I want to KILL my cat!!!

[loathar]

We must have had a big wind blow up the other night and I must not have latched my train building door all the way. Woke up in the morning to see the door blown open all the way. No big deal, right? WRONG!!! I walked in to see most of my rolling stock laying on it's side all over the layout. Locos ALL knocked over, buildings moved out of place, and to my horror, my brand new Spectrum Dash8 laying on the cement floor with several of it's parts scattered about. Trying to figure out what happened, I looked at my tunnel portal to see my cat sleeping inside the mountain on top of two trains she had knocked over.AAARRRRGGGGHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Kitty got her first flying lesson! Had my pistol right there. REALLY wanted to shoot her but I didn't.
She is permantly banished from the train room.
Couldn't have picked on one of my crappy Tyco or LL locos.HAD to be the new Dash 8!!! All in all it took the fall pretty well. All the parts popped right back on. It hit right on the rear light. Dinged the paint pretty bad, put a little crack in the dynamic break houseing and the light doesn't work anymore.
I should have shot her![xx(][xx(][xx(][:(!][:(!][:(!]

[oleirish]

I guess I'am lucky my old cat don't seem to bother my lay out,I've seen her walk all over it and not touth any thing.[^]
JIM

[Anonymous]

Ever thought of putting a spring closer on the door?

Better still use a pulley with a rail bar or piece of rail as a weight to pull the door shut... and another lump of rail to hold it open... paint it bright so you can see what you tripped over.

Blaming the cat is like blaming your computer... at least it was the cat not vandals or thieves.

[Train 284]

Man that sucks!

[joeyegarner]

Hi lothar. I had this hapent to me several times years ago, I have my RR out back om a se[erate building and the cat started chasing birds and other critters there WOW!! Talk about a mess!! He eventualy moved away and the problems went with him. But they sure can make a mess. sorry hop you can recover.

[rolleiman]

That cat would have quietly disappeared... Here kitty kitty [}:)]

Jeff

[jfugate]

I like cats ...

... they taste just like chicken. [:-,]

[loathar]

I've got a pad lock latch on it but don't normally set it. The doors are really heavy and their weight usually keeps them shut. It must have been a pretty good wind to blow them open. I thought vandells at first, but I lve in the middle of no where with no neibors.

[trainboyH16-44]

Ouch. We've never had that problem, as our old cat (that died this year) was exceptionally well behaved, and there was a door between her and the trains. Now there are some less well behaved cats, with 2 TIGHTLY closed doors between them and my new Atlas C424s.
Matthew

[selector]

This thread seems to pop up more than any other I know....except for the dreaded poll.

A good man never blames his fools.

P.S. - I do wi***hat it had not happened to you. Does this mean you will have to go purchase another A-liner? [:p]

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by rolleiman

That cat would have quietly disappeared... Here kitty kitty [}:)]

Jeff

I second that emotion. Fortunatly my entire family including me is allergic to cats. Good enugh reason for me to not have them around in my opinion. My dog on the otherhand likes to watch trains roll by. She gets her own chair next to the train layout and she barks when one goes bye. She doesn't show any inclination to start chasing it or get up on to the layout. She just seems to be giving it a doggy "Hello" to the crew of the passing train.

James

[dgwinup]

QUOTE: Originally posted by jfugate

I like cats ...

... they taste just like chicken. [:-,]

Exceptionally tasty when done in a crock pot with sauerkraut and new potatoes!

[}:)]

Darrell, dinner's ready! but quiet...for now

[loathar]

I'm really not a cat fan.This ones a REALLY good mouser. That's the only reason she's still breathing. The weird thing is she was always in there with me and never showed any interest in the train or jumping up on anything. I'm starting to wonder if another cat chased her up there.

[Anonymous]

Not to change the subject lothar, but did you do any design work on Trainz 2006? The name lothar comes up a lot in the game, Lothar coffe, Lothar's Bistro.

[loathar]

QUOTE: Originally posted by Lotus098

Not to change the subject lothar, but did you do any design work on Trainz 2006? The name lothar comes up a lot in the game, Lothar coffe, Lothar's Bistro.

No,but I'll have to check that out.Do you mean the name is on buildings in the game? Or in the devolopers credits?

[Anonymous]

Yeah it is on objects in the game. A good number of them.

[tatans]

Is one of the pre-requisites of MR owning a cat???

[csmith9474]

I couldn't imagine what would happen if a cat got on my work bench. It would be mass hysteria.

