Big Mac Attack

[FJ and G]

OK, admit it. You like to eat at McDonalds. You like it so much that you've even purchased a McDonalds restaurant for your layout and possibly a McDonald's train.

Truth is stranger than fiction sometimes.

One of the distribution points for McDonald's in Northern Virginia is a plant in Manassas, where dozens of reefer cars full of frozen fries and burgers are offloaded by employees wearing white smocks, pushing to boxes on dollies. On the other side of the plant are those McDonalds colorful 18-wheelers you often see pulling up to the restaurants with more greasy food for the starving masses.

You might be able to airbrush a Tropicana reefer into one of these babies and set up a McD's distribution plant with trucks and then a McD restaurant at the other side of the layout for some prototype operation.

Just be sure to eat a happy meal and a big mac, fries and supersized shake while you're hard at work burning calories operating the mickee dee layout.

Photo shows the red McD flag in front of the distribution ctr with the white reefer in the background in front of the brick factory and last photo shows the white reefer up close. About 6 or so reefers can be handled at one time and other reefers are parked on an adjacent team track, not shown.

[FJ and G]

here's the team track...

[cnw1995]

The color picture at the top right is the new McDonalds that's about to reopen in downtown Chicago - replacing the original 'Rock and Roll' McDonalds - it's huge. The top left is the 'original' McDonalds in Des Plaines - it's still there as a sort of quasi-museum but doesn't serve food.

[dougdagrump]

If you do this on your layout don't foget a gaggle of lawyers filing lawsuits on behalf of clients who pigout then complain because they became obeise. [(-D]

[brianel027]

Well just count our blessings there's not a calorie count to our trains... most of us would be getting an ambulance ride to the Emergency Room. The Doctors would be in awe:
"Nurse, I've never seen anything like this!"
"What is it Doctor?"
"This man has a train count of over 3,000."
"Should we staple his stomach shut?"
"That won't work! We need to staple his wallet shut, but let's get our cut first before we proceed."
[:D]

Opps, there's another lawsuit coming: "MTH, Lionel Sue American Medical Association Against Controversial Proceedure."

[:D]

On a more serious note, some of those "Happy Meal" toys are perfectly suitable for making your own animated accessories out of, provided you are into that cartoonish kind of thing.

Being that I'm into the do-it-yourself, make-it-yourself kind of thing, I've always been fond of the old Burger King saying "HaVE iT yOUr WaY."

[8][:-^]

[wrmcclellan]

And make sure there is some extra hot coffee to spill on a customer to keep another pack of lawyers busy. You could use an MTH smoke unit to simulate the steam off the coffee pot!

[Anonymous]

Hello All: They started on there so-called healthy meals, Salads healthy things for Kids. Then they ran the game piece contest, but you had to order the biggie size combo to get a gamepiece from the fry container or the sodapop cup, so much for eating healthy. Steve[%-)]

[laz 57]

Don't eat at McDonalds much only once or twice a year. But did anyone see the Burger King breakfast sandwich? It has a whopping 780 calories for breakfast. That would do you till supper.
laz57

[ChiefEagles]

Since the bypass surgery, I have 98% [sometimes running late for apt and will stop at one] stayed away from "fastfood" places. Guess what? Helps keep the weight down and feel healthier. Pocketbook has more $$$$$. Problem with that is, I buy trains with the $$$$. [;)]

[Chris F]

A timely topic! This morning's paper had an article on McDonald's 50th anniversary tomorrow (4/15). Hamburgers were 15 cents and fries were a dime (that's $1.09 and 73 cents in 2005 dollars).

Last time I was there, the original McDonald's in DesPlaines was a "museum", but there was a modern version across the street that also had some memorabilia.

Hmmm...1955 is when Micky D's started, and also when Lionel train sales started to decline....something else to blame on fast food?[;)]

[palallin]

I won't admit it because it would be a lie: i spent 2 1/2 years working for McDonalds, and I try to avoid the place whenever possible. The only thing that would make it less likely that I would by an MTH accessory is that it have anything to do with McDonalds [:)] !