Good to see you posting here Chris. I look forward to an amazing whimsical model!
Eric, how time flies. Hard to believe that much time has passed. Good luck in the challenge to all clan Mueller.
Chris,
Great to see you here. I still have and use all your notes from the figure building class way back when,
too bad I have never became very good at it.
Like Jon I look forward to your entry in this years challenge.
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well, that is, and will probably stay, the understatement of the year 26
i can’t remember, if you anytime made something “not whimsy”.
I’m definitely finishing the A-B this year but its mostly chassis and motor block work. I would like to give myself a challenge to push my skills. Scratching the San Gabriel has been very high on my To Do list, as has the Darjeeling loco, which I have a set of passenger cars for it to pull.
I am going to attempt something. I need to go out back and clean snow off the mushrooms and that might inspire me.
Lou, remember to pace yourself with the mushrooms. 
Too much and you’ll be coming up with great ideas, but find yourself smiling at the ceiling.
Okay, I’m in for this build. Can always be a did not finish, but I’ll try. I’m thinking, “Flux Capacitor” aka steam punk era.
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The 1:1 scale is a little large, got an idea though… Will see how it works.
Great to see you here Chris, this’ll be right up your alley!
It looks like I will have to sit this one out. The only steampunk idea I can come up with is the steam driven tank from the first Wild Wild West movie. The tank could run on or off rails. I know I don’t have the right junk to build it, and no more hobby shop to find supplies. So best of luck to those competing, but it’s a "no go " for me.
Regards, David Meashey
OK, I had an idea. 
I’m in this year.
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All of my supplies and tools are still safely tucked away in various boxes. That will be my excuse for not participating this year. It does look like a fun challenge and I’ll be following 
OK… Of Course i’m in…
I set out to do this category for The MIK, back in November of 2024, and since then I have cheated BIG TIME…! While doing “research” on this, I have looked at a Gazillion pictures of AWNUTS and Steam Punk creations…Which has only made it worse…
Fast forward 15 months… The Challenge has been issued… And I don’t have a clue as to what I will build… Zero, nada, zilch …NOTHING… I still don’t know if it will have wheels under it…
I’m in and I’ll come up with something… but not a clue yet…
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You and Dave Meashey too? Thank god! It’s not just me.
I’m having immense trouble thinking up anything at all, at least for me. Ironically, “if only I were a ‘Dave’ ideas” have been pouring out of my head.
If I were Dave Meashey, leaning into the hobbit-hole aesthetic… Perhaps, a Bureau of Unexpected Journeys, A hobbit-hole wayside depot that doubles as a trekking outfitter, a travel agent for destinations limited to the shire, and a lost-luggage office for journeys never taken. Hand-painted signs read “Arrivals Only. No Departures,” “Second Breakfast Served Daily,” and “Maps Guaranteed Inaccurate.” A tiny cinema or railcar theatre permanently showing the thriller Mordor on the Orient Express.
If I were Dave Taylor, from the minimal plantings I’ve seen on the 2024 MIK (only in photos) would clearly imply deforestation in building the railroad. What remains is a repurposed sawmill—now a gym, cabaret, and casino depending on the day. With that hill? Obviously a log flume. Or a zip line. Or both, sharing the same track. The Lost Pine, featuring the Lumberjack Casino, because when the trees are gone, you might as well use real wood chips.
I, however, am not a Dave.
But I’ve still got three days, to come up with an idea or change my name to Dave…
I have a silly idea, and might be able to pull it off if I keep it pretty simple…
I’m be rooting from the sidelines this year. Got way too many irons in the fire at the moment unrelated to modeling (why do I always wait until Jan and have only a few weeks to make the boys work on pinewood derby cars when we could work on them all year long?)
This years theme would probably work for something like this. But I don’t want to spread myself too thin. Besides all the stuff that’s going on, I put even more pressure on by agreeing to have my layout as part of the 2027 NMRA National convention. Well I threw my name and layout out there after the organizers asked me personally… So yah I’ve got a bit of work cut out for me.
Craig
Just have it spreading jelly beans or something 
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Oh Vic, trust me I’d love to build one. And figure out a way to motorize the brush so it can actually be a rail broom as well. But way way down the priority list at the moment.
I’m currently trying to wrap up a major project.