Model creator Pat Acton is pictured here with his latest creation “Plane Loco” at Matchstick Marvels in Gladbrook.

Don’t miss the newest model on temporary display at Matchstick Marvels, a steampunk flying locomotive model entitled Plane Loco. The model is creator Patrick Acton’s largest matchstick creation, including over one million matchsticks, 50 gallons of wood glue, and approximately 3000 hours to construct. It measures over 20 feet long and 9 feet high, with a wing span of 13 feet. The steam punk model is Pat’s own design, based loosely a 2-6-0 steam locomotive from the early 1900s and Leonardo da Vinci’s wing design from the 1500s.

There are several interactive features on the model, including working headlamp and bell, and a lever to open doors to the firebox. Acton will also be adding a moveable throttle, brake lever, forward and reverse lever, and many other valves and gauges in the next few weeks.

The model will be at Matchstick Marvels until the end of July, when it will be delivered to Ripley’s Believe It or Not headquarters in Orlando for placement in one of their worldwide museums.

Steampunk is a type of science fiction that highlights fictional steam-powered technology that might have existed in the Victorian era at the turn of the 20th century, when steam power use was at its height. Acton emphasized this idea when he created a model of an imaginary steam-powered flying locomotive.

Matchstick Marvels is located at 319 Second Street, Gladbrook, and is open 1:00 P.M. to 5:00 P.M. daily.