A touch of the whimsical on the layout

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by andrechapelon



Phartz and Howe Baked Beans

This was an actual boxcar kit way back when. I think it was a Red Ball kit or something else of that general era. Orange wood sided car with black lettering. Phartz & Howe Baked Beans, the beans heard round the world!!!.
I saw my 1st one 14 years ago, have only seen 1 other one since, tucked away in private collections. One of these days I'm gonna find one at a train show or sale, and will probably pay through the nose for it!

[Anonymous]

my layout will contain a factory called ACME-proudly supplying wiley cyotey since 1942 ![(-D][(-D][(-D][(-D][(-D]

[andrechapelon]

QUOTE: Originally posted by kbfcsme

QUOTE: Originally posted by andrechapelon



Phartz and Howe Baked Beans

This was an actual boxcar kit way back when. I think it was a Red Ball kit or something else of that general era. Orange wood sided car with black lettering. Phartz & Howe Baked Beans, the beans heard round the world!!!.
I saw my 1st one 14 years ago, have only seen 1 other one since, tucked away in private collections. One of these days I'm gonna find one at a train show or sale, and will probably pay through the nose for it!

Yeah, I know. That's where I got the name. Unfortunately, I didn't buy one when I had the chance. OTOH, I DO have one of those Walther's JAILBOX's ("Next crime any line") from the 70's. Still in kit form. Maybe I should eBay it as this rare collector's item like so many of those Mantua/Tyco Pacifics and Mikes I see in various stages of deterioration.

Good Lord, the amount of junk that gets passed off as "vintage" this or "rare" that.

Andre

[Anonymous]

Right now I'm building a house on a hill with a visible basement... and I'll give it a full fledged Frankenstein laboratry.
(by the way, ACME has supplied Wil E. Coyote since '49)

[wd45]

If you're going to have a funeral home on your layout, you might consider the name of an actual funeral home that existed in the town near where I grew up; Butcher Funeral Home.
Mike

PS: This same town also had a drug store called Jolly Drugs!

[krump]

QUOTE: Originally posted by Oklahoma Train Nut

my layout will contain a factory called ACME-proudly supplying wiley cyotey since 1942 ![(-D][(-D][(-D][(-D][(-D]

... and all these years I thought it was ACNE factory / supplies.[:D][:D][:D][^]

cheers

[Anonymous]

Guess where these businesses came from, heh, heh, heh:
Gun Shop - BloodBath and Beyond
Pastry Shop - The French Confection
Investing service - IPO Friday's
Museum - Louvre: American Style
Family Restaurant - Texas Cheesecake Depository
Middle eastern restaurant - Two Guys from Kabul
Dog Obedience Schools - Eastside Ruff-Form School, Professor Von Bowser's Sanitarium For Dogs
Music shop - Suicide Notes and Tommy Toots
Girls school - Saint Sebastian's School for Wicked Girls
Repo man - Repo Depot
Outdoor Clothing Store - Malaria Zone
Gourmet Food store - Eatie Gourmet's
Toy Store - Valley of the Dolls
Roach Motel - The Ritz Carlton Hotel for Vagrants
Air conditioner store - It Blows
Boys' Clothing Store - Wee Monsieur
Joke/Novelty Shop: Yuckingham Palace
Jewelry store - The Family Jewels
Shop selling casserole dishes - Stoner's Pot Palace
Toy Store - J.R.R. Toykins

[andrechapelon]

QUOTE: Originally posted by wd45

If you're going to have a funeral home on your layout, you might consider the name of an actual funeral home that existed in the town near where I grew up; Butcher Funeral Home.
Mike

PS: This same town also had a drug store called Jolly Drugs!

Back in 1969, I saw a billboard for a local eatery in Santa Ana, CA, that said "Enjoy your wife, eat out more often".

Then there was the gas station with attached restaurant on US 50 just east of Placerville,CA, that advertised, "Eat here. Get Gas".

A few years ago, it was reported that some joker had added his own message on I-80 just east of Gold Run, CA. There was a "Chains Required" sign (it WAS winter after all)to which had been added a neatly lettered addendum: "Whips And Boots Optional".

Then there's the eastbound Santa Fe freight I saw back in 1961 in Cajon Pass at the Highway 138 crossing. About halfway into the consist, a covered hopper rolled by with a a neatly chalked "Who put sulfur in the potash?" on the right side. 43 years later, I still haven't the slightest idea who the culprit was.

About 5 miles from the Wiscasset, Waterville & Farmington museum in Alna, ME, there's a farm with a rather unique name. Unfortunately, I can't give the full name lest I arouse the landlords to a mighty wrath. However, I can give you the first and last words. Cow ____ Corner. I kid you not.

Andre

[Fergmiester]

Cape Breton, NS has two Lick a Chick Take Outs. Best chicken in town!

