Today we are building the train engine from Lego set 181:
You will need one 6×12 baseplate and car or train wheels if you don’t have ready-made train parts. We built our baseplate out of two 6×6 plates with another plate under to hold it together.
Should you happen to have 4.5 volt motorized train parts, feel free to use them for this set, as that’s what it calls for, but it works fine as a push train too.
Instructions:
Toys Period has the instructions as both a PDF download and individual jpg’s. Pages 2-7 are needed for this model. I printed at 130%, two sided. to make the pictures bigger and trim off the headers.
Our Build:
After building it we make some modifications (minifig compatible driver cabin, round smokestack, ladders) and some additional train cars to make it more fun:
