John Allen had his "organic switcher," and we've all seen model spiders, dinosaurs and aliens attacking layouts, so what have you done on your pike that is an inside joke or gag to keep the hobby light and fun?
On my layout I intend to have a few of my own. I got a near-HO scale Batmoblie when I was a kid, and I think I'm going to have it stuck in a traffic jam on the urban part of the layout. That goes back to a comment a friend made after we saw the last batman movie about how Gotham City must have amazingly good public transit for the streets to always be so clear for Batman's high speed chases.
Also as I talked about in another thread, I'm putting in an engine rebuilder on the layout, which visitors can peek through the windows and doors of to see inside. There I'm going to have old Tyco locomotives having their pancake motors removed and replaced with flywheels and five-pole motors, as well as their horn-hook couplers sitting beside them as knuckle couplers are added.
Finally I'm also going to add in my local coffee shop that I go to almost daily, with me and my friends that have helped me in model railroading, sitting in the window seat having some tea.
Cheers!
~METRO
I have a Mach 5 (from Speed Racer) that will be around town.
I like the idea of these sorts of things, so will add them as I think of them.
The stations on the Tomikawa Tani Tetsudo were originally given the surnames of several serious ex-girlfriends (since changed as a matter of self-preservation.)
The logging line out of Tomikawa has my wife's maiden name - her family ran a logging business in Tokushima-ken, Shikoku. The line's two main stations (which may or may not get modeled) are named for our children.
The JNR Nichigeki-sen is named for Tokyo's answer to the Folies Bergiere, and the stations are named after 1960s feature performers. (Known to my wife - no serious objections.)
Of course, modeling Japanese prototype in an oddball scale in the United States is the biggest joke of all.
Chuck (modeling Central Japan in September, 1964)
On the old version of my layout I had one of the Preiser nudists talking to a Preiser cop.
I've got the Preiser Grim Reaper but haven't decide what to do with her yet.
I also have the Pope but haven't scratchbuilt his pointy hat yet.
Craig
DMW
My mid-60s NYC themed layout (June, 1967) between Dayton and Springfield Ohio has the Jeff Gordon 2007 Nextel Cup car he drove in 2007 year very visible in downtown Dayton. Every other automobile, and truck is in keeping with the theme of the layout as are all the rolling stock and motive power. But hey, its my layout so the 2007 chevrolet(sort of) stays At least it was easy making those head and tail light decals look like head and tail light decals.
Paul
Dayton and Mad River Railroad
A number of businesses in town are named for my daughter's friends, like Suzanne's House of Beef and Madame Adrienne's fortune telling parlor. I've printed up decals for second-story windows on DPM buildings - Katie's School of Dance and Max's School of Rock share a second story with Dave Kelly, Attorney at Law (and MR forum member.) They're upstairs from the House of Haggis Scottish restaurant. Dewey, Cheatham and Howe are down the street, along with the R Crumb Trucking Company.
I've also got Preiser figures for the Grim Reaper, who moves around for silly photos you may have seen here. Once the water is in, there will be a mermaid on the rocks, too.
The Jack Frost Ski Shop is named for my in-laws' business at Sunday River in Maine. I photographed their signs and shop windows, and used them to detail an old Plasticville building.
I'm also planning to rename Beasley Street to Lonely Street as I start detail work on the Heartbreak Hotel.
It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.
Dallas Model Works wrote: On the old version of my layout I had one of the Preiser nudists talking to a Preiser cop.I've got the Preiser Grim Reaper but haven't decide what to do with her yet. I also have the Pope but haven't scratchbuilt his pointy hat yet.
LOL
This is probably VERY inside humor, but I'm planning a town on the new layout that will be called Lake Hammond. Unless you're a fan of public radio jazz programs you won't get it.
Well, my home layout is nonexistant at this point, but at the club layout...
I've got a building with a guy in a seated position on the pot.
There's a phone booth painted up as the TARDIS from Doctor Who...and it "travels" around the layout at random.
One of our members is working on a hotel...with two separate light circuits. One for "family" viewers, and one for adult viewers. And the interior scenes lit by each will be appropriate for each.
In one building, if you look carefully, Boss Hogg is having coffee and talking to Race Bannon.
Silly, yes...but you can't take yourself too seriously. My motto is: If you can't laugh at yourself, everyone else will do it for you.
Robert Beaty
The Laughing Hippie
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The CF-7...a waste of a perfectly good F-unit!
Then it comes to be that the soothing light at the
end of your tunnel, Was just a freight train coming
your way. -Metallica, No Leaf Clover
There will be some more scenes like this because they are fun. Check the right corner of the building:
Terry
Terry in NW Wisconsin
Queenbogey715 is my Youtube channel
Well, so far there is the name of my railroad - the Port Able and Pacific.
BTW no, it isn't!
-George
"And the sons of Pullman porters and the sons of engineers ride their father's magic carpet made of steel..."
Onthe club layout I used to belong to, there used to be two giant green martians that roamed the city of Boston...... I'm not sure who placed them there.
My home layout doesn't have anything I can see as really "funny" yet, the scene would have to be realistic for me to include it.
Although I have no layout set up yet, here are some ideas I wanted for my layout:
1. I wanted to paint up some figures to look like videogame characters. Seriously, how many people have a figure of Mario on their layout?
2. I also want a grim reaper roaming around too. Would make an interesting scene.
3. Okay, so I haven't decided on a third one...
I have a Penn Central engine that's clean and runs! HAHAHAHA!
