WesternOutlaw

Me too - I had never intended to continue so long. I can go back to my life again - Yay! She was just a record in the town hall file room that Jennifer Chamberlain had discovered, choosing to use the name. Jennifer worked for the Mayor as a file clerk, and stumbled upon it one day. TRIVIA: Jennifer Chamberlain was the name of Sophia Loren's character in the movie, Cassandra Crossing. - great movie by the way, and a good actress. They were known detectives - that's it (and those participating in the mystery). I needed some way of starting the mystery. Not exactly, but yes - Jim Butcher, middle aged detective down on his luck. He was approached by a known aquaintance and hired to stop the train in Willoughby for a large sum of money (linked to Jennifer). He asked a few of the crew for assistance including Brakes making all sorts of stories up for them to help him. They were relunctant to do so, but did help. The Mayor himself. The Crock was a gift, but the Mayor wanted to make sure it would never be used by the townies to escape. Kill'n George was able to get back to his airplane and fly into Auburn before you arrived. There may be a dead cook or two nearby. He's with you now? No - in fact it is Kill n' George. Any other questions, I'd be glad to answer.

As our mystery has come to an end, I would like to applaud the efforts of all the cast that made the story very entertaining. Often times, I would read a post and just begin laughing at the humor, wit, and posts shared by all of you. That brings me to this post to recognize the more memorable and entertaining quotes. Please feel free to share and add "who said it" here.

With the Mayor tied up, and a most worn and exhausted group, the Crocodile Locomotive eventually makes its way into the town of Auburn. A state police car soon arrives at the scene with two armed officers who are told the story of "what went on in Willoughby". They had heard about the missing Emerald Express that never made it to Los Angeles. According to them, a small search & rescue shunter was on its way to Willoughby, but delayed due to a number of unforseen problems, including a bad rain storm. The Mayor is hand-cuffed and taken into custody while the group explains that Conductor Max, Jim Butcher, and Pete are still in Willoughby needing help. The police grant assurance that they will be rescued, along with any other townies left behind. "We'll dispatch a helicopter in the morning", they add, "not to worry any more. Now how about a bite to eat before we put you up for the night"? Everyone agrees and are taken to a 50s-style structure down the road, "Cafe Corner". One of the officers points out that they've got great food in the restaurant. The group is just happy to be out of Willoughby. Inside the restaurant, the group is soon sitting down ready to order a "midnight madness special". Behind the counter is someone who looks quite familiar... What will you have tonight folks? Meanwhile... Max, Jim, and Pete realized that they couldn't catch the others by rail car, so decided to return to the air strip. Ironically, Grill'n George's small airplane is gone. - THE END - :skull:

SlyOwl: as one Wild West fan to another, you've outdone yourself with this fantastic creation. I'm really enjoying your creation here. I think that no Wild West scene is complete without some sort of mine. When I first layed eyes on this mountain, I thought it was just the irregular shaped hill with the wagon on top (love the canvas top BTW, which works very well). But after seeing the inner mine, how fabulous! I really like how you used the railing pieces for the mine rails - great idea. They have that look that they've broken in one area, and continue toward the front left. The water wheel is top notch with the little mining cars. I think the crates make great mining cars and have used them as well in my Haunted Mine. All the additional details really look good, esp. the tile-made barrel, and all the figs in action. This is an A+ creation. My only question is why you didn't add any blue plates/tiles for water? Even though; however, I love it! (tips cowboy hat in honor of this marvelous creation)

Very nice, but how old is this creation? We're looking for MOCs that were created for this contest.

Guys: you chose to jump off the train. There is no human possible way of catching the Crocodile Locomotive on a hand-car. You need to let the mystery continue for a bit without spamming the thread. I will provide an update toward the end of the mystery. There's not much story left. Capiche?

Yes - by pulling the little yellow knob on the door (that's an old Basic Fig hand in case you were wondering). I was modelling it after a US. Gran Luxe train that had quite a bit of open white space on the sides. After creating it though, I think another set of windows would look better. In regard to the wheels, I didn't even notice I had done this. After I had the train complete, I wanted to add the old Legoland brick. Pulling off the wheels, one broke apart, and I thought I had put it together in the same manner. Only now I am realizing I did not (so thanks for noticing- oops!) Accident (see above). Yes, I wanted to add a custom sticker to the yellow 2x2 plate, but didn't get around to it. I may replace the # on the right with an actual printed space brick. The photoshopping was just to give me an idea of how it might look. Thanks for the feedback everyone. I'm not real happy with it, esp. the doors. Also, I wanted to use dark blue vs. standard blue, but don't have enough to do so. It came out "just okay".

