Reminds me of the Mega Bloks ProBuilder Master Series 9778 Steam Express from 2004. That set contained 1,300 pieces and retailed for $50-$60 originally.

I'll wait for the reviews, on whether this can be added to actual LEGO train tracks, or whether it's going to be stuck and limited to these wide brick-built versions (similar to Crocodile Locomotive and Hogwarts Express).

Such a gorgeous set!

I love the period clothing on the minifigures!

Does it fit on Lego Railway tracks or is it just for display?

Took long enough

So this isn't as wide as the Hogwarts Express? Wasn't the bust-up there that it was too wide for Lego tracks as opposed to this set, which does fit on Lego tracks?

@Classique said:
" @MegaBlocks said:
"So this isn't as wide as the Hogwarts Express? Wasn't the bust-up there that it was too wide for Lego tracks as opposed to this set, which does fit on Lego tracks?"

Ssssh, we don't talk about the 76405 Hogwarts Express.
It still hurts.
:-("

If this is thinner then the interior does look cramped. A bit bigger and the detailing could've been better.

Do I see no stickers???

Do you think this comes with the ability to the motorised? In the same way they did for the Rollercoaster?
Would be great to have this actually runnibg on track.

Sorry, no Lego official motorizing support.

Can it ride on tracks? Like make it on curved pieces?
If not I call it wasted potential.

@MrBedhead said:
" @aarekk said:
"Do I see no stickers???"

Not entirely. All the details (like the city names, the Orient Express name and logo, the number) on the wagons are prints, except the details on the bottom of the doors. The name and number on the locomotive is also a sticker, but the gold stripes seem to be prints. There are also some stickers in the interior details.

"

How expensive will those printed tiles be on Bricklink?! Maybe I need to buy two of this set...

Also: will there be a GWP?

I assume not based on the book?

Beautiful

I have 12v track and an engineering father so I don't need to worry about inbuilt motors.

Instant purchase. I see we don't have preorder on this, why?

Speaking of preorder, if you buy a preorder set during insiders weekend, do you get double points when it's shipped?

Day one purchase for me!!!

@MrBedhead said:
" @Eaglefan344 said:
"If they weren't going to motorize it, they should have just done it in the larger scale similar to 76405 Hogwarts Express"

Hmmmmm, i wonder why people say that AFOLs can be slightly difficult people......

Aaaanyway, I am pretty sure that since it runs on regular track, soon after release smart MOC'ers will issue instructions online to motorize this, just not officially supported by LEGO."

Amazingly AFOLs are not a hive mind and whilst there are general trends, people do have differing opinions.

At times there are people who demand that all fans and posters should think in a particular manner, and some of those can be happy in their echo chamber of blocked users.

But as the Hogwarts Express has shown the typical Lego dimensions of trains can be limiting and slightly wider sets allow for more inner compartment detail.

I would've preferred wider carriages, but others seem to love being able to fit trains on traditional Lego tracks.

@daniellesa said:
"Speaking of preorder, if you buy a preorder set during insiders weekend, do you get double points when it's shipped?"

Yes.

I think there's a new snot piece, an upside down T shape, that enables to connect the windows sideways.

Price seems high, at least for part count. I know that is not all, but still...

Do we think the side writing is stickered? I’d really like this set but don’t use stickers and I think this set would be a bit redundant without the writing, otherwise it’s just a plain train which I could potentially create myself.

I've been excited bout the possibility of an Orient Express ever since it was chosen but I'm sad to say this one has left me rather cold. After seeing the beautiful locomotive that Lego were able to produce with the big Hogwarts Express I was hoping for something of similar quality but not locked behind licensing prices. As it is this locomotive is far less detailed feeling much more akin to an upgraded City set than a model for the 18+ range. It feels like Lego put far more effort into the obscure Crocodile loco than they did with this which, like Concorde is for aircraft, is an icon that has a large cultural impact. Emerald Night being a substitute Flying Scotsman was better looking and we have had a decade of advancement since then.

