Busselton is about to steam up with a number of events to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the Ballaarat engine.
The Ballaarat is Australia's last remaining steam engine, and was Western Australia's first operating locomotives.
It hauled logs on a tram line that ran from north of Busselton at Lockeville (near Wonnerup) to timber mills initially 18 kilometres to Yoganup and eventually 30km inland to Maryvale, now the Jarrahwood State Forest.
An event to please train and Lego enthusiasts alike will be four displays replicating the old the steam engine which now resides in Railway House on the Busselton Foreshore.
WA Brick Society secretary Ryan Masters created the works which took more than two months to complete
Each model has been made using around 500 pieces of genuine Lego measuring approximately 35 centimetres in length.
"The display is four different versions of the Ballaarat spanning the lifetime of the train," he said.
"One version is when the Ballaarat was used as a timber hauling train and another is a version from when the train was wrecked by a fire on the beach.
"Another is from when it was on display at Victoria Square and another version of how it is restored in Railway House."
Recreating something like the Ballaarat using Lego is no easy feat, without having any directions to follow Mr Masters used a little imagination and thought outside the square to complete his work.
"The little runners on the side where the piston goes I have actually used samurai swords, for some of the piping I have used whips and things like that," he said.
"You have to think about what pieces resemble what you are trying to create rather than model kits that are molded to an exact piece."
Mr Masters has been creating Lego works for more than 40 years, his work has been featured in many public displays across Australia.
He is also a boiler technician by trade and works with steam boilers every day as part of his job.
"I have always been interested in Western Australia's history, so I tied both of them together to recreate WA's first steam train," he said.
"This year being the 150th anniversary of the Ballaarat and WA's first steam train it made sense to create that in Lego.
"At the moment I have a replica of the rainbow sea container rainbow on display at the Fremantle Visitors Centre," he said.
"I have done a show at a Lego expo in Melbourne as part of Brickvention, a couple of weeks ago I was supposed to go to Adelaide for the event but COVID-19 ended that."
Recently, the television series Lego Masters Australia and Lego movie has seen the much loved hobby become more popular.
"Interest since the Lego came out has just exploded," Mr Masters said.
"There are three certified clubs in WA, which have Lego recognition, between them there are thousands of members.
"It is quite big, that is mainly just the Perth area and there are small Lego clubs all over the state."
To checkout the Ballaarat steam engine Lego display visit Railway House on the Busselton Foreshore from August 20, 2021.