We had a cat, but it finally passed. He was part Maine Coon, big, friendly, never really bothered anything and was totally uninterested in the layout or the trains. The only times he ever jumped up on anything, it was to be with somebody when they were sitting or sleeping. He was a good kitty.
Our two dogs don't bother the trains either. They are good for our kids.
When the dogs pass, I doubt that we'll have another pet.
- Douglas
My first cat Chessie used to love to watch the trains in the basement.
When I first adopted him, I had the Lionel going around the floor of my living room. He used to follow it around the room. When it went behind the couch, he would run around to the other end and wait for it.
Kevin
http://chatanuga.org/RailPage.html
http://chatanuga.org/WLMR.html
How sweet!
Well... As I said, we do not have any pets.
.
However, my wife loves to "pose" little scenes like this with anything that is not glued down. Do any other spouses exhibit cat-like tampering with the model railroad stuff?
-Kevin
Living the dream.
7j43k Dogs are kinda extroverted and highly social. Cats less so. Model railroaders less so. Ed
Dogs are kinda extroverted and highly social.
Cats less so.
Model railroaders less so.
Ed
Funny stuff Ed. You're right and you got a point.
The thing is I've been a dog man all my life. I grew up with dogs and like dogs better then cats. Honesty I'm smart enough to know I enjoy the easy way out.
If dog lovers were honest they probably would'nt admit this even if they knew about it in the first place. I hate to even say this being a dog lover.
Dogs are submissive. They will submit to pack leader. In most cases is the owner of the dog. (Master).... Dogs will do whatever they can to earn your affection and once they do will keep doing it just to please you.
Sounds good to me that's why I'm a Dog man!
Cats on the other hand are smarter than a dog. A Cat will make you earn their affection. And once you submit, a cat will be a loyal pet to you for the rest of their life.
Anyway Broadway Lion is back and the Forum is somewhat balanced again.
You guys figure this out.
Track Fiddler
We had a great dog named Jake. Got him from the Barrie, Ontario Humane Society. We taught him to walk beside us without a leash, and we were able to get him to stop barking at everything that went by the front of the house, especially kids. Unfortunately he died young due to complications from canine epilepsy. I would love to have him back!
My greatest complaint was having to clean up his poop, especially in the fall when the lawn was covered with leaves. I have said many times that I'm going to invent a dog food that makes their poop glow in the dark! At least the stuff would be easy to see!!
We won't have another pet. We are both too 'backward' (as in having bad backs) to be able to give another pooch proper exercise.
Speaking of pets, my favourite was a turtle named "Wise Eyes". We used to let him out of his tank when we were in the rec room so he could get some exercise. He was very affectionate! That's not something that most people would associate with turtles. When he was out on his romps around the rec room he would find his way to my outstretched legs (I was reclining) and he would crawl all the way up to my shoulder and then sit there for as long as I let him. I could feel his breath in my ear. This turtle was about eight inches long so he wasn't exactly tiny when sitting on my shoulder. I have no idea what so ever about a turtle's ability to bond, but this guy certainly seemed to do so.
The problem with turtles is the same as the problem with dogs (and cats). They poop! Keeping Wise Eyes' tank clean was a twice weekly chore which I really didn't enjoy. And, the stuff was foul! At least when you are in the back yard cleaning up after Skippy there is usually a breeze to help things along. Not so in the rec room! Whenever I started to clean the tank there was an immediate exodus from the area! Not "Can I help Dad?" Instead I was regularly assailed with comments like " That's gross" or "How can you stand that smell?" Well, somebody has to do it!
I firmly believe that cleaning turtle tanks is one of those things that builds character! I wish we hadn't let him go.
Dave
I'm just a dude with a bad back having a lot of fun with model trains, and finally building a layout!
I can think of at least six of my fellow club members without cats... myself included. However, all but two of us have dogs!
Dave. I can relate to having a great water pet. Wise Eyes the turtle sounded cool. We had a pet Indo- Pacific Red Crab. We got him when he was the size of a half dollar and had him until he was the size of a football.
My hobby before model railroading was saltwater Aquatics. At one time I had five aquariums to take care of. Our favorite was the small Corner tank by the kitchen table that housed our red crab.
Never a dull moment at the kitchen table. He would do goofy stuff and tricks to get our attention. He would tap on the glass with his claw and stand up on one Tippy toe when he wanted to be fed. I would feed him by hand. The size he was if he ever grabbed my finger it could have been very serious. I was not afraid and he never did. You know the saying don't bite the hand that feeds you.
The hardest thing was when he grew we would have to go out and find him a new shell. We learned to bring home two at a time because he was very finicky. He would try them on like a shoe, this was funny to watch. My neighbor friends liked to come over and watch this. He would try them on and then go back to his old Shell and come up to the glass and look at you like nope and we would have to go look for More shells.He got two big. This shell hunting became a real chore.
We finally decided to bring him back to the aquarium store. I made Mike at the fish store promised he would screen his customers and make sure no one was buying him for dinner.
It's funny how you can really miss a crab but we did.
Back to subject does anyone have a story of a cat getting into the layout room and creating havoc.
Regards
Our cat, Mikey with one eye, is a rescued animal having been found in a WalMart parking lot in a box as a confused kitten. Since he is banned from the basement and its big railroad, he gets down there as often as he can. Since I blew the diesel horn when he was tip-toeing through the Cheyenne yard, he stays off. But sometimes he jumps up into the space between the storage shelf and the layout: a 10" locale full of wiring. Removal is sort of like disarming a WWII bomb (given the rr is almost that old and the wiring a tangle that even i no longer understand). I was better off when he just tip toed through Cheyenne!
Xenia, Empress of all she surveys, is only destructive periodically. Normally she just sleeps in her corner of the layout, or watches as things roll by. Once and a while we get more determined action:https://vimeo.com/198049605