In General
The Manufacturers
Block Zone
BrickTracks
BuildMOC
DK
Drift Art
FunWhole
GBL
General Jim's
Goirzi
Heart Bricker
Jack
Jie Star
Kazi
Lepin
MOC Building
Mould King
Rael
Reobrix
Winner
Other "Unbranded" Manufacturers
RAILFAN GUIDES HOME
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This page of the Lego section will highlight some of the current offerings of block trains NOT made by Lego.
The great majority of non-Lego trains appear to be manufactured by Chinese firms such as MOULD KING and JIE STAR, followed by GOIRZI. Generally, with the kits I have assembled so far, the builds have been fun and I haven't encountered many issues except for one of the models being dark green, and the black lines don't show up well :-) It -seems- like most of the non-Lego manufacturers offer at least one version of the High Speed Train set offered by Lego (the one pictured below is by Goirzi):
It appears that Your World of Building Blocks has the most comprehensive offerings of non-Lego trains.
In ordering and building many of these models, it seems that maybe half are powered and half are not. Some of those that are not powered can be retrofit easily for powered operation, others, not so easy, and some may not be possible at all.
Some models, such as the Big Boy, are not powered, and probably wouldn't take to being powered at all, BECAUSE, the two sets of drivers have four axles each, and as such, would not negotiate (almost) any curved track without derailing, even if two of the four axles in each driver set didn't have rims.
Some engines use a powered truck (or two) like the Lego trains do. Others have a central motor with a shaft on both ends of the motor, going to a vertical shaft transferring power into the middle of the the truck, and then finally to the two axles via a set of gears.
In yet another "class" of models, there appears to be quite a few kits offered to be just display models. Good examples of this are the Jie Star 59007 and 59009 kits.
Few of the models have a lighting kit included with them, and one that did include a lighting kit (just a pair of white LED's), gave no instructions in the assembly manual for their inclusion into the model.
IMPORTANT NOTE: Keep in mind, that the offerings from the Chinese manufacturers may be short production runs, so, if you're looking for some of these items I have mentioned on this page, this page was originally done in early 2023, and the kits may not be available when you go looking for them. I have not provided links to the sellers pages on EBay, but you can do a search by the sellers name to see what they currently have offered, if anything. Some of the models I feature on this page (as of mid-May 2023), no longer seem to be available - and it wasn't all that long ago that I started the Lego section.
Standard Lego couplers are magnetic, and I have seen 20 car trains being pulled by two locomotives at the train shows with no problem. Most of the sets and kits featured here follow the practice, and offer similar versions of the Lego coupler. One exception is the UP Zombie engine....
Please note: I have purchased several kits from an Ebay store, Bricksmyheart. Out of the half dozen kits I got from them, two of them were short at least one bag of parts. These were the Jiestar CN5700 Steam Locomotive, and the Mould King KB120 Hong Kong double-decker trolley. Missing form it was a bag of small parts out of bag 3, and at least one other bag of small parts from bag 4 - I haven't continued beyond there, cause there "ain't" much point. Too bad, the trolley looks like a nice model with great graphics!! This is one of the problems you may face when ordering from "stores" that don't include the original box, so beware! The problem could be because of a manufacturers issue, a supply chain issue with the reseller, or maybe just my bad luck.... dunno. I also don't know if, for instance, Bricksmyheart, receives a box from Mould King and Jiestar and then repackages them and throws away the boxes, or if they get them that way from the manufacturer. It would be interesting to find out, as I usually opt to pay for the original box - some resellers from EBay and Ali Express offer you the option, but not many.
Acknowledgements:
lego.com
bricktracks.com
Various EBay seller sites
Websites and other additional information sources of interest for the topic:
https://www.reddit.com/r/lepin/comments/lqdiar/the_starter_guide/
https://www.reddit.com/r/lepin/comments/pfwdwh/stores_rating_thread_september_2021/
The Block Zone offers the builder a bunch of models that I have not seen elsewhere, their race car offerings are a testament to this. They also offer a MOC kit of the xxx for $999, but you need to go to the designer's website and buy the (Word Document) instructions for $60. I can't say with a straight face that their offerings are cheap - The CADA Japanese Tea House from them is $115 (on sale no less), while from Your World of Building Blocks, it is $45.
