I'm currently struggling with business/shop names, some examples here.

[dbduck]

I don't know if you ever listen to the syndicated "Bob & Tom" radio show. They have a "Frigemall Industries" & "Norfork & Waypal" railroad shipping

[challenger3802]

Financial Institutions:

Wayne King Bankers
Wayne Kerr Accountants
Foo King Bankers (The Chinese branch!)

Turf Accountants: (i.e The Bookmakers)

Tai Nee Po Ni (Chinese Branch)

Soap Manufacturers:

U Stin Kee Poo (another Chinese company!)


Ian

[BRJN]

QUOTE: Originally posted by Hakuhatsu

Oldsmobile was a GM product, not Chrysler (Chrysler cancelled the Plymouth line).

Oops, my mistake. I remember my dad's old 2-door green 442 Oldsmobile. He had to trade it in because we kids beat it up from the inside out.

QUOTE:
Snelling - Ft. Snelling (originally Ft. St. Anthony) was built at the confulance of the Minnesota and Mississippi Rivers. Josiah Snelling was the 1st commander.

I was there, just before my daughter was born. I took a half a roll of pictures at Ft Snelling, then dropped my camera in Mall of America and the roll fell out and broke open. [xx(]

QUOTE:
Humphrey - Hubert H. Humphrey was a MN Senator and Vice President under Lyndon Johnson.
I have yet to figure out appropriate businesses for the names, but will soon.

Buy one of the Chester Urban Renewal kits (a half-a building, smashed up) and label the crane for Humphrey Construction Co.

[Hakuhatsu]

BRJN,

Oldsmobile was a GM product, not Chrysler (Chrysler cancelled the Plymouth line).

But back on topic...

I looked for names of founding fathers of Minnesota and other famous Minnesotans for inspiration for names on my switching layout (gee, can you guess where the locale is?).

Sibley - Henry H. Sibley was the 1st Governor
Snelling - Ft. Snelling (originally Ft. St. Anthony) was built at the confulance of the Minnesota and Mississippi Rivers. Josiah Snelling was the 1st commander.
Hennepin - Father Louis Hennepin was a Belgian missionary who was also a famous explorer in North America.
Ramsey - Alexander Ramsey was one of the early goveroners of Minnesota
Humphrey - Hubert H. Humphrey was a MN Senator and Vice President under Lyndon Johnson.
Mondale - Walter Mondale was a MN Congressman, VP under President Jimmy Carter and Ambassador to Japan under President Clinton.

I have yet to figure out appropriate businesses for the names, but will soon. I have, however, named a camera shop after Joel and Ethan Coen, who are directors and producers in Hollywood (Feeling Minnesota, O Brother Where Art Thou, Ladykillers (2004 remake) and, of course, Fargo) who are originally from Minniapolis. And I'm going to have a coffeehouse/music shop named for Duluth and Hibbing native Robert Zimmerman (Known to most as folk balladeer Bob Dylan).

(I suppose I could also have a small family practitioner have the Mayo Clinic or the J.J. Hill Railroad Supply as well...)

So, I'll echo some other's comments here and reccomend looking at historical names and geographical names for your layout. They won't get too old too fast and you can show a little home state/hometown pride in the process.

[Anonymous]

Used to have an optometrist around the corner: Charles Wright... C Wright...

[Anonymous]

Here's another genuine name from the Emerrald Isle - Sligo in Ireland
Argue & Phibbs, Solicitors

Don Sutton

[BRJN]

OLDSmobile Auto Sales
since Chrysler has recently cancelled the whole car line.

