Trains.com

Subscriber & Member Login

Login, or register today to interact in our online community, comment on articles, receive our newsletter, manage your account online and more!

Gern

3433 views
32 replies
1 rating 2 rating 3 rating 4 rating 5 rating
  • Member since
    April 2005
  • From: West Australia
  • 2,217 posts
Posted by John Busby on Monday, February 24, 2020 5:43 AM

SeeYou190

On my layout, GERN Industries will not be represented with a factory of their owm, but there will be a few receivers of shipments originating from GERN. The GERN freight cars will be there, but no GERN plant or facility.

.

I do not have enough real estate to do GERN properly.

.

-Kevin

.

 

Hi SeeYou190

Well stick up a ridge with industreal security fence and gates company name on the gates with a big sign and gate house for employees to enter no tresspassing signs stand some tall chimneys up behind the ridge.

Make sure you can't see over the ridge from normal viewing angle so no one knows the facory is literally only the chimneys and a single siding job done.

But make sure you know exactly how long the siding is and what if anything is down there.

This is an old trick I saw once in Model Railroader in that instance it was used as a DoD property of some sort what was it "well thats clasified if I told you I would have to shoot you" but the same base idea can be adapted to represent other industries.

Just something to think about.

regards John

  • Member since
    January 2017
  • From: Southern Florida Gulf Coast
  • 18,255 posts
Posted by SeeYou190 on Friday, February 21, 2020 4:41 PM

On my layout, GERN Industries will not be represented with a factory of their owm, but there will be a few receivers of shipments originating from GERN. The GERN freight cars will be there, but no GERN plant or facility.

.

I do not have enough real estate to do GERN properly.

.

-Kevin

.

Living the dream.

  • Member since
    May 2010
  • From: SE. WI.
  • 8,253 posts
Posted by mbinsewi on Friday, February 21, 2020 2:56 PM

Great!  One of my many projects that are in the works, is detailing a couple of AHM's Flexi-Flow hoppers.

Plano makes an etched metal detail kit for them, complete with ladders, running boards, etc.  

When I finish these, (miracles DO happen) I'm going to apply for reporting marks.

Mike.

PS.  I forgot to post Dr. Wayne's quote Dunce

  • Member since
    December 2010
  • From: Portland, Oregon
  • 658 posts
Posted by Attuvian on Friday, February 21, 2020 12:20 PM

chutton01
 

We Await Silent Tristero's Empire... 

Indeed. Pynchon lives!

  • Member since
    December 2001
  • 3,139 posts
Posted by chutton01 on Friday, February 21, 2020 10:56 AM

Attuvian
I understand that the supposed purchase of GERN by Enron, and its attendant corporate collapse, will be found to have been an elaborate but unsurprising contrivance.  My late Uncle George informed me of this colossal ruse by a letter found in his desk after his untimely passing in 2017 under suspicious circumstances.  The entire enterprise appears to have arisen as a result of the excavation near Hell, Michigan of a sample of what was purported to be an extensive deposit of flux that was superior in all respects that that found under Lake Erie.  A hurried investment scheme was launched that captured hundreds of millions of "lazy" American and Canadian dollars and yielded the shuffling of the ownership of a number of ill-managed and unsuspecting corporations.  That newly-discovered material turned out to be an inferior grade of kevonite that did not phosphoresce under black light.  This largely unknown sham resulted not only in the shuttering of counterfeit GERN facilities, but initially tipped the feds into their Enron investigation.  The rest is, as my Army buddies say, histoire.

We Await Silent Tristero's Empire...

  • Member since
    January 2004
  • From: Canada, eh?
  • 13,375 posts
Posted by doctorwayne on Friday, February 21, 2020 10:41 AM

Thanks for your input, John.

GERN modellers can tailor GERN to their own needs, but I leave the rest to my brother, the creator of the concept (and also holder of the copyright for all GERN advertising material).

Use and enjoy it to suit your own preferences.

Wayne

  • Member since
    December 2010
  • From: Portland, Oregon
  • 658 posts
Posted by Attuvian on Friday, February 21, 2020 10:23 AM

chutton01
 ...until the late 1990s when it is acquired by a large, well known corporation...