Orient Express Locomotive
https://theblockzone.com/
https://theblockzone.com/products/3897pcs/
Block Zone models/kits do not appear to have model numbers. Best I can tell, at least with this offering, the page for it is listed as the number of elements in the build, which in this case, is 3,897. Even tho above, I said they are more expensive than other retailers, this kit is still cheaper than Lego's Orient Express, but only by $7 :-) However: It only has one passenger car instead of Lego's two, but the locomotive is powered whereas the Lego version is not. If they are built to the same size as Lego's, the cars are 10 studs wide, compared to the more common 8. A lighting kit is included.
https://www.bricktracks.com/
BrickTracks is one of the few vendors of trains that resides in the U.S. AND uses genuine Lego parts as much as they can. Their train offerings are limited production runs and only available thru Christmas (2023). The train is built in the "10-wide" (1:38) scale. The full consist is nearly 4ft long. And as their website says: "When it's gone, it's gone!". As of writing this (10/17/23), three cars are available as add-ons: A flat car for carrying Lego's "Santa's Sleigh" set #40499 (a SIS model from 2022), a reindeer stock car (reindeer are an extra $140), and a pair of tank cars for Egg Nog and chocolate (a SIS 2021 release). SIS = still in stock. BrickTracks also supplies wide radius curved pieces.
BuildMOC Back To The Future III Steam Train
Not anything in the listing but the number of pieces, which is 882.
BuildMOC Santa Fe Passenger Engine
Number of pieces: 570.
DK 80014 - Big Boy Simulation Train Model
I guess that is their way of saying this is a non-powered static display model, 1186 pieces. Also notice that it is only half of the size of the real thing, it's missing one set of drivers.
A picture of Jie Star's Big Boy for comparison....
DK 80015 - Leader Simulation Train Model
Another non-powered display piece, 1021 pieces.
DK 80016 - BR01 Simulation Train Model
This one too, I guess is a non-powered display piece, 1177 pieces.
DK 80017 - Demon Slayer Infinite Train
Another non-powered display piece, 1760 pieces.
Drift Art 92088 Freight Cars
This listing is for two freight cars with several options. You can get the flat car with or without containers, and the tank car you can get in grey or a light green. Don't know if they are the manufacturer or not, I would suspect not.
FunWhole F9006 - Steampunk Steam Engine
Nice looking model with 1056 pieces, probably not powered.
https://www.yourwobb.com/collections/city-series
GBL 98215 Train Track
GBL 98219 - DF5-1391 Train
I came across this model for the 2nd time while cruising thru the Your World of Building Blocks website. Again, this was originally down in the no-name section, but the YWOBB website lists GBL as the manufacturer. Although the listing does not specify, the illustrations show the set to include track and switches for an oval with a siding, accessories, and a truck - the trailer for the truck is not usable without putting the blank tank-like load on it. The loco is powered by a single speed controller and has two lights on the short hood end that illuminate. Although the trains in this kit do not represent North American trains, they still provide a nice cheap alternative, and if you want to model a European or Asian railroad, they will fit right in!
The assembly guide has Kazi as the manufacturer.
My original description: The set contains 1002 pieces, a powered truck and controller - altho it has only a start/stop button and no remote control. The finished set is 31" (78cm) long, and includes a short 2 axle car, a tanker, and a flat car with load. The set also comes with a tractor trailer, track (6 straights, 18 curved, a section a flex track, and a pair of L/R switches), and a manually operated loading gantry. The listing is confusing because it states it only comes with 6 straight and 16 curved track sections, but the illustrations show the other track I mentioned. Looks like a nice starter set, and it should be easy to make the engine look more American. Around $100 from WarBricks, and $60 from YWOBB.
The listing AND bag the stuff came in both say no mini-figs, but when I dumped the contents out on the floor, there was a bag of mini-figs, go figure.
