LEGO is set to crank up the festive cheer this year with the unveiling of 2016’s Christmas set – the Creator Expert 10254 Winter Holiday Train!
Update: Be sure to read my review of 10254 Winter Holiday Train to find out what I thought of the set!
This charming LEGO train model is an excellent addition to LEGO’s hallowed Winter Village theme – which has delighted us with wonderful Christmas-themed sets year after year. Last year, we got a re-release of the Winter Toy Shop which I thoroughly enjoyed despite it being a carbon copy of the original.
The 2016 Winter Holiday Train is a festive locomotive weighs in at 734 pieces and comes with 5 minifigures – a locomotive driver, ticket collector, grandmother, and a young boy and girl.
Here are the LEGO.com links:
- LEGO 10254 Winter Holiday Train [US] – US$99.99
- LEGO 10254 Winter Holiday Train [AU] – AU$149.99
The release date for 10254 Winter Holiday Train is 1 October 2016 – just in time for the Christmas shopping period! As with any exclusive D2c (Direct to Consumer) set, LEGO VIP members receive Early Access to the set from 15 September 2016 onwards.
10254 Winter Holiday Train will cost US $99.99, UK £69.99, CA $129.99, DE 89.99€ . The Australian price is AUD $149.99. I’m pretty happy with the price and I’m glad that LEGO have maintained the relative affordability of the Christmas Village sets.
I’m extremely excited by the Winter Holiday Train – it’s a spiritual successor of 2006’s 10173 Holiday Train which I missed out on because I was in my dark ages. 10 years later, I think it’s a great move by LEGO to remake the set for all of us who didn’t get to own the Holiday Train.
The set looks incredible, with the aforementioned full circle track that’s made out of 16 curved track pieces. The rail track has a diameter of about 70cm. There’s also a rotating Christmas Tree on the train – which I’m guessing spins around as the train moves on the tracks.
You can upgrade the Winter Holiday Train with Power Functions (sold separately). Special elements included in the set: small and large red train wheels, dark tan windows, train buffers, cow catcher, white tree elements and roller skates.
As Christmas is a time spent with family, the set also includes dual building instructions which allows family to build the entire model simultaneously.
I’m already a huge fan of the Winter Holiday Train – the LEGO Winter Village theme has been a special favourite of mine and I can already tell that this is going to be well-received by LEGO fans!
So there you have it! I hope you’re excited enough to get on board the (literal) LEGO Christmas hype train – there’s plenty of room for you to join!
Here’s the designer video:
Let me know what you think of this set in the comments and if you will be adding this to your Christmas wishlist! Check out more photos of the set below!
I purchased this holiday train (and electronic components) but curious if anyone knows if there are additional tracks that are compatible in order to make it bigger? Thanks!
The track pieces look exactly the same as the ones in the High Speed Passenger Train Set, which you can also buy separately in sets from Toys R Us.
One lot comes with straights and curves (#7499), the other is switching tracks and curves (#7895). Lego have them in their online store, but the only physical shop I’ve seen them, in Melbourne at least, is Toys R Us.
It’s probably not something that i’d put in the same display as these winter sets, but what I think would be an awesome Christmas-sy! set, with a nostalgic winter feel to it, would be Kevin’s ‘Home Alone’ house complete with all the traps, Old Man Marley, and the Wet Bandits! How cool and Festive themed would that be?
It would probably be quite a big (and expensive :/ ) set but would be a sensational build!
My minds turning thinking about it now.
But yes, in general i’d love anything that goes with these winter sets we already have. Pure Christmas Joy!
That sounds awesome! I’m surprised no one has made an Ideas set out of home alone yet.
I’m personally holding out for a tavern/pub. A cosy watering hole is sorely missing from the Christmas village!
Haha, yes! I totally agree. Complete with an open fire, wing-back chairs, barmaid, Bar, stools, Pool table. and a serving hatch for the mulled wine and mince pies for that Christmas touch!
There are some really talented people submit their designs to the the Lego Ideas site, i bet someone (maybe you, Jay??) could come up with an awesome tavern.
Would lego buy into it though, with it having that connection to alcohol consumption?
Haha, unfortunately I’m not that much of a MOCer and designer – my organisation system still isn’t where I want it to be for me to start building at a scale that I want.
I think LEGO can “kiddify” it by styling it as a family friendly restaurant or inn. Or some place where they serve grape juice!
I was fortunate enough to buy the original Christmas train, honestly with the 9V motor it is a sight. I just ordered the new train and have two other trains running power functions. You’ll find that adding a lot of cars to this train will slow it down, adding one maybe two cars will be ok after 5 cars the train gets bogged down. Also prepare to buy lots of batteries, they suck batteries.
I have bought every winter building except the re-release toy shop. My favorite theme by far. I’m happy for a new train, just need a winter station.
Thanks for sharing your experience! Apart from the engine limitations, what do you think of the design and how it compares against the original?
Hi Jay, Hi All!
