Purposefull uses of your trains?

[Boyd]

Anyone run a siding from the kitchen to the table, or haul small pieces of firewood? I know Lionel is a little small for split wood, but hey I'm sure there must be good uses for our trains.

[brianel027]

Even though my trains stay put to the train layout, they do have purpose: An innocent escape from the otherwise more bothersome trials of the day. It's human to want to escape to some degree. Why else would so many other less positive forms of escape be popular, like drugs and alcohol.

The trains themselves are not addictive. It's not until you throw human beings into the mix with the desire to have more, or have them all, or have the most valuable trains, that the hobby or trains become addictive.

All good things in moderation though. I'm sure someone out there has a clever little side use for their trains. My clever little side use is pretty much as they were intended to be: a little bit of nostalgia, a little bit of escape, a little bit of creativity and all that equals some decent fun. And by the looks of stuff on the ol' tube, decent fun seems to be in short supply these days.

There even more joy when I watch the eyes and faces of kids who are seeing my trains for the first time... melts aways the years and gives me a clue what my facial expressions were like so many years ago watching my childhood trains! Doesn't get much better than that!

Other uses? I think I've already got some good ones. [:)]

[mersenne6]

There have been numerous attempts in the past to use trains to deliver food to the table. The oldest one of which I'm aware was a Marklin setup back in the late 1890's which was complete with a switching setup to permit train travel from the pantry to the dinner table and back. In 1949 the Cleveland Clinic Foundation used Lionel GG-1's with flat cars to move radioactive samples from one room of the research area to another. If you can get a copy of the June 1949 issue of Model Railroader you can read about that effort and even look at some pictures.

[FJ and G]

A cool route would be from the counter to the kitchen table for food delivery. Then the garbage train takes the gondolas to the disposal, dumps them with the rotary, then takes the dishes to the dishwasher. A branch line goes to the cookie jar.

[Anonymous]

Fifteen or twenty years ago there was a restaurant in Chiefland, Florida that had a train running on suspended track above the counter that went through a hole in the wall into the kitchen. The waitresses used to write the orders, and then put them on a clothes pin hanging down from the train where they were transported into the kitchen. I have no idea if the restaurant is even still there, much less if it still has a train. As I recall, it was called "Funny Farm Restaurant" but II have no idea if there is a story behind the name.

[dougdagrump]

One of the visitors to the museum was here from Chicago and he told me that there is a sushi restaurant that uses model trains to make deliveries to there patrons. To bad I can't stand sushi. [(-D]

[Anonymous]

CAT CHASER...[:)]

[cmrj]

There is a restaurant in Frankfort IL. that send's out your order at the counter. It's called the Whistle Stop . My son has been there, I need to go check it out. Also I saw on EBay custom made car's that can carry 2-12 OZ. bottles of beer each, seller say's one engine can pull 4 or 5 car's .

[Sturgeon-Phish]

Many years ago a drug store downtown had you put tyour prescription in a gondola at the front of the store, the train ran to the back where the prescription was filled and the bottle of pills would travel back to the front where you would pick it up. It ran along the wall about shoulder height to an adult, but was real high to a kid.

[pbjwilson]

There's a restaurant in DesPlaines IL that serves food with a Lionel that makes a big loop from the kitchen out and around the counter and back to the kitchen. I think it's called the Choo Choo restaurant. It's actually right down the street from the first McDonalds restaurant.
It's usually filled with alot of kids making alot of noise. Worth the trip and the foods good and cheap. They have fairly short hours - open for breakfast and lunch only. I'll try to get a couple pictures of the place next time I'm out that way.

[TurboOne]

In Orange county, there is a McTrains. A Mickey D's with trains running up high and in the walls. Pretty cool. They also have pizza and hot dogs, things that no other McD has.

Pretty cool

Tim

[Anonymous]

I remember the Kelloggs commercial in the 60's shown on the Captain Kangaroo show. Seems to me there was a bowl on a flatcar and the cereal came out of a building with a chute on it. I've heard of people serving drinks with toy trains.. I think Old fashioned glasses on flat-cars would work in O guage. An over-sized hopper holding two cans of Canadian beer and shaved ice would be sweet!

Mark

Mark

[cnw1995]

Paul, my son has been to that restaurant in Des Plaines - I'd like to go but it's a hike. As you said, they have v. limited hours and is always jammed with kids and families - a good sign! But the train runs on the counter with food baskets on flat cars.

[eZAK]

I'll let you know when I figure out a way to run the train over to the fridge, hit a lever, a beer rolls out onto the waiting gondola, then brings it back to the operator. [:D]

[underworld]

When I was little I used to put little pieces of cheese or pretzels or chips in a gondola.....run them around the track for a while....and then eat them! I don't think that qualifies as practical....but it was fun!

underworld

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