Oct 28, 2009
http://www.volunteertv.com/ettm/headlines/66884632.html
Toothpick Stagecoach
A real-life stagecoach built in Warsaw, Indiana could seen be on display in a museum. Not because of it's historic nature, but instead, what it's made out of.
To many of us, this may look like a typical stagecoach, just waiting for a horse to come pull it along.
But that's far from the case.
This is a stagecoach made exclusively out of toothpicks and a lot of glue.
72-year-old Terry Woodling has been making things from toothpicks for decades, and got this latest idea after seeing a miniature replica for sale.
"I went with the wheels first," says Terry. He says that was the easy part.
"It's a little more than a toothpick length." And he says it's taken a lot of those little guys. 1.5 million to be exact.
It hasn't been cheap to make this stage coach. That's because he estimates he's spent more than $1,200 in toothpicks alone. He last bought some in September of 2008, when he bought 65 packages. The receipt is quite a bit longer back in May of 2007. That's when he bought more than 240 packages and spent more than $150.
Woodling -- also known as "Mr. Toothpick" -- started this project back on Thanksgiving of 1994. This year, he'll give thanks for being done as will his wife!
"She's been real helpful putting up with the new dictionary I've come up with something goes wrong," says Woodling.
He says there have been a few bumps in the road!
"I had a hoist in the ceiling, and I had this lifted up and was going to move in and the hoist pulled out of the ceiling, and this thing came crashing down and I thought oh man that's going to be the end of that!"
The roughly 250-pound stage coach suffered only minor damage. Now, years and lots of work later, a parking break still 'under construction' will be the finishing touch.
And Woodling says it will be his last toothpick masterpiece. "If there is another, I'm out of my mind."
Terry hopes to donate the stage coach to a museum.
He found out it doesn't qualify for a Guiness world record, since it was made with glue.
Toothpick Stagecoach
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