Got an ad from Kalmbach this AM anouncing that the company is now selling wearable gear. I don't know why, but the first thing that came to mind was the Smothers Brothers version of "Streets Of Laredo". Lyrics follow.
I do not prefer to wear a Uniform to practice my hobby. I don't wear an engineers cap while running my layout. I feel I don't have to dress the part to play the part. It's Tee Shirts and Blue Jeans and bald head. When I take my bicycle out on the rail trail I don't wear Spandex ( you wouldn't want to see my wearing that). When I was in the Army I was proud to wear the Uniform and Fatigues. But now I don't even own a suit. When I pass on I will be buried in my favorite Jeans and a Tee shirt.
Wish I knew it was this easy 40 years ago. I wouldn't have wasted any time learning to build models, lay track, install couplers, build benchwork, wire the puppy up, etc.
Paul
When I saw the title, the first thing that came into my mind was that Smothers Brothers routine.
It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.
Anybody remember the FORUM MEMBER t-shirts that were offered when the whole idea of the Kalmbach magazine forums was new? It has the logos of the magazines as well. We would wear them to pre-arranged get togethers, such as at Galesburg Railroad Days (I remember seeing Jay Eaton there), Milwaukee's Trainfest, and other such places.
Dave Nelson
Caps - don't wear'em. Coffee mug - well, I don't drink much coffee, but a mug can be used for other things. Problem with a coffee much around a layout, at least one under construction, is that you will become the character in the old MR cartoon where the guys in the club all have a mug of coffee and another member yells out that the coffee pot is full of tie stain. As for an apron, well, it could come in handy if I worked on models while wearing nice clothes for some reason. I think I'd rahter the type that you pin up to the edge of the workbench to (hopefully) keep small parts from flying off to the great void.
But hey, obviously enough people asked for this stuff so they decided to sell it.
--Randy
Modeling the Reading Railroad in the 1950's
Visit my web site at www.readingeastpenn.com for construction updates, DCC Info, and more.
IRONROOSTER Wish I knew it was this easy 40 years ago. I wouldn't have wasted any time learning to build models, lay track, install couplers, build benchwork, wire the puppy up, etc. Paul
Ain't technology wonderful? And they're ready-to-wear outfits (RTW). 40 years ago, you'd have been given pile of fabric pieces and you'd have to sew them together yourself.
Andre
Ya gotta respect Cody for unashamedly "letting his geek flag fly", but has anybody else actually considered wearing an apron while working on model railroad projects?
I have the right to remain silent. By posting here I have given up that right and accept that anything I say can and will be used as evidence to critique me.
SHE makes me take my apron off when I leave the kitchen sink.
Charlie
When I was in shop class we were required to wear an apron. Now that I think about it, if someone tried to make me do that now, I would take home economics instead. I'm sure the school would have loved a lawsuit from parents whose child got pulled into the lathe by the apron.
My model railroad uniform consists of camo pants and a plaid button down. I do admit I'll wear a railroad company logo t shirt from time to time, and I'd probably wear a kalmbach t shirt. But certainly not a model railroader magazine shirt. Unless it was free.
I wouldn't be foolish enough to wear nice clothes while practicing my hobby. And no, I won't tell you how I got India ink on my nice work oxford.
T e d
Aprons have uses. I wear one when airbrushing (had the color cup fall off the airbrush once) and more importantly, when assembling models with little fiddly-bit parts that want to go astray. I fasten the bottom of the apron to the workbench so any parts that would otherwise fall to the floor land in the apron. I've learned it is helpful to remove the neck strap when you get up from the workbench.
However, the apron bears the very un-railroady logo of a specialty foods store, now closed, where my son worked as a bagger - his first job in high school.
George V.
Wow! You sure opened up Pandora's box!
Andre & Br. B: I'm glad I'm not the only one who treasures the memory of that dopey song.
Retsignalmtr: My dear Uncle Jim passed away quietly while fishing at his favorite spot. He was buried in the clothes he was wearing when he died, because his kids knew that's what he would want. Be careful when choosing your attire.
Randy: I'd use any coffee cup that can keep the coffee hot, no matter what logo. The hat doesn't matter.
