Yahoo News Coronavirus: Father builds Duplo train set through home to keep sons entertained during lockdown
A father-of-two has built a huge Duplo train set to keep his young children – and himself – entertained during the coronavirus lockdown.
John Ford, 49, constructed the impressive mini-railway from hundreds of Lego Duplo bricks.
The track even includes a large replica of the Clifton Suspension Bridge – the real thing is just minutes away from Ford’s home in Bristol.
Ford was forced to self-isolate at home during the government lockdown as he suffers from Crohn’s disease.
He said he started playing with Lego and Duplo when he was five years old, and now he has a Duplo track that snakes all through his family’s property.
The train set has resulted in hours of entertainment for him and his two young sons during lockdown.
"I have always had an ambition to build a railway all the way around the house and through the garden,” he said.
"I thought: 'Why not make the bridge?'. I've always loved it. It's just up the road - it's the local link.
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"It's entertained a few passers-by. People can see it from the street. They have been making comments.
"The kids seem to love it too. I was about five when I got my first set. When I was younger I had quite a collection. It's a great excuse to indulge again.”
A stickler for detail, Ford said he removed some windows from his version of the bridge after his brother pointed out the towers on the real thing are not identical.
He attached a camera to a train to create a video of what it’s like to travel on his miniature track.
It takes about eight minutes for a train to do a full loop of the track, which is made up of about 500 Duplo pieces.
Ford, a school caretaker with a training in engineering, said: "I've spent a few years buying every second-hand offer, going out on the bike, filling up the basket and coming back again. The longer this goes on, the more I build."