But seriously folks, It's not on my current layout (yet) but I have a factory for Einbinder Flypaper, (The brand you've gradually grown to trust over three generations) which was "sponsor" of the old Bob and Ray Radio Program... I also have a warehouse for Acme Bird Feed... "Beep Beep!" (also purveyors of such novelties as Rocket Powered Roller Skates, giant sling shots, and high-powered magnets)
It's been a few years, but a popular feature on club layouts a few years ago was the Presidential Motorcade parked outside the "No Tell Motel"...
Lee
Route of the Alpha Jets www.wmrywesternlines.net
A small town on my layout is named "East Minister" - that's an inside joke to Marylanders. Many of us have a habit of referring to the town of Westminster* as "West-minister".
* a great railfanning location for the WM while it still existed
-Ken in Maryland (B&O modeler, former CSX modeler)
On my n-scale layout, I've used place names and signs to add humor: the Tena Sea, for instance. The Rocky Top Coal Company has it's "No. 1 Mine". Even the limited amount of graffiti is custom-made [see photo].
Look closely. It spells out "Kenfolk".
wm3798 wrote: It's been a few years, but a popular feature on club layouts a few years ago was the Presidential Motorcade parked outside the "No Tell Motel"... Lee
change that to governor and it is true to life modeling in New York.
When I get to that point, there will be a "Lars Thorwald, Butcher" shop in town. Lars Thorwald was the character played by Raymond Burr in the movie "Rear Window."
Tom
Life is simple - eat, drink, play with trains!
Go Big Red!
PA&ERR "If you think you are doing something stupid, you're probably right!"
Folks:
The trouble with an in-joke thread is that a genuine in-joke is not usually transmissible. My railroad always has an eatery known as "Mudd's Dinor", a prime hangout for the youth gang known as "The Gang" (long story), but these just make no sense if you don't know the history, and once you do,the joke is ruined. :(
And some jokes are just goofy, with nothing more comprehensible to insiders. The Saracen warriors who were buying pop from the machine outside the last version of Mudd's were just out-of-place anachronisms, nothing more.
The towns of "Wattsburg" and "Johnson Furnace" are more comprehensible gags. They are in the table corners nearest the electrical panel and forced-air heating unit.
One of the trackside industries on my layout, the Notyme & Munee RR, will be a distribution warehouse for Jim's Discount Hockey Supplies ("Jim is a real cheap skate").
Jim
"I am lapidary but not eristic when I use big words." - William F. Buckley
I haven't been sleeping. I'm afraid I'll dream I'm in a coma and then wake up unconscious. -Stephen Wright
AltoonaRailroader wrote: Dallas Model Works wrote: On the old version of my layout I had one of the Preiser nudists talking to a Preiser cop.I've got the Preiser Grim Reaper but haven't decide what to do with her yet. I also have the Pope but haven't scratchbuilt his pointy hat yet.LOL
Hopefully, my wife won't read these boards.
I love the Lake Hammond refernce.
I have the family corn field where I learned to hunt, complete with the family and the pheasants.
I have models of all my drag race cars parked around my small town.
I have the Malachite Quarry as if someone liked gemstones more than copper.
The "Sublime to Redikulus" name was inspired by John Allen in the 60's
I have found the Lost Dutchman Mine and started mining(two competing mines to be accurate)
I have Yosemite Falls in Yellowstone Canyon.
The most rediculas is me, painting a picture of Yellowstone Falls from Uncle Tom's stairway.
Some will say my whole layout is a joke.
train18393 wrote: My mid-60s NYC themed layout (June, 1967) between Dayton and Springfield Ohio has the Jeff Gordon 2007 Nextel Cup car he drove in 2007 year very visible in downtown Dayton. Every other automobile, and truck is in keeping with the theme of the layout as are all the rolling stock and motive power. But hey, its my layout so the 2007 chevrolet(sort of) stays At least it was easy making those head and tail light decals look like head and tail light decals.PaulDayton and Mad River Railroad
I have serious concerns about the the 2007 24 car being in your 1967 based layout. My concerns are the "prototypical" kind of concerns, and am only doing this because I want you to become a better modeler. So my first question is:
- Is the 2007 Chevy the Car of Tomorrow or the Car of Yesterday?
Remembering that 2007 was about a 70/30 mix of old car / new car, we need to establish a timeframe you are modeling, (month, week, day) , from this information, we could conclude the closest tracks as being Indy, Pocono, Chicago, of these 3 tracks rans the car of tomorrow was not run at any of them, so I hope you have modeled using the car of yesterday.
"The true sign of intelligence is not knowledge but imagination."-Albert Einstein
http://gearedsteam.blogspot.com/
Geared Steam wrote: - Is the 2007 Chevy the Car of Tomorrow or the Car of Yesterday?
GS:
I am pretty sure that the "Car of Tomorrow" would have to have more fins, a bubble canopy, six wheels, some turbine intakes, and steering by joystick.
I like to have scenes that you look at and think, things are going to change in a moment. On my garden layout there is station platform with a number of people standing on it and a large black bear just about to come around the corner and into view. The dino on my On30 layout is at the bottom of a rapids in the river with canoers heading right for it. No way to exit.
Dave
Not on my layout, but I spotted these at a train show a couple weeks ago.
The only good Gag that Im familiar with is having to drop a blue box full of small parts that makes this collasping crunch of metal breaking when it hits the floor.
Best used when someone is on the throttle demonstrating total focus on coupling.
I dont recall where I got that idea from but if done right, the focusee would jump 5 feet.
I have the Spock's Wingnuts Factory - Bigger ears, better grip; The logical choice. Here's their boxcar:
And also, the Stave Brothers Cooperage (A cooper is a barrel maker):
Phil, I'm not a rocket scientist; they are my students.