In the world of LEGO Trains, there are many fantastic models in a wide range of scales. Everything between 1/45-1/55 are common, and the amount of detail to be found in the best of these really can make you wonder if there would be any point, from a detailing perspective, of going to a larger scale than those.

Building scale models with LEGO certainly is a challenge, but as you move up to larger and larger scales it can bring along extra problems, and potentially exacerbate existing issues. I personally tend to look at larger models with a more critical eye than I do smaller ones, as all too often you find that once you get past the spectacle-inspired reaction of “Wow, that model is so big!” you find that there’s not enough detail to really make that model really satiating, or that the shape of the thing feels underdeveloped and doesn’t make good use of the large scale. 

The biggest question in my mind when I see a LEGO train (Or anything else, really) built to a larger scale is “Does this model actually need to be this big?”. That is to say, does it make good use of the size? Imagine if you took the design of a stock 6-wide LEGO train and simply built it 50% bigger. The scale has gone up, sure, but if nothing about the quality or depth of detail goes up, it would not be satisfying.

This is where I’d like to bring your attention to a new model by Sven Jansen, also known as Tenderlok, a very talented LEGO train builder who just so happens to build for LGB track instead of the usual LEGO track. This new model is of an old Italian shunting engine, the R.202, in 1/22.5 scale. As with his previous builds, this model truly does make excellent use of the scale it’s built in. 

Underneath the fantastic detail work, even just the basic shapes and silhouette of the build feel just right, and especially impressive is the half-plate drop in radius for the smokebox. Another feature that stands out, once you notice it, is the cowling around the front cab windows. 

Sven’s model also brings with it many other very interesting features, including independent light control and a working smoke unit. Smoke units in model trains aren’t everybody’s thing, of course, but they are always fun to watch and I really enjoy seeing it here.

This model, like Sven’s other locomotives, really does make excellent use of the scale it’s built in. Yes, this engine could conceivably be modeled in a smaller scale, and perhaps in the right hands even have a comparable number of details included. However, Sven has used the larger size to increase the depth of detail. The mechanisms are, where appropriate, more intricate, better proportioned, and overall more accurate than could be achieved if built smaller.

To me, the most satisfying aspects of this build are in the valve gear and the cab detailing. Both of these are things that are hard to get right in a 1/48 LEGO train – the intricacy of the mechanisms and the fine granularity of the parts involved on the ‘real’ locomotives mean that in 1/48 LEGO, even the best attempts to model these are close approximations and often out of scale. It would be easy to take the level of detail found in a 1/48, 8-wide LEGO train and just make it larger, but Sven’s model has gone a step above that and used the larger scale to achieve a more nicely detailed engine. 

The parts of the valve gear near the piston are very similar to what can be done in 1/48 models, but what caught my eye was the detail surrounding the rocker bar and the reversing gear. These parts are very difficult to do as anything more than a loose approximation in a smaller scale, especially once you start dealing with things like Technic axles, pins, and the 3mm rigid hose eating up much more real estate than would be ideal. What a good sight it is to see these features modeled more accurately on Sven’s R.202!

I would highly recommend checking out more of Sven’s work. Each model has been very well detailed and engineered, and I always look forward to seeing them. For me the only problem I have with them is that they always make me think that perhaps I, too, should try to start building locomotives for G-scale track; and I hope that others end up having this same problem as well.

Sven’s Flickr Page
Sven’s YouTube Channel