The Build.....
It took about 7 hours to put the entire kit together, while watching a football game on Monday night, and about an hour the next morning. There were no real suprises, and things go together fairly well for the most part. One exception is where the LED's mount-they bang into the side covers making it a little difficult to snap things into place.
The kit was missing very few pieces, not worth emailing General Jim's for replacements.
In step 66, I substituted a 2x4 plate instead of the three 1x2's, without doing so, I'm not sure what would have supported the headlight sub-assembly "Z".
Also in step 66, I added a pair of 1x1 plates to give the angled brick a better foundation, and changed out two of the 1x1 tiles to do the same. Color doesn't matter, as they are hidden in the final assembly.
There was one piece that was seriously malformed, and altho I'm not a master
builder, out of about 40,000 bricks I have used in putting all my kits
together, this is the first to be like this.And talking about pieces, there appear to be quite a few special pieces that are copies of Lego parts from the #7939 set.
"A" is a special piece that sits inside the cab, and allows the operator seat to swivel, once those parts are dropped in.
"B" is the roof of the operator's cab.
"C" is one of the two special support beams for the overhead crane, they are one piece pieces.
The three "D's" are the windows for the operators cab.
"E" sits on top of part "B" and is an access hatch.
"F" is the winch used to manually operate the hook.
"G" is a close-up side view of part "A".
GBL 98220 - DF11Z-0001B Train
I came across this model for the 3rd time while cruising thru the Your World of Building Blocks website. This was originally down in the no-name section, but the YWOBB website provides the vendor name - GBL. Dunno if they offer other train models. The engine is powered and comes with a battery box that uses AA batteries, 5 of them..... I've come across a listing for this set twice, with the price on YWOBB being $60 vs $90/$100.
The set contains 1002 pieces, a powered truck and controller - altho it has only a start/stop button and no remote control. The finished set is 28" (71cm) long, and includes a passenger car and a freight car. The set also comes with a truck, track (6 straights, 18 curved, a section a flex track, and a pair of L/R switches), and accessories. The listing is confusing because it states it only comes with 4 straight and 16 curved track sections, but the illustrations show the other track I mentioned.
https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_ssn=generaljimstoys&store_name=generaljimsjunglejims&_oac=1&_trksid=p4429486.m3561.l2562
An EBay seller of Chinese made models, but sells from a local warehouse in Kentucky. Quick shipping and great customer service! His EBay store sells a variety of items other than brick trains such as airplanes, buildings, and tanks (and non-brick items too). A nice feature of many of his train kits is that he includes auxiliary items as shown in the first listing.
City Series Power Blue Diesel Cargo Train
For more pix, see the GBL section.
Motorized Christmas Train with Sound & Lights
A nice offering by General Jim's if you're into the special Christmas "stuff". It's a bit more gaudy than the BrickTracks train, but it also has lighting, sound, and smoke (not to mention a WHOLE lot cheaper)! The controller was bad in the order I received, sent them a message thru EBay, and received a replacement controller in less than a week.... now that is service! It is made by Mould King as set #12012.
A-10 Thunderbolt II Fighter, AKA, the Warthog
This is a nice model with many movable features, like the wheels and most of the control surfaces. I DID find it necessary to glue some of the parts together, otherwise, it's a quick and easy build. Includes a ground based canon with movable parts.
It looks like only a few of these models are powered. They can be found on EBay, but ship out of China without a nice box. Compatible with Lego bricks. As of May 2023, I ordered #0307, #0308, and #0313. We'll see how long it takes for them to arrive, and how the builds go along with the quality. Goirzi also makes dinosaurs, dragons, motorcycles, guns, and a variety of buildings
Goirzi 0307 - High Speed Train
Powered engine, one passenger car, and a non-powered engine. Falls in line with the Lego City series. Contains 641 pieces. Includes track (4 straights, 16 curved sections) to make a simple oval, half of a grade crossing with gate, and a vehicle.
Goirzi 0308 - MOW Train
Engine and two axle MOW cart - 431 pieces. Includes track to make a simple oval, and three figures. Might be able to motorize with Lego components.
