I find these train themed sets, released in 1978, interesting and special. For several reasons. First, its box is different from other town sets. Very nice green paint. And those backgrounds reminiscent of an old storybook. I love it! The second curiosity: minifigs!

Minifigs

In 1978, no minifigure with a printed torso was issued. A sticker was used instead. But one of the guys here already has a printed torso. Would this be the first printed torso minifigure? Another curiosity is the yellow safety helmet. Very rare, it was only in this single set for a long time. Unless only one exists in this set.

Track

Or anyone who was a kid at this time used to get the minifigures issued with the gray 12-volt rail tracks. Compared to that, it’s pretty weird to see the old 4.5-volt blue track in this set. Not a very common sight. It's like a glitch in the matrix.

The flat wagon is the same as the other blue-track railroad cars of the 1970s.

Car

The yellow car is quite a disappointment. On the one hand, you can't put a minifigure in it, which spoils the gameplay. On the other hand, it was in 1978 that the car chassis part and the steering wheel appeared. But even without a chassis, a simple convertible could have been built from a couple of bricks and plates. If you have the box, there is a version on the back of the box between the alternative builds where you can put the minifigure on the vehicle.

My mod

I quickly built another car that also consists of a few parts. The point is to be able to put the minifigure in it.

Something from the late 1970s angular sports car like the Lotus Esprit or the Triumph TR7.

And I didn’t even need a chassis part for that. These parts were also available in 1978.