LEGO Ideas 21344 Orient Express officially revealed
All aboard: the latest LEGO Ideas set rolling into the station is 21344 The Orient Express Train, based on a design by French filmmaker Thomas Lajon.
Initially approved for production in October 2022, the 2,540-piece set will be the 52nd model under the LEGO Ideas banner, and offers a train radically changed from Thomas’s original submission. The LEGO Group has altered the scale, colour scheme and even the number of carriages in 21344 The Orient Express Train while bringing it to shelves, seemingly all in an effort to make it compatible with standard LEGO track.
In the process, 21344 The Orient Express Train avoids two perceived missteps by last year’s 76405 Hogwarts Express Collectors’ Edition. Critics called out the LEGO Harry Potter train’s size – it’s too big to sit on regular track – and single carriage upon release, but this dark blue and gold train addresses both of those issues. And it does so while bringing to life one of the most iconic and luxurious forms of travel ever to cross European borders.
The Orient Express first departed from Paris in the direction of Istanbul in 1883 (which means the LEGO set arrives in time for its 140th anniversary), and ran for more than a century before ceasing operation in 2009. During that time, routes frequently changed and expanded (and eventually shortened), while rolling stock and locomotives were swapped in and out.
The midnight blue and gold cars debuted in 1919 as part of the first-ever Simplon-Orient-Express train, which established a new route from Paris to Istanbul through Milan and Venice, crossing the Simplon tunnel. The locomotive in 21344 The Orient Express Train matches its carriages for a unified dark blue colour scheme throughout, leaving behind the original dark green hues pitched by Thomas.
While 21344 The Orient Express Train is not hooked to any one property – such as Agatha Christie’s seminal 1934 novel Murder on the Orient Express, or its multiple silver-screen adaptations – you will find eight minifigures in the box, representing the train’s conductor, waiter, railway worker, porter and a sweeping variety of passengers. The dining and sleeping cars both boast full interiors, meanwhile, with removable roofs for easy access.
“I have always been a great fan of locomotives, sailing ships and ocean liners,” Thomas said. “As a child, I collected everything related to them. Years later, my girlfriend encouraged me to get back in touch with LEGO bricks and knowing my love for trains, she encouraged me to make one. Obviously, I chose to make the Orient Express – a sumptuous French train, at the heart of many stories.”
21344 The Orient Express Train launches December 1 for £259.99 / $299.99 / €299.99, and measures a staggering 116cm long, 8cm wide and 12cm tall.
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Not sure I’ll get this. The carriages are great but the engine looks like a city one and doesn’t quite work.
If I did buy it I’d have to extensively mod it.