Carl, Charlie, Ted & George: Is it possible Cody is only wearing that thing as an April Fools joke?
Ted & George: Over the years, I've decorated many a piece of clothing with various shades of Floquil; and on one memorable occasion in my teens I nailed an expensive table cloth. This did nothing to improve my standing in the family heirarchy.
Tom
Hope they sell this:
Just the thing for going out and about.
Jim
Everybody needs an apron when working with paint it gets messy. I did but didn't have one and got paint over my t-shirt and shorts.
Amtrak America, 1971-Present.
andrechapelon Got an ad from Kalmbach this AM anouncing that the company is now selling wearable gear. I don't know why, but the first thing that came to mind was the Smothers Brothers version of "Streets Of Laredo".
Got an ad from Kalmbach this AM anouncing that the company is now selling wearable gear. I don't know why, but the first thing that came to mind was the Smothers Brothers version of "Streets Of Laredo".
Smothers Brothers ... phooey. How about the real deal, Marty Robbins!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e4JiXtZ16KQ
He also sang another classic, El Paso
Anyway, I spend all my money on trains, there isn't anything left over for silly train cloths, heck, I'm going to have to stop buying trains long enough to afford decoders and stuff!
Rio Grande. The Action Road - Focus 1977-1983
Randy!
Thanks!! Now I know what's wrong with my coffee!!!
retsignalmtr
Getting buried in jeans and a T-shirt sounds good to me. I can't imagine spending eternity in a suit.
Dave
I'm just a dude with a bad back having a lot of fun with model trains, and finally building a layout!
Rio Grande:
Make mine "Big Iron".
ACY Make mine "Big Iron".
That's what SHE said, and the next thing I knew we were married!
Disclaimer: This post may contain humor, sarcasm, and/or flatulence.
Michael Mornard
Bringing the North Woods to South Dakota!
Had to go there, didn't you?
Folks who work in jewlery manufacture seem, by my observation anyway, to wear aprons at their work bench. As Randy points out these have the very useful feature of a fully functioning drop cloth that is clipped to the edge of the bench and is an extension of the apron and designed to catch fallen parts before they dissapear forever gone.
The apron offered for sale by our hosts seems to harken back to the old days of the cobbler - other trades as well, I guess. But that is what this apron reminds me of which is not such a bad thing to remember as it happens.
I am undecided what the practical value is of this piece of attire other than the chest high pocket in which to stash a pack of smokes & a lighter! A cellphone perhaps? Me? Well I just wear old clothes that the Mrs. Is too embarresed to be seen out with me wearing any more so their final days are spent aworking on the railroad "all the live long day".
The sartorialy challenged -
Dusty
angelob6660 Everybody needs an apron when working with paint it gets messy. I did but didn't have one and got paint over my t-shirt and shorts.
I simply go nude and hose off afterwards. Same as when I eat BBQ. Just as nature intended.
Have to be more careful when you're soldering though
NittanyLionI simply go nude and hose off afterwards. Same as when I eat BBQ. Just as nature intended. Have to be more careful when you're soldering though
I used to do decaling that way. But then one day the Exacto #11 rolled off the desk into my lap..........
Hey, guys, be nice! There's nothing geeky about wearing a shop apron. When I was a kid just out of high school, I worked for a couple years in the same plant where my dad worked for more than 40 years, the Waukesha Motor Company (Div'n of Dresser Industries), and both my brothers worked there, too, though they moved on shortly. My mom made all of Dad's shop aprons all those years---denim, mid-thigh length, with neck loop and ties long enough to pass around the waist so it tied in front---and she also made a couple for me. Dad worked in Shop One, where they prepared connecting rods and wrist pins (everything from little stuff for 4-cylinder starter motors to the 60 pount giants that went in the "Big Sixes" and V-12s [more than 7000ci!]) and went through them from time to time.
I got used to wearing them at work, in the stock department, keeping hardware flowing on the big assembly line---and found they were handy while working in my workshop and on the model RR. I found out the hard way that not wearing one while sitting at the workbench or painting was taking a chance. I had a pair of work pants with caboose and boxcar red on the right pants leg, over the thigh, and once in a while a blob of hot solder lit on the denim of my apron and not on my pants.
