subject: BrickTrainShop's Review of the 165 "CARGO STATION" from 1978 [print this page] BrickTrainShop's Review of the 165 "CARGO STATION" from 1978
Our Last Flashback focused on one of the most famous LEGO locomotives from the early 1980s 12V system. This time I want to take a look at a set from an even earlier era, the 165 Cargo Station. Released in 1978, the Cargo Station was one of the first buildings available for LEGO trains, at a time when trains ran on blue tracks and bricks in the color gray were
fairly novel and perhaps even controversial.
In all, four different train-themed buildings were issued, beginning with a train station in 1975 and followed by a level crossing and fuel refinery in 1976. The Cargo Station appears somewhat simplistic by modern standards, comprised mostly of basic brick and with only a few details. By the standards of 1978, however, it was a capable and even ground breaking set. In the world of LEGO trains, this set came at the transition from the 1970s "LEGOLAND" sets to the classic Town sets of the 1980s. The Cargo Station was the first train-related building to include modern minifigures as opposed to their predecessor, the "armless" figures. The Cargo Station also set the stage for things to come by using a standard 32 x 32 stud baseplate.
FLASHBACK
The first train building to make use of the now-ubiquitous baseplate standard. The Cargo Station was also significant in being the first in a series of cargo loading stations for LEGO
trains. Each subsequent generation of LEGO trains has featured a set of similar design. In 1986, the 7823 Container Loading Crane was released for 12V trains, followed in 1995 by the 4555 Freight Loading Station. The latter set in particular appears to be a direct descendant of the 165 Cargo Station, updated for the aesthetic standards of System-era sets. Both 7823 and 4555 included a freight wagon and container truck; these were omitted from the 165 Cargo Station. The late 1990s saw the trend toward juniorization take grasp in the LEGO System offerings. Two other freight station sets were released during this era: the 4557 Freight Loading Station in 1999 and the 4514 Cargo Crane in 2003. These sets were smaller in scale and included a truck but no rail car. Returning to the 165 Cargo Station, it is worth noting that the crane in this set was designed to lift crates, not the larger intermodal shipping containers that would appear in later sets. It is also interesting that the small crates found in the Cargo Station from thirty years ago are not unlike the crates now appearing in
several sets from the 2008 lineup!
The mechanism for grasping the crates by wedging a plate between the studs on top of each crate would not be permitted in a modern LEGO-issued set. This technique, which appeared in a number of earlier LEGO sets, was found to weaken or warp bricks over time and has earned a place on the list of "illegal" building techniques. For a set that appears quite simple, the Cargo Station encompasses a good degree of play value. It features a traveling crane with a functioning winch. The freight station has two bays for cargo and plenty of crates. The crane straddles two train tracks, a feature unique to this crane set, making it possible to transfer cargo from one train to another or to the warehouse. Or, with one set of tracks removed and replaced by a driveway, the crane could be used to transfer goods from truck to train and vice versa.
It is straightforward to build a replica of the Cargo Station, but it would be difficult to construct an exact replica given what parts are available in the modern era. Despite the use of mostly basic bricks in the design, a number of elements are no longer made, such as the rooftop antenna and the large 2 x 6 x 3 window featured on the control tower of the station. Several other elements are much rarer now than in the 1970s, in particular the white hinged doors on the freight station and the wheels used on the crane. The set included a decal sheet with decals for the crates and the sign atop the station that read "Goods Station". The
decal sheet included this text in eight different languages! The 165 Cargo Station marked the end of one era and the beginning of another. It was the first LEGO train building to exhibit System-style design, and it was an indication of things to come in the era of gray-railed 12V trains. It was also the first of several cargo stations for LEGO trains. Historically, each generation of trains has featured a cargo station of some sort. Currently,
there are no structures for the RC line of trains, and the line from LEGO City has plenty of vehicles but is conspicuously short on cargo buildings. Perhaps this oversight will be corrected when the Power Functions trains are issued; only time will tell!
As always BrickTrainShop would like to remind you to keep your eye out for fraudulent Lego and fraudulent advertisements. Many look alike lego have surfaced on the internet mostly made in china, one of the toy lines is called "enlighten" these blocks look like lego and many ebay members are purchasing these knock offs and mixing them in with regular Lego and selling them by the pound. This amounts to Fraud, Deception, Deceptive Advertising, etc. It is wrong and a total Rip-Off!! Please be careful when making such purchases especially if it sounds to good to be true.
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