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by loathar

QUOTE: Originally posted by Lotus098

Not to change the subject lothar, but did you do any design work on Trainz 2006? The name lothar comes up a lot in the game, Lothar coffe, Lothar's Bistro.

No,but I'll have to check that out.Do you mean the name is on buildings in the game? Or in the devolopers credits?

Here is one of "your" billboards.

[TomDiehl]

I have both editions of books called "101 Uses for a Dead Cat," total of 202 uses, so afterwards...........

[vsmith]

Guess no one ever taught you how to cat proof a layout eh?

1. Kitty getting in when your not there? Keep the door shut and latched, simple eh? Simply make sure the door is latching correctly, you cannot blame your cat if you kept a defective latch that could be blown open by a breeze, thats your fault. A correctly operating latch will not be pushed open by a breeze or by a person leaning against the door. If the latch looks OK but theres still a problem with it staying closed, purchase a spring-loaded hinge closer and a door stop, door is open when your there, kick out the stop and door stays closed when your not there, or buy a handle with a lock, and use it.

2. Kitty in room when your there?

A. Keep a small squirt gun full of water handy, and if Kitty jumps, he gets shot...with water, they get the idea rather quickly.

B. Sprinkle a dab of Cayenne Pepper around your layout in the scenery where Kitty likes to jump up and investigate, cats check things out by smell, a whiff of the Cayenne and Putty is not going to hang out up there!

[:D]

[Anonymous]

I should have shot her!

Naw, you shouldda closed the dam door good.

[Javern]

I have 5 cats and they walk across the layout without disturbing a thing, dont see how they do it. I can't even reach across it to do something with out knocking something over

[steveblackledge]

Oh well, cats will be cats, look at it like this, there may have been a giant rat on the layout and the cat ate it, then hid in the tunnel waiting for more. (the cat may have done you a BIG favour) you owe it one now[bow]

[tstage]

Tom,

Sorry about the mishap. [:(] I love cats, but they definitely have an uncanny knack for picking and doing that ONE thing. Well, to say the very least, it seems that your cat has some very definite and descriminant tastes in locomotives.

I've told this story before here on the forum. My trombone teacher in college used to practice down in the basement of his house, where he had his studio. One day his cat was just been a real pest upstairs in the kitchen. Mr. Anderson, being a very mild manner man, out of frustration took the cat and flung her down the basement stairs just to shut her up.

After lunch, Mr. Anderson went downstairs to practice. (Normally, in between practice sessions, Mr. A just leaves his trombone out in his open case, on top of the sofa. Well, when Mr. Anderson went to pick up his trombone again to start practicing, he noticed that the cat had (presumably out of revenge) thrown up all over his bell.

He told me later that, the only way he figured the cat could have conceivably done the deplorable act was to hop up on the narrow mantle that overhung the sofa and "leaned waaaaay out". Mr. A got a good chuckle out of it. At least cat york on a trombone bell is a lot easier than repairing a broken or damaged loco. (Tom, I don't know if that story was of any consolation to you or not. It' just came to mind.)

Despite all their idiosyncrasies, I'm still a cat person at heart. Tom, you did the right thing. Who knows. Maybe your cat did away with some derelict mice that had, unbeknownst to you, taken up residence in your tunnel. Sounds like a good story...

Tom

[electrolove]

[twhite]

I'm very sorry about that. Being a cat owner (no, make that owned by cats), all I can think of is that she might have been chased in there by another cat, or was trying to get out of the weather. I would think it was something other than sheer destructiveness on her part if, as you say, she usually ignores the model railroad. Like several others on this posting, I have a cat (18 pound Maine Coon) that generally ignores my layout, unless it's a new caboose, but she steals those from my workbench, not the layout. If you found her in a tunnel, I would say that she was hiding from something that frightened her pretty badly. Were there signs of a fight (hair clumps, smell of urine)? Not trying to make the cat blameless, neccesarily (the little fur-lines don't have even a REMOTE sense of Guilt!), but it sounds, given the cat's history, that there were other mitigating circumstances.
Tom

[trainboyH16-44]

QUOTE: Originally posted by electrolove

That better be a plu***oy.....

[Leon Silverman]

Be thankful your cat got into your Trainroom. My property is visited by racoons and possums during the night. Imagine what a larger wild animal could have done to your layout. I have noticed toads jumping into my trainroom when I open the door and close it right behind me.

[Anonymous]

Hi, Leon. Nighttime coons and possums, huh? I hope you don't walk in and surprise a skunk some late evening!!!

Jim