No matter how many MOC builds I do, this will always be one of my favorites. I was born and raised in Colorado and our son was born high in the Rocky Mountains. The west is in our blood. We used this shared passion for another build. Taking inspiration from historic Downtown Creede, Colorado we built up a large town between two cliff faces that was full of all the fun ideas we could think of to put into a wild west town.
We knew we wanted a gold mine on one side, and a hidden lair for the local outlaws on the other side.
At some point the idea of building a railroad bridge between the cliff faces crept into the build, and this proved to be a great challenge. My one smart move was leaving the bridge support building to Keanu. I think I would have pulled my hair out trying to figure that one out. I honestly think his hair was in danger for a bit there too.
One of the greatest challenges was building it to be time period accurate and work with a river we wanted to build directly beneath the bridge. If there is one thing Keanu does well it is working on the engineering side of construction, something I am desperately missing since he left home. After many design attempts he created the perfect bridge that had a strong support system, and looked perfect behind the town.
The small building built on the outer walls of the mine was a fun idea we came up with, and it had a working crane built into it to lower things to the ground far below. The walls hinged open also for access for viewing or playing. This was also next to the water tower. The mine had a tendency to get overrun with water, and the shoots built in allowed for removal of the water, which could run all the way through to the river if needed
The interior of the mine was a blast to build, and blasting went on here a lot! The style of track for the mine carts as well as the mine carts themselves were borrowed from the LEGO Minecraft instructions. It worked perfectly and allowed for easy removal of unwanted rubble.
On the far right corner we built an unstable wall of stone that could be blasted through revealing a cavern of gold nuggets. A hatch was built in the ground directly in line with this cavern. A rock could be sent through the opening and this rolled through and broke down the stone wall creating the illusion of a perfect blast job.
On the far left lower level we crafted a wall full of “rocks” that could cause a cave in when a lever was pulled. The track for the mine carts was another ingenious build from Keanu. It worked perfectly and allowed for easy removal of unwanted rubble.
On the far left lower level we crafted a wall full of “rocks” that could cause a cave in when a lever was pulled.
We struggled a bit with the outlaws’ lair. I had grand ideas, but honestly the rest of the build was taking so long to accomplish that this side was rushed a bit. The best part was the access points. All the outlaws knew that the true entrance was a false stone door built into the cliffs, but as a decoy a trap door was built into the adjacent shack to fool anyone who may be a little too curious. The trap door would send the unfortunate spy down a slide and straight into a cell.
Large and small rooms took up the rest of the hollowed out cavern, and we allowed everyone to get in on building the furniture and accessories for this portion.
High atop the cliff the Indigenous Americans were safely camped among the beautiful natural environment. The tipi proved a great challenge for me, simply because it refused to stay standing up! After crash upon crash I finally found a way to make it stand up securely.
We covered the rocky terrain with layers of bushes, flowers, pine trees, Lodgepole pines, and Birch trees.
Absolutely no build with Keanu would be complete without a group of Minifigures helping us. I distinctly remember walking out to get something and coming back to a hard working group of men building a boardwalk. A Creeper is also tucked away in the rocky terrain and has a large stash of dynamite with him.
We borrowed instructions for our steam train from a combination of LEGO sets #79111 Constitution Train Chase and #7597 Toy Story Western Train Chase and tweaked them to fit our town’s style.
Our town had five buildings, a barn, and a corral. We built a Saloon, General Store with a Barber Shop, Hotel, Sheriff’s Office, and a Bank that houses a Detective Agency on the second floor. A few store bought stickers helped create signs. The building structures were fun to build, but decorating the interiors was the best part.
A barn with corral and Blacksmith shop help provide a safe place for the visiting horses, and the smithy handles not only metal repairs, but is the local veterinarian and town doctor.
I still wish this build was on display in my house, but it had to come down so other MOCs could be built, but our little mountain town will forever live on in our memories.
