Tag Archives: Train

LEGO trains have been for sale since the 1960s, and LEGO fans have been creating their own custom layouts with LEGO bricks ever since. Whether you enjoy 4.5-volt, 12-volt, 9-volt, RC, or Power Functions LEGO trains, and whether or not you have an opinion about 8-wide, 9-wide, or some other scale, you’ll find lots of gorgeous engines and rail cars right here on The Brothers Brick.

A bull that only sees red

What kind of bull has 8 wheels, and can travel over 220 mph? The Eurosprinter Taurus, modeled in LEGO by Ties van Asseldonk (the designer of BDP Series 2’s Logging Railway)! I love LEGO locomotives and I gotta say, I don’t think I’ve ever seen one that looked this smooth before. With the sloping and curves around the cabins and the fine details by the logo, you – like me – may be wondering how on Earth Ties pulled this off. Luckily for all of us, Ties has graciously posted the instructions and digital model on the Open L-Gauge website; a great little space for sharing LEGO train designs. Ties has put on a masterclass, here, and given away his secrets for free. And that’s no bull!

ÖBB Taurus 1:45 scale

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A streetcar named...

Renfe got a lot of things right with the 446, but they got one incredibly important thing wrong and people gave it a nickname. So folks, allow me to present – made in LEGO by the expert Julián – the Renfe 446, nicknamed the dodotis, or “nappy”, for its lack of toilet facilities. Put that aside, though, and there’s plenty of great parts and techniques in this build. The ridge along the top of the train is covered in hinged train gates. With its magic wand windshield wipers, this motor car can survive any storm, but the conductor should still be careful; that meat cleaver mirror sure looks like a safety hazard!

LEGO Renfe Cercanías S-446 Coche motor

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Sci-fi LEGO train sets a course for Creations for Charity

Some people imagine a future where everyone has their own flying car. I’d much rather live in a world where everyone has access to reliable and affordable flying public transportation! Like a train pulled by LEGO builder Daniel Barwegen‘s Space Train engine. I love how Daniel blends sci-fi repulsors with the look of a modern electric commuter train. The color blocking is sharp, using triangular tiles to create diagonal stripes. A piston rod amongst the thrusters is a fun nod to tradition.

Space Train

While Daniel’s train deserves celebrating for craft alone, it’s also on its way to the Creations for Charity shop. From October 15 through November 30th, donated models can be purchased with all proceeds going towards providing LEGO bricks to hospitals, shelters, and schools in underserved areas. It’s a great way for fans and collectors to give back and inspire a new generation of builders and creators.

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Fly as fast as a... duck?

Yes, you read that title right: there is an outright world speed record held by a mallard, and one that’s unlikely to ever be beaten. Now that’s not quite what LEGO train master Joe Bloomfield has built here – but it’s very close. This is an A4 Pacific class steam engine, built by the London and North Eastern Railway in the 1930s (and now Joe in the 2020s). It’s a fine model, albeit not one for the purists! The vast majority is of course made from our favourite plastic bricks, but a handful of third-party elements add some crucial details. So too do the custom decals, which identify this engine as 60009 Union of South Africa. Coming back to that speed record, the A4s were – and are – the fastest steam locomotives ever built. And the holder of that 126mph record? Not Union of South Africa, but its class-mate, 4468 Mallard!

British Rail Class A4

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Midnight sweet train brings holiday cheer in LEGO

It’s not even Halloween, but some folk are already pining for a winter wonderland. Christmas comes early in LEGO courtesy of Eann McCurdy (Miscellanabuilds) whose delightful midnight train scene is both cozy and clever in design. As his eighth and final entry in the latest Iron Builder competition against Geneva D, Eann incorporates the required red cauldron in the engine’s boiler. The pileup of snow in front of the train is a perfect mix of parts, including ice cream, hoods, and a frog. I especially love the forced perspective created by snow-capped trees at two scales. A tiny red byplane appears in the background, referencing Geneva’s prior Red Baron entry.

Midnight Train

As if the brilliant train weren’t a grand enough finale, Eann prints the scene as a postcard for a bonus build that amps up the holiday spirit. Candles, Chrismas lights, and candies show off an abundance of red cauldrons. Dr. Strange capes make a sweet appearance as candy wrappers. Decorated gingerbread is the icing on the cake cookies.