Goirzi 0313 - Steam Train
Powered engine, tender, freight car, and one passenger car. Contains 1464 pieces. Includes a simple station, grade crossing gates, and track to make a simple oval with a siding (18 curved, 6 straight, and a pair of (L/R) turnouts). The engine lacks a realistic appearance because it uses the same trucks their electric engines use - but at least it is powered :-)
Goirzi 0318 - High Speed Train
Engine and one passenger car, no motor. Falls in line with the Lego City series. Contains 513 pieces. Includes track to make a simple oval with a siding (18 curved, 6 straight, and a pair of (L/R) turnouts). Notice this is the same train set as #0307, but without the truck and grade crossing accessories, about $20 less this way.
https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?item=235148729977&rt=nc&_trksid=p4429486.m3561.l2562&_ssn=heartbricker
It appears that Heart Bricker is a custom builder/manufacturer using genuine Lego parts. The reindeer shown below, are shown because BrickTracks charges you $140 for the same thing, and both are advertised to be using genuine Lego bricks. Choose wisely Grasshopper. :-)
Jack's J11001 Disney Train and Station
This brick train set was found on the Your World of Building Blocks website under the City Series category. The set includes an oval of track and a station and has 3350+ pieces. Some reviews weren't kind, here's one: The quality isn't there, I wasn't really expecting Lepin quality, but it was a little disappointing. On top of that, there were A LOT of missing pieces, about 15-20. That's a lot of missing pieces - My Lego Eiffel Tower with 10,000 pieces was only missing 2 pieces! And here is a comment about the motor: Sadly the motor didn't work with my phone, but I expected that beforehand so I already had a replacement from Lego. The Lego version, #71044, is $650. This set is one of the reasons Lego purists dislike the clone manufacturers because they infringe on copyright violations - and because of this, the set does not come with Disney mini-figs, Disney signage, or Disney flags.
Jie Star 59001 - Steam Locomotive
This kit contains 560 pieces, and gives you a no-name-railroad non-powered 4-6-0 steamer, with one freight car. Patterned after an American style wood burning steam engine.
Jie Star 59002 - The GWR Steam Train
I would put money on the fact that they have (or had) a 59002 kit, but I don't find it anywhere, or any reference to it. Update 10/23, I found 59002 on the YWOBB website under City Series.
Jie Star 59003 - Southern Pacific Steam Locomotive
This kit contains 1136 pieces, and gives you a Southern Pacific 2-6-0 steamer. It is non-powered as supplied, would probably need to be powered from Lego trucks under the tender, as there isn't any room inside the engine for a motor. My kit was short a LOT of pieces, perhaps as many as a whole (small) bags worth, so I ordered a second kit in the hopes it wasn't short the same pieces. Otherwise, it was an easy and fun build. The retailer, bricksmyheart, was very understanding with the shortage, and offered me a discount for the second engine - very good dealing with them - thank you!
Jie Star 59004 - German BR01 Steam Locomotive
This kit contains 1173 pieces, 50cm long with tender.
Jie Star 59005 - Big Boy Steam Locomotive
This 1608 piece model of Union Pacific's Big Boy (a 4-8-8-4) is available from several different sources, at a price of around $100-$120. Most shipped from China - but I found one supplier who shipped from the U.S. -, it is not shipped in a "pretty" box. None of the listings I found stated that it was a powered model. The finished model with the tender is just under 31 inches long.
Well, we received this fella on a Sunday delivery (Superbowl Sunday :-), and here are a few pictures. So yes, the axles have gears on them to make it a powered model, but NO instructions are given to do that, so you are on your own..... and, there was no box, everything is put into a sealed padded package.
Jie Star 59006 - Union Pacific - Red, White & Blue "Doomsday Train" RS-3
This RS unit is a 2399 piece kit, and includes 6 zombie figures. The listing does not mention if it is a powered unit, and it is not. The pictures also show the finished model being lit up, but again, the listing doesn't say anything. We'll let you know once it arrives, I snagged the last one, supposedly...... Well, the kit arrived, and nope, the model does not contain a motor or a lighting kit. It does, however, have provisions for powering, as they provide a drive shaft with a few gears, but nothing about lighting or powering is in the assembly manual.