Enron....

Oops.
After the Enron bankruptcy in 2001, GERN facilities around the land were shuttered in a similar fashion as the (real-world former) Garden State Paper plant in Garfield NJ....

My Friday was greeted by this temporarily unsettling news.  Only then did my wits kick in (they generally are rather delayed in the morning).  GERN certainly must remain as a viable and thriving concern.

I understand that the supposed purchase of GERN by Enron, and its attendant corporate collapse, will be found to have been an elaborate but unsurprising contrivance.  My late Uncle George informed me of this colossal ruse by a letter found in his desk after his untimely passing in 2017 under suspicious circumstances.  The entire enterprise appears to have arisen as a result of the excavation near Hell, Michigan of a sample of what was purported to be an extensive deposit of flux that was superior in all respects that that found under Lake Erie.  A hurried investment scheme was launched that captured hundreds of millions of "lazy" American and Canadian dollars and yielded the shuffling of the ownership of a number of ill-managed and unsuspecting corporations.  That newly-discovered material turned out to be an inferior grade of kevonite that did not phosphoresce under black light.  This largely unknown sham resulted not only in the shuttering of counterfeit GERN facilities, but initially tipped the feds into their Enron investigation.  The rest is, as my Army buddies say, histoire.

Sadly, I have lost Uncle George's letter.  But I have been to Hell on a number of occasions since childhood - and have pictures (somewhere) to prove it.

Wink

John

 

  • Member since
    February 2018
  • From: Flyover Country
  • 5,557 posts
Posted by York1 on Friday, February 21, 2020 10:04 AM

DoctorWayne, thanks for the fun stuff!

York1 John       

  • Member since
    January 2004
  • From: Canada, eh?
  • 13,375 posts
Posted by doctorwayne on Friday, February 21, 2020 9:47 AM

chutton01
What were the late 1990s GERN advertising slogans again...

Well, this one has been universal since GERN's creation....

...but depending on the particular product offered, can be something totally different.  Here are a couple examples...

Wayne

  • Member since
    December 2001
  • 3,139 posts
Posted by chutton01 on Friday, February 21, 2020 9:18 AM

doctorwayne
Of course, if you don't have enough room for a GERN factory, simply have it located "elsewhere".


Well, since its clear to me that eventually all members of this forum will succumb to the advancing juggernaut that is GERN, I have decided to proactively take measures ("Can't beat 'em? Join 'em!"):
My (not quite finished) free-mo PDT modules are set in the late 2010s, and in this timeline GERN follows the same path as in Dr Wayne's timeline, expanding near every fiscal quarter...until the late 1990s when it is acquired by a large, well known corporation...

Enron....

Oops.
After the Enron bankruptcy in 2001, GERN facilities around the land were shuttered in a similar fashion as the (real-world former) Garden State Paper plant in Garfield NJ. 
I will create a late '90s (weathered & torn) billboard sign forelornly stuck in a forgotten location, probably replacing the 'e' in GERN with the tilted Enron 'E'.
What were the late 1990s GERN advertising slogans again, Dr. Wayne?

  • Member since
    January 2004
  • From: Canada, eh?
  • 13,375 posts
Posted by doctorwayne on Friday, February 21, 2020 8:14 AM

NVSRR

Does Gern have any plant switchers?

I'd thought about using this Tyco/Mantua switcher, but it was never a good runner...

The home road usually has a locomotive on-hand for in-plant switching...

...and often leases locomotives from interchange partners like the CNR...

...as GERN Industries is the road's largest shipper by-far.

GERN modellers are free to model GERN in a manner which suits their layout best, but hopefully keeping the whimsical nature of the concept in mind, too.
A friend in Texas, has, as far as I know, the largest GERN factory around and also the largest single roster of GERN cars, too, at 31 with GILX reporting marks and another 6 leased covered hoppers in flux service.

My model of the GERN instsallation represents about 1/3 of the supposed facility, and is only a bit over 6' long, while the flux mine, unseen and unmodelled, is under Lake Erie, extending out several miles - based on the salt mine at Goderich, Ontario.