Season's Greetings! (Scene Version)

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The Dutch Railways Class 1500 rides again

In this house, we love trains and that means we love this LEGO train model by Malik Geldermans. Malik has done a fantastic job capturing the details of a Dutch Railways NS Class 1500 in brick form. And let me tell you, there is not a brick out of place on this model: the circle – circle – square pattern on the bogies; the 1×2 round tile ribs under the sides; and the 1×1 curved slopes beside the doors are all perfect details! Malik has also proven his handiness with all minifig grippers on the pantographs and on the greebles along the chassis. Great building Malik, we can’t wait to see more!

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BrickLink Designer Program Series 2 – Logging Railway: A trial of timber! [Review]

LEGO is releasing a second series of sets from its BrickLink Designer Program, including a fungal cottage, a pirate fortress, a modular train station, and a coastal villa. LEGO sent us an advance copy of Logging Railway by fan designer and LEGO train enthusiast Ties van Asseldonk. With pre-orders for BDP Series 2 coming up on June 6th (for $209.99 USD), read on to find out what we thought of this inventive take on LEGO locomotion.

LEGO sent The Brothers Brick an early copy of this set for review. Providing TBB with products for review guarantees neither coverage nor positive reviews.

Read on for our full review below

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Learning about Iberian freight trains through LEGO

Something I really like about the global LEGO community is when builders take inspiration from their local surroundings for their creations. Sérgio Batista, for instance, has crafted this nice freighy convoy with a train from his native Portugal. Now I can’t confess to being a train expert, at least not where south-western Europe is concerned, but having seen Sérgio’s model, I’ve now gone down a bit of a Wikipedia rabbit hole reading about the history of railways in Portugal. So I can say with a modicum authority that this is a CP4700 series locomotive, with an attractive brick-built livery!

Just a Lego containers train

And you know what’s better than one great scale model of a Portuguese freight train? Two scale models of a Portuguese freight train! Here’s another slightly less modern consist, with the so-called ‘Nez-Cassée’ 2620 series built by Alsthom. Fun fact: ‘nez cassé’ means broken nose in French, and the stubby cab front is where they get this nickname from. Thanks for the educational trip, Sérgio!

Just a Lego freight train

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A “train”-ing spaceship in blue and yellow!

If you need a space fighter to hunt bogies with, this LEGO ship by Linus Bohman might be just the thing you need. Linus built this fighter around a skeleton of railroad track parts including curves and straights from the 4.5V era and six Duplo curve sections. I’d argue that this build is all horsepower, no ballast, with huge engines embedded in each wing. All-in-all, the grey details between the rails provide a nice buffer, while the rails themselves couple everything together!

Overview

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A complex train build that never goes off the rails

Look, I’m not a train guy. I can barely tell a caboose from a boxcar, and yet even I am in awe of Smile Leo‘s amazing LEGO train, depicting a China Railways DF11G locomotive. The first thing to notice is the variety of angles at which the bricks and plates all fit together for the smooth, rounded angles of the train’s nose. Next, check out the intricacy of the machinery around the wheels. With another model, I might just classify it as a bunch of greebling (you know, little mechanical details that are there just to look cool rather than have any particular function), but it’s clear that every meticulously chosen element mimics an actual train part. I can almost hear the churning of pistons and the whine of wheels on rails.

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This Bavarian beauty goes full steam ahead

Should you find yourself in the 1920s and need to get from Munich to Nuremberg in record time, then you’ll want an express ticket to ride behind the Bavarian S3/6. This majestic steam locomotive is meticulously recreated in LEGO by Bricks_n_Trucks. At 10 studs wide, the engine is comparable in scale to the Hogwarts Express Collector’s Edition, but unlike LEGO’s largest steam engine model, this train is fully motorized with a BuWizz engine (see the video below the fold!). The version you see here is an update to the builder’s first iteration, and spotting the differences highlights how much thought went into the smallest details.

Bavarian S3-6 (BR18.4)_(Update)

But what’s a Bavarian steam engine without luxurious cars to pull?

Click to see the train cars and video!

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Train Engine Shed? Now that’s a name I haven’t heard in a long time

If this handsome structure from builder legolux1973 looks familiar, you might recognize it from its young, wild, LEGO World City days as 10027 Train Engine Shed. Since then, though, it’s moved to the country and developed a quiet, studied sophistication clad in dark red. Only one engine bay is needed these days, but it’s grown to make space for modern locomotives and there’s a small office smartly tucked to the side. The black half-circle arched windows top off the banks of windows, and note the small 1x2x2 window with grille tucked in sideways above the bay doors. The scene is finished with lots of little details, including some fuel containers (Octan, of course!), a pallet jack with a pallet and boxes, a little portable tool cabinet, and lots of tasteful landscaping. We’ll raise a grease can to you, Train Engine Shed!

Legolux1973 LEGO Engine Shed 01

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