311Unique parts
1,478Total parts
Motivation
My son Benjamin is six years old and has been a fan of public transport since he was a baby. Last year, his sister Ava was born and I wanted to give him something special to mark the occasion. I made a brick toy inspired by his favorite tram here in The Hague (NL). The brick toy trams you can obtain from official vendors are (in my and his opinion) a little underwhelming, especially when compared to existing (official and unofficial) brick toy train sets. Over the last year, I challenged myself to come up with various trams that better matched the quality and setting of those train sets.
Backstory
For the design of this brick toy set, the challenge was to make it relatively affordable, nice to build and fun to play with. I also wanted to include both a tram and a matching station. In my mind, the set tells the story of a father and his daughter, who are public transport enthusiasts. There's a new solar-powered tram line in the city and today they've come to the terminus station to take a ride. While they wait for departure, they can get a snack and a refreshing drink from the platform shop. Of course, many other stories are possible.
Features
The tram has a rounded front, sliding doors, articulation between the cars and a removable roof and cabin. It can be driven on standard train tracks (note that it is not motorized). The station features a glass/solar roof, ramp, various signs, a ticket machine, benches and a shop with coffee, cold drinks and snacks. The track segment has a charging mast and a buffer stop.
