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Episode 21 — Brick Train Awards 2023 – LEGO train winners and discussion

First published on 9 November 2023.

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About Episode 21 — Brick Train Awards 2023 – LEGO train winners and discussion

The Brick Train Awards 2023 winners were announced last month, and we’ve finally had a chance to sit down and discuss the LEGO train models this year in our latest podcast, from our favourite models to category and rule changes and more (gronks included!).

From 680 approved entries, a handful of winners were picked by judges around the world as winners of the Brick Train Awards 2023. LNUR and LSUR members discuss their favourite models, we pick our favourite TFOL (Teenage Fan of LEGO) models, and discuss which rules and categories we’d like to change. As organisers of the Brick Train Awards, get the inside scoop from this annual event for LEGO train fans. You can see this year’s entries and winners at bricktrainawards.com.

Sorry, editing time ran over so no images in the podcast this time, but we’ve linked the relevant entries in order below. Thanks to Richard, Will, Miller, Rory, Ed, Micah and Ben for joining us.

Our favourite models from Brick Train Awards 2023

Ben’s Studdington display – winner of global best display 2023
Ben Rogers’ picks – Nice German loco and Terrier82boxhill’s the “Railway Children” pannier
Rory’s pick – best consist – Pieter Post’s Bavarian D XII steam engine
Micah’s pick – sethbricked’s 4 wheeler coach
Ed’s pick – digital model – Stadler Flirt
Miller’s pick – electric locomotive – NS Motorpost
Richard’s picks – Bloxley layout by James Howse, and BritishBrick’s Class 14
Will’s pick – Joe’s LEGO V2 Green Arrow (digital loco)
Micah’s pick (again!) – Glenn Holland’s box car
Best diesel loco – Kop II
Miller’s pick (again!) – Mie kotsu 4400 Articulated narrow gauge EMU(三重交通 4400形連節電車)
Asa Coast Railway Company Class DMV 93

Our favourite LEGO train models by TFOLs (Teenage Fans of LEGO) from 2023

Suggestions for other categories in the Brick Train Awards

“Purist” category by Commander Wolf (Eurobricks) – a category using only genuine LEGO parts (no third party wheels, rods, track…)
Splitting the displays category back to individual / group as two separate categories
Other loco / special wagon categories – deliberately vague?
What about splitting the loco categories up by scale rather than power type?
Interlude whilst we argue about whether GWR locos all look the same
What about asking judges to judge specific categories (eg, all locomotive categories), rather than all models in their specific region (eg, Asia & Australasia)
A category to show off build techniques – hard to judge but cool to see!
What about “highlights” rather than awards – best use of stickers, best use of parts, etc
Could we include runner-ups / honourable mentions in each category? Quite possibly…
Do we need a better way of including videos for entries? Probably…great for seeing locos actually running
Damien suggested giving more specific guidance on which photos / angles to include for locomotive categories – it’s quite hard to see!
See the Brick Train Awards guide to taking better photos of your LEGO train models
Best bribe category (of course this one was Miller!)
Subway category (ditto)
Brick Train Awards 2 year rule – models entered must be (largely) built in the past 2 years/24 months at the time of entry
Do a small selection of builders win too many categories each year?

Other models

Deutsche Bundesbahn BR 56.2-8 by Nick Kleinfelder
Sergio Batista (aka @brickrails), prolific LEGO train builder from Portugal – best digital wagon winner 2023 (Europe)