LEGO Cargo Railway 4559 train from 1996 reviewed! Unconventional, funky, but slick 

Man this is so nostalgic to me. Not that I've owned it, but as a kid I drooled over it in the catalog.

Everything about the station is so perfect to me: the truck lining up so well with the train, the spring-loaded boom gates and the simplicity of it all.

I got a box of old lego with a 9V train a while back. This was the set. Never knew which one until now, but I have all these parts

Great review of a great set. Man being locked in that glass coffin would be scary but hey Lego figs don't need to breathe!

Ahhhh I used to dream about this set in the catalogues

Anyone else discover this train through that old PC game, Lego Loco? I had a small obsession with this train as a kid because it felt like an impossible dream; it was long discontinued and I would probably never own it. Thankfully, I recently managed to get my hands on one through ebay, in very good condition too, and I am more than satisfied! I showed this to some of my students and they were speechless, mostly because of what Jang mentioned: It's a very unusual design and it does much more than your standard passenger train set. My only major gripe is that the passenger compartments are not held on by anything, so if the train derails, they go flying with minimal effort.

I think I've finally solved the mystery of the constant long sleeve shirts of Jang's. Tattoo sleeves of Lego trains. Gotta be it.

More effort was put into the interiors and playability back then it seems for the train sets. Never knew about this. It's an excellent set!

I wanted that set so badly as a kid! To me it was "the train from Lego Loco"

Looks like a prison cell transport... The wine glass will not convince me otherwise.

Some would argue lego town had declined by this era, I view train as the exception.

Hey Jang, could we see the loco on its own spin around on your track briefly? Ty :)

1:04 looks like a truck with train wheels

This review was well worth the wait, especially since this train has that much significance to me and how much I played with it as a kid. 1996, I was around 8-9 years old when this first came out, very nostalgic, and finally seeing it zoom around New Jang City was real eye-candy for me, so thanks for that little extra effort to do so (even though I know your layout was in a state for a while) Brilliant review Jang, keep up the good work, I probably can't make another request due to my situation but I'm glad I was able to request this one and make it count, and I'm happy other people like it too. All the best, Click-Click! =D

This train is as cyberpunk something can be without being cyberpunk. The design and weird cargo system is very futuristic. Almost ready for Mellemby District as it is.

Imagine your just having a nap on a train and then you wake up and you’re on the back of a truck being drove around.

The style of human transportation would fit perfectly into a cyberpunk city, wouldn't it?

Although I've never owned this set, it still brings a lot of nostalgia from the LEGO Loco game and its iconic intro. I never knew it had those 'pods'. Such a fun addition imo.

I loved this set as a kid, i'd look through the 1998 lego catalog and imagine playing with it, the color scheme is just awesome, same as the res-q line

Minifigures know that they are made of the same exact material as everything else in the world, so the idea of treating minifigures like cargo is much more socially acceptable to them than it is to us.

Strange to hear about the initial lack of interest in this, while there are other sets that do either the freight or passenger aspects better, there aren't really any that meshed the two together so well. It's got enough of both worlds to offer a diverse play experience, plus a dose of nostalgia (the Locomotive section uses the same cabin as the Metroliner, and the low-slung rail cars are a nod to the Metroliner's 4547 Accessory Club Car). 1996 was pretty much a golden year for LEGO trains, with this and the 4565 Freight and Crane set both having excellent playability and options (as you've shown, these are still part of the alternate-picture-build-on-the-box lineup, so you could come up with your interpretations)

Totally totally charming train set! I love that 1990's colour scheme, too. Big thanks to Tomogotchi for this choice, and, Jang, it is joyous to see that train zooming around New Jang City! Thank you:)

This is a lovely and wholesome set that I always wanted as a kid in the 90s. I loved the black and yellow style used in this and the RES-Q line. The way passengers are carried is a little bit strange, but if you swapped the colors a bit this would make a perfect Space Police set.

I remember years ago getting this as a gift from someone who was cleaning their lego collection. 15 year old me was so happy to have the train from lego loco

Love this set so much! Was my third ever train set, such a quirky build but so many awesome play features!

Watching the review of this set inspires me to start creating a positive-futurist Lego city of my own. I see a lot of historical recreations, attempts to recreate a contemporary city, as well as the steampunk/dystopian cities... But rarely I've seen people creating a "city of the future" (maybe a selection bias, because I do like MOC castles and other historical stuff). When I was growing up, Lego town/city sets always did seem a little futurist to me, so it feels appropriate to use Lego to explore how we might use cities differently. Thanks for the review Jang.