The carriages on the other hand do look pretty good. Nice variety in the interior and the outsides look like they got the care the loco didn't. Unfortunately they are not enough to redeem that poor loco. If I see it on a steep discount and I've got some disposable income spare I may pick this up. Otherwise it's very much a disappointment and I feel somewhat shows a lack of care on Lego's part compared with similar products.

Chef? I only see a waiter.

@SINTAX said:
" @daniellesa said:
"Speaking of preorder, if you buy a preorder set during insiders weekend, do you get double points when it's shipped?"

Yes."

Interesting, but still causes problems on how much I bankrupt myself this weekend.

Any idea of what will be discounted come Black Friday and Cyber Monday?

@sergio_bcn said:
"Price seems high, at least for part count. I know that is not all, but still..."

Train sets are always more expensive by the price per piece metric

I hope a lot of the writing on the exterior is stickers. I want to modify these cars for my train. The dark blue is perfect.

@robert_p said:
"Do we think the side writing is stickered? I’d really like this set but don’t use stickers and I think this set would be a bit redundant without the writing, otherwise it’s just a plain train which I could potentially create myself."

Most of the side writing seems printed, the locomotive name (Sapphire Star), locomotive number (52), and the decorations on the bottom of the doors are stickered (which I don't mind, especially since the doors are newly recolored so having the option of having them unprinted is good).

There are also stickers used for decoration on the interior of the carriages, several of which are mirrored (so couldn't be done with printing).

I used the bank of england inflation calculator to bring the emerald night piece price (I’d have preferred weight) up to date and multiplied it by the orient express piece count.
The result is £231.57 so make of that what you will.

I need to wait until we have actual photos and not just rendered images (which look flawless).

Beautiful but the lack of motorization and bat sh$t insane price make it a hard no!

I'd rather they spent a bit of effort creating a rechargeable battery box for trains that can actually run on a motor first.

I’m not getting this but I love the coincidence of the official reveal coinciding with the drama class performing MotOE at my brother’s community college. We’re almost certainly seeing that on Saturday and I’m laughing my butt off at that.

Beautiful set.

@sjr60 said:
"So the only real question:- Is December Natural History Museum month, or Orient Express month... or both and a thick coat!"
If you’re at risk of hypothermia, can you please bequeath your LEGO collection to me?
Many thanks,
Zander

@CaptainRed, Yes, the inverted T piece is new.

But where is Poirot?

I emerged from my dark ages just after Emerald Night stopped being available, and have always regretted that. I suspect that I'll buy this set just to make up for not having EM, even though I would still rather have a dark green, not a dark blue, train set!

I don't care what anyone else is saying, this is going to be one of my top 3 favorite sets.

OH

MY

GOD!

All aboard!!!!!

At last! Classic Train Doors make a return!

Great train, I hope this is a start of many more to come. For the price they should have included an oval track, and I'm still waiting for an electrified track before I go crazy with my wallet.

In the meantime there are instructions to motorize the Emerald Night main locomotive with a XL motor rather than the using standard train motor for the tender, which potentially could be adapted for this, except these motors with the additional Technic gearing never work as well.

Nice waggons and okayish locomotive. Too bad QC doesn't care about spell checking city names before releasing the set into production. Pretty pathetic for two luxury brands to claim this as a premium product for adults to display.

Maybe using metal axles would have helped to alleviate the difficult task to pull the heavier waggons, but they opted for the cheaper plastic wheels instead. Meaning no possibility to add small bearings either.

I'm not an expert. But.
All the images of OE steam locos I can find have smoke deflectors.
I've not seen many steam locos without a firebox.
Emerald Night has both.
Emerald Knight was a reasonable good scale model of a Gresley A3.
The Krokodil was a pretty good scale model of a Krokodil.
I'm not sure what this is supposed to represent.
It looks a bit like a toy...

the carriages are very detailed and look great, my problem is that the train has too bigger space between the locomotive and its tender. it really needs another set of small wheels under the drivers cab.
Lego could of gone with a really detailed train and sold the carriages as an add on. would be good to see if a powered up element's can be retro fitted as well.

Beautiful! I will definitly buy two copies of this, 4 wagons* and a longer locomotive <3 (* sleeping-diner-diner-sleeping.)

