After a successful first Build in Bricks event in 2018 at Crich Tramway Village in Derbyshire, the event organisers planned to have a small make and take LEGO model for the 2019 event. Along with James Brett, who had a display at the 2018 event, I was asked for suggestions for a small tram model that may be suitable. After some playing around with ideas, James designed a model for children, with eyes and rotating wheels that could be built in a range of colours, and my final design was based on Cardiff works tram 131 as preserved at Crich Tramway Village.

Both of these designs were then made available to buy during the 2019 Build in Bricks event, with the proceeds going towards the upkeep of the museum and the exhibits. They proved extremely popular with visitors, volunteers and staff alike. More information on my designs are listed below.

^ James’ final model design for the make and take LEGO model. The two main parts of the tram body were available in a large range of colours so that the colour scheme could be customised when purchased.

^ My miniature LEGO model of Cardiff tram 131 with the Crich Tramway Village branded unofficial set packaging.

Cardiff 131
Completed May 2019

The choice of tram for this first miniature LEGO model was determined due to 2019 celebrating the 60th anniversary of the Tramway Museum Society establishing the museum site at Crich in Derbyshire. The first tram to arrive on site was Cardiff Corporation Tramways number 131, which made this a good candidate for basing a model on.

The design uses a total of 22 parts to make up a simple representation of Cardiff 131 and a limited number of unofficial sets were produced using genuine LEGO bricks. These were on sale at Crich Tramway Village on Thursday 25th July and Friday 26th July 2019 before selling out.

My original instructions are now available to be downloaded here for free. The final model is the same as the one that was available during the 2019 Build in Bricks event, however you don’t get the Crich Tramway Village branded packaging and need to source the required LEGO bricks yourself.

Click here to download the instructions for the miniature model of Cardiff 131 [0.44MB].

^ For those that don’t know what Cardiff 131 looks like, here’s a comparison image with the real thing to the top and the LEGO model below.

Click here to view all blog posts featuring my miniature model trams built from LEGO bricks.