samsz_3

Thank you for everything Ben. All the best.

It has been 9 years since the last train (I'm getting old), so it does make sense to release one for the new adult collectors in the black box era. My guesses at design reasoning: - Designers wanted to have the moving funnel (chimney/smokestack). This needed a set of non motorised wheels at the front for the gearing and mechanism - Due to budget constraints the tender couldn't be bigger than 8 studs long and incorporate the train motor (10 studs long), so the motor had to go in the locomotive. - Designers didn't want large train wheels on train motor (to fast/low torque), and as it isn't aimed at train AFOLs, didn't want to use a standard motor. This forced using the train motor as a bogie, giving a weird design.

On r/wintervillage in the comments there is a photo on the back of the box. It shows Powered Up can be added (I thought it was getting retired?!), the funnel/smokestack moves up and down, the polar bear nods his head and rings the bell. It also shows the toy train as a 3D printed element...interesting from Lego, but with how cheap 3D printing has gotten that can't be used as a price explanation.

10361 Holiday Express Train leaked on Reddit. Yikes. I take my words back. This is worse than 10254. No couplings, no EN wheels. I don't mind small locos just using standard size wheels, but having bogies on a steam locomotive feels like a throwback to My Own Train and the era before Big Ben Bricks (RIP) and the EN.

Brickset designer interview for those who prefer reading over videos: https://brickset.com/article/124598/interview-with-césar-soares-designer-of-75419-death-star https://brickset.com/article/124608/interview-with-maddy-o-neil-graphic-designer-for-75419-death-star Interesting discussions about the size/layout. They wanted to go for size, but I think for 1000USD fans would have preferred smaller, but half/full sphere. Re walling off trash compactor: "I did, once we added the blast door between the hangar and that area, creating space for the duel between Darth Vader and Obi-Wan. I created a wall panel to separate them at one point, but those parts were ultimately needed elsewhere." Couldn't afford dual moulding for Imperial officers or C3PO... "we receive a certain allotment of frames to do different things with the elements, which can include new moulds, colour changes and new decorations. We try to prioritise creating new characters over features like dual-moulded legs because making a new head, for instance, counts for more or less the same as changing the colour of legs." I think the designers tried their best for this particular concept but: A) the concept was not the one to go with B) bean counter interference as always

Another leak: January 2026 LEGO City 60508 Police Tran Heist USD $199.99 Again with this and the Arctic train, I'm glad City is doing things that tie into other things, and are uniquely LEGO and creative, rather than a passenger/cargo train that could be in any non LEGO trainset.

Crazy weekend for Eurobricks to be down!!. Honestly it probably displays better than the 2008/2016 Death Stars as you can see it all. But not for 1000USD. That needed to be a sphere.

LEGO Icons 10361 Winter Express Train 956 pieces USD$ 129.99 1st October via Reddit, via Weibo I was too young for 10173 but had so much nostalgia looking at photos of it (I'm a City RC era kid) and 10254 was in my dark ages (and I don't think it was as good...) - I'm excited for this. 10254 was 734 pieces for USD$99.99, which inflation adjusted is 134.40. With the increase in number of smaller pieces used, I reckon it will be a similar size.

I love it. It's a kids toy, and for the first time in years it feels like TLG are trying to be creative with their trains. As a kid I used to do lego train crashes, knock things onto the track, I'd have fallen head over heals for this. Making two new track pieces shows that they're still interested in train sets. It looks like the "activator rail" piece has a level which is pushed down when a wheel goes over it. Could be really intesting for level crossings, signals, maybe even automatic unloading mocs? I actually really like the locomotive being an 0-6-0 design. PU has the advantage of not needing an IR receiver, so nice to finally see city going for a smaller locomotive. I do think a wagon with a snowblower fan connected to an axle would have been cool, but perhaps to complicated for a city set. The two ploughs will work well for pushing the boulders, so it's not that important. Unfortunately looks like it's back to thr plastic axle wheels, after a few sets swapping around recently. With money being stretched further, houses getting smaller etc, I hope their are still enough parents who can afford to spend this much on a toy, and have the floor space for a kid to set it up.

This aged well!

Wow, I must not have looked at set pictures properly - I didn't realise how long the included platform is! Is this the longest platform ever released? Looks bigger than latest city train stations

https://www.jb-spielwaren.de/lego-60423-strassenbahn-mit-haltestelle/a-60423/ City Tram for summer 2024. Could very easily be used as a light railway EMU. Personally i like it a lot, as it reminds me of trams I've been on, with the colours of 7938. I also think offering a "cheaper" train set without motors, whole loop of track etc, is good to try and get kids intrested in trains. Intresgingly LEGO have gone back to the older style of train wheels (metal axles)...why for something this light, but not thr heavy OE...

