This has been a tough A.W.N.U.T.S to crack.My mind just doesn’t operate well with creative art challenges. I’ve run the gamut of ideas, the first of which was building colorful cliff dweller huts in honor of one of our late members, but shied away from that because I can’t cut the wood needed to do that build justice and I don’t think I could complete it within the 30 day window. I do want to come back to that idea once my shoulder heals. I’ve considered whimsical fairytale cabins, medieval cranes & weapons but I just couldn’t come up with something that gave me that warm and fuzzy feeling. Last night an idea hit me that I liked. The story is below.
Before we get to the story, I want to be transparent and let everyone know that due to my current physical limitation, most all of this build will be either laser cut or 3D printed. For those that don’t know me, I HATE 3d printing 
so those that do know me will be quite surprised that I am even considering its use 
Ok, on to the story.
Deep in the timber country along the upper logging spurs of the Waverly Southern Railroad, stands a small but unmistakable structure known to the crews as Winchester’s Field Cabin. Designed personally by the WSRR’s eccentric chief engineer, The Winchester, the cabin was intended as a combined overnight shelter, line-side office, and experimental testbed for mechanical ideas that never quite made it back to headquarters. Built quickly from local timber but fitted with surplus clockwork components, exposed gearing, and hand-painted metalwork, the cabin reflects Winchester’s belief that a machine should be as expressive as it is functional.
The cabin is most often associated with Elias “Cogwheel” Hawthorne, a former millwright turned logging-line mechanic who earned his nickname by repairing broken skidders and locomotives with whatever parts he had on hand—often gears salvaged from sawmills, clocks, or abandoned machinery. Hawthorne was given stewardship of the cabin so he could remain close to the steepest, most failure-prone sections of the logging line, keeping trains moving while quietly testing Winchester’s latest mechanical notions. Many of the exposed gears along the cabin walls are not decorative at all, but drive small fans, hoists, or warning devices powered by steam or hand crank.
Today, the cabin remains a landmark on the WSRR logging branches—a place where crews warm up, swap stories, and claim they can still hear the gears turning long after the fire has gone out. Whether it was a stroke of engineering genius or simply the result of too many late nights in the drafting room, Winchester’s whimsical cabin stands as a symbol of Waverly Southern’s belief that even the roughest logging line deserves a little imagination.
Yes, I know, the story gives the impression that the cabin has been constructed, but I’m building the cabin to fit the story.
Obligatory napkin drawing to follow.
