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Name:
Mike Walsh

Mike’s "dark ages" lasted almost 20 years, until one day in 1997 when his parents gave Mike’s son, who was three years old at the time, a LEGO bucket for Christmas.

That bucket was the catalyst which turned electrical engineer Mike into a LEGO Hobbyist. It ultimately led him to found his local user group, the North Carolina LEGO Train Club, as well as ILTCO, the International LEGO Train Club Organization, where he assisted Steve Barile.

"I find trains fascinating, probably because we don’t have many of them here in North Carolina." Mike says. With only a few trains a day passing through his town, almost all of which are freight trains, he rarely travels on a train himself.

"I just love watching all those long trains," he adds. "Wondering where all the freight is coming from and going to."

So Mike was a natural choice to design for the Hobby Train Box. He came up with two designs, an American freight locomotive and a small steam engine. "It was a great honor to be asked," he says. "And I’m looking forward to the reaction from the LEGO train community."

Mike would love to build a whole warehouse district – complete with freight trains of course – however he is struggling with limited space in his "LEGO Room" at home – too much LEGO! He compensates by helping with larger LEGO train projects like the one at his local shopping mall during the holidays, answering questions from interested and often fascinated shoppers.

He says it’s a lot of fun to have the trains laid out and running for such a long period, especially when compared to the brief time available at typical train shows.

"And the best part is when someone watching asks to join our club!" he laughs.