Sadly, I mislaid my Mom-Made aprons in one of my moves, so I was forced to buy one of the past-the-knee-length jobs from Micro-Mark. MM supplies some wide blue Nylon ribbons as ties, but I remembered my mom getting cotton ones by the yard in a fabric store, so that's what I did. Oh, I was very fortunate to get off without serious damage---before I bought my new apron---when the 3-jaw chuck of my micro-lathe unscrewed itself (the excess stock stuck out the back of the drive spindle and whipped around!), hit my 3-power magnifying bench lamp, and then my chest!! As I say, I was very lucky that all I got out of it was some superficial chest lacerations and a shedded hole in my T-shirt to show my manly chest!
I seldom work without it, and then only when I'm not producing metal filings or little spirals (from drilling) or sawing and filing dust from styrene. (That stuff clings to fabric like crazy.) The apron is also very handy for bending over the car fender or radiator while working under the hood of my old Dodge.
Deano
As in my post on this subject I don't wear any clothing that is RR related while engaged in my hobby activities. But one thing I don't do without are my safety glasses. Aprons protect clothing which can be easily replaced, but eyesight is not. Don't be without them, even if your eyesight is perfect. Those tiny little springs, chips from dremmel cutoff wheels, solvent based paint splatters, even exacto blades (stabbed my eyebrow) can do permanent damage.
My summer railfaning and open house garb is comfortable shorts,pocket t-shirt and a railroad cap or the club's cap during open houses.
I don't own a suit and have firm orders to bury me in Levis and pocket t-shirt.
Larry
Conductor.
Summerset Ry.
"Stay Alert, Don't get hurt Safety First!"
OT Dean Hey, guys, be nice! There's nothing geeky about wearing a shop apron. Deano
Hey, guys, be nice! There's nothing geeky about wearing a shop apron.
What you wear in your own home is everyones call. I've got plenty of old blue jeans and t-shirts or sweat shirts that I don't mind if they get dirty, paint, or what have you. When I'm working on the hobby, I don't wear nice cloths that need protecting - I just change into old cloths and out later. Plus, I'm on a budget so buying a funky apron from a MRR company is an unneccessary expense - especially while my daughter is in college. Trains, I still afford them but I have to pace myself and spread those things out over time.
The live cowboy was a better cowboy than the dead cowboy........
"The true sign of intelligence is not knowledge but imagination."-Albert Einstein
http://gearedsteam.blogspot.com/
You're probably also one of the very few people left in the world who understand why you're better off yelling "FIRE" if you fall into a vat of chocolate.
Or know of the delicacy called pancakes boiled in cabbage juice and that that was the day to day fare of rail workers building railroads across deep crevasses. (gotta get the rail relevance in before one of the moderators gives me a 15 yard penalty for posting drivel).
andrechapelonOr know of the delicacy called pancakes boiled in cabbage juice and that that was the day to day fare of rail workers building railroads Andre
Ewe!!!! Pancakes in cabbage juice?
While we are posting drivil, my grandfather used to tell a story about what the cooks used to do who worked on railway gangs in the olden days. Back then, the man in the railway gang who complained the most about the food had to become the cook! Naturally whoever was the cook was trying to get out of the job so he would do things to the food to try to make someone complain. So the current cook dumped a huge amount of salt in the beans that day. One of the crew eating dinner took his first bite and exclaimed:
"My! These beans are salty!!!" and quickly followed up with: "but just the way I like 'em!!!"
Cheers
"La Lee Doo Dum, La Lee Do Dum Day".
"Boil that cabbage down, boys, turn them ho' cakes 'round. The only song I ever did sing....."
RioGrande: The arcane time-tested art of chef selection for crews of gandy dancers was best explained by Bruce "Utah" Phillips in his memorable monologue "Moose T**d Pie", from his album "Good Though!" I have it on vinyl someplace, but can't find it at the moment. It was Philo #1004 (1973).
Recommended listening while you are building RR models (in whatever attire) Utah Phillips "Daddy, What's A Train?", "Tolono", "Rock Me To Sleep", "I Remember Loving You", "The Wind Blows Cold in Wyoming (Ol' Buddy, Goodnight)", "Starlight on the Rails" etc. All railroad and/or hobo themes.