Lego 7750 Steam Engine With Tender Review

No discussion of LEGO steam locomotives would bewith other 12V-powered sets, weights are included to
complete without mention of the 7750 Steam Engineensure good electrical contact between the rails and
with Tender. Arguably the greatest and most belovedthe train motor. The weights also help to prevent
of all steam engines ever made by LEGO, numberslippage of the drive wheels.
7750 is unique as the only steam engine to includeSet 7750 came with two minifigures: a driver and a
large driver wheels. Those wheels give the locomotivefireman. Like other sets from the 12V era, it included a
its massive, powerful stance and evoke images fromdecal sheet that permitted the set to be customized
the height of the steam era. Today 7750 stands aswith logos from most major national railways in
the largest steam engine set ever produced by LEGO.Europe. No track or additional accessories were
Like many LEGO trains from the 12V era, 7750 isincluded; however, the set did include functional lighting
based on prototypes from the German railways andelements. Two lighting bricks illuminate the marker lights
wears their traditional black and red livery. Theat the front of the engine and the red lights at the rear
locomotive resembles an actual Deutscheof the tender. Building a 7750 clone from parts is
Reichsbahn-Gesellschaft Class 64 locomotive, which isdifficult due to the rarity of several parts found in the
a large German tank engine with a 2-6-2 wheelset. Some of these parts can be located at for a
configuration. The LEGO rendition uses a differentmodest fee. The large train wheels were featured only
wheel arrangement: two trucks, each with a pair ofin this set and a subsequent service pack. The red
tandem axles. This change is probably due to thetrain motor shows up only in one other set, the 7730
difficulty of constructing a realistic three-axle truck thatGoods Train, which features a smaller steam engine
can negotiate tight curves without the use of blindof a similar livery to 7750. The black windows used in
(flange-less) driver wheels. In the modern era, Big Benthe cab of the engine are hard to find in quantity, and
Bricks produces blind wheels for this exact purpose.the steam cylinders and red buffers have always
However, this set from the year 1980 predates BBBbeen difficult to find in quantity. Red bogey plates were
wheels by nearly two decades, and LEGO evidentlyfeatured in 7750 exclusively. As a result, clones of
decided to pursue a solution that would not require7750 are rare, but builders have designed many
separate molds for the flanged and blind driverexcellent replicas of German locomotives that remain
wheels.Locomotive 7750 features another subtlemore faithful to the original prototypes.
compromise of realism in its design: it includes a tender.Some view the 7750 steam engine as being simplistic
On a real tank locomotive, the water and fuel areand lacking in authenticity; however, it is worth noting
carried on the engine itself; hence, a tender is not used.that this set predates the widespread use of SNOT
The LEGO version of the engine utilizes its tender as atechniques by many years. Despite its compromises in
means of propulsion; the 12V train motor is locatedrealism, 7750 is a classic among LEGO train sets and
beneath the tender. This arrangement is familiar toa particularly unique LEGO locomotive. As a result, the
LEGO steam fans, who frequently use poweredset fetches handsome amounts on eBay, typically into
tenders as a straightforward means of powering athe hundreds of US dollars for copies in good condition.
locomotive.It is certain to remain a favorite of LEGO train fans,
The tender also gives 7750 a more impressive look,and it holds a place in history as one of the greatest
like that of a mainline passenger locomotive. Consistentsteam locomotives LEGO has ever produced.