The thought accured to me today. I was thinking of all the Model Railroaders I've known over the years. Every single one of them has/had Cats.
Strange right ?
Sure,there's been some with both Cats & Dogs . Predominantly Cats though.
Is there a connection between Model Railroaders and Cats ?
We have five...and two dogs.
Cats are taking over the world ! Brilliant design though.
Fear an Ignorant Man more than a Lion- Turkish proverb
Modeling an ficticious HO scale intergrated Scrap Yard & Steel Mill Melt Shop.
Southland Industrial Railway or S.I.R for short. Enterchanging with Norfolk Southern.
Dogs are kinda extroverted and highly social.
Cats less so.
Model railroaders less so.
Ed
I have a cat.
Maybe there is something to it maybe not.
My family has a hard time when I go to the RR club because the guys love to talk trains like me. (I'm the only train "nut" although I prefer enthusiast in my family and I don't go to the club alone because 1 I have no drivers license, 2 they meet pretty late on Tuesdays (7pm), and it's in Midtown Baton Rouge.)
My point is we model railroaders are a unique bunch.
Steve
If everything seems under control, you're not going fast enough!
No cats in my house! No cats in my yard either!! If they are stupid enough to wander into our backyard hoping to pick off one of the birds at our feeders they will get a glass of cold water thrown vigorously in their direction, or maybe a dried chick pea from the slingshot that we normally use to discourage the black birds and the squirrels.
Yesterday when I stepped out the front door one of the neighborhood cats was walking up our driveway headed no doubt for the bird feeders in the backyard. It was so intent on the hunt that it didn't see me at first, but when it did finally realize that I was there it took off like a scalded...yes, you guessed it, cat. I felt a certain sense of accomplishment having seen proof that the local cats fear us! Fortunately, or perhaps unfortunately depending on your perspective, it didn't get hit by a car as it scrambled across the road to get away from me.
I can just see the hate mail coming from the many cat lovers on the forums. Let me remind said cat lovers that we only use cold water, and the chick peas barely register on those rare occassions when we do manage to hit something with them. The squirrels don't even flinch anymore!
Please keep your cats indoors!!
Dave
I'm just a dude with a bad back having a lot of fun with model trains, and finally building a layout!
No cats! And the cat will not come back the very next day, either!
Wayne
I don´t think that model railroaders are neither less social nor pronounced cat lovers. IMHO, model railroaders come from all walks of life and are certainly not a special or unique bunch.
I have a dog and just tolerate my daughter's cat.
Larry
Conductor.
Summerset Ry.
"Stay Alert, Don't get hurt Safety First!"
Cats are a waste of fur. Dogs are much more social.
Lackawanna Route of the Phoebe Snow
Well, I'm not a pet person at all by my own choices. I don't mind cats, my wife has had a few and just got a new one.
Dogs, well I never saw the attraction there. The last thing I want after raising 6 kids is to be responsable for any animal, especially one I have to "walk" every day.
I have plenty of successful relationships with people, I don't want to be the "pack leader". And having a dog inside my house would be a BIG non starter.......
So agreed, there is nothing about model railroaders that makes them one type of pet person or another.
Sheldon
We stopped having cats when my son got married as his wife is allergic to them. Before that we had cats and dogs for many years. Now just the dogs.
I also don't think there's any connection between pets and model railroading.
OTOH if you live alone, studies have shown health benefits from having a pet.
Paul
hon30critterkeep your cats indoors!!
Russell
There was a hobby shop in town for a long time that had cats - in the shop! I was quite surprised how well behaved they were - just hung out on the counter mostly. But I agree with the OP - seems model railroaders tend to have more cats than the population at large. Either that or we are attracted to mates who like cats. I've got two cats myself - one is on my lap right now.
- Kevin
Check out my shapeways creations! HOn3 and railroad items for 3D printing:
https://www.shapeways.com/shops/kevin-s-model-train-detail-parts
No cats here, never will be.
Mike.
My You Tube
Only a dog here. I cannot see the attraction of Cat but thats just me
Joe Staten Island West
One dog, a Golden Retriever, and one cat.
Ricky W.
HO scale Proto-freelancer.
My Railroad rules:
1: It's my railroad, my rules.
2: It's for having fun and enjoyment.
3: Any objections, consult above rules.
No pets here, daughter will bring her dog when they visit, its a labradoodle (a pony that barks) not sure we will ever have another pet.
I have seven cats. Only one is allowed in the basement (train room) unsupervised. I also have insulated shelters outside to protect the neighborhood cats (all TNR's) who happen to show up.
No rats, though.
Just be glad you don't have to press "2" for English.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zQ_ALEdDUB8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6hqFS1GZL4s
http://s73.photobucket.com/user/steemtrayn/media/MovingcoalontheDCM.mp4.html?sort=3&o=27
At one time the monthly cartoon in MR was part of a series about a model railroader's cat named, if memory serves, "Norman." It was I thought a weak Garfield clone and even by the rather low standards of MR cartoons, caused few laughs, at least for me.
The earliest "gag" photo I can recall of a cat strolling on someone's layout was early 1950s, not in MR but in its "sister" publication, Model Trains, of blessed memory (a cynic could argue that today's MR actually is Model Trains reincarnated, but let's leave that snark-fest for another day).
And cats have been the subject of almost as many threads on these Forums as the much-chewed-over "hobby is expensive/nobody builds anymore/gee I miss Athearn blue box" topics.
