Tiny pieces, big dreams: Lego Man returns to Snoqualmie’s Railroad Days

Published 11:11 am Tuesday, August 14, 2012

What’s cooler than a five-foot replica of the Death Star made from Legos? If you ask Dan Parker, aka Dan the Lego Man, it’s what he’ll be doing this weekend at Snoqualmie’s Railroad Days.

“I’ve been building all kinds of displays, but I think towns and railroads are my favorite,” says the Lego Man. There’s something “mesmerizing” about a moving train, he added.

Parker is planning a railroad-themed Lego creation for his appearance at Railroad Days, complete with running trains set up in a little town, complete with a historic building from the Northwest Railway Museum — “We’re not up to taking on the depot itself,” he said. Kids can watch as Parker hand-sets bricks for the final details of his creation, then move over to the Lego table to building something of their own in this exhibit, set for the freight room at the museum.

Adults might be fascinated by what Parker can do with 25- or 30,000 plastic bricks, but he knows his younger audience can become equally fascinated with their own creations.

“Kids love Legos,” he said. “They love to see what other people have made out of Legos, it inspires them, it helps them dream.”