[MOC] Ferrovia Eritrea Gruppo R.202 0-4-0T in 1/22.5 - now with track video

[Sven J]

Edit: New video here.

Dear trainheads,

Some time ago EB member @Plastic_Goth presented his digital model of Ferrovia Eritrea's Gruppo R.202 shunter. I immediately fell in love with that cute little prototype, and I knew I had to build a model myself, in slightly larger scale for 45 mm garden railway track.

Well, here it is!

The prototype was built in 1927 by Breda in Milan, Italy, for shunting service on the 950 mm narrow gauge lines in Eritrea (which was an Italian colony at that time). In total, eleven class R.202 engines were built; several lococomotives are still in operation today (the „R“ stands for „scartamento ridotto“, narrow gauge).
My MOC represents a R.202 locomotive in ca. 1936, after the original lifting injectors (inside the cab) had been exchanged for non-lifting ones (below the cab), but before a new numbering scheme was introduced, dropping the „R“ in the class designation.
The model is held in accurate 1/22.5 scale and driven by a single L-motor working on the second axle. It features front and rear lights (from Brickstuff; separately controllable for the left and right engine side) and a Seuthe no. 99 smoke generator.
All funcions are powered and remote-controlled by a BuWizz 2.0. The rods and valve gear parts are 3D-printed parts of my own design.
The model consists of approx. 1,400 parts and weighs just over 1 kg. Compared to my previous models, it is much easier to handle and maintain, due to its "small" size, but still has amazing pulling power (10 four-axle LGB cars are no problem). So I think it will become my standard "everyday" engine...
And here are the pictures:

Prototype data sheet (drawing not accurate and not to scale):

While the fireman is carrying out a minor repair on the smokebox door, an administrative officer arrives in his brand new Fiat Topolino (modified design by Peter Blackert):

Two tiny Italians...

Some views of the cab interior. As the BuWizz is located in the position of the firebox, the roof and the boiler backhead can be removed for access to the power button and to the charging socket:

The frame:

Three weight bricks are installed inside the frame and boiler, thus increasing traction:

The half-plate offset in radius between smokebox and boiler required some unusual (but surprisingly sturdy) SNOT-work.

A video of the model on track will follow. For now, here is a short sequence of the engine on the roller test bed:

More and high-resolution photos can be found in my Flickr album.

Comments and criticism are most welcome. Thanks for your interest!

Best regards,
Sven

Edited July 17, 2020 by Tenderlok
added photo

[Pdaitabird]

Another beautiful and highly detailed locomotive! Your engines are always a treat.

[Jerry McGlade]

Beautiful design, wow!

[WesternOutlaw]

Amazing engineering!  Most impressive.  

[monai]

Great work my friend

As always your attention to details make the difference, awesome the smoke generator, imagine it puffing on the breathtaking Eritrean landscape.

Sergio

p.s.: what kind of 3d printing service have you used, I mean material and grade of smoothness?

 

[Asper]

Wonderful - as aways!

[Paperinik77pk]

Now I understand what was the purpose of the Topolino!!!

Welcome back, Sven!!! It's a true masterpiece, and it would be great see it running on your big track!!!

Ciao!!!

Davide

Edited April 5, 2020 by Paperinik77pk

[Sven J]

Thank you all for that overwhelming response! I'm very happy that you like that little engine so much.

2 hours ago, monai said:

what kind of 3d printing service have you used, I mean material and grade of smoothness?

Sergio, my friend, I'm so glad that you're still well!
I had the pieces printed by sculpteo.com. The material is called PA12; it matches Lego's light bluish grey quite well (much better than Shapeway's grey PA). For a smoother surface, I opted for Sculpteo's polishing service.
P.S. Did you notice - the cab doors are openable this time...

29 minutes ago, Paperinik77pk said:

Now I understang what was the purpose if the Topolino!!!
Welcome back, Sven!!! It's a true masterpiece, and it would be great see it running on your big track!!!

Oh, you have seen it on Flickr... As it is not entirely my own design, I chose not to present it here on EB.
Be patient - I hope there will be a video in about one or two weeks.

[Feuer Zug]

This is a wonderful build. The size allows for all the small details that really make this prototype a stunning work.

[deraven]

Just beautiful.  The techniques are wonderful, and the pipework in particular is incredibly well done.  And properly functional as well.  Bravo.  

[Merlict]

Build is great, but man that photography is so clean. Those white background shots are so pristine it looks like a render.

[LEGO Train 12 Volts]

This is a masterpiece, you have enhanced a locomotive that I have always neglected.
The smaller scale conveys all the beauty of this crazy creation, with more details than one might expect: the smoke generator is an absolute surprise, the independent lights are the icing on the cake.
I like the use of the BuWizz brick (very expensive) but very efficient   ...and not having to change the batteries is a nice advantage 

[Sven J]

Thanks again! You'r really too kind.

13 hours ago, LEGO Train 12 Volts said:

I like the use of the BuWizz brick (very expensive) but very efficient   ...and not having to change the batteries is a nice advantage 

Every word of that is true... but in addition to that, I don't really have a choice: The smoke generator needs the BuWizz's 11V output. With Lego's standard 9V voltage, the smoke is very thin.