Jie Star 59007 - Crocodile Locomotive
Cute take on the "crocodile" style locomotive - I have seen it offered in two versions: gold and plain. The kit contains 669 pieces, which includes a base plate, two signals, power line, and other stuff to adorn the base plate. Judging from the track it's sitting on, it's about 10 inches long.
Jie Star 59009 - "Western Train" Steam Engine
Number of pieces: 1773. Freelance mid 1800's American style steam engine in/on a nicely done winter scene.
Jie Star 59010 - Genoa Steam Locomotive
Cute little 4-4-0 steam engine patterned after a mid 1800's American style locomotive, non-powered with a tender. The kit contains 950 pieces. Judging from the track it's sitting on, it's about 14 inches long - the 53cm in the photo is probably the whole display which includes track, a base, and a nice looking tree. I think I would find something else to put on top of the smoke stack other than that "control lever" :-).
Jie Star 59014/59015/59016 - Chemical Plant
The complete model contains three different sets of bricks: a natural gas loading station which includes a truck, a chemicals laboratory with a detailed office, and a natural gas storage center that includes an LNG tanker car. My only criticism of the tanker car is that the trucks do not swivel - fairly easy to correct with Lego's Bogie Plate #6296796. Each kit takes about 3 hours to build. The plates can be arranged in several ways, so you're not limited to one particular configuration. This set is included because of the tank car, and would make a nicely detailed addition to any Lego railroad. I ordered a couple extra 9014's for the tank cars to put on a siding next to the plant (plus the extra parts :-) Can't beat it for 26 bucks! Two mini-figs are included with each kit.
Jie Star 59020 - "Retro" Steam Locomotive
This kit features a baby blue steam engine with 1031 pieces. It's probably a free-styled engine, not patterned after any specific engine. Seems like they added the light brown colored base plates, four sections of brown track, and landscaping to maybe boost the parts count?
Jie Star 89142 - Creative Christmas Train Station
Cute 1362 piece kit with an engine, freight car carrying a Christmas Tree, and a station, which may or may not be lit.
Kazi KY98223-KY98227 Sets
These five brick sets were found on the Your World of Building Blocks website under the City Series category. Each set includes an oval of track and a simple single speed controller. As of October 2023, only two of the sets were still available. I'm kind of surprised that the 98226 set doesn't include gold colored wheels for the freight cars to match the engine as they did in the 98225 set - although, they are freight cars after all :-)
Kazi KY98228/KY98229 RC Electric Revival Train
Found on the Your World of Building Blocks website under the City Series category. There are two versions of the train, one white, and one gray. Each set includes an oval of track and is powered. Around 647 pieces. No mini-figs.
Kazi KY98230-KY98235 RC Electric Train Sets
Again, we found these on the Your World of Building Blocks website under the City Series category. There are six different style train sets in this group. They are all "minimalist" models, with the controller being in full display on the first car behind the engine, and only three non-swiveling axles under each loco. :-( No mini-figs.
Kazi 98242 - Dongfeng City Train
A "junior" train set with 375 pieces and a powered locomotive. The power pack is carried in a trailing car behind the loco.
Kazi 98253 - Railway Train
Another Kazi set found on the Your World of Building Blocks website under the City Series category. It's too bad they are out of stock on this set, because, as an MOW train, it is unique. This model would certainly liven up any model railroad with the high-rail crane and flat car with the overhead track laying crane. The model IS powered with a 5 AA cell battery box, but the controller only has one speed. I also found the kit available on lepinland.com, but reviews run lukewarm for ordering from them - it's $65 over there. The build was and easy, no missing parts. Only building issue was putting the front of the engine on, there's almost too much wire to get coiled up in the small space provided. And, I think I would turn the track car around so you didn't have to uncouple the engine to lay track! :-) Took about 11 days to come from China, but the postmark was from San Francisco.