Of course, if you don't have enough room for a GERN factory, simply have it located "elsewhere".

Wayne

  • Member since
    March 2011
  • 1,950 posts
Posted by NVSRR on Thursday, February 20, 2020 9:50 PM

Does Gern have any plant switchers?

A pessimist sees a dark tunnel

An optimist sees the light at the end of the tunnel

A realist sees a frieght train

An engineer sees three idiots standing on the tracks stairing blankly in space

  • Member since
    September 2004
  • From: Dearborn Station
  • 24,281 posts
Posted by richhotrain on Thursday, February 20, 2020 8:29 AM

rrinker

Heck, I watched a video of 70's commercials on YouTube and there was ITT selling BREAD! 

Ahh, where would we be without conglomerates.

Rich

Alton Junction

  • Member since
    February 2002
  • From: Reading, PA
  • 30,002 posts
Posted by rrinker on Thursday, February 20, 2020 7:45 AM

 AH, something to do with those foobie covered hoppers I have lettered for Reading with 50's dates. Totally wrong car that they had none of in the 1950's. I can strip the lettering and make them GERN cars.

 Just wondering - which model train company did GERN take over in the 70's when all the big conglomerates were being formed? Like General Mills and Lionel, or Consolidated Foods and Tyco. Heck, I watched a video of 70's commercials on YouTube and there was ITT selling BREAD!

                                  --Randy


Modeling the Reading Railroad in the 1950's

 

Visit my web site at www.readingeastpenn.com for construction updates, DCC Info, and more.

  • Member since
    January 2017
  • From: Southern Florida Gulf Coast
  • 18,255 posts
Posted by SeeYou190 on Thursday, February 20, 2020 2:21 AM

the reporting numbers having been allocated by DrWayne.

.

I need to get with Wayne and get reporting numbers for my two covered hoppers so they can be finished.

.

-Kevin

.

Living the dream.

  • Member since
    August 2011
  • From: A Comfy Cave, New Zealand
  • 6,250 posts
Posted by "JaBear" on Thursday, February 20, 2020 1:15 AM

NVSRR
It doesn't have a modern day counter part does it?

GERN is still a current multinational conglomerate, no doubt with a fleet of modern cars.
I model 1950s GERN, the reporting numbers having been allocated by DrWayne.
 
after2 by Bear, on Flickr
IMG_0499 by Bear, on Flickr
 
Gidday Frank, good to see you’re still amongst us.
 
…and I promise not to mention Fiji War bonds…Whistling
 
Cheers, the Bear.Smile

"One difference between pessimists and optimists is that while pessimists are more often right, optimists have far more fun."

  • Member since
    March 2011
  • 1,950 posts
Posted by NVSRR on Wednesday, February 19, 2020 9:40 PM

It doesn't have a modern day counter part does it?

 

my first thought when i read the ad was late 1800's snake oil company. 

A pessimist sees a dark tunnel

An optimist sees the light at the end of the tunnel

A realist sees a frieght train

An engineer sees three idiots standing on the tracks stairing blankly in space

  • Member since
    September 2004
  • From: Dearborn Station
  • 24,281 posts
Posted by richhotrain on Wednesday, February 19, 2020 6:24 PM

mbinsewi

OK, Thank God, I thought maybe Rich had instigated a hostile tackover in an attempt to gain control of Bertrams.

Mike.   

Mike, pay Frank no attention. He has competed with me for years to gain control of John Bertram & Sons, located in Dundas, Ontario, Canada. When John Bertram died on April 4, 1906, a license was bequeathed to Doctor Wayne's family to display a replica of the family business on Wayne's layout, but ultimate title to the replica was to be passed to me. Wayne has done everything in his power to deny me access, but I will prevail.

Rich

Alton Junction

  • Member since
    January 2007
  • 599 posts
Posted by azrail on Wednesday, February 19, 2020 5:56 PM

At least it isn't spelled "Gurn"

  • Member since
    January 2010
  • From: Chi-Town
  • 7,712 posts
Posted by zstripe on Wednesday, February 19, 2020 5:38 PM

mbinsewi

OK, Thank God, I thought maybe Rich had instigated a hostile tackover in an attempt to gain control of Bertrams.

