The joys of pets and model railroading.

[Anonymous]

Well, one of my cats finally did it to me. Prior to today, I have always read with interest the problems others have with cats on the layout. I have 2 cats, neither of which has ever gone on the layout in over 2 years I've had it up. Extremely well behaved, or so I thought.

Today, the worst (well almost, anyhow) happened. And I guess, they still haven't gone on the "layout", per se. One of my cats knocked my Rivarossi Challenger off its' display on the top of my desk! (Like I said, could have been worse, could have been my Trix Big Boy).

Now I have lots of spare parts. The engine is pretty much junk. Broken cab roof, broke off detail parts, broken rear drivers, bent motor shaft, broken trailing truck and other damage too numerous to list. D*** cat is lucky he's alive. And, no, I don't hit my animals, but he got a real tongue lashing. He won't be out from under the bed in quite awhile.

I have no idea why he went up there, he's never been on my desk before, so I guess I have to revise my desk display. I was thinking of modeling a wreck on my next layout, now I have a spectacular one to work with.

Anyhow, even if you have the "best behaved" cats, be aware, they are never goof proof. Now I'll keep my train room door closed when I'm not in there.

[Anonymous]

Ouch! That has to suck! But you're right, atleast it wasn't your Trix Big Boy [:D]

(Although that thing should be able to take a beating, it's all diecast!)

[JeremyB]

my layout is in the side bedroom so im luck enough that i can just keep the door shut

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by up_santafe

...Now I'll keep my train room door closed when I'm not in there.

I can imagine the sick feeling you got seeing the loco laying on the floor in pieces. One of my feline friends got her self trapped in the storage room where I was keeping a turntable kit I was building. Later I found my turntable upside down on the floor and the Diamond Scale arch was broken beyond repair. Of course this happened after Diamond Scale went out of business and it took a long time to find a replacement. That taught me to never leave the door open even if I'm in the room. I keep the door locked at all times and no one else has access.

If other people are in and out of the layout room, you might want to install an automatic door closer (the kind that replace the hinge pin is easy to install).

[easyaces]

I heard on the news that Wisc. just passed a law to shoot cats! [:D] I own a small dog and she stays on the floor where she belongs, and fortunately she leaves the christmas layout alone under the tree! My condolences to the damages or destruction of the loco!

[ragnar]

Where'd you hear that Diamond Scale went out of business,It was sold but is still quite alive and doing business in Phoenix Arizona.

[GMTRacing]

The cat was probably looking for a caboose to kidnap. The stairs that abut my layout are (were) open and the cat i share the basement with would sit for hours watching, never a move towards the layout until last week when it knocked my 080 switcher off along with the cars it was pulling. At least it knocked them onto the layout and not to the floor. I'm in the middle of moving the table within the room, but you can't cat proof anything 100% those suckers can be clever. Sorry you lost your loco.[banghead]
wrong me once shame on you, wrong me twice shame on me

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by ragnar

Where'd you hear that Diamond Scale went out of business,It was sold but is still quite alive and doing business in Phoenix Arizona.

It was quite a while ago, maybe 1997 or 98. At that time the only info I had about D.S. was Walthers discontinued their products and word at various hobby shops was it went under. When I found a replacement arch from Jays Trains, there was no more Diamond Scale products being made or info on who had bought them. By the time I finished my Heljan turntable, Diamond Scale had a web site up. I would have prefered one of their turntables, but I put a lot of work in the one I have to make it look as good.

[Anonymous]

too bad, Stillgot the challanger because I could use it .

[mustanggt]

I'm okay, my cats hate the garage.

[Anonymous]

OUCH! I'd probably have to kill that cat. Good thing I don't have pets that can access my trains.

[Virginian]

My dogs keep me company and make it interesting when I drop a small part. The good part is they will help me find it. The bad news is they might eat it.

[twhite]

I must be one lucky fellow--I've got two Maine Coon cats, one of whom is the Infamous Spooky, and one Maine Coon/Traveling Salesman mix, and except for Spooky's predeliction for kidnapping cabeese (and holding them for ransom--Chicken of the Sea Tuna), I've never had a problem with them and trains. And most of my locomotives are on display in a room they have easy access to. I think model railroading bores the heck out of the other two, and even if I'm at the kitchen table working on a locomotive or putting together a kit, Spooky will just sit there and watch me. Maybe I just lucked out, but when I hear these other horror stories about pets and trains, I begin to wonder--are these pets just there to take up space, in which case they're probably looking for attention of ANY kind, or are they really there for companionship? Might think about that one, people.
Tom
Tom [:)]

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by Virginian

My dogs keep me company and make it interesting when I drop a small part. The good part is they will help me find it. The bad news is they might eat it.

LOL! That reminds me of an incident that happened many years ago when my cat was still a small kitten. He got up on the workbench and ate a brakewheel right off a HO covered hopper I was building...it was just press-fit temporarily and hadn't been glued on yet.

Since I didn't have any spares of that particular style brake wheel, I had to wait a couple of days until it made it "to the end of the line", but was able to recover it out of the litterbox and after a good sanitizing, attached it back on the car, surprisingly enough none the worse for wear.[:D]

[sparkingbolt]

My cat problems have been few, . But the dog, (my wifes, I might add) the one I least expected to make MRR trouble, discovered she has an appetite for hand made caspia-n-balsa pine trees with ground foam folliage. I had a box with about 6 or 8 nice trees on the floor. She processed them into pulp of the sort nobody has a use for!

She has also recycled a few model car wheels and tires too. Dan

[Anonymous]

I have 3 cats (one is too old and too fat to jump on my layout) but the other two love to chase my train around the track and bat at it mercilessly. Luckily they bat them to the inside of the layout. And since I'm still tinkering and changing up my layout, their tiny little brains are stimulated by new things to watch. So in short, I love my old cat [:P]

Fittingly, the cats who are menacing my layout are named Sid and Nancy.

[red p]

My wife has 3 of them.The only problem we have had was that they jump up on top on the bookcase and knock stuff over.But they can only get up from one side.
So I told my wife I was going to the plant shop and buy a cactus and set up there!

[Anonymous]

I've not got a cat, but I've observed their behaviour for long enough (neighbours have some that frequently appear during the day wanting attention - hard to avoid stroking something that purrs like a chainsaw!). I think they generally chase models because to them it looks like something small and furry - a mouse, for example. The solution? Go to G scale - they will usually run a mile rather than attack something that's not much smaller than they are!

Having said that, this might not work on Tom's Maine Coons...[:)]

[Anonymous]

Well, just to update everyone on the wreck of Challenger 3985. I have spent the entire day, so far, repairing the damage done to my Loco after its fall to the floor.

I found most of the broken off detail parts and have reinstalled them. Still haven't found the broken piece of cab roof, engineer side under cab piping and a few other items. I was able to straighten the bent driveshaft (plastic) and repaired the gearbox top cover. How long it will last is anyone's guess. The engine does still run, however, though not as smoothly as it used to.

I've straightened the bent side rods and reset the driver timing. All in all, with lots of weathering, it probably won't look too terrible.

I just hope I find the remaining missing pieces. At least the cat hasn't been in the room since.