LEGO Doesn’t do Trains like they used to

the son of one of my parents' friends had this set when i was a kid. I was so insanely jealous of him. Of course, I had only a very vague concept of just how expensive this was and just how rich that family was, lol. He didn't even let me play with it because he didn't have the track set up and couldn't be bothered ;_;

I own this set. My grandma bought it for me when I was 6 or 7. Your critiques are spot on. It’s an unrealistic, quirky set, but it was so much FUN! I played with mine so much that some of the parts broke. This set gives modern train sets a run for their money when it comes to play features. Thanks for the review.

Ah yes the Lego Loco computer game nostalgia is hitting me

Ahhhh, the inner train fan in Jang comes out again.

Off topic here, but I must get this out ASAP. Jang, please don't tell me you scrapped the Emerald Night train! I remember it used to be parked next your custom passenger trains. PLEASE don't say you scrapped it!

The $3.09 price of Octan Gas is weirdly prophetic coming from 1996 and being reviewed in 2021… pretty sure that’s right around what I paid last time I filled up

Wow .I think you have already bought this set 3 months ago and now you are reviewing it.I assume this is your first LEGO system 9v train set.

I own it as well, and my son is currently playing with it and the freight train from the same year as well. I do not remember being concerned about the lack of realism when I was a child, and getting the driver into the tight place was easy with the fingers I had at the time 🙂 I think you are reviewing it too much from the aspect of an adult, I was certainly never annoyed about the things you mention.

I hope Elon Musk doesn't see this...or else he might have his next horrible idea to "revolutionize" transportation.

This is more of the kind JANG review that I originally loved. Amazingly clever set design. Thank you.

My friend had this set and I can confirm: you can get that train to go FAST

i have the white and blue version but that’s another set which is probably the express train you mentioned unfortunately the cables already melted away cause of how humid my environment is and I already dismantled it But yeah, this train is definitely quite bizarre

This set is roughly one year older than myself. I personally didn't know about it until sometime earlier this year when I found a review on a different channel. It's angular aesthetic is rather similar to the "Metroliner" from 1991 (re-released in '01, under a different set number) but that was a passenger train. More curiously, the black ponytail hair piece in this set-which was introduced with the "Paradisa" subtheme in '92 was retired ten years ago, along with the standard 4x12 plate in yellow. In fact, several pieces within this set in yellow are no longer produced today, including the 1x2 brick w/snap, 2x2 plate w/snap, the 2x2 round tiles, and even the 1x3 25 degree roof tile in yellow was retired just last year.

This would look great as part of the cyberpunk city!

Classic lego was so much more fun and imaginative than new lego

10 year old me was looking at this for hours in the catalogue

I remember seeing this thing all the time when I would play Lego Loco. Good times.

Call me old, but I love seeing reviews of older sets from my childhood! Thank you for doing these!

I seriously wish that they would make a train set like this again. Something like this would be COMPLETELY possible and even easier to design and assemble with Lego's current Powered-UP System. And I bet it would cost less too with the access to MUCH more Modern Pieces that are FAR more efficient. AND, if it were Designed like this with the Modern Modular System becoming so common nowadays especially in the City and Creator themes. AND they could even just release the same set multiple times in different colors and stickers and slightly different outer modifications for multiple Lego City Sub Themes. They could even use different cockpit and cabin unitary pieces like the more modern Helicopter Canopy, the new Jumbo Jet Cockpit, or the most recent Passenger Train/Tram piece. And they could each continue the different shaping of the front end of the train across both halves of the entire train. And they could even come in different color combinations for different Railway Lines or different cargo and utility companies. Like a Blue and Orange Passenger Line, a Red and Silver Passenger Line, and Green and White City Cargo line. They could even do this same thing with other different Original Lego themes. Like Space for instance.👀

Ah, those were the times LEGO still knew how to make trains. Great vid, thx a lot. If you can, please do more 90's.

The front looks like class 43 from Britain

What a lovely review Jang! 🥰 8:05 "There you go, you're home, bye" 😂

Ahh I remember this set on the catalogs of the 90s... Was my dream to own it, but they were never really stocked in the toy stores in my town. Didn't stop kid me from daydreaming about it every other day!