[cbq9911a]

Good whimsical names are ones that sound like real ones, like:

Condemned Edison
Madonna Della Ferrostrada Church

I've also got some other ones:

Lawyers Can Service (Portable toilet service).
G. E. Neric and Company
W. Clinton & H. Rodham, Lawyers.
Gallerie Pret (Pretentious art gallery)
Cat House (Sells house cat stuff)
Bundy - Simpson Company (after two TV fathers, Al Bundy and Homer Simpson)

Two of my favorite whimsical touches are the blue directional signs pointing to real churches (in the proper direction) and the billboard advertising "X False Teeth - They Keep You Talkin", where X is a particularly loud mouthed local politician.

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by andrechapelon
...About 5 miles from the Wiscasset, Waterville & Farmington museum in Alna, ME, there's a farm with a rather unique name. Unfortunately, I can't give the full name lest I arouse the landlords to a mighty wrath. However, I can give you the first and last words. Cow ____ Corner. I kid you not.

There was a guy in Milwaukee 20-30 years, maybe less, who lived just off the runway approach to Mitchel Int'l Airport. He had a sign on his roof (painted on the shingles, done in different colored shingles, or whatever) that said "Welcome to Cleveland". The city tried (unsuccessfully) to make him remove it. I have no idea if it's still there.

There's a local tavern called "Night Court". Another is "The Doctor's Office". I've also seen "Dew Drop Inn", and "Duck Inn" (next to the CP/Amtrak Hiawatha line in Wadsworth, IL; there's a huge marsh/wetlands just across the tracks. In downtown Milwaukee is a little beanery called "My Office" (good burgers). And then there was "Nacho Mama's" a few blocks away.

[CBQ_Guy]

QUOTE: Originally posted by jay_c

Once again my curiosity gets the better of me.

Does anyone out there model whimsical, fantastic, improbable, or other "odd" things on the layout?

Yeah, all the narrow gauge guys! [B)]

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by jay_c
[There was a guy in Milwaukee 20-30 years, maybe less, who lived just off the runway approach to Mitchel Int'l Airport. He had a sign on his roof (painted on the shingles, done in different colored shingles, or whatever) that said "Welcome to Cleveland". The city tried (unsuccessfully) to make him remove it. I have no idea if it's still there.

I love it! [:D]

[randybc2003]

Check out some of the old structure articles by one of the old MRR staff (I can't rember his name off hand) - but they have a book with a lot of his work - Wallop Packing Co., etc.

Elephants working timber and pushing RR cars isn't too far off. India & SE Aisa has a lot of them, historically. Beeby & Clegg wrote of a circus train in Colorado that got stalled - until they improvised!

"Dewey, Cheatem, & Howe" was indeed the name of a burger joint in the town where I live.

A lot of layouts have double-takes in the business districts - "The Cave In" restraunt, done with a "rock" facade, Bates Boarding House & Hotell next to the church & cemetary, etc. Local names and references can also add a distinct whimsy.

Randy

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by randybc2003

Check out some of the old structure articles by one of the old MRR staff (I can't rember his name off hand) - but they have a book with a lot of his work - Wallop Packing Co., etc.

That might be kitbasher-extraordinaire Art Curren. He often put some pretty unusual names on his structures, like Pladd Paint Co., Haffa Mine, Frenda Mine, Jenerick Metals, etc.

[vsmith]

QUOTE: Originally posted by flyingscot

Guess where these businesses came from, heh, heh, heh:
Gun Shop - BloodBath and Beyond
Pastry Shop - The French Confection
Investing service - IPO Friday's
Museum - Louvre: American Style
Family Restaurant - Texas Cheesecake Depository
Middle eastern restaurant - Two Guys from Kabul
Dog Obedience Schools - Eastside Ruff-Form School, Professor Von Bowser's Sanitarium For Dogs
Music shop - Suicide Notes and Tommy Toots
Girls school - Saint Sebastian's School for Wicked Girls
Repo man - Repo Depot
Outdoor Clothing Store - Malaria Zone
Gourmet Food store - Eatie Gourmet's
Toy Store - Valley of the Dolls
Roach Motel - The Ritz Carlton Hotel for Vagrants
Air conditioner store - It Blows
Boys' Clothing Store - Wee Monsieur
Joke/Novelty Shop: Yuckingham Palace
Jewelry store - The Family Jewels
Shop selling casserole dishes - Stoner's Pot Palace
Toy Store - J.R.R. Toykins

They are all store names used in "The Simpsons"

[vsmith]

QUOTE: Originally posted by CBQ_Guy

QUOTE: Originally posted by jay_c

Once again my curiosity gets the better of me.

Does anyone out there model whimsical, fantastic, improbable, or other "odd" things on the layout?

Yeah, all the narrow gauge guys! [B)]

Yee watch yeerself Laddie, deem be fightin' words![;)]




We have a pet boarding business here called, I kid you not...

"The Best Little Cathouse in Pasadena" [:D]

[sparkingbolt]

On an old Tom & jerry cartoon, the two, while going at their usual antics, run and pause momentarily in front of a referigerator. The brand of the fridge in small letters typical of '50s appliances? Koldernell. I have four steel 40 ' reefers that I'd like to paint and letter Koldernell Seafood Express or something like that. (KOLX of course)

I also still plan a white metal mine for my layout. Dan