Four-Level Stack Interchange built out of LEGO

[2Co5_14]

I finally combined my 2 biggest hobbies: roadgeek and Adult Fan of Lego (AFOL), and built a Four-Level Stack Interchange out of LEGO.

Here it is featured a video produced by the YouTube channel "Beyond the Brick"  interviewing me at the BrickFair Alabama Lego Expo (Feb. 3-4, 2018):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f2kBWLwdFQM

Here in a link to some pictures, a video and newspaper article showing the interchange along with a cable-stayed bridge incorporated into a larger Town/Train/Moonbase Lego display at the NMRA Model Train Show in Smyrna, GA (Mar. 17-18, 2018):
https://www.flickr.com/photos/87819589@N07/albums/72157665098214707

A little background on the build and my process (above & beyond the info the YouTube video covers):

I call it "A Tribute to Spaghetti Junction"  since that interchange is familiar to the local Atlanta crowd, as well as being a common nickname for other interchanges around the world. However, the actual design is closest to the Puxi Interchange in Shanghai, China. Before I get too many comments, as a professional highway engineer I clearly understand how many of the real-life design standards I'm violating, but as with anything else in Lego, you have to make compromises with realism, scale and available colors.

I did planning and acquiring all the parts I needed over a period of almost 2 years.  The actual building/refining happened over the past 5 months in the midst of starting a new job - leaving GDOT after 10 years to lead the roadway design division of a small/mid-sized consulting firm. (Sidebar - I haven't had time to be active on AARoads for quite a while!)

Unfortunately I ran out of time to complete all the elements I would have liked for the BrickFair display, but I was able to refine my build more for the Train Show (still not 100% where I want it, but close.)  The Train Show display was built by 10-12 members of DixieLUG, an adult Lego Users' Group based in Metro Atlanta/North Georgia.  It takes many hours to set up, and I had to borrow a lot of vehicles from some of the other DixieLUG members.  I had also previously built some of the buildings (Robot tower, McDonalds, Blue tower, others) in the Moonbase section of the layout.

I would appreciate your comments and questions, both within the forum and on YouTube — thanks!

[Max Rockatansky]

That's pretty cool.  I had a Lego City in my basement about 20 years ago that had a similar set up to the one in your photos.  Unfortunately a high school auto-mechanic budget meant I wasn't getting that level of color coordination and Lego didn't make all the custom blocks they do now.  I had a metro rail running through the skyscrapers and was working on the approach to a freeway bridge before I moved across the country after graduating.

[kurumi]

That's amazing! Great re-use of the race track pieces for ramps (and two non-existent route numbers)!

[DaBigE]

  Pretty awesome. 
I wish I had that kind of time (and budget). Too many sets I would like...not enough money to buy them and nowhere good to display them.

[formulanone]

Great work! Like that signage.

[roadman]

That's amazing! Great re-use of the race track pieces for ramps (and two non-existent route numbers)!

The "suggested layouts" manual that came with the original Aurora Model Motoring sets in the 1960s and early 1970s showed you how to simulate a cloverleaf interchange by using pieces of the single lane track Aurora offered with their expandable bridge piers.  Although there were no connections between the crossing roadways, it made for an effective visual appearance.

[briantroutman]

^ You mean along the lines of this?

[roadman]

^ You mean along the lines of this?

Exactly correct, except that the Aurora plan used single lane track for the loops.  Of all the original Aurora Model Motoring track still out there, the single lane track, including the single lane turnouts from dual lane track, is the hardest to find in any condition.

[adventurernumber1]

This is officially the coolest thing I have ever seen made out of lego. 

I cannot describe in words how awesome, interesting, and amazing this is.   

Thank you very much for your hard work designing and creating that and putting in all of the hard work and innovative thinking to do so. I also cannot believe how realistic those signs look, which is really cool. Thank you for sharing this great masterpiece with us!   

[catsynth]

Very nice! This is far beyond anything I did with Legos growing up.

I have to admit, these and other things I have seen with Legos might lead me back to exploring my favorite childhood toys

[Henry]

I totally forgot about those Aurora tracks! I used to build loop ramps out of those things and simulate a cloverleaf; one of the best times of my childhood years.

It is so cool to have anything built out of Legos, and I wish I could have built something so large scale with them. Somehow, I never got to build out my planned city with them (oh well)...

[froggie]

I like the number of easter eggs you put in your stack display.  A lot that goes beyond just roadgeekdom...

[Max Rockatansky]

Referencing what I posted earlier, I found some old pictures of the Lego city I built from 1996-2001.  I started this when I was 13 but abandoned the project when I moved after finishing high school

LC1 by Max Rockatansky, on Flickr

You can see the test spray on the building on the left that I did with Krylon Fusion paint.  The idea was that I couldn't color coordinate the blocks from the 1,500 block sets so I would paint them instead when I filled out the skyscrapers more:

LC2 by Max Rockatansky, on Flickr

I had a metro-rail based off the People Mover in Detroit which had four station platforms around the downtown area:

LC3 by Max Rockatansky, on Flickr

LC5 by Max Rockatansky, on Flickr

LC7 by Max Rockatansky, on Flickr

LC8 by Max Rockatansky, on Flickr

The freeway approach I was working on designing would have been on the right in this photo.  I had an divided roadway approach that merged into two lanes that I made out of set platforms:

LC6 by Max Rockatansky, on Flickr

I want to say that a 1,500 piece set would yield 2/3 floors.  Each building had a set of support beams, a stair case, and an elevator shaft.  Some of the earlier buildings had office floor plans but I found that impractical as they couldn't be seen from the facade.  Back in 2010 I disassembled the city with a bunch of power tools which was about as fun as that probably sounds.

[adventurernumber1]

Max, that is an incredibly cool lego masterpiece that you have built yourself. That is just amazing, and I love the transportation aspects of it as well. Thanks for sharing that with us!! 

[paulthemapguy]

I finally combined my 2 biggest hobbies: roadgeek and Adult Fan of Lego (AFOL), and built a Four-Level Stack Interchange out of LEGO.

Here it is featured a video produced by the YouTube channel "Beyond the Brick"  interviewing me at the BrickFair Alabama Lego Expo (Feb. 3-4, 2018):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f2kBWLwdFQM

This is super-awesome.  I don't think it would be possible to include more entertaining Easter eggs in any other LEGO creation besides this!  Just nonstop homages and references.  Great use of signage--FHWA font AND two fictitious route numbers.

[silverback1065]

these are really cool! the reason why i'm a road geek and civil engineer is because i built this stuff as a kid all the time, when i move into a house, and have the space, I want to get back to making something like that.  I made small cities from a combination of legos, paper, straws, and jenga blocks. 

[KEVIN_224]

I love those BGS interstate/US road signs! I-58 to Enfield, huh? Well we have one you can reach from I-91!

[Dustin DeWinn]

Love it.

I wondered at first if the bus was a reference to The Italian Job (1969)