I have been a long time reader on here, and a big admirer of your work and dedication to this site, Jay. Such an awesome site. You explain things so clearly and honestly.
Now, on to the train. I too have bought this train (i bought early as a VIP member. So cool). As a family we buy the Christmas sets every year. We have the santa’s workshop and toy shop and the Freebie Elves workshop and other little bits. – to be fare, adding to the display every year is one of my favourite Christmas activities to do. It’s just good honest family fun.
Oh to work for Lego and be a set designer – what an amazing job that would be… 🙂
Anyway, i also bought the power functions https://shop.lego.com/en-GB/LEGO-Power-Functions-Battery-Box-8881 , https://shop.lego.com/en-GB/LEGO-Power-Functions-Train-Motor-88002 , and extra track https://shop.lego.com/en-GB/Flexible-and-Straight-Tracks-7499 .
I’ve never dabbled in the power function side of things before and i just hope that i’ve covered everything and bought everything i need to make it move?
I have a huge window sill in my lounge and try to make a Winter Village scene every year (adding the Christmas Advent Calendar characters and everything) and with the extra track I’ve bought i hoping to run the track all the way around the perimeter of my little village.
I haven’t opened any of the packages yet so i hope everything will be there wen i come to open it all and set-up mid-December ready for Christmas :/
Hey David, thanks so much for the kids words!
The Winter Village sets are definitely a a highlight of the year for me too.
Unfortunately, I don’t have any experience with power functions, but I will be getting some myself to add to my train. I’ll try and incorporate adding it to the train in my upcoming review so that you can see how it’s done!
Lego have released two trains and a lot of nice buildings for the winter village, but it still misses a nice place to stop. This is a station with a nice clock tower with two bells so that the citizens can keep track on the time during the Christmas shopping. Inside the station building there is a waiting room, full ticket booth and a small workshop in the tower for maintaining the clock and the bells. On the right side of the station you have a nice fountain and the train schedule. As you can see in the pictures this would be a very nice supplement for the old holiday train (10173) and this years new winter village set (10254).
Very nice! I’d love to see some sort of station added to the Winter Village. That said, if I could dictate the next set, it’s high time our Winter Villages got some sort of tavern!
Thanks for the information Jay.
Question:
When is the best time to buy the set? I was not into Lego when the last train came out. Nor last year when the Christmas special came out. So I did not see what the market was like. I look at it now but that was 10 years ago for that train…
so what I’m asking is do these usually go on sale before the holidays? do the rise in price? I also heard somewhere that Lego gives exclusives holiday items with every purchase during the holidays, or at least on holiday sets. Should we wait until after Christmas to buy them for when Lego wants to clear the shelves?
obviously waiting too long might result in everywhere being sold out.
Or the rice Sky rocketing. ya never know…
I did find out that making it into a motorized train will be about $50 off BrinkLink.
which isn’t bad at all. but if I wait and the train set drops near $50…. id be spending $100 for the motorized version of this train. Which sounds a lot more satisfying. If anyone wants to chime in don’t be shy!
Happy Holidays
While lego has sales I have never seen 50% off. You will find better sale prices from amazon then directly from lego. Example is the train station from lego is $60 but amazon has it for $40
Also the motorized Train stuff is back ordered right now I placed my order for the train and motorized parts because I’d rather have it now then wait for it to be on sale and not be able to get it
How do I know what parts I need to power this?
Hiiiii!!! 🙂 So if I go to the Lego Store tomorrow. I can get a train? Or do I have to purchase online? (I am a VIP member)
You can go in-store and they should have it as long as they still have it in stock! Purchasing online is only for countries like Australia, as we don’t have LEGO stores here!
I’ve never hotten winter village sets before, so can someone tell me when and where they’re usually available in Australia? Will it be the same this year? Are any past sets still available?
Hi. In Australia we are one year behind Europe and the USA releases. So for example, in store this year 2016 we can buy last year’s set – the Toy Shop. You can usually buy from Mr Toys/Toy World and sometimes Myer and a David Jones have them. I however buy mine online through EBay to keep up with the overseas design – but I pay a lot more for the privilege! What can I say -we love Lego! Hope this helps
I think I’m on board, so to say – I like the fact that it will look great under the tree, but then make a good general-purpose steam train with very few changes.
Is there any news on which store is selling the Fun in the Park set?
Unfortunately not yet. I’ve heard that it’s coming out in September but till then, I don’t have any concrete news to share. Sorry!
$150 Australian… I’m tempted!
LEGO has been killing it with the prices of Creator sets this year. Very pleased they didn’t go nuts and that pricing has more or less stayed the same… Unlike Star Wars and Super Heroes
Sorry to be a hater Lego fans but this a pale comparison to the original Holiday train. $130 + tax for a kiddie ride sized train and an engineer wearing a ball cap? Looks like my Winter Village goes without a new build for a second year in a row 🙁
You’re right. It is a lesser version but it has the enormous advantage of being available. ? Don’t overlook that! And it can be modified and improved over the years. Have you seen this effort? https://i.redd.it/ayre7bq8p4fx.png
I never got the original so I’m thrilled to have a shot at an alternative!
