Being the first 'City' sub-theme train set that used the Power Functions system, I think that LEGO started out on the right foot. This train set did a good job replicating it's great counterpart, the Deluxe Cargo Train from 2006, by including many valuable play features and a decent sized track layout.

Locomotive:

More recent train fans will recognize this engine to look nearly identical to the locomotive from the Heavy Haul train, as it uses the same front pieces. Overall, I like the Heavy Haul engine more, but I think this one is good too. I like the addition of hand rails by the cab doors, and the yellow/black/grey scheme is nice.

Tank Car:

My favorite car included in this set is the tank car. It has a decently robust design, even though it uses SNOT methods to hold the tanks. I am one of the many TFOL and AFOLS that went back on Bricklink to buy multiples of this car.

Flat Car:

Ugh. Another flat car. Looking back on the later train sets after this one, I feel that this started the trend of lots of flat cars in sets. The Heavy Haul train has 2, and so does the Summer 2014 Cargo Train. Nothing special here, although I like the inclusion of a blue version as well as the original white 'Small Car' set.

Container car:

I like this car very much, especially since it looks great with the Maersk train. The inclusion of an alternate container is good.

Overall Thoughts:

While this set has it's flaws, I think that it has good value for money. I think it has good play value, and for the 130 US dollars, it was great.

This review continues from my earlier train review of my 10219 Maersk Train.

Last weekend, my seven year old nephew visited from Australia and I got out all my LEGO trains and set them up in our living room and hallway.

I thought this was a good opportunity to photograph and review all my LEGO trains.

Box/Instructions

This set was purchased second hand and did not come with a box although looking at images of the box it is clear that parts were separated into eight numbered bags.

The instructions are divided into six booklets

• Book 1 with bags 1 and 2 make the yellow engine.
• Book 2 with bag 3 makes the Octan tank carriage.
• Book 3 with bag 4 makes the red container and flat car.
• Book 4 with bag 5 makes the two small vehicles and a flat car.
• Book 5 with bag 6 makes the green gantry crane.
• Book 6 with bags 7 and 8 make the red truck and trailer with the LEGO container.

There was a sticker sheet but as this was purchased second hand, the stickers had already been applied. I normally don't apply stickers.

Parts

2010 saw the introduction of Power Functions in City Trains. This set along with 7938 Passenger Train were the first City Trains to use the seven speed IR Speed Remote control as well as the new Train Motors and AAA Battery Box.

Prior to this, City Trains were powered by 9V tracks with the exception of 7898 Cargo Train Deluxe (in 2006) which used an earlier version of remote control and train motor.

The box has an image showing how the new remote control works.

Minifigures

The set comes with four minifigures; a train driver, gantry crane operator, truck driver and a marshalling assistant.

All these figures have been seen in lots of sets so there is nothing new here.

The train driver has a hot drink in a red cup and the marshalling assistant uses a radio to talk to the team.

The build

As the build is divided into several discrete stages, it is easy to work at your own pace and build this set in modules.

The completed model

The yellow engine is a sturdy design and resembles an electric engine such as British Rail type 92 engine. The front and rear yellow windows hinge up to allow access to the drivers compartment. This is the only set with this piece in yellow.

There is a great selection of rolling stock with an Octan oil tanker rail car, a forty foot container on a flat car and two small vehicles on another forty foot flat car.

All this cargo can be moved about using a gantry crane. The crane driver's seat rests on a turntable so he can swivel around depending on where the cargo is.

The cargo can be transferred onto the truck and delivered to the customer.

The set comes with 16 curved tracks, eight straight tracks, a left and right set of points and 16 flexi-track pieces.

This amount of track enables you to make some really interesting track layouts.

Overall opinion

This is a regular LEGO train that is still available at reasonable prices. The engine is great and there is a great selection of rolling stock.

Added to that is the cargo handling facility of the gantry crane and a truck with a LEGO branded container along with a good selection of track pieces.

All of these features makes this a truly self-contained LEGO train set.

See if you can source this train in the local market.

I've bought this train for $215 Dollars at Toys R Us in October and I decided to review this set

The Locomotive:

Like I said in my review of 7898 I Know a little bit about both American and European Railroads and this train closely resembles both a British Rail Class 92 and a British Rail Class 87

The Flatbed car:

In comparison to 7898's flatbed car, this car can only hold two small cars while 7898's flatbed can hold one medium sized car

The Tanker Car:

An octan fuel tank car that resembles both the European and American fuel tanker car, It can be modified to hold a much larger fuel tanker but it isn't easy to do

The Container Car:

A nice little car that goes to the end of the train. It can hold either one large container or two small containers from 7994's Container ship

The Truck:

A nicely designed tractor-trailer that can hold containers like the container car

The Gantry Crane:

A cool little green crane that can move and also has a winch, Like I said abou the tractor trailer and the container car it can carry either a large container or a small container

Overall it was a good set, and was very reasonably priced

This is my 3rd (of 4) LEGO train sets to assemble and it was the 2nd most fun. The train seems like a downgrade from the 7898 Cargo Train Deluxe, but is still chock full of neat little features.