Lepin
BTW, Lepin changed it's name to Mould King in 2019.
From what I have read online, Lepin suffered from quality control
issues. Haven't built one of their models, so I can't say.
However, with that said, I have built quite a few Mould King models,
and don't have too many complaints except for their pneumatic
"stuff" doesn't always work so well.
Lepin 21005 - Emerald Night Train
Non-powered engine, tender, and one passenger car. Why do they put rubber tyres on the wheels if they are non-powered?
The only place I have seen kits made by MOC Building is at Ali Express. They have a wide range of offerings (not only kits with their name on it, but other manufacturers as well), but their prices compared to those seen on EBay for comparable kits is considerably more. In the example below, a chemical/gas plant that comes in three sections, the MOC Building price is $181, while over on EBay, you can find the same three sets for $74. So I don't duplicate listings, I cover MOC Building's kits on my nonlegotrains2 page (which almost all stuff from Ali Express).
https://www.aliexpress.us/
Mould King KB120 - Hong Kong Tramways
Another unique model from Mould King is this Hong Kong Double Decker Streetcar with over 2528 pieces. I've seen it offered at two places: YWOBB and Bricksmyheart on Ebay, being much cheaper at YWOBB. But then I ordered one - and the manual does not say Mould King on it, it says -KONSEPT- instead - so who knows who really makes the thing? :-) :-) The biggest complaint I have is the manual, and they print the color of the elements as dark as they really are, which makes seeing how the pieces fit together really hard.... I had to use a little flashlight to see the assembly diagrams sufficiently. Nice model tho, with a GREAT set of decals. It is considerably larger in scale compared to standard Lego Style 6/8 wide trains.
Mould King 12001 - NJ2 Diesel Cargo Train
The basic 12001 kit contains 1808 pieces, and makes a locomotive with one passenger car. The locomotive was a frustrating build, and missing a few pieces - for one of them, I actually had the same color Lego part in my spare parts box! :-).
One of the hardest parts of assembling the engine were the drawings, while well done, it is VERY hard to see the black lines on the dark green part pieces - I had to use a high intensity flashlight to light up the drawing sufficiently enough to see how the parts were assembled.
And while many of you do not advocate the use of Superglue, it IS a necessity in many places to hold things together that would otherwise fall apart while handling - especially little dangling parts on that "thing" hanging down from the under carriage!
Both the locomotive and passenger car are fairly heavy, and weight almost as much as their, say, MTH counterparts. The engine also includes two weights and rubber bands for the eight "real" wheels for better traction.
Other notes for assembly: 1) there are two pieces which hang onto the center equipment section of the under carriage, which left in place, does not allow the trucks to rotate - so I removed them, 2) The non-powered truck has two studs protruding up enough to keep the truck from rotating smoothly on curves - so I cut them off, 3) Although a headlight lighting kit is included, there are no instructions in the manual on where to place the LEDs - and the only reference to them is made at the front of the manual, 4) The center wheel of each truck is a poor design, and I haven't figured out if there is an easy fix for them, 5) At times, the steps may be somewhat confusing, and you may later on down the road in assembling the model, that you need to backtrack and re-orient a piece or two - this happened several times, 6) You have to play with the wheels and their placement on the axle to make sure the engine doesn't derail, especially on curves, 7) AND why, on the right side of the front of the engine, do they have two white pieces on the frame that can be seen on the finished model?
Operationally, the motor and the gear chain runs smooth. The only problem with the included Mould King controller is that it is only a single speed controller, and you need to keep your finger on the button to keep it running. The headlight LEDs come on as soon as the unit is powered up, and no matter which of the three open ports I plugged them into, none of them turned the lights on and off - don't know if that is the way they are supposed to operate. The locomotive has a very difficult time negotiating the included R40 curved sections - so I would remove the center wheels of the trucks if you're going to use it at home without buying third party curved sections.
For an extra fee, you can purchase the 1009 piece model 12001CX, and add additional cars.
