We built this tree house for a ski resort in Winter Park, Colorado. The railroad is a big part of their heritage and they wanted to celebrate that in their new play structure. The steam engine was built using wood, plastic, and encapsulated foam. The steam locomotive is supported by a log and a hand-carved engineer bear. A staircase and deck lead into the cab while the boiler is really a crawl tube with a window. We even added a real light, moose antlers, and lots of rusty paint so that it looks as though it has been there for a hundred years. It looked so real that a couple of Union Pacific workers stopped in to ask us where we got this little steam engine and were amazed to hear that it was fake and that we built it. It has to be one of the most exciting play structures we've ever built.
