Lego and other brick brands.

I'm a big fan of LEGOS.  I admit I haven't really got any of the recent sets because I'm more into Plarail and Tomica these days.

Ooooh those are great photos you got there!

I'd like to use this opportunity to show the two Lego trains I'm having, the orange one from Kazi and the green 60337 from Lego.



The orange one is an off-brand from Lego's 10233 Horizon Express, which itself was based on the TGV Sud-Est. The green one is the latest of the remote-controlled trains from Lego, which is praised by Lego reviewers for not having a single large piece for the nose, having doors and headlights (which is surprisingly rare in Lego sets).

Both trains originally have only one front car each, so, inspired by Japanese trains like Series 681 Thunderbird, I modify the open gangway in the rear-most cars into a Koploper-ish shaped one, extending the magnet coupler out a bit so both trains can connect.



Both trains has motors and both is required to run the train connected. 



The green one can run just fine with what Lego has provided. The one included for the orange one...Well, it's not Lego and it's unreliable. What is shown in the image is a Lego battery box that is overpowered for train-running purposes, too fast to run alone but not enough for both.
So, when I ran both trains connected, orange will do the driving and green will do the braking. 10 AAA + 6 AA batts to run but it's great fun!

That green train is so awesome! On my wishlist but each time I considered it, I tell myself to focus on the modulars (but they are so expensive...ughh).   The life of an AFOL. 

OMG...I can't believe I forgot about these two. Just lying in my closet for what? A decade or more?

I have a backlog of LEGO that is way too much but I recall way back then, of how I wanted toget Cafe Corner, Market Street and Green Grocer way back then and then I got to preoccupied with building other LEGOs. And remembered that these two were so big to fit in bins, I put it in my office closet, never been opened. But life and work became so busy that I somehow I forgot I even had these.

Man....the LEGO Hogwarts Train sets look so awesome...

https://www.lego.com/en-us/product/hogwa...tion-76423



The collector's edition is also very cool but the price is a killer! ughh...

https://www.lego.com/en-us/product/hogwa...tion-76405



As for the Train Station, I had a previous release which I liked better for the station itself, but the road plates and the bus additon is very cool.

https://www.lego.com/en-us/product/train-station-60335




Downtown Streetcar and Station is also very cool.  But what was interesting is they included a person on a wheelchair and a guy who is blind with a Seeing Eye dog.  I don't think I have ever seeing a LEGO minifigure with disabilities before included in a set.

https://www.lego.com/en-us/product/downt...tion-60423

The LEGO Group made seven different versions of the Hogwarts Express, including the two you showed. Until 75955, none of them had steam wheels or coupling rods. The first two (4708 and 4758) had the right wheel arrangement but used non-rail wheels and had no tender. That said, all the first four sets have a proper long coach with bogies and not (TV) "Annie/Clarabel length".



Also: what LEGO thread on a model rail forum is this without the Orient Express (21344) and Disney Train and Station (71044) sets?

The first wheelchair in an official set predates the modern minifig, but they didn't appear as a single element until 2011; initially for Duplo figures.

Downtown Streetcar and Station is also very cool.  But what was interesting is they included a person on a wheelchair and a guy who is blind with a Seeing Eye dog.  I don't think I have ever seeing a LEGO minifigure with disabilities before included in a set.

The recent City Passenger train set (60337) (The green train on my post above) also comes with a wheelchair person! The train includes one protruding stud specifically to lock the wheelchair so that it won't roll during its high-speed run.

Also, while the platform on set 60337 was hugely distanced from the train due to the train's large protruding nose on curve rails and the outward opening doors, the one in the Downtown Streetcar set has a extendable platform instead so you can properly roll the wheelchair onto the train!

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By the way, because we are reviving this post, I hereby showing you all another brick train I have. 

This one is from a Chinese brand (but fairly reputable) called Mould King. Set number is 12002, contain 1808 pieces, and it's a model of Chinese CRH2B high speed train (due to additional headlights on the nose).



The model consists of a front car and an intermediate car; motor and lights are included, although does not look like a typical Lego branded one. The cars are 8-stud wide (2-stud wider that Lego City), and a bit longer too so that it doesn't look weird. 



There are two fun things about this set. First, as you might have seen, the pantograph is simply impressive, and movable.



And second, if you know the CRH2B train, or its more familiar sister, Shinkansen E2, you would know that the trains can couple in real life. Here, they also include a magnet coupler which you can pull out after altering the nose a bit! (Yellow shunter is custom made, not part of the set) Of course, it's meant to couple front nose together, so the height is mismatched.



Lastly, the height comparison between the three brick trains I have.

you can properly roll the wheelchair onto the train!

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By the way, because we are reviving this post, I hereby showing you all another brick train I have. 

This one is from a Chinese brand (but fairly reputable) called Mould King. Set number is 12002, contain 1808 pieces, and it's a model of Chinese CRH2B high speed train (due to additional headlights on the nose).

I had to do a double take...thought it was the LEGO CREATOR 40518 High-Speed Train at first....lol...



It's interesting because some of the Chinese companies producing bricks, some are getting official licenses.  And companies such as BRICKKK PANTASY, FUNWHOLE, Mould King and a few others.  They are looking better and better. But the LEGO price increase of 2022, really made looking at alternatives much more appealing.

But there is one thing that I noticed....the instructions for some of them are so trash.  Especially when they come with less bricks to complete it.

That is where LEGO tends to have its strength on making these easier (especially with instructions) and if you are missing bricks, they'll send you replacements on their dime.