Mould King 12002 - CRH Speed Train
The basic 12002 kit contains 1808 pieces, and will make for you a locomotive with one passenger car. It is a model of a Chinese High Speed train. Available at an extra cost, is 838 piece model 12002cx, which adds a dining car. With a few tweaks, this car could be modified to stand in for almost any white colored passenger car - like substituting orange bricks for the blue (or adding orange and keeping the blue), and now you have a MARC commuter train passenger car :-).
Mould King 12003 - QJ Steam Locomotive
This model of a Chinese steam engine with tender is a 1552 piece build. If it wasn't for those red drivers, you could turn this into just about any railroads steam engine :-) Notice the very wide range of prices!
Mould King 12003CX - Hopper
This is an add-on kit to the 12003 steamer above. It has 608 pieces.
Mould King 12004 - Kingland Dream Train
Looks like this was patterned after the Disney trains.... The kit contains 1554 pieces, and includes two trailing cars in addition to the engine and tender.
Mould King 12005 - SL7 Asia Express Train
A motorized model with 1873+ pieces. The engine with tender and passenger car is 93cm long. The engine also has a steam box atomizer that uses water, a lighting kit (2 LED's), and an extra large motor. With all black parts and wheels, you could make it look like a half decent N&W 611! :-) (OK, so it's missing a driver and trailing axle)
Mould King 12006 - Mallard Steam Engine
A powered steam locomotive with a kit build of 2139 pieces. The kit includes a tender, motor, controller, remote control, lighting kit (with 2 LED's), steam generator, and one passenger car (oh yeah, don't let me forget the complimentary water dropper :-). Finished, the engine and car are 83cm/32.6in long. One "bad note" on the engine - it will not negotiate the (Lego standard) R40 curves provided with the kit. If I had my choice between the two of these kits below, I would choose the new one from Amazon, unless you could get the EBay seller to drop it to a hundred bucks (or less) including shipping.
Mould King 12007 - BR18 German Express
A 2348 piece model kit with a steam engine, tender, and passenger car. The engine has smoke and a lighting kit. The passenger car has a detailed interior.
Mould King 12010 - Hogwarts Castle Magic Train
A 2086 piece model kit with a steam engine, tender, and passenger car - looks pretty cool.
Mould King 12012 - Motorized Christmas Train
There 1296 pieces in Mould King's offering for the Christmas Season, which includes a sound and steam generator in addition to being powered. I bought mine from General Jim's and it was a little more expensive, but they also have better service. Additional pictures above in General Jim's section
Mould King 12021 - CRH380A High-speed Train
This high-speed train set comes with a powered engine and one trailing car, along with a (fairly (worldwide) standard high-level platform) station and an oval of track. About 1212 pieces. The station platform looks like a nice add-on, not offered in other brick train kits - Lego or not! Very similar to Mould King 12002.
Mould King 12022 - RC World Railway DF4B Diesel Locomotive
A Chinese passenger train with a powered locomotive and passenger car, 1212 pieces.
Mould King 12023 - RC World Railway OBB 1189.08 Electric Locomotive
Mould King's version of the electric Crocodile locomotive, powered, 919 pieces.
Mould King 12024 - 4-4-0 Steam Locomotive
A 4-4-0 style steam locomotive in Southern Rwy green, patterned after many of their passenger steam engines. Kit includes a powered engine, tender, and passenger car. The kit contains 1212+ bricks, many of which are used to build the included tunnel and tracks.
Mould King 12025 - Orient Express-French Railways SNCF 231 Steam Locomotive
This is a very detailed model with 3898+ bricks in the three piece kit that includes the engine, tender, and a passenger car with a well detailed interior. Includes two XL sized motors, a smoke/fogger unit, and enough R104 curved sections to make a circle of track.
Mould King 12026 - Chinese HXN 3 Diesel Locomotive
Mould King 12028 - Christmas Train Deformation Robot/Transformer
A Christmas Train set with 1522 pieces. This is a toy train set that is also a "Transformer".