H.N. Arrblok, tax preparer (stolen from a comic strip, mangled from real life)

Pokemon Pet Shop [:o)]
{BRJN ducks to avoid flying tomatos, eggs, rocks, &c [B)] }

[sparkingbolt]

Once while watching a Tom & Jerry cartoon, They ran past a referigerator. The name on the 'fridge door was "koldernell". Nobody else caught it. I plan to use that as the name of a reefer line on my layout. (KOLX) Dan

[BRJN]

If you can find a book something like The Fort Wayne Yearbook, 1906 by the Ft Wayne Commercial Club - I expect other cities had similarly named clubs printing similar books - you will get a directory of contributing firms and a lot of mentions of the bigger companies in town. In mine, I found:
Cooney Bayer Cigars - manufacturer
Hof Brau Haus - hotel that also sold beer and cigars in the lobby
G.E. Bursley - grocers, not to be confused with...
the Ft Wayne plant of General Electric
Mayflower Mills - flour mill (and not a typo)
D.M. Sears Condiment Co - makes ketchup, vinegar, pickles
Ft Wayne Box Co - makes cardboard and paper boxes
Hoosier Mfg Co - actually makes washing machines, despite the generic name
Indiana Printing Co - prints catalogs, office forms, &c

I have four pages of small print of other firms I copied down. All of them can be easily adapted to another locale. And they all are strictly prototypical !

[BRJN]

Back in Ye Olde Days, when a merchant had a new building built to house his business, he would have his name put on the building. So a town could have the Miller building, the Claussen block, &c.

A family moved to Ft Wayne IN from France in the 1880's. By 1925 one member of the family was a prosperous merchant. I do not know what trade he was in, but he built one of those brick street-corner shops that has a business downstairs and a home on the upper floor. He put his name on it, front and center and two-and-a-half floors up. It says "Pever".

Fast forward to 2000 when I try to drive by and look at the building at the same time. Given my distracted attention - there is a traffic light in front of the building - I thought it said PERVERT.

The "Pervert Building" could be a lot of fun. Send the kids away, they won't get the joke. There is a Peep Show in the main entrance. A side door leads downstairs to the Adult Bookstore. Upstairs there is a red light in a window. Perhaps walking along the sidewalk is a woman wearing a very-low-neckline dress with a miniskirt hemline and high heels. In the doorway lounges a big tough guy in a pinstripe suit.

[Anonymous]

Lots of good names and even a few great ideas. Here's one I plan to use on my layout:
Dundee Vetinary and Taxidermy "Either way, you get your pet back." Another building flat will be The Graduate Plastics Company. And, since my brother always looked like he was shivering to death whenever we went swimming, the Freize Bros. Cold Storage.

[vsmith]

Kinda have to be careful with the corn-ball names, can get tiresome, and a bit stupid real fast. Best to keep the names close to what you might actually find in a real community. My layout ony has two humorus names, one is for the RR lines namesake , the Borracho Brewery, and my pool hall, The Eight Ball Pool Room, which is based on a real place I found a photo of. Borracho is spanish for drunkard, but here in the US people give things spanish names without knowing what they really mean. Hence you'll find places called Casa Del Mar in the middle of Nevada. I used to live in a place called Cerritos, "small hills" in spanish, but the only hills anywhere within 10 miles were the highway overpasses!

[Anonymous]

Rube Goldberg Machine works. A very sprawling complex. Or is it a complex sprawling?

[Anonymous]

How about Surf's Up Plumbing. This comes from a friend of the family in a very small town that had the only septic tank pumping service. He had a mural of a surfer and "Surf's Up" in big letters on the side of his pumping truck.

Darrin

[Anonymous]

Deepinahola Mine Co.
Y. U. Barium funeral home

[Anonymous]

The Russel Upsom-Grubb Diner. There really is a Hernia Movers here in Milwaukee. Their slogan is, "The potentate of totin' freight".

[Anonymous]

I know of an excercise and tanning saloon in southern Missouri that was called "Shake and Bake".

Me and my friends in high school used to answer the phone with phrase, "Jones Mortuary, You stab em We slab em. We do make deliveries."

Outside a local police station in Kansas there was a sign that read
"A rest stop"

How about " Don't blow a Fuse Wiring", or " Watt, Short Electricians".

Eternal Bill Collectors "You'll pay eventually"

[AntonioFP45]

QUOTE: Originally posted by jwieczorek

How 'bout ... , Burnham Downs MAtchworks.

