We already know there’s a lot of LEGO sets that came out on the first of August. Among them are the latest train sets under the hugely popular LEGO City line. One of these recent locomotive models, the Passenger Train (60197), is suddenly getting attention from LEGO train enthusiasts due to its specific locomotive components making it possible to affordably extend its length up to double.
Some of the other LEGO passenger train sets, especially of the modern City designs, usually comprise two engines and a train carriage. The engines go on either side of the train (as with actual contemporary locomotives, to easily go back and forth on its set rail line and minimize the need for a train turntable).
The thing is, LEGO rail fans who would like to extend their model trains find that buying extra copies of train sets with two engines leave them with too many engines and too few carriages. The City Passenger Train version 60197 eliminates that wastage by providing only one buildable engine to two carriages in set.
Now while that normally means the 60197 loco will more feasibly work only on a circular track going one way (without a model turntable), getting a second 60197 would have the two sets being joined back to back, with the engines on opposite sides. That results in a long, realistic train design with at least four passenger carriages in between.
With the LEGO City Power Functions included in the Passenger Train (60197), builders can now make it go forward and back on its track, as there are engine motors on either side to make it go the desired direction. In fact, if the Power Function motors on both engines are activated simultaneously (forward for the leading engine and reverse for the rear one), they could combine their individual speeds to make the whole loco faster.
The Passenger Train (60197) was also accompanied on its August 1 release by fellow LEGO City sets the Cargo Train (60198) and Capital City (60200). All these and more are available on shop.LEGO.com as well as on LEGO Store shelves.