Mould King 16052 - Urban Railway
A 1488+ piece model kit. The kit includes a single powered "People Mover" type car, track, piers to elevate the track, bridge, station, pedestrian overpass with signal, and a small electrical locker.
only 20 cents more in Feb24 :-)
https://www.yourwobb.com/collections/city-series
Another offering I came across while cruising thru the Your World of Building Blocks website. It's a free lanced (and not very accurate) Christmas styled steam engine and train. Includes a sound and steam generator.
Reobrix 66034 - Christmas Train
https://www.yourwobb.com/collections/city-series
Winner 5085-5091 Trains
I came across these offerings cruising thru the Your World of Building Blocks website. Named simply "Trains", they are low part count kits, and not very detailed, but for the money, would easily entertain kids. None of them are powered. I bought the cable car kit to put in the background. At the time I came across this listing (10/2023), only 5 of the 7 kits were being offered as shown in the price list. Just be forewarned that if you go looking for these on the YWOBB website, they may or may not still be available. Example: I added these trains on October 18th, 2023, eight days later, the 5086 Cable Car was no longer available. If you see something you want, get it when you first see it!!!
Winner 5086 - Cable Car Train Build
This kit was a 90 minute build, including time to take pictures (and another hour to add it to this page). The kit is advertised as having 361 pieces, and that is what I counted, after counting the individual pieces making up the mini figures - torso, arms, and hands. There were no shortages, as all of the pieces were there, in fact, there were 15 pieces leftover and not used. Four pieces of track are included: 2 straight, 2 curved. I'm kind of surprised that for a non-powered model, they go to the trouble of giving you 2 axle trucks that rotate (instead of, say, two fixed axles-one at each end). Other "things" that move are the two doors, and the roof sections are hinged so you can put the minigigs in the 4 included seats - they also make the window panels easy to move if you want to remove or install the minifigs. I'm not sure I have seen a cable car that also has pantographs? :-) Not sure why the mini-figs are blurred out in the listing, because 4 of them are included. Finally, I have to snicker a little, because the door stickers say "pleaae" and "do not near danger". If they (Winner)(or any of the manufactures) read this, I will offer to proofread stuff like this for them for free :-).
Parts come in seven sealed envelopes.
The sheet of self-stick decals.
I use an X-Acto knife to place the decals, makes things so much easier :-)
The mini-figs, crossing gate, and traffic light. A beard is included, but I didn't use it.
Special parts used for the roof.
The trucks.
Completed build.
Finished car.
Interior of the car, with the window panel removed.
Leftover parts.Winner 8043 - The Steam Train
Well, I'm speechless on this one :-). It outrageous. It's obscene, and anything else you can call it. Someone's imagination really took off with this one, so much so, that it doesn't even fit on track, it is a "tired" model like cars and trucks. However, for the price, who can complain, right? Would make an interesting addition as a steampunk inspired "hanger-queen". At least when I came across it in October 2023, it was out of stock. About 543 pieces.
Trolley Coffee House
While technically not a model train, this is cute little model nevertheless. Note that this is not made from standard sized "Lego" bricks - it is done using mini-bricks, so if you're missing pieces, and don't have any mini's laying around, you're out of luck - mine was missing one 2x2 brick, so the top of one end isn't finished. Otherwise it was a pleasant build, and went smoothly - and it's nicely detailed!
MOC 92088 - City Railway Train Freight Container
Offered in two versions: with and without containers. For the additional 6 bucks, even if you don't need containers, it's worth it for the spare parts :-) The number of parts is not listed, but I counted 119, with 90 of them in the containers. The wheels mount on a metal axle, and are pretty much held in place by the truck frame, being a loose fit on the axle (for the most part). Quick build, took less than two quarters to build while I watched Detroit beat the Raiders on MNF..... Available from multiple vendors, I got mine from -Eden- on EBay for about a dollar more. Delivery took 8 days. All of the rolling stock appears to be patterned after European prototypes.
Under the 92088 model number, are a number of other freight car and accessory offerings, including the ones shown below. It's too bad, for the money, that the firewood car, the Saints Day carriage, and the retro carriage don't have a two-axle truck like the rest of the cars.
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