That was tooooo funny! LOL!! [(-D][(-D][(-D][(-D][tup]

GOOD ONE![:D]

[Anonymous]

How 'bout ... The Yorzen Mine, The Frenda Mine, Gehri Quarry, G. Willikers Machine Shops, Dew Drop Inn, Sue N. Tortt, Attorney at Law, Bleery,Stagger, & Phall Brewery, Hernia Movers, Burnham Downs MAtchworks.

[JPowell]

QUOTE: Originally posted by dehusman

A. Duie Pyle warehouse (Prototypical for SE PA in the 50's-70's)
Brinnell Hard Candy Co.
Mohr's Scale Co.
Bemis -Epscotti Co.
Heisenberg Detective Agency.
Charles U. Farley Motor Sales, "Call me Chuck!"

Those with an engineering degree will understand why the above aren't funny.

Dave H.

Going off the A. Duie Pyle name, that's the name of a actual trucking firm here in Syracuse NY

[Anonymous]

The name of the town at the end of my branchline is Podunk. An old name for small towns.

Bob

[AntonioFP45]

For a car dealership:

Vanity Volvo and Imports

Home of Very Odd Looking Vehicular Objects!

Come on in and browse! [:D]

Free lemonade and tranquilizers![#wstupid]

[cjcrescent]

My favorite Armstrong names are Ott Dam, and the Idon Mine.

[cefinkjr]

QUOTE: Originally posted by leighant

A chemical plant that ships smelly stuff in tankcars: EUREKA CHEMICALS

Love your names, leighant! You're about as nutty as I am! How does the Pendragon Pipe and Valve Company in Camelot, East Virginia strike you? It's right across the tracks from Merlin Manufacturing which makes some unknown product from nothing at all.

Eureka Chemicals reminded me of a classic that the late John Armstrong used once. It was the Eau d'Or Petroleum Company refinery. Notice how this one works on two levels: The ODOR Petroleum Company and the Smell of Gold Petroleum Company.

Chuck

[Anonymous]

I use actual business names or make them up, such as Mom's Pies, Elmo's Dry Goods, City Cafe, Road Runner Gas, etc. Just let go and use your imagination...

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by wjstix

BTW since somebody mentioned LGB - the Lake George & Boulder was the outdoor model railroad of Charles Small, in the early seventies he wrote an article for MR about his LGB layout in his backyard. He may have been the first LGB modeller in the US, he travelled a lot in his work and came across LGB stuff overseas. Since the locomotives and rolling stock were labelled "LGB" for Lehmann GrossBahn he had to come up with a RR name using those initials, hence "Lake George and Boulder" referring to Colorado and it's narrow guage railroads.

That's interesting - I was wondering how they'd hit on "Lake George & Boulder". I have a couple of their "Toytrain" flatcars lettered for this line (given to me by a friend in return for helping out on his trade stand at a train show a few years ago), they don't get much run time as they don't really suit the rest of my collection (German, Austrian and Swiss Metre Gauge), but they're handy for hauling loads I don't want anywhere near my more expensive stock (drinks, etc). Thanks for sharing the information!

[dwRavenstar]

Let's not overlook the law offices of Dewey, Screwim & Howe, the propane distribution company owned by Mr. Paast or the Planters' Funeral Home.

Dave (dwRavenstar)

[Anonymous]

[#oops] Oops, it pays to proofread. Cortobution? What is that? How about contribution. That looks better. [:I][:I]

[Anonymous]

Wow, everyone has had some great names.

Here is my cortobution. If you have a medical complex, Dr. Glassman - optometrist (really exists here in Cincinnati), Dr. Paine - dentist, Dr. McCracken - chiropractor and Dr. Hartman - cardiologist (not me, I am another optometrist).

Anyone familiar with the "Bob and Tom Show" will recognize the Frigamol Building (and Industries) and how about the "Norfolk and Waypal Railroad"

Great topic, keep 'em coming.

Jeff

[ukguy]

Thanks for the great input and responses guys, there will be approx 25 business/stores on the current layout. From the replies I have decided on 4-5 humorous names, 8-9 family/friend related and the rest will be just standard business names.
Keep em comin', I have a feelin some stores may change owners and hence names over time, and its always good to have a few great names in reserve for my next layout, once I fini***his 'learning' one.

Have fun & be safe.
Karl