Unofficially, LEGO trains occupy the L-gauge in the model train community. And it’s in this scale that the Melbourne LEGO Train Club presented their recreation of the Newport Railway Workshops. With pictures provided by Alexander (narrow_gauge), this stunning creation just made its debut at the AMRA 2023 Model Railway Show in Melbourne, AU this past weekend. The workshops act to maintain and refurbish trains, as it has for well over a century. And MLTC did quite the job shrinking the campus down to minifigure-scale

Not only is the scale of this massive group-build quite impressive, it doesn’t hold back on the details, either. Plots of flowers and other plants dot the creation, but come to a head around the central clocktower. Each of the buildings looks carefully planned out, mirror images of others in the same block. And the rolling stock on display is breathtaking! I’m admittedly not a big LEGO train guy, but those locomotives are some impressive pieces of work. And each one of their life-sized counterparts spent some time at the Workshops.

Here’s a close-up shot of the clocktower, one of my favorite parts of the layout. It’s a symphony of textures working in harmony, with interesting building techniques appearing under arches and at the front doorway. While any of the pieces of this creation (just one locomotive, a single warehouse, the clocktower) would do well on its own, together they create something even greater.

Finally, here’s a shot from the back of the model. It just goes to show you, this behemoth of a layout looks good no matter what angle you view it from. Even in the back, the round tower’s construction is a great solution to a round design in this blocky medium.