Definitely would love to see two of these running together with the locomotive on each end. I'll bet that'll be an expensive thing to do.

Those metal tracks were an interesting and underrated function

A very fun look at a set I've never seen before! Love the set too. They just don't make em like that anymore.

Whatever happened to the Octan stuff? Haven't seen it in sets for years.

This is my 3rd train after buying 4565 and 4561. After buying those two trains, I called all the toy stores, LEGO shop at home, and went everywhere trying to find this one, without success… Then I heard about eBay. Long story short, I bought it new for a total price of $117.86. This train was my first online purchase ever straight from eBay

I swear I've seen this before. I can't remember exactly what it was, but it was this early 2000s (2007?) LEGO animation about trying to reroute the train for some reason. If anyone knows what animation I'm remembering, please let me know!

Classic lego minifig

I had to choose between this and 4565 freight set, already having construction train 4552. Went with 4565 and wasn't happy about it as it contains many specialised parts. Dumpers, cargo mixers and cranes were hard to use in any other way, while those window plates were super usefull in sci-fi and chasses with lowered middle part would make perfect truck haulers or allow for double decker train cars.

Dude!!! I'm jealous! I wanted this set in 1996, but was too limited on funds and space. Loved the concepts and coloring of this, and saw so much potential to making alternat modules. Great review Jang! Love your passion for Lego

This would work very well as a Blacktron train! The color scheme and just how futuristic it looks. Definitely seems like it would work well on the moon or another space setting. :)

I remember when Lego trains were as thin as possible, to make the fat dudes as uncomfortable inside as could be.

I got 2 of these. It is officially called by LEGO: The "Shuttle Express Train" one of my favourite trains:) (next to the euro-express/metroliner;) Nice Review Jang! Would love to see more 90's products review of you;)

Here's just an idea, maybe LEGO should remake this set, but make it realistic, without the passenger "module" idea, but with the same colour scheme, the track, the vehicles, accessories, maybe a passenger bus or a full size station?

Those sets back in the day were so creative and wonderful. I can feel the imagination flowing through this plastic bricks 🤩

This Train/Truck combo with passenger pods sounds like something Elon Musk would propose. There's just the vacuum missing ^^

Ohhhh YES!! This set looked very fun on a Lego catalogue collection-esque book I had when I was little Thanks for reviewing it, Jang! 7:55 Wooow. I did not know about this feature

The 199 LEGO Cargo Railway train was in the LEGO Loco PC Game intro which was cool

Found this channel and have been absolutely loving it. I recently dug this set out from my parents' home. I'm trying to reconfigure my old electric trains to be battery-powered. The "Classic Train" I have was easy enough, though the log hauler is now hauling the battery pack. Curious how you would convert this one, though. Any thoughts, JANG? My first inclination is to remove one of the removable diner segments, but that might be unsightly...

I got this for my 11th birthday, 16th of Sep, 1996, the exact date of release (in Germany that was). I was totally captivated by this because it looked so much better than previous trains. After some time however, I felt like the previous passenger trains were somewhat more realistic and maybe better, overall. Still, I got enough spare parts to build my own large and small containers and even a truck I could attach them to (Imagine having a Bus truck without the need to change yourself). Eventually I build a small city around this train, got the tracks/street crossing and made my own main station for it. I never was the Lego display guy, I always built what came to mind and disassembled every model for parts. This train was the only exception. Even when I sold all my Lego this train was still assembled. Dear memories I got with this one.

My God, I'd forgotten... this was one of the sets I wanted as a kid! I could never convince my parents to buy it for me though... Funny that's called "cargo railway" when it looks like a passenger train.

I asked for what seemed like forever to get a LAGO train set for Christmas. One year I got this and cried I was so excited. This was my only 9v train. I didn't get back into trains again until I was older and could buy my own in the power functions line. Such an awful but wonderful set all in one! Thanks Jang!

Hi jang. Wow you shaw hit the spot pulling this out. Never Sean this train talk about. An its only from 1996. Not that old. . great revoue man..I have to do a train moc build .with simmler looks

I just got this train around a week ago and stumbled on your video. I got it because of the cheap price (marketplace) thinking I’ll just collect it. But it’s actually really fun! I’m thinking of getting extra track for it, currently only have non electric ones (besides what this set comes with)

You could say LEGO designers in the 90's were more like their customers. They had or were allowed to have more imagination. I like the modern City trains but they all have a very conventional design. I also had thoughts about modular cabins in the past; it's the only way you could automate passenger loading with a Technic mechanism. The train would stop at a ramp and then something could push the modules onto the ramp. A bit like the unloading coal mechanism from the old trains idea book.

