Speaking of cats on the model railroad

[doctorwayne]

maxman

Everyone here in the East Central and North East should always have a couple cats in their car trunk.  They come in handy to throw under the drive wheels when the vehicle gets stuck in the snow.

 

Quite a few years ago, our kids wanted a kitten, which wasn't too much of a problem (I had no train layout at that time).  However, as the kitten turned into a cat, he became somewhat nasty, and took a particular disliking of me (he could probably read my mind). 
He used to sit on the dining room table and watch the chandelier glitter as the kids, directly upstairs, jumped around.  One day, he (unseen) leapt up onto the light fixture, separating it from the ceiling and (luckily) from its wire connection to the circuit.

After that, he was banished to the back-door mudroom.  Everytime I was outside in the driveway, he'd leap up to the small screened window (about a 4' leap...probably learned in his chandelier-hunting days) and howl at me while clinging to the screen.
Our kids were well-schooled about the proper treatment of animals, but the cat was becoming progressively more vicious towards them, to the point where we contacted one of my wife's uncles, who had a farm, asking if he would have use for a barn cat.  He readily agreed, as his last one had strayed onto the road, with the expected results.
A few days later, he dropped by to pick up the cat, which we had secured in a sturdy cardboard box.

When we went to visit him a couple of weeks later, we asked how the cat was doing.

In his rather heavy Dutch accent, he said,  "Ven I hopend da trunk uv da car, da ket comes outa da box like an rocket....I don't ever see him again!

 

Maybe the cows or the pigs took care of things, or maybe the cat's still eating the chickens.

I like dogs a lot better.

 

Wayne

[maxman]

Everyone here in the East Central and North East should always have a couple cats in their car trunk.  They come in handy to throw under the drive wheels when the vehicle gets stuck in the snow.

[NorthBrit]

One of the model railways I admire tremendously is   John Ahern''s Madder Valley Railway (built 1930s).

I have a picture of his cat sitting on River Madder bridge admiring the scene.  It is copyright, so cannot post.

 

David

[Enzoamps]

Signal was green, so...

[OldEngineman]

Nice video.

What I'd like to know is, "how did the cat get into the tunnel...?"

[Billwiz]

doctorwayne

No offense intended, but, in my opinion, those are two items that should never be in the same place. Wayne

Okay I have to "fess up".  When my cats were attacking Plasticville at Christmas, I would run one train, which they would watch intently.  Then, I'd run the second at full speed, slamming into the cat's butt.  It was hilarious.  I was a teenager.  

 

[gmpullman]

Cat? What cat?

Roundhouse_cat_sm by Edmund, on Flickr

Cheers, Ed

[NittanyLion]

My wife's cat Sgt Pepper and my cat Cheddar Cheese are barred from the train room mainly because Pepper is huge puff that I don't want to clean up after and Cheddar will eat everything.

Cheddar is entirely too brave and likes to "help." He'll steal screws and stuff. Not even afraid of the mitre saw. 

[doctorwayne]

jeffhergert

"Speaking of cats on the model railroad".

No offense intended, but, in my opinion, those are two items that should never be in the same place.

Wayne

[chatanuga]

My first cat Chessie used to get allowed down to the basement with me.  He would walk around and check things out on the floor before going up and settling down either on the stairs where he would watch me and the trains or up to the carpetted top of the stairs to curl up to sleep.  In the living room, I used to have my Lionel going around the outer edges of the room when he was a kitten.  He wouldn't attack the train but loved walking alongside it as it went around the room.  When it went behind the couch, he would run around to the other end to wait for it and then follow it around the room again.

Kevin

[ricktrains4824]

My cat Max was allowed into the layout room. 

I had a low plexiglass "catch fence" on the edges of my last layout, to prevent anything from tumbling off. It stuck up roughly 6" or so above the layout surface. (Installed when I knew we were getting Max. Only as I knew there is no "keep the cat off" that works 100% of the time.)

Max only tried to get on the layout once. He evidently could not see said plexi "catch fence" and instead of it catching any wayward railcars, it caught Max. He bounced off of it, landed back on the floor, and hurried out of the layout room before looking back with either a smug "I meant to do that" look, or a "What are you laughing at?!? I know it ain't me!" look on his face at me.

He proved that I was right about it working as a "catch fence"! 

[Pauley]

gmpullman

"Just checking for mice. All clear in here!"

Cheers, Ed

 

 

LOL!

 

We have only one rule in our house. Kitty is not allowed up into the choo choo room. 

Cats have proven that the world can't be flat. Otherwise they would have knocked everything off by now.

[SeeYou190]

gmpullman

"Just checking for mice. All clear in here!"

We have my daughter's cat with us right now... terrible cat.

However, she never touches anything. She only lets her feet touch the floor or chairs, or her pillow. If there is something on a chair, she will not go on it.

-Kevin

[Shock Control]

We do a fairly elaborate layout at the holidays, and every morning, there are always a couple of downed trees and telegraph poles. C'est la vie.

[gmpullman]

"Just checking for mice. All clear in here!"

Cheers, Ed

[Billwiz]

Growing up, my Catzilla would eat the people on the Christmas layout then go after the train. 

[jeffhergert]

My wife showed me this video.  She said, and I agree, that our late cat Tom would've done something like this.  If I had a tunnel on my model railroad, that is.

Paw-Don Me: Cat Squeezes Out of Model Train Tunnel - YouTube

Jeff