Builder: Michael Gibbs "The Lego Railway Series"
Region: Americas
Category entered:
Year entered: 2022
Brand of building bricks used:
LEGO
Since 2026, the Brick Train Awards have accepted models created with other LEGO®-compatible construction brick systems.
About NWR #1 “Thomas” LB&SCR E2 Class Tank Engine by Michael Gibbs "The Lego Railway Series"
Sodor's most famous steam locomotive and #1 engine of the North Western Railway, Thomas! An LB&SCR E2 class tank engine with the extended side tanks and as many small details as I could cram onto the model. It also has Thomas's unique flat rear runningboard.
while this may be a digital entry, I want to make it clear that this model as been designed with the intention of being built physically. Everything you see here has been built using mostly legal building techniques (or techniques LEGO themselves have used in the past, such as cutting tube elements) All bricks are also available in the colors that you see. The only exceptions to this are a modified PF wire (to connect directly to a 9v battery) the handrail along the boiler, and a custom made substitute for holding on the driving rods, as the official part is both retired and too expensive.
Thomas is fully motorized with a single PF M motor in the chassis, an IR receiver that's part of/behind the firebox, and and a normal 9v battery in a hollow space under the boiler between the side tanks.