Utah’s Golden Spike Ceremony could become new Lego model

Utah’s Golden Spike Ceremony could become new Lego model

(Jack Little)


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SALT LAKE CITY — A love of history and railroads drove a Florida man to create a Lego model of Utah’s historic Golden Spike Ceremony, and he hopes he can get enough votes for it to become a distributed set.

Jack Little said he has always been interested in history, but he recently rediscovered his love of railroads through his 2-year-old son. He said his wife didn’t know what to get him for his birthday in January, and so she got him a Lego set that he and his son could play with.

Little discovered the Lego Ideas project that allows users to create digital prototypes of Lego models. If the models reach 10,000 votes, it is reviewed by a Lego board of set designers and if selected, becomes a distributed set, according to the Lego website.

“I looked on (the website) and I saw a lot of other train models that weren’t getting a whole lot of votes, and I just thought that was awful,” he said. “I thought, ‘What could I do to change that?’ Well, I could try to create my own and see if I could promote it.”

Little digitally created a 3D model of the famous Golden Spike Ceremony in Promontory Summit using around 2,000 digital Lego bricks. He said he completed and submitted the project Feb. 19 after working on it for four weeks. Little said it’s something he’s passionate about.

“It’s a very exciting hobby and interest for me,” he said. “It’s another goal of mine is just to get kids more interested in American history because we live in an amazing country, and it’s got an amazing history. And I think more kids need to know about it and a great way to introduce that would be with the No. 1 toy brand in the world right now, which is Lego.”

The Union and Central Pacific Railroads joined their rails at Promontory Summit on May 10, 1869, combining the east and west coasts of the United States, according to the national park service website.

Little said having Lego approve and distribute his model would not only make him feel satisfied, but it would also help spread American history to the world.

“To have that kind of impact on the world by spreading American culture, spreading American history, not just to our own children, but other countries’ children about the great things America can do, I would be completely and utterly accomplished and satisfied if that could happen,” he said. “Anyone that goes online and looks at it and likes it and decides to vote, you’re not just voting for my little Lego project. You’re also voting for America to be represented worldwide.”

Little said the project has sparked his interest again in Legos, and he has plans to propose other American history-themed models.

“(With) Legos, it’s mainly kids that build with them, but even as an adult, just designing and doing what I did, it brings back that joy you had as a child,” he said. “That’s one of the greatest things in the world is that feeling of being happy like a child again.”

Voting will be available for a year. Click here to vote for the Golden Spike Ceremony model.

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