MOC: NWR No. 1 "Thomas"

[Sir E Fullner]

Back again, this time with one of the most beloved steam engines in all the world, re-made in Lego form.

Thomas the Tank Engine

Thomas, as he appears in the Railway Series books by the Reverend Wilbert Awdry, is a London, Brighton & South Coast Railway E2 Class Tank locomotive, with extended side tanks for holding extra water. As described in the story "Thomas and Gordon", the engine has "...six small wheels, a short stumpy funnel, a short stumpy boiler, and a short stumpy dome." Thomas served as a station pilot for Knapford station, but was given his own branch line to run between Ffarquhar and Knapford after saving the new engine James from an accident in a field. Thomas enjoys running on the branch line, along with his coaches Annie and Clarabel.

Here is the Lego model next to the real-life E2 Class tank engine. The E2s had terrible fuel consumption, so were often stuck in station pilot jobs. According to steam locomotive enthusiast Chris Eden-Green, Thomas did to the E2s what Back to the Future did to the DeLorean. My model combines aspects from both the real-life E2 and the illustrations in the Railway Series. There are downsweeps for the buffer beams on both ends of the engine, along with a wheel arch at the front end of the water tank. The wheels are from Big Ben Bricks, while the side rods were purchased from a specialty shop on Bricklink.

Birds-eye view, showing the red stripes on the boiler.

Thomas' two coaches, Annie and Clarabel, are based more off their TV series counterparts than the Railway Series counterparts, mostly due to budgetary constraints. Annie can only take passengers, while Clarabel can take passengers, luggage and the guard (conductor). Clarabel also has extended side windows to give the guard a better view of the line. Both coaches rely very heavily on SNOT techniques, with alternating directions for windows and bottom sides. They're rather an attractive build I am very proud of, and they add a whole lot to Thomas, making him look like a very busy - yet Really Useful - tank engine.

That is about it. I hope you enjoy the build, and any comments or questions are most welcome. Thanks for viewing!

 

Always entertaining, always inspiring, always:

[LegoRacer1]

I like it. Just need a good head and a number 1 sticker.

[Digger of Bricks]

Not bad! I'm liking the boiler construction and the simple usage of the "cheese grater" for the steps to the engineer cabin works rather nicely. 

[NathanR]

Aw, that is beautiful! (I still have a very soft spot for Thomas the tank engine... )

[Trekkie99]

Very nice! The train is clean, and the carriages look fantastic! Thumbs up.

By the way, unless your already a member, you should join this TTTE Flickr group! @ScotNick is a member with his TTTE model.

 

https://www.flickr.com/groups/2752945@N24/

 

Edited July 12, 2017 by LegoMonorailFan

[kieran]

Looks nice to me, will you ever fit a face?

[LEGO Train 12 Volts]

Very nice one ...but I agree: you need the sticker with the number on your model

[Sir E Fullner]

4 hours ago, LEGO Train 12 Volts said:

Very nice one ...but I agree: you need the sticker with the number on your model

Well, I currently don't have the funds for stickers or decals at the moment, so that will have to wait.

4 hours ago, kieran said:

Looks nice to me, will you ever fit a face?

I've seen examples of faces being fit to Lego models of Thomas engines before, and I find the results rather jarring. Thus, I'll probably have the model displayed a la Rev W. Awdry: engine w/o face.

7 hours ago, LegoMonorailFan said:

Very nice! The train is clean, and the carriages look fantastic! Thumbs up.

By the way, unless your already a member, you should join this TTTE Flickr group! @ScotNick is a member with his TTTE model.

 

https://www.flickr.com/groups/2752945@N24/

 

Thanks for the notice. I'll give it a shot!

[ScotNick]

Hey there!

Great little model you got there! Really love to see the different interpretations of it being a TTTE fan myself 

It's also nice to see him with his two little coaches which do look nice too. I wonder why you chose black wheels though as BBB does offer blue wheels as well?!

On 7/12/2017 at 7:19 PM, LegoMonorailFan said:

By the way, unless your already a member, you should join this TTTE Flickr group! @ScotNick is a member with his TTTE model.
https://www.flickr.com/groups/2752945@N24/

Btw I'm also the admin of the group, so it's great to get some more models to show in it 

[Sir E Fullner]

On 7/15/2017 at 1:08 PM, ScotNick said:

Hey there!

Great little model you got there! Really love to see the different interpretations of it being a TTTE fan myself 

It's also nice to see him with his two little coaches which do look nice too. I wonder why you chose black wheels though as BBB does offer blue wheels as well?!

Thanks for the complement. To answer your question, I'm using black wheels since they're the only set I have at the moment due to budgetary constraints. Currently they're being shared between Thomas and another loco I have.