LEGO Harry Potter Hogwarts Express

Amazon Product Name (APN): LEGO Harry Potter Hogwarts Express 75955 Building Kit

A Model Train Review by Papa

If you love LEGOS, trains, and Harry Potter, then this is the set for you. At 801 pieces, this model train set includes a train station with pedestrian overpass and clock, the Hogwarts Express, tender, a passenger car, and a handful of mini figs.

The LEGO minifigs include Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, Hermione Granger, Remus Lupin, the Trolley Witch, the Dementor and Scabbers figures.  The Trolley Witch even has the chocolate toads that Ron is always eating!

The LEGO Hogwarts Express model train set is not motorized, but it does roll by hand on LEGO City track.  Another difference between this set and other LEGO train sets are the train’s couplers.  The Hogwarts Express uses connectors and pins, instead of the magnetic couplers used in the motorized sets.  They work best if the train is moving in the forward direction.

The best feature of this set is the custom Hogwarts Express art details on the engine. These are very nice and colorful.  The engine is pretty detailed with three set of “drive” wheels on each side and has the appropriate sets of smaller wheel before the “drive” wheels. It is a bold engine showing shiny red and black.

Now, this set is not motorized, but I wanted to make it motorized.  I bough an extra Hogwarts Express kit and a second LEGO City Passenger Train 60197 motorized kit and “kit-bashed” a solution I found on a YouTube video.

There were actually quite a number of videos for the different methods used.  I took the Bluetooth receiver/battery pack and built a slightly longer engine tender which I then mounted the LEGO drive motor/wheel set to. The weight of the battery pack is sufficient to give the drive wheels good traction.

With my upgraded train set, the tender now pushes the engine down the track.  This works ok as long as you keep the layout simple with gentle curves and straight track. It will not negotiate wiggle track at all.  I took the extra parts from the second kit and made an extra passenger car, and added a “caboose”. This motorized train looks very nice as it runs around the track. The Bluetooth control, using your tablet or smartphone, gets you some added sounds to liven up the operation.

I am a fan of Harry Potter and have purchased most of the sets that are currently offered.  My future model train layout will combine my love of Lionel O scale trains with LEGOS and LEGO City trains.  Of course it will have the secret wall at the station and a rail line to the city “by the lake” for a boat ride to Hogwarts Castle.

Here are just some of the Harry Potter kits you can add to your Hogwarts Express layout:

LEGO Harry Potter Quidditch Match

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LEGO Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

LEGO Harry Potter Hogwarts Great Hall

Aragog’s Lair 75950 Building Kit

LEGO Harry Potter Hogwarts (The BIG Castle)

I have added several of these sets to my collection already, but I haven’t yet bought the six thousand piece castle set.  The sets I have are all colorful, and form an interesting feature in my layout. I haven’t decided yet how I will use Aragog’s Lair, since it really needs a deep dark forest located beyond the castle.  Guess I need more space!

Get started building your own Hogwarts fantasy. Start with the Hogwarts Express by finding it on Amazon here.

Want more? Check out some of our other lists and reviews below.