I own three LEGO train sets beyond the gorgeous Emerald Night train set, none of which are nearly as sought-after in the LEGO aftermarket economy. I bought this trio after Emerald Night, thinking I would enjoy building up a LEGO train collection. Buying and building these three sets, though, didn't bring me the same level of joy as Emerald Night so I stopped buying any more LEGO train sets. I guess I was just a big fan of Emerald Night.

Now I'm putting my LEGO sets back together, I could enjoy them again. I will also apply all the sticker decals that I didn't use before, as I no longer intend to disassemble them and use those pieces elsewhere. They'll just sit on display (or stored intact) in the future.

LEGO City Passenger Train (7938)

A modern aerodynamic electric passenger train is the historical successor to steam-powered Emerald Night. Naturally those pantographs are just for looks, as LEGO trains are actually powered by batteries instead of overhead wires. As a result, the first car is packed with battery and associated equipment instead of passenger space as implied by the non-functional opaque windows.

The set also came with a small train platform for passengers to await their ride. Since I'm applying the sticker decals this time around, I finally had a good look at the informational display. Based on its short length, I had thought this train was for urban commuters, but the display listed cities as far apart as London and Moscow. Wow, it's a train with aspirations for international travel!

I interpreted the numbers listed behind each city as the departure times for each train. It is an extremely tight schedule: eight train services to cities all over Europe departing within a 35-minute window from 11.03 (service to Dublin) to 11:38 (service to Rome.) And according to the analog clock on the lamppost, it is now 11:42. These two passengers on the platform have missed all the scheduled trains.

LEGO City Cargo Train (7939)

A cargo train set is a natural complement to the passenger train, and they were likely released simultaneously judging by sequential kit numbers 7938 and 7939. From this kit I learned a cargo train set has higher play value than passenger train sets. One of the train cars carries two adorable LEGO microcars that somehow still has enough space for a LEGO figure. (They have to forgo large hair/headwear, though.) There's a car to carry a large cargo container, a container tractor-trailer truck with a half-length container.

The best part: a gantry crane to move containers between them. I loved the detail of the crane operator cab: this little person is seated on a rotating platform and has 270-degree visibility via panoramic windows.

LEGO City Red Cargo Train (3677)

Supporting both passenger and cargo operations is this set in the theme of rail maintenance. The engine has a tall operator station for all-around visibility, consistent with a switcher locomotive for short range work. A car for carrying bulk cargo like gravel, and structures to load and unload it. A long car has a small mobile crane on one end, and a cargo car for carrying bright green barrels of... eh... I don't know what.

The best part: a small work truck that can convert between road and rail travel. I thought these dual-mode machines were cool in real life and I admit this little truck was the biggest motivation for buying this train set.

On an entirely different topic but still related to purchase motivation, my love for R2-D2 from Star Wars meant I bought several sets after my first LEGO R2-D2 set.