Getting Started with LEGO Trains (Paperback)

by Jacob McKee (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Review
"Brilliant in its simplicity. . . and it is brilliant in its color and illustrations." -- About.com, April 2004

"I recommend [this book] to anyone who is interested in designing and building their own Lego train locomotives and carriages." -- Slashdot, March 2004

Product Description
Learn to build LEGO Trains, from setting up train tracks to building custom freight cars. Jake McKee, an authority on LEGO Trains, teaches basic building techniques and shares some of his most fascinating and original train designs.

You’ll learn how to build a North American-style locomotive, a 1940’s refrigerator car, and an intermodal container car. As you build, you’ll gain the fundamental train-building skills that will help you create your own designs at home.

You’ll also find:

-A survey of different types of locomotives, cars, and tracks, as well as parts designed specifically for LEGO Trains
-An in-depth discussion of different track layouts
-Tips and tricks for maintaining your train set
-Interviews with several well-known LEGO Trains fans discussing their design process and achievements

Whether you are a veteran LEGO trains fanatic or a curious beginner, this book is the easiest way to get your trains rolling in no time.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 128 pages
• Publisher: No Starch Press; 1 edition (December 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1593270062
• ISBN-13: 978-1593270063
• Product Dimensions: 9.9 x 7.8 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #341,995 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A must for Lego train owners, August 7, 2004

By	A Williams "honestpuck" (Neutral Bay, NSW Australia) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I have a confession to make. There is one small part of my childhood that is constantly returning; every few years it breaks out and I find my apartment covered in small pieces of brightly coloured plastic: Yes, the Lego addiction strikes. One of those recent episodes involved a train set (perhaps I indulged in a few pieces of track and an extra car or two - but that's all, I swear.

Getting Started with Lego Trains is a fairly good guide to designing and building Lego trains. The writing is a clear, simple style that should be understood by anyone, the layout is clear.

Jacob McKee, the author, is webmaster at Bricks On The Brain, a good site which acts as a portal to build instructions. He also has a section devoted to the book which has three example pages and some links to other sites useful to Lego train builders. Both the book and the site itself promise at least a couple of articles by McKee but these are still "to come." I hope they come soon as McKee promises (in the book and on the site) an article on using decals and I'd like to know his sources and methods.

The book starts with two chapters that are absolutely basic; most of the information here is included in the Lego documentation you get with the train kits, such as how to hook up the electrical power and the different train and carriage sets available. There are still some useful nuggets such as the 'Studs Not On Top' technique for getting bricks pointing away from the vertical and interesting trivia such as a short history of Lego trains. McKee also adds some details that may be hard to glean from the Lego manuals such as how an active passing line can cause a short circuit in your track.

The third chapter is only two pages, which once again detail some fairly obvious information such as the various parts of the train couplings and bogies. From that point on, the book gets interesting. The real core of the book consists of the three chapters that McKee has devoted to three different train models. Instead of just giving you the plans to build the locomotive and two carriages, McKee has shared the design process itself and gives some useful design and building tips before showing you the instructions.

The first model is a glorious model of a GP-38 locomotive (if you want to see the finished models then you can get decent-sized pictures on McKee's site). It might have been better to have had this model last of the three, as it is the most complex and I found it the hardest to make with my Lego collection - there are more specialized parts in this model and I had to change the design in a couple of spots. Given the great look of the finished model, this isn't too much of a complaint.

The second example is a refrigerated car (or "reefer car" in train yard slang). I found that I couldn't build this car in the all-green of the book design but had the parts to build it in red. Since, as McKee points out, these sorts of cars are to be found in dozens of different paint jobs I don't feel this was a problem. There are considerably fewer specialized parts in this model.

The third example is a container car (with containers), which is the easiest to build and uses few specialized pieces you are unlikely to have if you own a train set already. Once again my only real problem was one of having exactly the same colour as the book -- one of my containers has red doors instead of white, for example.

I hope from my descriptions of the chapter you can see why I think the model order is wrong -- I'd completely reverse the order of these three chapters.

For an early teen (or older) reader, the strength of this book is the tips and encouragement McKee gives in these three chapters for designing your own locomotives and carriages. There are dozens of little tips and tricks on creating a visually pleasing and playable model design. Younger readers may not appreciate McKee's excellent advice on creating your own designs as much as older readers, but they will enjoy building the models all the same.

There is a final chapter on building track layouts, including some useful tips on building track inclines, and finally two short appendices, one on where to buy Lego and a glossary (McKee labels it "terminology").

Originally (before publication, that is), this book was advertised at $24.95. The actual cover price is $19.95, though, and No Starch have dropped the price again. At the new list of $14.95, it becomes much more attractive and I recommend it to anyone who is interested in designing and building their own Lego train locomotives and carriages. The readable, simple style and clear build instructions make it enjoyable for quite young readers and older, more dedicated builders will appreciate the design tips. Lego have train sets that they advise are for 8 years old or older, and I believe the average seven-year-old would have no problem understanding the build instructions in this book.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Mainstream LEGO train documentation, December 16, 2004

By	E. McGlynn (Finger Lakes of Western New York) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Well written, lots of research, with the three model diagrams being the highlight of this book. Beginners will have to put the book down, get the bricks they need, then come back to build McKee's great designs. I would have ordered the designs a bit differntly, however, with easier designs first, leading up to the more complicated engine design.<br /> <br /> There's a lot of good reference here, and the author is quite thorough when following through on his assumed intentions to introduce LEGO trains into the mainstream. He's broken ground and set a very high standard for others to follow.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Starter Guide, March 23, 2004

By	David A Weiler Thiessen "davedude4" (Saskatoon, SK, Canada) - See all my reviews

This is a well written and composed book. The author shares his personal experiences in a very clear and approachable manner.

And the best part, there are complete building instructions for making a locomotive, refeer car, and container car. The instructions are prefaced with detailed information about the design decisions that went into making the models.

There are many useful sidebards throughout. The whole presentation is great. Lots of color photos to enhance the verbage.

This book is a must have for anyone that wants to get a better experience out of playing with LEGO trains.