May be controversial, but I think this R2D2 is better than the UCS version

Agree, I think TLG is missing a trick here. They could have made a small 0-4-0 steam or diesel shunter for city with powered up (for steam would need tanks to cover it). Add in 2 wagons and a circle of track (no straights) and they may have been able to get a trainset out for under £100 in today's money.

Runs well, considering it only uses 1x train motor - with everything TLG said, I thought it would be slower. Because of this, I'm planning on putting 2x PF train motors in a carriage, and putting the battery box in the dining carriage as well, in the door section, so most of the interior is preserved. I guess the weight of the coach is giving the train motors lots of traction.

I would guess another issue TLG encountered is the length of the coaches. Although they are on bogies and will go around standard Lego curves, there will be a lot of drag (explanation if interested: the drag will be on the rearmost bogie sets of the coaches, due to the sides of the wheels being pulled against the rails, as the load path follows along the coach. On tight curves, the coach body has a large angle compared to the tangent the curve at the rear bogie. The issue is much greater on 1x 40stud coach, than 2x 20stud coach, as on the 2x, the load is transferred through the couplings at a much smaller angle between coach and tangent). This will be even worse with the silly plastic wheels, without metal axles. Like I've said before, using custom Trixbrixx (or equivalent) wide curves, this won't be an issue, but obviously TLG don't want to make a whole new set of track geometry.

Wow that was quick! Nice job

The middle wheelset of the tender can slide from side to side, so it will go around R40

Hmmm. I could understand the short stubby locomotive for A) IP reasons and B) to make the train motorisable. The fact that they made the design compromises, and it still won't run is personally an issue. From my quick look, the coaches are 44 studs long. I'm curious to know if the bogies on the coaches and the leading wheels on the loco actchually pivot. If they do (i.e. so it can be pushed around curves), I think "it's to heavy to motorise" actchually means "it's to heavy to motorise using the official plastic wheels, 1x PU motor and with all the additional friction of R40 bends, so Joe Bloggs with his Lego city can't do it. The train guys with their buwizz, custom wide curves and wheels will be fine". At the end of the day it's LEGO, we will find a way...

Potential prototypes the locomotive is based on: SCNF 230 Prussian P8 Anymore for anymore? By extending wheelbase and dropping cylinders its not too far off a blue P8 imo.

This looks incredible! What are the roof tiles made of?

Agreed. I stopped getting LEGO as a kid in around 2010, and started getting into it again as an adult in 2019. The mould marks on my original pieces are hidden and impossible to notice, but parts like tiles now have huge flashing marks. Also some of my childhood windscreen pieces have no scratches, but these days, I open a new set and find scratches on transparent parts.

I think very loosely based, even more than Maersk/EN/Horizon. I think it's fine not to be based on a prototype, but this doesn't even look like a generic SNCF steam engine. If it has a smoke box, was dark green, and had smoke deflectors, then I could start to buy it. Apologies, you are right! I meant firebox (been a long week). For those who aren't aware - alot of European steam locomotives have a distinct more squared off part of the boiler next to the cab where the firebox is.

Yeah - I also really don't like the lack of a smoke box. I think I'll add one when I extend the locomotive.

Exactly! Takes some of the "toy train" proportions away from it. I think adding a stud between the wheels, and two studs to the pony truck should be a minimum. If you change to XL wheels, you would probably want more to keep things "in scale". Speaking of which, ^ agree with comments above - I can't find very good information on Orient Express locomotives. If anything that does work to LEGO's benefit - it doesn't have to be based on a specific prototype. The Emerald Night was only loosely based on the LNER A3. The Maersk train was only loosely based on an EMD SD40-2. This set had to appeal to: General AFOLs looking to display a set Therefore it will need it to look good on display AFOLs with a LEGO City Must fit on standard L gauge track Therefore the locomotive must go around R40 curves (unlike submission) Therefore must be no wider than 8 wide Those who recognise the Orient Express through pop culture (e.g. Agatha Christie) Must have be big enough to have an interior Therefore must be at least 8 wide Kids (just because it's aimed at adults, doesn't mean kids can't unwrap it on Xmas day...) Must be solid enough to be built and handled by older kids Therefore no finnicky/flimsy/illegal building techniques (unlike most MOC trains) Original Ideas designer: Be faithful to the original Idea Train fans: Absolutely must be a perfect scale recreation of the real thing ;) With all these requirements in mind, I think the choice to focus on the coaches was the right idea, so people can "re-enact the Orient Express", bear in mind it is a whole train, not just a locomotive. To make this possible at had to be 8 wide. This drives the length of the coaches to keep them in scale. Set budget than will limit how big the locomotive can be. The idea (haha) of the set is good, I just do wish the execution of the locomotive was better. Extending the loco by 4-8 studs could definitely have helped balance the visuals of the thing.