After years of making toys, Donald Riley started designing his own animated music boxes. His very first music box was the Carousel Waltz, and since then, Donald has made several others. The themed music boxes have been on public display for many years, mostly at local hospitals and libraries. Children and adults alike are entertained by the sounds, motion, and animated lighting. The driving force behind this labor of love is the pure satisfaction of crafting toys from wood and handing them out for free.
Mr. Riley has been kind enough to loan some of his elaborate and highly detailed music boxes to the Miniature Engineering Craftsmanship Museum for display. This piece, titled “Toy Factory,” may be Donald’s most ambitious music box to date. It took ten years to fully design and collect all of the wonderful animation components. The scene includes moving trains, cars, gears, pistons, a crane, and more. Watch a video of the Toy Factory music box in action.