Mike.  

 

You gotta' watch those Lawyer's.............especially, who they golf with.......LOL,LOL. Zip it!

Take Care! Smile, Wink & Grin

Frankie

 

  • Member since
    May 2010
  • From: SE. WI.
  • 8,253 posts
Posted by mbinsewi on Wednesday, February 19, 2020 5:23 PM

OK, Thank God, I thought maybe Rich had instigated a hostile tackover in an attempt to gain control of Bertrams.

Mike.  

  • Member since
    January 2004
  • From: Canada, eh?
  • 13,375 posts
Posted by doctorwayne on Wednesday, February 19, 2020 5:00 PM

No problem, Mike, as he is on the list of GERNies.

Wayne

  • Member since
    May 2010
  • From: SE. WI.
  • 8,253 posts
Posted by mbinsewi on Wednesday, February 19, 2020 2:27 PM

I found the thread, scroll all most to the bottom until you get to my post, open up the picture link in the post above mine.

http://cs.trains.com/mrr/f/11/p/280761/3214911.aspx#top

Dr. Wayne, I'm only trying to help, and make you aware of this unprecidented expansion.

Mike.

 

  • Member since
    December 2001
  • 3,139 posts
Posted by chutton01 on Wednesday, February 19, 2020 1:42 PM

Well, I guess this GERN ARG is no more harmful than trading those model railroad layout passes that used to be popular up till the '70s or so...

  • Member since
    May 2010
  • From: SE. WI.
  • 8,253 posts
Posted by mbinsewi on Wednesday, February 19, 2020 1:14 PM

SeeYou190
I do not know if Wayne counted me as one of the GERN modelers, but my GERN fleet is growing.

Hmmmm..we haven't talked about GERN modelers yet, but I assume you have received orders and the proper documentation to be building hoppers for GERN?

There IS another layout in here that has a large GERN facilities, I just tried to find, with no luck, as of yet!.  

I don't consider myself a "whistle blower", but I'm sure Dr. Wayne is unaware of this, and I only hope that Mr. Gibson has given authority for this expansion.

I will keep looking.  I posted in his thread a few days ago, shocked that he had a GERN facility.

Mike.

  • Member since
    January 2017
  • From: Southern Florida Gulf Coast
  • 18,255 posts
Posted by SeeYou190 on Wednesday, February 19, 2020 1:06 PM

I do not know if Wayne counted me as one of the GERN modelers, but my GERN fleet is growing.

.

.

-Kevin

.

Living the dream.

  • Member since
    February 2018
  • From: Flyover Country
  • 5,557 posts
Posted by York1 on Wednesday, February 19, 2020 1:00 PM

I'm a little surprised we haven't seen some protests in Washington, DC, against GERN, as it is a part of big pharma.

Where's Jane Fonda been on this topic?

York1 John       

  • Member since
    May 2010
  • From: SE. WI.
  • 8,253 posts
Posted by mbinsewi on Wednesday, February 19, 2020 12:56 PM

 I can't wait for this documantary to be covered on Frontline.

Last night they had 2 hrs. each on Mr. Bezos and Mark Zuckerburg.

Mike.

  • Member since
    January 2004
  • From: Canada, eh?
  • 13,375 posts
Posted by doctorwayne on Wednesday, February 19, 2020 11:15 AM

Tinplate Toddler
If I am not wrong, GERN is the NASDAQ code for the Geron Corporation, a late-stage clinical biopharmaceutical company.

Yes, Mr. Gibson is having a lawsuit prepared to address that situation, and another for the Gilman Paper Company, re: freight car reporting marks.

Mr. Gibson has extremely deep pockets (his assets, in comparison to those of his close friend, Mr. Bezos, would relegate the latter to the poorhouse).

Wayne

Subscriber & Member Login

Login, or register today to interact in our online community, comment on articles, receive our newsletter, manage your account online and more!

Users Online

There are no community member online

Search the Community

ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
Model Railroader Newsletter See all
Sign up for our FREE e-newsletter and get model railroad news in your inbox!