Review: Winter Holiday Train
Posted by Huw,
40700 Winter Holiday Train is another gift with purchase that'll be available at LEGO.com during Insiders weekend, which commences this Saturday. It'll be free with orders exceeding £155 / $170 / €170.
The 294-piece Creator set builds a steam locomotive and tender, hauling a wagon stuffed with presents and a Christmas tree.
Summary
40700 Winter Holiday Train, 294 pieces.
An attractive model perfect for displaying over the festive period
- Good selection of gold pieces
- Realistic engine
- None
The set was provided for review by LEGO. All opinions expressed are those of the author.
In fact, in addition to the wagon overflowing with gifts, the tender is as well.
The red, green and gold livery is very attractive and seasonal, and I particularly like the flags used to form the cow catcher at the front of the locomotive, and the Monkey Kid cloud being put to good use as exhaust from the smoke stack.
The 4-6-0 locomotive, which looks to be based on those found in the USA, is surprisingly realistic for its diminutive size, fitted with the aforementioned cow catcher, smoke deflectors on either side of the boiler, handrails, steps to access the cab, and headlights.
The tender and wagon are packed high with wrapped gifts and a Christmas tree which is mounted on a 2x2 turntable. The tender should, of course, be carrying coal, so for a more realistic appearance, you might want to remove the boxes and perhaps build another wagon -- matching or otherwise -- to put them in.
Overall, it's about 30cm long and will look great nestled amongst your decorations during the festive period. Grab it while you can at LEGO.com this weekend!
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28 comments on this article
I am so modding this into the Polar Express
Hello darkness my old friend
It looks great. Another excellent little Christmas GWP set.
I always like the smaller Christmas sets they have each year. I've grown quite the collection to decorate my desk in work. This one doesn't disappoint and I'm waiting for the ballerina scene and the picture frame to be available too.
Are there any exclusive elements in this, or is it possible to build without needing the actual set? I don't know that I'll be spending over the threshold again this year!
This is going to be my fifth Lego Christmas train, but on the other hand I’ve covered virtually every practical scale of the subject matter now.
@Jack_Rizzo said:
"Are there any exclusive elements in this, or is it possible to build without needing the actual set? I don't know that I'll be spending over the threshold again this year!"
I don't think so, but there are some rare ones, like gold 2x2 plates and 2x2 tiles with 1 stud, and the top of the tree: https://brickset.com/inventories/40700-1/rare
Stupid question: is this gonna be available in-store? I don't see any clear info on any of the articles
@Huw said:
" @Jack_Rizzo said:
"Are there any exclusive elements in this, or is it possible to build without needing the actual set? I don't know that I'll be spending over the threshold again this year!"
I don't think so, but there are some rare ones, like gold 2x2 plates and 2x2 tiles with 1 stud, and the top of the tree: https://brickset.com/inventories/40700-1/rare"
Cool, thanks for the heads-up Huw :)
Will this be one of the usual 2 Xmas GWPs this year?
I like this train and I would buy it instantly if it was available for purchase as ordinary set.
About presents in tender - it looks like it burns them as fuel. :-)
@Tomik said:
"I like this train and I would buy it instantly if it was available for purchase as ordinary set.
About presents in tender - it looks like it burns them as fuel. :-)"
The presents must be for bad kids - full of coal!
@Huw - no history, no YouTube links, no goat….just mailing it in these days??? ;o)
I hadn't paid a whole lot of attention to this before reading this review, and I'm not going to be placing any big orders for a while (I've got too much of a backlog as it is), but now that I've seen it in more detail, I like it. May track it down on the secondary market.
@Murdoch17 said:
" @Tomik said:
"I like this train and I would buy it instantly if it was available for purchase as ordinary set.
About presents in tender - it looks like it burns them as fuel. :-)"
The presents must be for bad kids - full of coal!"
Exactly what I was thinking.
@tedgarb said:
"Stupid question: is this gonna be available in-store? I don't see any clear info on any of the articles"
It should be available in-store if you spend over the appropriate threshold this weekend/over Black Friday; GWPs typically appear in brick and mortar LEGO shops when they do online. You can’t buy it by itself, sadly, and you run the risk of it running out before you get into the shop itself.
Choo choo!
What? Someone had to say it.
This looks super cute. Just a bit of a quandary between this weekend with 2x points or next weekend with the lifeboat... Don't really want 2 trains and record decks!
@Mister_Jonny said:
" @tedgarb said:
"Stupid question: is this gonna be available in-store? I don't see any clear info on any of the articles"
It should be available in-store if you spend over the appropriate threshold this weekend/over Black Friday; GWPs typically appear in brick and mortar LEGO shops when they do online. You can’t buy it by itself, sadly, and you run the risk of it running out before you get into the shop itself."
I've never been later then tenth in line, even on black Friday, so no concern on running out :) I just rarely pay much attention to the GWPs so wanted to be sure
This probably has to be the best non-minifig scale train LEGO has ever done. It's perfect for what it is.
@ToysFromTheAttic said:
"This probably has to be the best non-minifig scale train LEGO has ever done. It's perfect for what it is. "
I'd consider 40518 a strong contender for that title, especially since extra pieces are included so that if you buy two copies, you can attach them together to make a full train, and extra stickers were included for that purpose.
I like it! Great design, great colors!
@TheOtherMike said:
" @ToysFromTheAttic said:
"This probably has to be the best non-minifig scale train LEGO has ever done. It's perfect for what it is. "
I'd consider 40518 a strong contender for that title, especially since extra pieces are included so that if you buy two copies, you can attach them together to make a full train, and extra stickers were included for that purpose."
That one is cool too, but I find the Christmas train a bit more charming.
@ToysFromTheAttic said:
" @TheOtherMike said:
" @ToysFromTheAttic said:
"This probably has to be the best non-minifig scale train LEGO has ever done. It's perfect for what it is. "
I'd consider 40518 a strong contender for that title, especially since extra pieces are included so that if you buy two copies, you can attach them together to make a full train, and extra stickers were included for that purpose."
That one is cool too, but I find the Christmas train a bit more charming."
I'll give you that.
I came here to say, but a few people beat me to it, that the train obviously runs on presents instead of coal.
FYI: American steam locomotives don't have smoke deflectors...at least none that I've ever seen, but I'm sure someone will scour the Internet to find one just to prove me wrong. In any case, they're extremely rare if they even existed in the US.
Apart from the cow catcher and high-mounted light on the front, it looks like a British locomotive you'd expect to see in Thomas & Friends.
I already own the much better 10254 Winter Holiday Train, so I am not interested
Mine is on it's way - hoping it will run on rollercoaster track, it will make for a fun park ride alongside the WV Market Carousel..
Does it fit to the Lego standard railways?