, and that says it all right there, I think.
BIG EDIT: I neglected to mention there are actually instructions to build three different models with these parts, but the other two models, IMO, are just terrible. I don't recognize either one as being anything, so I only built the steam engine.