This set takes me back to LEGO loco, a lego train simulator, old lego games were just the best JANG i hope you do a lets play of some late 90’s early 2000’s lego games

This set reminds me about why I don't like the modern train sets. The passenger trains have so little room to have actual passengers on it, despite the fact that they are so much bigger. When a set's primary function is a "minifigure-holder," this is what I expect. This is great. I would buy trains if they all were like this - especially for the included off-loading ability.

This was the first Big Set i am owend.... I am realy loved it and i hate myself for giveaway this Diamond... It was so much fun for me to drove it thru my own Lego City. But at one time i was so stupid to think im to old for this (16y)....

I never even knew this existed! I am not a fan of lego trains. My question, why aren't leg trains made this good anymore?!!!!!

You could imagine the human transport pods (yes that's what I'm calling them) could be used to carry your Lego cities most wanted criminals

I have this set, would've preferred the grey train though since that would've worked with the train station i've got. But was still definitely a good and enjoyable set, and i think even unmatched in looks as far as lego trains go (yeah i like my color contrasts). The most i've used of this set was the transformer, i hooked it up to some technic 9v motors and switches to create roughly 1:22 ish scale wire control cars. Just add the old technic 4 stud diameter wheels to them with smooth paper glued to them by pritt glue and you've got a toy car that can do a form of drifting.... ah, good memories.

This was my xmas gift in 1997 😭 sadly, i don't have it anymore...

I like the idea to transport people in containers. - But I have never seen a good moc which further expands this idea. A pity.

Another one from the height of my dark ages. I personally prefer my trains realistic rather than sci-fi, so I don't think much of it as a train. Having said that, if I owned it I surely would have built something else with the parts, and it seems to be a pretty useful range of train peices for building your own freight or express train.

Seeing those cramped sleeper cars strangely triggered my claustrophobia.

I just can't stop thinking about this set. I imagine these "people pods" being used to transport people in all kinds of ways. Like a big transfer station where people pods are loaded and unloaded between various people pod vehicles like people pod buses, people pod taxis, people pod air planes, catapults, cable cars, boats, you name it. It's so awesome and weird.

Had this back in 1996. Was kinda disappointed over the unrealistic passenger train that it was. The Lego Metroliner was just out of stock so I had to get this. But liked the 6-stud wide truck that felt more realistic. Also played the Lego Loco game with this train.

7:00 when Jang manually rotates the barriers, that actually isn’t necessary. They were designed to be pushed open by the truck and would then close on their own when the truck drove off.

I remember this from the cover of the Lego Loco game👈👀 I thaught it was very slick and awesome 🤗

Believe it was my first Lego train. Missed out on getting the Metroliner as I was broke so when I got my first job I went to TRU and had to settle for this, which looked weird but it was fun to build.

Really a weird train, but looks cool riding through your city.

Offload your human bodies in LEGO City. (Hmm that doesn’t sound right.)

Ooh, the cargo bays on those carriages will happily hold a modern 16x6 container, like the Maersk containers 🙂👍

For my 13th birthday my mom bought me this set for me, she kept asking me if it was ok if she bought the wrong one, the other was the pure freight train that didnt have this sleek look. Luckly for me on the day of my birth, boom there it was, I played with it for weeks straight and if my old legos hadnt gotten destroyed, I would still have the parts for this wonderful set to this day.

A question I have is does it cost Lego more to print than make stickers? I know we all prefer prints but I feel like there used to me many more printed bricks that they use stickers for now. I would think making stickers would cost more than to just print but idk

I just like trains, I have a whole collection of trains, tracks, etc....

If I could buy this, I'd buy two of them and make it look... well, like a dmu. Which I assume it was meant to be.

I had the passenger train version of this set from around the same time. They’re quite similar, actually.

Seven year old me L O V E S the idea of building a couple houses that one of those people-shipping compartments could attach to directly 😂

As a kid, I got a Metroliner the year before this was released, and I'm so glad I did as this was such a ridiculous replacement to what I now think of as an iconic Lego passenger set

I do really like the transport-pods on the wagons. They have a surprisingly nice interior.