Functioning LEGO train rolls into the Ideas review station

The appetite for a new LEGO train is growing over on LEGO Ideas, as a functioning steam locomotive has rolled into the review station.

It’s not the first train in the first 2022 review, nor even the second, but that really just speaks to the demand out there for another huge LEGO loco. And while The Polar Express and The Orient Express are based on specific fictional or real-life vehicles respectively, Alfred Boyer’s Pneumatic Steam Locomotive has an entirely different USP.

That’s because the steam engine – which is loosely inspired by French rail network SNCF’s 141 R series – eschews the electronic components of most LEGO trains, instead taking advantage of pneumatic elements to power the model using compressed air. Switches in the cabin allow the loco to accelerate at two different speeds, brake, and even sound an air whistle.

The magic happens through the use of four air pumps, four medium cylinders, one small cylinder and a series of air tanks, all of which combine to recreate the functions of a real steam train. Leaving behind the LEGO Group’s Powered Up components has also allowed Alfred to play around with the size of his model, which comes in bigger than regular LEGO trains.

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That does mean this won’t run on traditional LEGO train tracks, but the builder has assembled brick-built tracks for the purposes of the project, which could feasibly act as a display base if it gets the green light to become an official set. Whether that happens is in the hands of the LEGO Ideas review board, which will consider the build as part of the first 2022 review.

There are now 32 projects in this initial review, the qualifying window for which will remain open through early May. Here’s the full list of potential sets in contention:

Pneumatic Steam Locomotive
The Notting Hill Market
The Orient Express, a Legendary Train
Magical Village Over The Bridge
The Legend of the Sea Serpent
Air Jordan 1
The Market Village
Aladdin: Friend Like Me (30th Anniversary Special)
Gilmore Girls House
The Castle of Brickwood Forest
Lancia Delta Integrale 16v Rally Car (1990)
The Opera
Polaroid OneStep SX-70
Hanging Flowers
Wuppertaler Schwebebahn/Wuppertal Suspension Railway
Adventure Box
Sherlock Holmes – 221B Baker Street
Boeing 747 Cockpit
LEGO Insects
The Polar Express 20th Anniversary
Mach Patrol
Santa’s Cottage
The Library
Tales of the Space Age
The Kit-Cat Clock
Steampunk Airship
Mini City Diorama: London with Underground Train Station!
The LEGO Toilet
LEGO Koala
Wild West Mine
The Legendary Concorde
The Forestmen Secret Inn

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Author Profile

Chris Wharfe
I like to think of myself as a journalist first, LEGO fan second, but we all know that’s not really the case. Journalism does run through my veins, though, like some kind of weird literary blood – the sort that will no doubt one day lead to a stress-induced heart malfunction. It’s like smoking, only worse. Thankfully, I get to write about LEGO until then.

Chris Wharfe

I like to think of myself as a journalist first, LEGO fan second, but we all know that’s not really the case. Journalism does run through my veins, though, like some kind of weird literary blood – the sort that will no doubt one day lead to a stress-induced heart malfunction. It’s like smoking, only worse. Thankfully, I get to write about LEGO until then.

One thought on “Functioning LEGO train rolls into the Ideas review station

  • 22/03/2022 at 09:22
    Permalink

    How about getting the Ford Mustang ’68 car from the film Bullitt into production what an iconic film and car

    Reply

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