Soon an ephemeris little known to the public will take place: it is the day when the first railway line that - in the Iberian Peninsula - began to work, linking Barcelona and Mataró. Almost 165 years have passed since that October 28, and to celebrate the Cultural Association of Fans of LEGO buildings in Spain (ALE!), has organized the 1st Railway Event.
It will take place on October 19 and 20 (from 10 to 20 hours on Saturday, and from 10 to 15 on Sunday), at the Madrid Railway Museum (Delicias Station). This is an exhibition in which more than 40 fans will participate, and raised on a base formed by more than 650,000 "little dots" of LEGO bricks, on which buildings, railway tracks, trees, minifigures and ambient landscapes will rise. It is thus intended to take a tour of the entire history of the Spanish railway, with more than 50 historic trains, locomotives, wagons or passengers recreated all through LEGO pieces.
So that we can get a graphic idea, if instead of those little points of the ground they were loose LEGO pieces placed one behind the other, a distance of about 6 km would be traveled that would allow us to cross Madrid from North to South ”, explains Miguel Pulido, vice president of ALE !. In addition, it is a “live” exhibition since figures will continue to be built on site throughout the weekend that will be added to the exhibition
The planned construction will have more than 1000 sections of track to form 150 meters of circuit, which will simultaneously circulate up to 10 trains automatically controlled by an electronic traffic light system that one of the partners has devised. The exhibition will feature historic Spanish and Portuguese trains, from steam mining locomotives from the mid-19th century to the modern AVE.
Among the emblematic buildings that will recreate the exhibition and find the old North Station (now Prince Pío Station), the Puerta de Alcalá, the Fountain of the Fallen Angel, or the statue of Columbus); there will also be a huge 100% LEGO bridge over three meters long and two meters high.
To recreate the old railway station, it has been necessary to redraw the plans up to three times in order to design the exterior appearance, building the stage piece by piece previously in the computer. ALE! It has been nine months gathering pieces and the final assembly was carried out during a day with the participation of 20 partners.
As a curiosity, the exhibition will feature an amusement park in continuous movement, which highlights a roller coaster built entirely with LEGO pieces, one of the few that can be seen worldwide and an airport with moving planes. 1,000 LEGO minifigures, mountains, railway tunnels, forests and windmills will recreate fun scenes of everyday life
I am sure that this event will be a success, given its main characteristic that makes it a "live" exhibition, It will also be exciting to immerse yourself in the history of the railway in such a fun way, and having as its incomparable frame the Delicias Station, a real jewel of the 19th century.
There have also been children, who can build their own rail network, and participate in a painting workshop that will allow them to color scenes and LEGO minifigures. It is an activity open to the public that you cannot miss.
I have left to give Congratulations to all ALE members! for the great work done, and thank you for making this experience possible that many of us will live next weekend. In the blog post of the association, they indicate that if they are not members but want to attend, you can leave a message in the corresponding thread of the forum, so they can receive you and have a good time together.