I understand your frustration though. I already had the original Toy Shop and I thought the previous year’s Santa’s Workshop was lackluster. So I had my own dry spell. But consider this: if you already have the first train you might like this train station. http://www.bricklink.com/message.asp?ID=1003807 He’s going to have the plans available before too long so you can have something new this year. And it may be cheaper to source your bricks locally than have a kit shipped from the US.
Lego will probably come up with a train station in time too so you might consider that. But I’m thinking on or the other could probably be modified to be a shop if it comes to that.
Who created the modified set and do they offer instructions on how to build it?
Here’s the original r/Lego thread. https://www.reddit.com/r/lego/comments/4xilar/i_mocked_up_an_expanded_winter_holiday_train_in/
He or she didn’t come back and provide more information but it indicates what can be done. And perhaps once people can get their hands on the bricks more people will have other ideas and possibilities.
I think if I get one set plus the power parts and additional frack this year it will be enough of an expense. But in the future I plan to get another set to build additional cars.
The designer of the custom train station is Miro78 and you can see his work at BrickLink. If you’re not familiar with the tram he did last year, it’s wonderful and fits beautifully into the Winter Village. He sells either the file of his plans or packaged kits.
If you are looking for a Station in your winter village you can check out my MOC.
https://ideas.lego.com/projects/154973
I guess cause its meant to look like a Toy train and not a full sized locomotive. Thing is, for those that missed out on the original, this is a much more accessible set.
This will be a perfect addition to my son’s Lego Christmas display. He wanted the City Train but Lego City is not one he collects (Star Wars, DC, Marvel, Nexo Knights, Pirates) so he never got it. He’ll enjoy this. Hurry up September 15!!!
Awesome! Are you planning on adding power functions to motorise it?
I LOVE IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!
You and me both!
I also missed out on the original holiday train as I was in my dark ages, and since winter village is by far my favourite Lego theme I was also eagerly anticipating this. I am thrilled that Lego have produced this, and really it is gorgeous, but I have to say I have been slightly disappointed that there is no passenger car and also in the colours which look a bit too busy to me. (Red, green, gold, black, white AND dark blue?). But regardless I will definitely be purchasing this and we will love it. I will be trying to keep it a secret from my kids so that they can get a big surprise when the box is revealed, then we can build it straight away. And in the meantime I will be trying to design a passenger car to add on to it. I’m not too clever with thinking up designs so will be watching all the forums to get inspiration.
I think the lack of the passenger car was mostly to keep the cost down and help make the set more accessible. I also think the colours are okay since they’re going for a very “toy like” vibe with it. There’s definitely room for improvement and hopefully there’ll be a few upgrade designs floating around!
This is fantastic! We are getting the Lego passenger train for Christmas (meaning: I am buying it and calling it a ‘family present’ to justify spending that much money, lol!) and this is going to look so good with it!
This train looks wonderfully detailed, I especially like the toy train set that sits under the Christmas tree. Nice also to see a minifig with short curly-ish hair. I haven’t seen that piece before and we’re a family of curly-tops.
Dual instructions will go down a treat here – as the kids get older I have less to build (unless the set is mine!) so to be able to build this together will be lots of fun.
Yes to all that you mentioned! Trains also have a really cool Christmasy vibe to them and I can’t wait to finally make the plunge to try out power functions and power it up!
I’m happy LEGO provided dual building instructions for this set. The more friends and family building, the merrier!
Yeah, I think this is a really underrated feature. I’d love to see this rolled out for big sets. I really enjoy building big sets with my wife but not being able to both build at the same time is a huge pain.
So very excited about this one. I already secretly bought the Toy store earlier in the year, but I must have this one for Christmas!!! My husband is going to kill me…..
Haha! I’m sure he’ll be fine once he sees how cool the train is! :p
Hmm, if I could buy a LEGO Train, I’d probably buy one that I can use year-round.
I also wish I could afford a LEGO Train.
Thanks for the heads up Jay!
Put it on your Xmas wishlist and pray someone gifts it to you!
I missed the first holiday train and can’t afford the secondary market price so I’m thrilled with this train. I think they made the right move designing a new train instead of re-issuing as they did with the Toy Store.
This is a super looking train and I applaud them for keeping the price down by selling it without the power function but designing in the space to add it/them.
I am also extremely pleased that this could signal a new commitment to the Winter Village which I share your enthusiasm for. This is the most enthused I’ve been since the Winter Market as I found Santa’s Workshop uninspired and shared the general dismay with the re-issue of the Toy Shop.
Next I hope they’ll make white baseplates available (tho they probably won’t make sense for the Southern Hemisphere) and also some transparent “ice” plates so we can enlarge the landscape.
Great site! I’ve just discovered it but I look forward to becoming a follower.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts! I think it’s well designed and with all things LEGO, there’s always capacity to upgrade and add on the train.
Hope you enjoy your stay here!