I am fortunate that my old cat Max has never once jumped up on the layout, or on either of my two workbenches, or my slide-organizing table, or in any other way disturbed or even shown interest in my model trains or railroadiana. Nor has he ever once jumped up on a kitchen counter or the dining room table. His first owner must have been an exceptional disciplinarian and cat trainer. The oddest thing of all is if I do want to distract Max and get him to leave the basement, the best way is to go upstairs and put an opera recording on. He will sit transfixed in front of the speakers. There is a "... until the fat lady sings" joke in there somewhere; I'm working on it.
I cannot say the same about Max's predecessor cats however, although none was truly destructive in the ways some guys have described. When the time comes to replace Max with the next cat I am going to have to re-learn some of the precautions I used to instinctively know how to take to make layout and workbench relatively cat-proof.
I will say this for dogs over cats. When you have botched a paint or decal job, or a scratchbuilt structure or piece of rolling stock has not turned out the way you dreamed, or you accidentally drop a model and harm it or destroy it, or spill glue or paint on the pages of MR or a Morning Sun book ... it could be comforting to say the heck with it all, sit down in a chair and have a faithful dog to share your misery with, with mournful eyes and wagging tail. A cat just sneers knowingly, or licks itself in an unseemly way.
For me the real animal opponent to model railroading is the spider, not that it causes actual damage, but because their webs provide irrefutable evidence that I am not making as much progress as I'd like to. The spiders are mocking me.
Dave Nelson
One dog, no cats ever. Health benefit of taking at least one walk daily.
Second benefit, know all dog owners within a kilometer of home.
It seems model railroaders with cats have a death wish for their layouts, from some members relating stories of cats destroying layouts after sneaking in the layout room, the very last thing I could imagine after years of construction would be to introduce a feline godzilla into any area even close to a model railroad, good luck out there tabby.
davidmurray One dog, no cats ever. Health benefit of taking at least one walk daily. Second benefit, know all dog owners within a kilometer of home. Dave
The walk is much nicer without the leash or the plastic bag.........
The second would assume you want to know any more people........
Remember, I'm not voting for dogs or cats.
We love animals and currently have 3 cats (strictly indoors cats). Our yellow lab died a few years ago. It is definitely a challenge to do model railroading with cats around! When my son moved out, I took over his old bedroom to make it my train room with a door I can keep closed. When I work on my trains, I leave the door open as long as I am in the room and allow the cats to wander in. As long as they behave I enjoy their company. But I have to make sure I don't turn my back on them, because they like to jump up onto the layout. A previous cat used to like to chew on my telephone poles. BTW, I fit the stereotype of a lone-wolf introverted cat-lover. I'm ok with that!
Bubbytrains
tatans It seems model railroaders with cats have a death wish for their layouts, from some members relating stories of cats destroying layouts after sneaking in the layout room, the very last thing I could imagine after years of construction would be to introduce a feline godzilla into any area even close to a model railroad, good luck out there tabby.
My last layout with a cat was 50" high. Cat never bothered it. I think it helped that there were no intermediate flat surfaces to be used as steps. She did, however often sleep in my chair under the layout.
Pauk
ATLANTIC CENTRALThe walk is much nicer without the leash or the plastic bag.........
I guess you wouldn't want my rescue coonhound with inflammatory bowel disease. I wouldn't give him up anyway. He is the most walked dog in the neighorhood.
Dogs have owners, cats have staff.
Henry
COB Potomac & Northern
Shenandoah Valley
My cats would consider a model train as "prey".
My cat hops up in my lap when I watch TV, and runs to greet me at the door, and never barks at the mail man. When they come up with a dog that is litter trained and can be left alone for three days at a time, I will consider one.
In 36 years of marriage, we've had 7 cats, 3 dogs. Most of them I considered a pain to some degree, 2 (one dog, one cat) to an extreme degree. Our current cat is and will be our last. None go in the layout room which is detached from the house. Dan
BigDaddy ATLANTIC CENTRAL The walk is much nicer without the leash or the plastic bag......... I guess you wouldn't want my rescue coonhound with inflammatory bowel disease. I wouldn't give him up anyway. He is the most walked dog in the neighorhood. Dogs have owners, cats have staff.
ATLANTIC CENTRAL The walk is much nicer without the leash or the plastic bag.........
And again, I don't want to be an owner or the staff. But forced to choose, being the staff is much easier. I find it interesting that pet owners have a real hard time with people who are indifferent to pets.
All three of our girls had cats at one time or another growing up. All of them have cats today. None of these cats ever did substantial damage to the trains.
.
No that our youngest has moved out, I doubt there will ever be another pet in the house.
-Kevin
Living the dream.
I own over ten cats but they're all wild and live outside which is a good thing because I'm allergic to them... I also own a couple of dogs, one inside and one outside. The one inside is very anti-social and doesn't care to be petted or messed with while the one outside is a little power house full of energy that just enjoys running, jumping and enjoying life.
Cats are so much better than dogs. (She told me to say that)
The smallest adult cat is bigger than the smallest adult dog.
The biggest adult cat is hundreds of pounds bigger than the bigest adult dog.
Cats have musclelacture that is greater than a comparably sized dog.
A Dog will look up to you, a cat will look down on you, and a pig will look at you like an equal.
Go CATS!
Arguements taken here!
ROAR
The Route of the Broadway Lion The Largest Subway Layout in North Dakota.
Here there be cats. LIONS with CAMERAS