Whimsy

When railroad rivalries peak, they bring out the tanks. The models were motorized and made by Academy Models.

Not that British aristocrat with the monocle who detects crime in his free time. Light hearted humor. You see it all the time on our home layouts. This reader squeezes in dinosaurs. King Kong is astride many an O gauge skyscraper. Sight gags are found aplenty and one of the most watched reader video’s we’ve posted features a cat and rat frolicking through a fairly detailed downtown scene (I sure hope he planned on it being destroyed).

 Me? I have Space Marines, Sisters of Battle, and Valhallan Imperial Guard (all from Warhammer 40,000) defending Cynosure from Necron robots. Oh, and you might find an oversized (as in Monopoly game piece) Scottish Terrier roaming about.

In Product Reviews I’ve only done the whimsy thing twice (in my memory). One was a comparison review of a K-Line Union Pacific E8 and a Union Pacific E8 shaped coffee mug with the same cab number (Sept 2001). For the record, the full E8 review was the lead review in that issue. The coffee cup showdown was later in the review section.

I don’t recall hearing anything about it from readers, pro or con.

I did discover a line of 1:48 scale motorized (not remote controlled) British and Russian tanks from Academy Models. These would make good flatcar loads and the tanks were shown on 1:48 scale flatcars from Weaver and MTH to illustrate their size. I did, however, decorate one tank in New York Central decals and the other in Pennsylvania Railroad decals. You know, symbolic of the rivalry. I thought it was a read knee slapper. 

This was in the December 2002 issue and I don’t recall hearing anything about it from readers, pro or con.

Oh, well!

 Don’t think I heard a peep about it.

 Oh well.

 The whimsy door isn’t closed, but don’t be surprised if I try it again some other time!