First the pros:

1. Multiple cars - engine, flatbed, tanker, auto transporter

2. Multiple vehicles - tractor trailer, 2 cars for the transporter

3. Remote control - standard for today's trains, but still cool

4. Multiple loading options - 40' container, 20' container, 1 car or 2 cars...

5. Well-engineered and sturdy loading crane that withstands the abuse of a 4-year old. Clever build technique that I will carry on to older kits that have weak points.

6. Storage compartments on the train - haven't filled them yet, but the coffee cup comes to mind.

Then the cons:

1. Cost - at $169, it's a stretch. This should have been a $149 train, at best, or include another car or more track elements

2. Default track layout - includes straights, curves, switches and flexi-track, but the siding seems like an afterthought to get rid of surplus flex elements at the factory. A more realistic siding would have been nice, or inclusion of a crossing (can't get enough of them).

3. No horn! 7898 included a horn, which is a must for kids! Is it really that hard to add back to the remote?

4. Lack of detail when compared to 7898. Maybe it's just a nit, but it seems that LEGO slid backwards on this one. With a freighter out now, this may not have been a necessary train to release.

All in all, I am glad I bought it. It adds a lot of color and more cars to my train/City layout. I still have the Maersk to build and the freighter is on order. Let you know how those work out. If you are on the fence on this one, try to find it used. Or find a 7898, you'll be happier.

This is my review on the Cargo train

The box

We begin with the front of the box. Ofcourse the general information about the set like with many Lego boxes. However the box is smaller than the previous Cargo train (7898),

What's in the box. Ofcourse the bigger parts are thrown in the box. One of my switches was bended so it doesn't stay flat on the ground, but there is more negative news.

The instructions

The instruction books were heavily bended, especially the one from the crane and the locomotive.

The rest of the books were okay.

The PF Parts

The small box insede consist of the PF devices. The new motor wich looks almost like the last one only with orange instead of white. Also the new one has a fixed wire on it.

The remote control, looks on the box so much bigger than in real life, almost a (I hate to say this) a cute little remote. The batterybox. I haven't used it because I use the rechargable one for the train. I think it's really cool that Lego made the two of similar size so that it's easy to buildt it in the train without mayor modifications.

Bag 1 Locomotive

The new front part does fit PF lights. It's not noted in the instructions or any other material I've seen from Lego. I would say this is a missed chance for Lego, but the lights are easy to build in. Like Lego intended to make the lights but later cancelled it. Also included are two minifigs, a driver and a yard worker. The locomotive has one dummy motor which looks like the real motor.

Bag 2 fininshed Locomotive

Bag 2 for the rest of the locomotive. The IR reciever and batterybox are both in a seperate bag. Once finished the locomotive the driver is easy to acces because the front of the train can open. At least it's not a prefab piece like the last passengertrain. It contains many stickers but I don't mind. If I remember correclty 12 Volt trains also had many stickers. The building was easy because every every step adds only a few bricks. Which is the reason why the instructions contains so many pages. Also a new expirience for me was building with PF parts.

Bag 3 Octan tank car

when the wagon is finished you get a nice tank car from the Lego oil campany called Octan. Building was not that hard. I think the scale is the best one we've had so far for Lego trains. I wish we could get this one seperate....

Bag 4 Car transport

When I was building I saw some kind of new mold for an old piece. A hole has been made for a technic pin. This set contains four of them (it's somekind of old mudgard piece). Once finished you get two smart cars like the one in set 3177 only with some color differences. Once the wagon is finished you get a flatcar with to carss Building was not hard at all because it's just a flatbed with two cars on top of it. Still it's a good looking wagon.

Bag 5 container car

During the buildt I noted that this type of car is different from anything we've seen so far from Lego train cars. You get a nice flatbed with a large red container.

Bag 6 The truck

A nice red truck, with a small yellow container. It's decent and it looks like a real truck. Only with one container it looks rather odd but with the big one it looks good. A little bit stupid that we didn't get two small containers and one big one.

bag 7 Crane

The content of this bag is not very different from what we've seen in this set. Many parts are also used in the previous sub models to keep the cost low for Lego. Once finished you get an easy to handle crane and also looks really good. The last ones for the trains didn't look as good as this one. But that's just my opinion.

The rest

You also get a small loop of rails with the new flex-track. Despite I don't liked them I really find them useful for my layout.

Conclusion

I tested the train and it can pull much more than the last cargo train. Maybe even more than 9 volt trains but I don't know that because I don't own one.

I think it a really good set. A little pricey but it's still a great starter set which can be expanded with more track, signals, stations and much more. I think the new trains are the best ones released in years. The PF parts are welcome too because you can add more stuff to your train (rechargable batterybox and lights). I believe that if Lego continous this type of trains (PF) it'even possible that we get an era that's better than the 12 volt one. (just kidding...or am I?:P)

You will love it if you like City or trains, or both ofcourse:P.