Plastics LEGO train steams into London in time for Christmas

A giant train made out of plastic LEGO bricks has arrived in London’s Covent Garden in a festive display that is drawing crowds.

Coined “The LEGO Santa Express”, the sculpture is made with over 500,000 plastic bricks and took a painstaking three months to build.

This is the fifth consecutive year that LEGO has produced a festive-themed display in the capital, after it launched the initiative in 2011 with a 30ft high Christmas tree.

Since then, the displays have included a giant snowglobe complete with festive scene, a giant advent calendar with working doors and, last year, a ride-on sleigh pulled by LEGO reindeer.

The masterpieces are created by Duncan Titmarsh, the UK’s only certified professional LEGO builder, with a team of eight builders from his company, Bright Bricks.

The plastics industry itself has had a taste of Titmarsh’s handiwork, after Bright Bricks created and built a giant plaque for Interplas, the UK’s leading plastics trade exhibition, in 2014 (pictured below).