We’re switching asphalt for rails today, thanks to Pieter Post and these utterly beautiful turn-of-the-century boxcars. Almost 50,000 G10 boxcars such as these were in use across Germany before the First World War, when they transported pretty much everything across the country. The two wonderfully created examples shown here join a host of others, and you can see more of Pieter’s exquisite brick-built freight cars on Flickr. Click the link above to take a look.
It’s fight night! And we have two long-time adversaries (and previously allies) in the diesel locomotive category. Starting in the yellow corner, from America, it’s the EMD GP 38-2! Aaaand in the black corner, from Russia, it’s the TEM-18DM!
Each is pulling the finest hardware from their respective militaries, and you can place your bets courtesy of TLCB debutant Konstantin on Flickr via the link! Let’s get ready to railrooooad!
Neither of today’s posts are cars, because… shut up, that’s why. We like trains. This is one is a Spanish Renfe S-251, designed and built by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, and it comes from Flickr’s Ferro-Friki who has captured the 1980s electric locomotive superbly in brick form. There’s more of the model to see at Ferro’s ‘LEGO Renfe S-251’ album and you can buy your ticket at the link above.
*Today’s title song. We’re nothing if not diverse.
If there’s a model for social cohesion, LEGO’s vintage Fabuland theme is it. Where else could you see an elephant riding a scooter, a monkey pushing parcels, and a rabbit, a donkey and a dog about to board a whimsical primary-coloured steam train. In today’s increasingly divided society there’s probably a lesson in there somewhere. We’ll be boarding at HarrisBricks’ wonderful Fabuland Hilltop Station to find it, and you can buy your ticket at the Eurobricks forum via the link.
If aliens wanted to snoop about unnoticed, we’re pretty sure they could do so with no problem whatsoever on public transport. Because despite the wealth of interesting sights on display, every single person on the train, bus, or tram will be staring solely at the 4-inch glass screen in their hand. Cue Jonah Schultz‘s marvellous railway platform scene, which includes an unusual visitor going completely unseen in a crowd of commuting mini-figures. Take a closer look at Jonah’s photostream via the link above… unless you’re reading this on public transport, in which case save it for later, put your phone down, and take a look around you. Who knows what you’ll see.
This has the ring of genuine, bona fide, electrified, six-car monorail to it. Gettit? Because of the ri… OK, we’ve done better. Just be thankful we didn’t lead with a ‘Your Mom’ joke*. Anyway this marvellous contraption is a ‘Saturn Streamliner’, a suspended railway passenger train operating from an alternate timeline. Flickr’s Nannan Zhang owns the mind behind it and you can buy your ticket at the link above.
*The Saturn Streamliner is able to service an entire city. Just like your Mom. / The Saturn Streamliner has gone through more rings than your Mom has. / Large, heavy, but a quality ride… etc.
Yes we’re a car blog. When we’re not making Your Mom jokes or referencing Putin’s tiny todger. But we’re a train blog today, courtesy of this fantastic K-Class steam locomotive crossing a truss bridge at the Brickvention 2025 show. Photographed (and built as part of a collaboration) by Flickr’s narrow_gauge, there’s more to see via the link above.
And what’s better than one enormous train-based diorama? That’s right – two! Which is the nerdiest sentence we’ve ever written. But no matter, because TLCB Master MOCer mahjqa joins the railway shenanigans here at TLCB with one of the most brilliantly engineered creations we’ve seen yet.
Also constructed for a Lego event, mahjqa’s Friends railway (the LEGO theme, not the TV show) includes a remote control crane so gloriously playable we could watch it all day. And fortunately mahjqa filmed a whole day’s worth of it in operation, so we can do just that.
Join us watching it load and unload in delightful smoothness on loop via the video below, plus you can check out the discussion thread on Eurobricks here.
All is not what it seems today. Because this lovely Brio-esque wooden train is not a lovely Brio-esque wooden train at all, but a lovely Lego one.
Built by Maxx Davidson, this fantastic scaled-up wooden train runs on LEGO’s rail system, yet looks at first glance identical to the wooden railways that will be immediately familiar to anyone who has kids, has had kids, has been a kid, or has been anywhere near anywhere that has kids.
You can take a closer look at your childhood via the link above, whilst we eagerly await a Hot Wheels track, a red plastic boat, and one of those wire bead thingies that seem to be in every doctor’s surgery waiting area.
Fare dodging is the preserve of the terminally shifty. But not today, because Flickr’s mahjqa (a TLCB Master MOCer no less) is the creator of this excellent steam locomotive, and has released building instructions for free! A motor and battery box are hidden inside to bring this locomotive to life, with more to see at mahjqa’s photostream and via the video below. Plus you can dodge the fare to recreate it for yourself by clicking here.