On 4/4/2020 at 9:10 PM, monai said:

imagine it puffing on the breathtaking Eritrean landscape

Something like that?

[HRBuildNStuf]

Wow! Truly inspiring!

[Pdaitabird]

It took several minutes before I realized that those last pictures were of the Lego model!  Simply gorgeous!

[Sven J]

9 hours ago, Pdaitabird said:

It took several minutes before I realized that those last pictures were of the Lego model!  Simply gorgeous!

He-he... Thank you!

On 4/5/2020 at 7:53 AM, Merlict said:

man that photography is so clean. Those white background shots are so pristine it looks like a render.

Thank you very much for your appreciation! The white background is actually just a few sheets of ordinary A3 paper on my desk.
Each picture is a combination of 5 individual photos (in order to reduce noise). To avoid cast shadows and unwanted reflections, I took the photos under artificial lighting, not in the sunlight. For an acceptable DOF, the aperture was set to f=22. As a result, exposure times were between 8 and 13 seconds...

[zephyr1934]

Another amazing build, fantastic work as always. If it weren't in this forum I would not believe that it was made out of Lego. The car is a fantastic touch too.

[monai]

18 hours ago, Tenderlok said:

Something like that?

Absolutely! GUT GEMACHT

Sergio

[LEGO Train 12 Volts]

When I see these wonders I like double check and investigate the details: the use of sausages as brakes and windows as ladders is incredible!

 

[Sven J]

7 hours ago, zephyr1934 said:

Another amazing build, fantastic work as always. If it weren't in this forum I would not believe that it was made out of Lego. The car is a fantastic touch too.

Thanks a lot for your kind words!

7 hours ago, monai said:

Absolutely! GUT GEMACHT

Mille grazie!

17 minutes ago, LEGO Train 12 Volts said:

When I see these wonders I like double check and investigate the details: the use of sausages as brakes and windows as ladders is incredible!

I feel flattered and honoured that you like to have another, closer look at my model.

However, I'm sorry that I have to correct : The sausages are actually the sand tubes - I know they're too thick for that, but I couldn't find a more suitable part. The brake dummies for the second axle are made from 1x2 plates with clips, directly in front of the wheels. For the first axle, I omitted the brakes, as they wouldn't have fit between the large flanges and the cylinders (and they really wouldn't have been visible at all).

[LEGO Train 12 Volts]

Thanks for the clarification on the sand pipes ...and if it's not a problem I give a new look: I like the rear hook, at first glance it seems a hook of the normal ones, instead it's a rather long technic link!

I like the gun used as detail and the black Fez (Part. 85975) used on the bumper. 

...so ...once again ...Super!

 

[Toastie]

On 4/5/2020 at 9:57 PM, Tenderlok said:

The smoke generator needs the BuWizz's 11V output.

Another really beautiful rendition of another beautiful engine. Congratulations! That scale is simply insanely fascinating. And as they say in the Technic forum: With a lot of "responsibility" which you have taken on 150% and mastered it.

Now, when you feed a PF Receiver with 12V it will deliver that 12V PWM wise. Same with 5V or 15V. So the 11V BuWizz output is not really limiting here, is it?

Best regards,
Thorsten

[Sven J]

8 hours ago, LEGO Train 12 Volts said:

I like the gun used as detail and the black Fez (Part. 85975) used on the bumper.
...so ...once again ...Super! 

Thanks again!
The feautures that I, personally, am most proud of are the snotted front boiler mounting/steam ducts and the Walschaerts valve gear, which is complete despite the limited space. This proves that it’s possible to have a prototypical valve gear in an 11-w model… maybe a hint for future 1/33 standard gauge locomotive MOCs… ;-)

1 hour ago, Toastie said:

Another really beautiful rendition of another beautiful engine. Congratulations! [...]
Now, when you feed a PF Receiver with 12V it will deliver that 12V PWM wise. Same with 5V or 15V. So the 11V BuWizz output is not really limiting here, is it?

Thank you Thorsten! You’re always too kind.
Regarding the BuWizz: Technically you’re right, of course. However, I’m not very talented when it comes to things like soldering, so I have to stick to plug-and-play solutions rather than to make my own LiPo battery packs. And that’s why the BuWizz gives me a significant advantage compared to Lego’s 9V batteries, or 7.4V LiPo, respectively.
Another advantage is that the BuWizz uses Bluetooth technology so that it can be hidden deep inside the model, and it's much smaller than the combination of PF receiver and battery.

Edited April 7, 2020 by Tenderlok

[Duq]

It's another little beauty! You don't have to build a Big Boy to have an impressive model ;-)

the Walschaerts valve gear, which is complete despite the limited space.

The valve gear is impressive, but it's not complete... You're missing the radius bar at the top of the mechanism. Also the lifting link but that's gonna be quite a challenge...

[Sven J]

6 minutes ago, Duq said:

It's another little beauty! You don't have to build a Big Boy to have an impressive model ;-)

Thank you!

6 minutes ago, Duq said:

but it's not complete... You're missing the radius bar at the top of the mechanism.

I'm sorry that I have to disagree, Sir...  It's not easy to see, but it's there:

It's connected to the centre of the expansion link. Not movable, of course, but that's common practice for locomotive models.
A functional lifting link is almost impossible to build, I think. But at least the portion above the running board is there, too...