Rolling

It is always a delight to start a new project. We've begun work in the shop on the train engine that will balance precariously up on the broken track on the mountain. We decided to use round pipe for track to better tie it to the coaster. I machined the wheels on Thursday. Today it was time for a little fun as I cut the steel and welded the beginnings of the frame. In just over an hour I made good progress. Next up I'll fabricate the cylinders and side rods before beginning the work on the upper portion of the little engine.

The owner and his construction crew have been busy up at the lake digging huge holes, building forms and pouring concrete footings. In the last week a forest of seventy big round concrete posts is rising out of the ground. In the next couple of weeks they will be backfilling and then we can begin the theme work around them to blend them in and make them part of the story.

Ready to roll out the door

The crew continues to do an amazing amount of work each day and today a number of milestones were reached on the Trinidad project. The last operator's booth was sculpted this afternoon, meaning we can now cross them off our to-do list. Two others have been shipped, three are being painted. The last of the train tunnel features were finished in the paint department as well. The 'Flounder' looks spectacular and when installed with focused theatrical lighting will look even better when it is installed.

The Skallywag statue is coming along splendidly and tomorrow will be sculpted. The whole gang is looking forward to seeing him done