Feuer Zug

This will be your biggest issue I believe. From what I understand, the state of Mississippi is not the wealthiest, nor the most populated. I have noticed that LEGO stores appear to mainly be in upper end American shopping malls and areas. It appears your closest options are all at least a state away. I'm guessing LEGO probably doesn't think the market can support a store in your state. As work brought me to West Virginia, I feel your pain with not having a LEGO store close. West Virginia residents don't seem to have the interest or economic surplus to afford LEGO in the quantities required to keep a store operating.

I agree Friends is definitely more well rounded than City. Monkey Kid may have some neat designs, but the cost is way up there. They need to build sets that aren't all big ticket items. The £10 / €10 / $10 - £30 / €30 / $30 range is barren for Monkie Kid. City is dominated by police and to a lesser extent fire. Their recent expansion past that is nice, but they need to stop cramming the new road plates down our throat. The roads are jacking the prices up too high. Ninjago will remain as is. It's LEGO's non-licensed money machine. What do you think could replace it? A re-run of Chima? Ooh, maybe Jack Stone or Galidor. Because it bloody well won't be Bionicle.

Incredible work. The level of detail is impressive. Your ruined passenger station and branch line give the impression of an abandoned area of the main line. Keep up the great work into 2023 and beyond.

Great MOC and first foray into trains. The details on your 4-6-0 are well done and recreate the locomotive perfectly. I like your lighting solution as well.

Brilliant. Love the king and pirate (privateer?) captain having lunch together. You put in plenty of humorous happenings to make it quite enjoyable. Thanks for sharing.

Quite the diorama. 80 kilos for Jabba's Palace alone is insane.

Excellent work recreating the pair of F-4 variants. Great attention to details.

Well done on recreating the Talgo 250 trainset. Let us know how the wheel design works.

Couriers and "delivering" babies. Perfect.

That's a big mech. I've always been partial to the Atlas, but this is instantly recognizable. Great work on it.

Dark, spooky, and well done. It works perfectly at the scale. Plenty of NPU, especially with the trees.

Nice find and build. Your ability to go from 4-wide to 14-wide is incredible. The people appear perfect for the railcar too.

Great collection of South Korean trains you've created. It's a mix of high-speed passenger, commuter, and all varieties of freight locomotives and rolling stock. Glad you got a chance to get them out and run them.

I too think yellow would be an engineer. Regretfully, I view brown as the sanitation engineer. Just because she/he is holding up an officer's child means little. Or is brown the commander's batman?

Magnificent display. The details included are incredible. Love the work on making the scene dynamic with the cannon firing, splashes, battle damage, and sinking boat.

The scene is what you imagine it to be. If envision wreckage scattered about, then make it happen in brick form. If the cargo popped loose, present that scene. The openness of the map options and description allows for considerable creativity for those entering.

@Ferro-Friki Welcome to Eurobricks and the Train forum. Many of us understand the feelings generated by our first LEGO train set. Glad to hear you've stayed with building all these years. Can't wait to see your Renfe ALVIA class 130. Even work in progress do well here as we can help if you get stuck on something.

Gorgeous work on Rivendell. Iconic and well detailed, you've done this place justice. The size is perfect too.

Well said. It's hard to be upset merely because a conflict is much closer than others and making people uncomfortable. Most of us are living well compared to many and should be thankful for this. I believe the contest sponsor made the stipulation about what nations aren't allowed. That is their prerogative.

If you're using the zinc-carbon batteries instead of alkaline, the lifespan will be considerably shorter. I've been in a Harbor Freight and seen they have alkaline batteries as well. Try those next time. @Duq makes a good point about the wheels being pressed in. I've done that a few times and it really interferes with the motor running freely. As for when you picked up the motor, you removed all the resistance due to weight and friction from the wheels, allowing the motor to spin freely. That's why it sped up.

Nice design. Your fortress has the classic Imperial feel to it. Like a companion for the El Dorado Fortress. Can't wait to see what the upper levels look like.

LEGO City seems to be a boy's fantasy city. Lots of police and fire action, but little else. The branching out recently has been nice. The problem is they graft on the expensive road plates, meaning they're rarely worth the price to me (and others.) Friends definitely has more options and the costs are better. Plus they colors aren't predominantly white and blue (police sets) or white and red (fire sets.)

The PDSRE Navy is ready to take action. Recent funds have allowed for more advanced ordnance options.

The PDSRE Navy thanks you for the glorious funding.

Incredible work on your MOC tavern. All the details are top notch and well thought out. From the floor to the ceiling, the room is lively, but not overcrowded at any point. Plenty of action and happenings that we can all make educated guesses as to what's transpiring. Kudos!