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Name:
Ben Fleskes

Ben’s interest in LEGO trains all started with a Ukrainian TV game show.

He was working as a Peace Corps volunteer in Ukraine in 1995 when he saw a LEGO train being used on TV. And to his surprise, Ukraine actually had LEGO stores – rather than LEGO products just being sold in a regular toy store like in his native USA.

Back home in Oregon a year later, and with the Internet just beginning to take off, Ben got to know other AFOLs and helped found the Pacific Northwest LEGO Train Club.

"I just let my imagination drive my designs," Ben says. He spends about five hours a week on his hobby – less than many other fans. But with Ben there’s a big difference: as along with his day job as a museum director, he also runs his own company producing and selling LEGO train-compatible wheels.

"The company takes another 10 hours a week," he explains – which makes Ben one big LEGO fan!

For the Hobby Train Box, Ben designed three models that go together as a set. Amazingly, he was able to design all three using the same number of bricks it took to build just one of the other models. His ideas for an engine, a tender and a boxcar all come out of a single LEGO box.

Ben also goes beyond LEGO trains. He’s designed a whole town that he’ll be exhibiting at the end of March. One of the houses has a special extra feature – lift the roof off, and inside is a complete LEGO spaceship!