Imagine if...

When we were kids we played a game of make believe called 'imagine if.'...  Now we play it every day at work. Then we get to build our fanciful imaginary creations. And get paid for it too. It doesn't get better than that!

We are in the blue sky phase of a new project. At this stage no idea is too wild nor strange. Anything is possible. And once again we are playing that silly game. Becke was busy in the shop painting our little study model for the trade show booth and it got me to thinking...  Imagine if we were to combine a ejection seat with a robotic machine with a giant jet engine.  Hmmm...   Then I began drawing it out on my iPad. The idea looks feasible and FAST! What could possibly go wrong?  :) I suspect the test pilot might be glad he has an ejection seat - just in case!

As I drew the concept I was thinking hard about how we would build such a creation. It wouldn't be that hard and it would be fun. Anything is indeed possible if you use your imagination!

Almost ready!

In the last few days, with the application of the gold leaf on the lettering and a few other details the booth is really coming together quickly. We still have to make a couple of sample panels for the right side and the cork board needs trim on the other end. In-between a couple more small pieces need installing. And everything needs to be thoroughly cleaned along with a few touchups of the paint here and there but it is looking pretty good. Best of all we did it without burning the midnight oil and we still have a few weeks to spare. We are looking to see many old friends and meet many new ones at the International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions EXPO in Orlando. We are booth number 980.

Noise handles

We are working on a whole bunch of very cool but top secret projects in the shop right now but I can't show you those (quite yet). In the evenings I continue to put in a little time on the rail truck and am making great progress. This evening, I managed to squeeze in just enough time to design, cut, fabricate, and install the noise handles. These levers are to operate the bell and whistle. They are of course mounted between my seat and the sidecar where the grand children will ride. The bell lever is the handiest and I suspect it will get lots of use. A little further reach (by design) is the whistle lever. A good tug on this lever will trigger the compressed air valve and sound the whistle, which is much louder than the bell. It's going to be a whole lot of fun! The list of brackets and pieces yet to build is quickly getting shorter. Soon it will be time to get the rig on the tracks once more. I'll do up another video as soon as that happens.