YouTube Video
Here at The Lego Car Blog we don’t get out much. Partly this is because we work secretively in the shadows, but mostly it’s because TLCB Elves are banned from many public spaces.
However if you lead more exciting lives than we do, you can get out to the subject of today’s post, the huge LegoWorld 2024 show in Utrecht in the Netherlands.
Over two decades old, LegoWorld is the largest LEGO show on earth, and this year Flickr’s Tamás de Groot is making his exhibitor debut, leading the collaboration behind this epic (and enormous) railway layout.
Beautifully landscaped with trees, embankments, fields and bridges, there are multiple lines, locomotives, and a range of rolling stock travelling though the display, and you can see the whole thing (plus much more besides) at the LegoWorld 2024 show for the remainder of this month.
If like us you’re unable to make it to LegoWorld 2024 in person, head to Tamás de Groot’s Flickr album of the same name to see his fantastic display, or click here to take a look at a round-up from 2023.
Here’s a rat king riding a train. Because shut up, that’s why. There’s a Duplo train base under there somewhere, and you can check it out at Kristof‘s photostream.
We’re a car blog here at the, um… Lego Car Blog, but we do like other forms of brick-built transport too. Cue today’s array of vintage railway-based machinery, all of which come from Franz of Flickr, who has created them beautifully to fit with LEGO’s traditional 6-wide tracks.
Whilst LEGO’s own trains and rolling stock were 6-wide too, Franz has added an extra stud to allow for enhanced realism, with his lovely steam and SLB E11 locomotives also fitted with Power Functions motorisation.
Flatbed wagons (complete with vehicular cargo) and a tanker car accompany the power units, with all superbly presented at Franz’s photostream. Take a look via the link above, where you can find the four fantastic creations pictured here and much more besides.
We all wonder if we’re on the right track from time to time. But perhaps if we put the brakes on a little and slow down, the journey might become more important than the destination.
Even Lego building can be part of this societal boiler room. An endless train of perfectly constructed and beautifully presented creations rolls past our feeds, a procession in which The Lego Car Blog is of course part. The pressure to create something that gets clicks, likes, and positive critique is all too real, and the destination – that perfect Instagramable shot – can often eclipse the enjoyment to be had in creating it.
Railing against this orthodoxy, Linus Bohman has decided to switch it up. Whilst playing with his daughter and bucket of Duplo, he noticed her railway track pieces; large, curved, and seemingly designed for a single purpose. But what journey could they provide if they were used… differently?
With no destination in mind, Linus started working with his daughter’s Duplo tracks, seeing where they would take him. And where they took him was to one of the most original and inventive creations we’ve yet publicised.
LEGO’s vintage blue and grey railway tracks joined their larger Duplo brethren, creating a swooping almost organic neo-classic spacecraft unlike anything we’ve seen before. A single mini-figure pilot drives the ship from a cockpit hung within the centre, whilst a robot co-pilot hides under the opening cover behind.
We think you’ll agree that Linus’ reached a spectacular destination, but we suspect the journey was – for him – better still. If you share his train of thought you can see more of the ship that emerged from it by clicking here, and you can watch a fantastic philosophical brick-based video on its creation by clicking play below.
YouTube Video
It’s been a while without any cars here at The Lego ‘Car’ Blog, so today we’re on to trains. But we like trains. Particularly when they’re as beautifully built and presented as this one.
This huge diorama of a tiny train was constructed by builder Evancelt for the ‘2024 Rocky Mountain Train Show’ in Denver, and a more apt creation it’s hard to think of.
Travelling between two mountain tunnels by way of some cunningly concealed magnets that move under the tracks, Evancelt’s little steam train is a wonderful example of shrinking the scale to expand the detail.
From the micro-scale pick-up truck, fences and trees, to the galleon hidden in the cloud, there’s so much to see, and you can do just that at both Flickr and Eurobricks, where you can also find a video of the train in motion.
Click on the links above to take the tiniest little train journey.
No, it’s an NS omC! OK, that’s maybe not as catchy as the famous Superman musical lyrics, but we have at least learned something here at The Lego Car Blog, having had no idea what an ‘omC’ was before today.
What it is, is an ‘Oilmotor Vehicle’, a combustion-engined carriage used by the Dutch Railways during the 1920s as a cheaper, easier-to-run alternative to steam locomotives.
This one – being a ‘C’ designation – is for third-class passengers, which is where you’d probably find TLCB staff. There were ‘BC’ versions too, where first-class passengers such as The Brothers Brick’s Contributors could luxuriate away from the peasants.
Constructed by TLCB debutant Malik Geldermans, this 1:45th scale replica of the NS omC beautifully captures the real ‘Oilmotor Vehicle’ thanks to some truly fantastic building techniques.
Presented perfectly, there’s more of Malik’s model to see at his ‘NS omC’ album, and you can take a closer look on Flickr via the link in the text above.