@TheBrickPal:
They stamped it out over Stuart’s head. Twice.

@Jdrewg:
I’m finding the “compatible with LEGO track”, but not the mention of L-Gauge.

@daniellesa:
Triggered offers are always based on when you place the order. This includes points offers, GWPs, and free shipping. Any portion of your order, including GWPs, that is in stock will ship immediately, any preorder will ship on or after the date specified, and any backorders will ship when it becomes available (or get cancelled if it never does). As soon as part of your order goes to warehouse, it means the order is locked in and can’t be modified (with limited exceptions).

VIP Reward items are where things get messy. Besides being limited to one code redemption for a _physical_ reward per order, VIP items don’t ship until something else ships. This can be a set, a keychain, B&P parts, or (from past experience) a triggered GWP, but _SOMETHING_ has to go in the box before they’ll ship your VIP item.

When will a third party or LEGO make proper tracks for these new larger trains?

@Jdrewg:
Never mind! Apparently holding your mobile device in landscape mode breaks their page formatting.

@blogzilly said:
"When will a third party or LEGO make proper tracks for these new larger trains?"
It fits on standard LEGO track. If you mean wider radius curves, there are 3rd party companies that make them…

@blogzilly said:
"When will a third party or LEGO make proper tracks for these new larger trains?"

They already do 3rd party. See Fx Bricks for 9v, BrickTracks for RC injection molded, or anyone with a decent 3D printer for the really wacky stuff.

As or LEGO doing the same, it's going to be either the day after the end of time, when the Second Coming actually happens, or when the Sun goes supernova (after bloating to envelope the entire orbit of the earth, or course) when the make those parts officially. Heck, I'm still waiting on a 90 degree crossover for RC trains, something that EVERY previous system had. Simply put, it ain't happening.

@ravrav said:
" @EvilTwin said:
"1.6 metres long?? Awesome.
It looks great. I hope there will be an easy way of motorising it.

...hmm. I noticed the comments about it being too heavy to motorise. But it's Lego, there's always a way, and there's a least a couple of people who have powered the 76405 Hogwarts Express, so I'm sure it would be possible."

I think that's a typo, it should be 1.16 meters probably.
Speaking of typo's, on the original Orient Express it says München instead of Munchen and Bucuresti instead of Bucaresti (i can't seem to post the s with accent here).

"

Seeing that annoyed me so much. The thing is, I am not even aware of a spelling that uses both "sh" and "a". Older timetables sometimes used "Bukarest" but never Bucareshti.

@Pongo said:
"I'm not an expert. But.
All the images of OE steam locos I can find have smoke deflectors.
I've not seen many steam locos without a firebox.
Emerald Night has both.
Emerald Knight was a reasonable good scale model of a Gresley A3.
The Krokodil was a pretty good scale model of a Krokodil.
I'm not sure what this is supposed to represent.
It looks a bit like a toy..."

I'm even less of an expert, but I think at least the firebox door is there, isn't it? It's just not openable. And Wikipedia has plenty of pictures of OE locomotives without smoke deflectors, as they seem to have come into style only after WWI. My guess is they modelled the train loosely after the Rheingold: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Datei:Steam_Engine_18_478_S_3-6_2009-10-11.jpg

But as, according to Wikipedia, the first trip of the OE alone featured 20(!) different locomotives, I can forgive the designers for taking some creative leeway instead of settling for one specific model.

Lego has gone a long way since my first Lego train from 1970. Its a little expensive so will try to be patient and wait for sale.

The interior looks nice, but I'm not into trains. I'm more interested in the Minifigs and recolors. Are the film director's legs nougat and brown or dark tan and brown? The lighting makes it look like nougat, but they would probably be boring and reuse the dark tan/brown legs. I also love seeing the hats recolored into more reusable colors!

@Boettner_Builds said:
" @blogzilly said:
"When will a third party or LEGO make proper tracks for these new larger trains?"
It fits on standard LEGO track. If you mean wider radius curves, there are 3rd party companies that make them…
"

I misunderstood the comments I was reading. I thought this was like some other trains that were wider. Thanks for setting the record straight.

