LEGO.com Factory : Fan Files : Steve Barile

Trains Home
NEW Basic Train Building
Cool Train Creations
Fan Files
Train Terms
Train Photos
Santa Fe
LEGO Train Timeline
Downloads

Fan Files

Name:
Steve Barile

Spotting a LEGO Metroliner train in a hobby shop nine years ago, Steve Barile suddenly remembered his teenage interest in model trains.

As a 13-year-old, he played with model trains and LEGO bricks alike – never knowing that the two could be combined. But in that store 20 years later, seeing a LEGO train sparked a whole chain of events for this technical program manager from Oregon.

"After my baby went to sleep that night, I stayed up and built the Metroliner," he says. "I was hooked right away."

The way you can keep adding to and improving a LEGO train, Steve says, reminds him of his work as a programmer: "Building LEGO trains is just like computer programming – totally modular."

Searching around on the Internet, he realized he was not alone. He had become an AFOL – an Adult Fan of LEGO. There were even other AFOLs in his home town of Portland, and it wasn't long before they started meeting to exchange ideas.

"All of us were either engineers, computer programmers or architects," Steve explains. This really helped the LEGO enthusiasts find each other, because Internet chat groups and web forums were still dominated by people with a "techie" background in those early days.

It wasn't long before Steve helped found the PNLTC – the Pacific Northwest LEGO Train Club. Soon there were at least 10 similar clubs across the US, and the LEGO train community was gathering steam. Invitations to the LEGO Group's US headquarters followed, as well as meetings with LEGO representatives at conventions and club meetings around the country. The LEGO train community was growing and starting to become visible.

By 2001 Steve realized there was a need for a bigger organization, so he began working with other fans to create the International LEGO Train Club Organization (ILTCO) – an umbrella group for all LEGO train clubs worldwide. Steve and his fellow AFOLs were serious fans, designing and building serious trains. They wanted to be taken seriously – not least by the LEGO Group itself.

In fact, one LEGO executive exclaimed that "you have a better collection than we do". But it wasn't just the LEGO Group that began taking them seriously. The rest of the train community did too.

The clubs started attending and even arranging conventions and exhibitions. Their displays and the interactive nature of what they were doing drew a lot of attention from model train enthusiasts. And they built everything from LEGO bricks – even the station buildings and scenery.

"It's 'L' gauge," Steve told a fascinated train fan when asked what size the track was. "'L' for LEGO." The name's stuck, and so has LEGO. AFOLs and ILTCO are now accepted as equal members of the hobby train community, and even looked up to with a certain awe. After all, 'regular' model trains don't have to be assembled from scratch, brick by brick, and you can't change your design whenever you want.

As for the future, Steve is as enthusiastic as ever. The LEGO Group looks at clubs as a valuable resource for listening to the market, as well as a channel for announcements and feedback. And he's sure he'll pay another visit to the LEGO Group headquarters in Denmark – making it six trips this fan has made to Billund.

Steve has several conventions to attend in the coming year, and he expects the LEGO train club displays to be big highlights again this year.