He got me! (falls to the ground with a fatal shot to the chest) :skull: The others are able to subdue the Mayor who is now pinned to the rooftop like a butterfly. Oh my gosh - he's dead! he's really dead! And my poor Schmelt. A few gather around Schmelt. (opening his eyes) He nicked me - it's just a nick! I'm alive! But someone wasn't as fortunate. But why Mayor Murder? Why did you go through such lengths to keep us here in this horrible town?

Mark grabs a lever in the cabin thinking it's the brakes. Pulling it causes a trickle of sand to fall on the tracks. Steve Thomas, Eleanor, and Grease karate kick Gaylord in stereo causing him to fall from the train. (Pow! Pow Pow! - Ouch!) Herman throws a Klingon dictionary at the Mayor as Brakes attempts to strike him with the Johnson Rod (you're not getting the Johnson Rod just yet Grease!) (Bam! Woosh...) The mayor fires his gun! (POW!) He's hit someone directly in the chest!

As the two men wrestle, the Mayor presses the trigger on his gun. BANG! Schmelt falls to the side. His shirt is stained with blood.

Nevermind that Shadows is in the mouth of the beast - cute house Alice. You might try using your flash though; it may help your image quality.

One of these days I'm going to open my Metroliner legend and build it. I've been saving it for a rainy day.

As everyone listens to the Mayor with keen interest, Schmelt lunges for his gun. The two fall down on the roof and begin to wrestle. Herman throws in a dollop of whip cream he had been saving in his pants pocket. David isn't sure what to do???

I've been wanting to build an American Orient Express train for a number of years now, and never had the pieces I needed. Using the frame and similar design as the Emerald Night passenger car, this is my custom version, the Legoland Express: -entry for fun

Excellent scene! But you still can't join the others. -sorry

Sit tight guys - we're just about through, and I'll give an update re. your characters.

It's funny - the still was just a collection of loose bricks and pieces, but it got a lot of good feedback. Thanks BC. Each of the creations have their own story that can be found in the Train Tech Index. I have been thinking about puting together a small book of all the Grave Stone creations. In 12V style, I like it! I find it very difficult to work with all black pieces, esp. when photographing. I like the different monsters aboard the Death Train, esp. the Mummy. I actually had one more train wagon that I never shared which was an Egyptian Display boxcar. It didn't come out well, so I never posted a picture. Perhaps I'll look for it and post.

Sir Dillon will soon reveal some of the plot. I'll give him the courtesy of responding to Hinckley/Herman's last question (as he throws rocks into the forest at Pete).

Good guesstimate, but do you see Willoughby on the actual map? This is a fictitious story, but it does have some actual basis, but limited. It's actually neat to see people trying to figure out where Willoughby might actually be though - good analysis.

You mean you weren't in cahoots with Jethro?

David Gaylord, Town Council member, at your service.

Adam: you're character jumped from the train. I don't want to see any more posts from you unless we return to you walking with the others.

Not quite Herman. (pointing a gun at the group) Yes, trust me, it's loaded. Brakes was trying to conceal it but I stole it when we were in the dark tunnel. Come here David, grab the other weapons.

And why is that? Who's writing this story? You might as well start walking now.

Brakes desperately attempts to do everything he can to slow down the runaway train. As he is doing so, Schmelt discovers a strange rod under the seat of the cabin, that looks a bit like a crowbar. Hey! What's this? Don't bother me now Schmelt, I'm doing everything I can to slow down this train. (Clank! Bang... CLINK CLANK Clink! Chhh!) If I only had some sort of long metal rod that I could push this Universal Crocodile Braking/Starter/Speed Regular Hook with... How about this? That will never work - I need some sort of crowbar to... Wait! What is that? Brakes rams the rod into the drive train assembly catching the Universal Crocodile Braking/Starter/Speed Regular Hook. Pulling it very slowly, the train speeds up... Oops. Wrong way, let's try this... We're all going to die! We're gonna die! The crocodile locomotive slows down considerably as everyone grips for disaster over Cassandra Crossing! Just then, the train passes it's last junction, #7, turning to the left away from the rickety old bridge. The train continues to slow down as Herman changes his shorts. A sign along the track reads, "Auburn 550 miles".