Rick

This set is discussed in the 2018 City topic.

It looks like a set of carts can be "parked" right before the start of the line. It seems like the second control handle can be used to slide a double track in and out at this point of the track.

There are probably Technic axles in those supports, which a 2 x 2 round brick accepts.

Thanks Mike. An envelope from Sweden arrived yesterday.

It makes sense that they also keep the train around for longer if the station becomes available again next year. WV sets reappearing before Christmas has happened before.

Interesting topic. I, too, am surprised of the age of some of the defining parts of the City fire fighting theme. Most parts date back to the Classic Town era. I suppose the problem that LEGO faces stems from big international differences in the "look" of fire fighters and apparatus. Some of your requests are typical for the US. I don't know of a fire department that uses double airtanks. Fire departments here in Europe used single airtanks even when the piece was introduced at the end of the 1970s. Weird that this one is still around. I'm surprised LEGO didn't take the opportunity to modernise this piece when they introduced the new stretcher piece. Internationally, engines don't have "low" roller doors, so I can imagine LEGO sticks with taller versions. But I do agree that we need more variation. Perhaps a new system that more faithfully simulates door actually rolling up. There's this part, but I realise that does not capture the look of typical US fire engines. I too am surpised we haven't at least seen a typical US and European fire fighter in the CMF range, while we've had a typical US motorcycle cop and British Bobby, for example. It's surprising that LEGO is still using this style of helmet, whereas fire departments in Europe have long switched to these kind of helmets. I suppose the classic fire helmets are easily recognisable though. Adding to the list, I'm surprised the roller doors have not been updated since the early 1980s. They were designed for bays with 4-wide fire engines and have flimsy connections between sections. A 10 or 12-wide version seems much more appropriate for today's 6+-wide fire engines. Also, the sections would look a lot better if they were taller. Also, there is virtually no rescue equipment available. Vehicle extraction using hand axes...?

This is a really interesting discussion. TLG clearly introduced 6-wide trucks in the World City theme of 2003/2004. Cars, vans and pickups were still 4-wide back then (with clear 1990s Town vibe to them). When City was introduced in 2005, trucks were still 6-wide, but vans and pick-ups were upgraded to 6-wide and cars largely stayed 4-wide TLG stuck with this scale until today. It only recently started introducing what I see as "sports cars" in sets (for the first time in 60007 as pointed out). These are 6-wide in order to reflect their lower and wider profile. I am not sure if this marks the end of the 4-wide City car as they continue to appear in City sets (like 60143). However, browsing through City sets released in recent years certainly shows less 4-wide cars and more 6-wide vehicles.

Yippie. I won. Thanks Mike for hosting this raffle every year.

Need some time away during the Holidays? Book your room now at cimddwc's Grand Palace Hotel!

Thanks again Mike.

There are 26 studs worth of width clearly visible. If you look at the curve on the right side of the building, my guess is that there should be another 2 studs of wall on the right side of the teal/blue pieces, which leaves 4 studs for the stairs on the left.

I can't help but feel that a diner would have been more suitable as a single story corner building (were they common on ground floors of multiple story buildings?). Combined with a regular straight, slightly narrower building on the "long" end and a diner on the corner, it would have made for another excellent 48 x 32 modular building.

No doubt this is legit (and no, I don't have confirmation) and I quite like it.

No idea why that was changed. Guests should now be able to read The Embassy again.