Let me rephrase my question. Is there a LEGO or 3rd party track for trains like 76405 Hogwarts Express that would allow it to function as more than a display item? Please note I know very little about LEGO trains in general.

The cost is slightly above my usual single-set price point but I'm very tempted. I just hope all the decorated elements are printed, as looking at the images closely seems to suggest. For that amount they certainly should be.

My only complaint is the male model in the promotional shots. I think old guys as models with new, brightly-colored tatoos is worse than the concrete bunker of love.

He chose to make the Orient Express. A sumptuous French train, at the heart of many stories.” was the orient express not a product of Belgium

@blogzilly:
Nobody makes a one-piece track in that gauge because there's nothing to make it for. It's doubtful that anyone makes a piecemeal solution, but what you'd need to look for is two sets of curves that have a 2-stud difference in radius. Use the inner rail from the smaller radius, and the outside rail from the larger one. This should result in L8-gauge curves that maintain a consistent width in the turns. If it doesn't, the train will either sink between the rails, or get pinched by them. It might be possible to combine L4-gauge mine track and 12v plastic rails to test this, but the curves would definitely be too tight for the big Hogwarts train to navigate.

A bit late to the party as this was released during the final bit of my Japan/Korea vacation, but not much surprises in the official release. And as a result, I still have mixed feelings about this. The cars are absolutely fine, no complaints about those. But that locomotive.....with that huge boiler and relatively small driving wheels it still looks like a goods locomotive or at best one for mixed use, not one for a luxury train. While I can understand why they didn't go with the original fan design, if the goal was to make something that can actually negotiate curves, I think they could have better went for a 2'B design with much bigger drivers, like was common in the late 19th century.

And I think they should have picked a specific prototype for this set. Train enthousiasts are generally all about accuracy. This clearly isn't meant as a kids toy, but a thing for adult collectors. Who have to pay a lot of money for that. And Lego seems to understand that, as most (licensed) 18+/Icons sets are based on some real thing. They don't just make generic cars (well, except for the 10290 Pickup), but all based on actual models. They didn't make just some random rocket, but specifically a Saturn V. So why is this seemingly a made-up thing in the first place? Yes, I know the Orient Express isn't about the locomotive, but they could at least have picked one that was representative of what was used in reality.

And it seems weird to me that while it is made for standard track and apparently able to run, it doesn't seem prepared for motorization. I feel Lego keeps making these weird compromises between either a display model or a working thing. Either do it right, or don't and just pick one or the other.

This seemed like a sure buy for me based on the original Ideas submission, but looking at the final product, I'm doubtful even a huge discount could convince me to buy it.

@WizardOfOss:
Previously, I saw someone comment that it looked like it was based off the "first" OE engine, but when I looked it up I found an engine that predated even the one they'd commented about. So, at least one person thinks it is based on a real engine, but I don't recall any information on exactly what engine that is.

An earlier comment in this thread, I believe, suggested that the way it was originally set up, riding the entire length would have involved switching engines multiple times, which may also explain the "first engine" mixup.

And this absolutely is not designed for motorization. It won't include instructions on how to do it, either. It apparently exceeds the weight limit they have in place for motorizing an official set. That's not to say you can't do it, just that _they_ aren't allowed to in an official product.

@PurpleDave, it sure might be inspired by some specific engine, but then probably rather loosely. The first OE ran in the 1880s, but back then you simply wouldn't see a 2'C and certainly not with such a huge boiler and small drivers. This looks more like something from the early 1900s. And like I mentioned, more like a goods locomotive, though the wheel arrangement with two leading axles would be unusual. If anyone has found a specific prototype actually used for the OE, I would be very surprised. Not only because it just doesn't look like it, but also because Lego themselves don't mention anything about it.

Also, the engine from the first OE (which it clearly isn't) would be weird as that would have had rather different cars. I'm not sure if these are supposed to represent a certain specific type, but it certainly wouldn't be the first ones, as those would have had open balconies (and no bellows) and not the rounded roof.

But accurate or not, at least the cars look believable. And that's something I just can't say about the locomotive. Even if there actually ever was used something that resembled this, it would have been an oddity. And it's weird to base a set on that.