Hello everyone,
I have spent the last year very slowly building an N scale layout. My three cats have barely even noticed. Last weekend I finished the last bit of track laying for the main line and wired it up enough for a test run. Well my cats are now very interesested in trains. I came downstairs one day to find they had completely destroyed a laser cut wood structure that I built, knocked several cars off the table, chewed the back end off of the caboose, and chewed on some of the wiring. I now have to build some kind of doors to separate the cats from the train room. Anybody out there have cat/train issues?
there are MANY posts on these forums about this issue.
No solid consensus about solutions although one I read involved covering the layout with newspapers and under the newspapers, set mouse traps. The papers keep the trap from hurting the paws but the noise supposedly scares them off.
I have my doubts and I never tried that one myself.
I do know that at least one of our cats truly did dislike a certain spray we bought that had a sort of sour apple smell (that I rather liked oddly enough) and we'd spray that on house plants.
Dave Nelson
phugo wrote: Hello everyone,I have spent the last year very slowly building an N scale layout. My three cats have barely even noticed. Last weekend I finished the last bit of track laying for the main line and wired it up enough for a test run. Well my cats are now very interesested in trains. I came downstairs one day to find they had completely destroyed a laser cut wood structure that I built, knocked several cars off the table, chewed the back end off of the caboose, and chewed on some of the wiring. I now have to build some kind of doors to separate the cats from the train room. Anybody out there have cat/train issues?
To begin with, cats have no business even being able to get in your train room... Your asking for all sorts of trouble if you continue to allow that. Not only can they do a lot of damage to your layout and trains, you can also get hair in your locos, and this can be disasterous to steam locos... I'm an animal lover, and own a cat, but he's not allowed anywhere near my train room!.
Tracklayer
Years back cats were a problem in one of my past layouts.
My solution was to make trees by stretching Woodland Scenics over some really shrub branches with some extremely sharp thorns. They looked realistic enough and within a week, cats stopped jumping onto the layout. They never returned to the layout.
GARRY
HEARTLAND DIVISION, CB&Q RR
EVERYWHERE LOST; WE HUSTLE OUR CABOOSE FOR YOU
Who said anything about cats and trains ?
He's actually pretty good. He likes attention and will bother me while I am working on the layout but he seldom jumps on the layout. Here he was helping me with the construction of Horseshoe Mountain. He decided to inspect the foam.
Engineer Jeff NS Nut Visit my layout at: http://www.thebinks.com/trains/
Jeff, that's a nice cat you have.
We have owned 2 cats at different times. I have found out they have different temperaments or personalities if you will.
The first cat could not be kept off the layout. One time she was sleeping inside a tunnel. I did the only thing I could think of to get her out. I sent a train full speed down the track but the cat escaped unscathed. I had to keep the door closed but later as the cat grew older she stayed off.
After this cat passed, we got another. This one is more a railfan and is content to simply watch the trains without getting up close and personal.
If you cannot keep them out with a door here is the best idea I have heard:
Get a motion detector / security light from HD or W-mart.
Instead of using lights you will need to get a screw-in plug adapter for one of the sockets.
Plug some type of noise making device into the newly created outlet on the sensor. A suggestion would be a small boom box set on a rap radio station. Turn the volume way up. If that does not scare the cat nothing will.
Radio Shack used to sell an annoying noise buzzer that screwed into one of the sockets. I believe they have since discontinued it. Maybe an alarm bell would work.
You will have to play with the timer / motion sensor settings, as well as placement. No sense on this noise pollution being on any longer than necessary. The motion sensor can be adjusted for area and sensitivity.
Jim
Soo Line fan wrote: This one is more a railfan and is content to simply watch the trains without getting up close and personal.
This one is more a railfan and is content to simply watch the trains without getting up close and personal.
My cat is like that. He finds a good spot and watches the trains for as long as I run them. He enjoys it so much that the left corner mountain of my layout is going to have a cat sized plateau where he will be free to hang and watch the trains all he wants.
If he is not sitting there, the plateau will also have a hinged lid with a storage compartment. It's all up here (taps side of head with finger) .
We've got a house full of cats, but no real problems with them mixing with the Trains.
One of the toms will get up on my desk and roll the cars back and forth on my test track. They only derail if he gets to enthusiastic with them.
Mark Gosdin
Dr. Frankendiesel aka Scott Running BearSpace Mouse for president!15 year veteran fire fighterCollector of Apple //e'sRunning Bear EnterprisesHistory Channel Club life member.beatus homo qui invenit sapientiam
I guess I'am lucky,my old girl can walk around the whole layout with touching anything,most of the time she does not care about trains at all.
JIM
My cat got on the layout once.(once!) and in the middle of a bunch of cheap crap locos reached in and got my brand new Dash 8 and knocked it on the floor.(the horror).
You can spray the cat with somthing to stop this.....BULLETS! (dogs rule!)
Even if the cats don't get on the layout, their hair will. Cat hair is not good for any moving or rolling parts. When I first tried running trains on my current layout, nothing ran well. There was no such thing as "free rolling" stock. Upon disassembly, I found cat hair on every axle and packed in every bearing surface. It took awhile to clean it all out.
Best to keep the cats out of the train room all together and that will only minimize the problem.
Good Luck
Tracklayer wrote: phugo wrote: Hello everyone,I have spent the last year very slowly building an N scale layout. My three cats have barely even noticed. Last weekend I finished the last bit of track laying for the main line and wired it up enough for a test run. Well my cats are now very interesested in trains. I came downstairs one day to find they had completely destroyed a laser cut wood structure that I built, knocked several cars off the table, chewed the back end off of the caboose, and chewed on some of the wiring. I now have to build some kind of doors to separate the cats from the train room. Anybody out there have cat/train issues?To begin with, cats have no business even being able to get in your train room... Your asking for all sorts of trouble if you continue to allow that. Not only can they do a lot of damage to your layout and trains, you can also get hair in your locos, and this can be disasterous to steam locos... I'm an animal lover, and own a cat, but he's not allowed anywhere near my train room!.Tracklayer
There is also the issue of any animal (or child) ingesting something that could hurt them. Best solution is to keep the unwanted out (cats, dogs, unsupervised kids). My train room as a lock on it for that purpose. But not all people have the luxury of a separate train room.In the past, our cats have not been much of a bother but a kitten is due to arrive in the house this spring so we will see what happens then. Cats CAN be trained, we did it with spray bottles of water. When they do something they are not supposed to, spray them down. Note this only works if you are consistent and do it within 5 seconds or so of the incident happening so they retain the association.
A model railroad needs a cat like a submarine needs screendoors.
Cats usually like it when trains run. It reminds of mice I guess. A well trained cat from the beginning helps. only certain furniture allowed and some definately NOT (ex: NOT tables NOT counters) helps. I don't like when I see someone elses cat jumping up on the kitchen table or counter. (Nor will I eat there either)
You can get supplies at HD or LOwes or your favorite to build screen panels and clamp together when not in use.
Oh, and yes, we do have 2 cats.
-G .
Just my thoughts, ideas, opinions and experiences. Others may vary.
HO and N Scale.
After long and careful thought, they have convinced me. I have come to the conclusion that they are right. The aliens did it.
I have a work area in the basement of my house, but my layout building is no mans zone for the cat, I dont know why, but he just doesn't want to come in, which is fine with me. When I work in my basement, he is big for attention and causes messes some times. My old cat would chase the trains, but never intentionally destroy anything.
-beegle55
I spent several weeks building an N scale little league ball diamond. I hand painted uniforms on players for both teams. It was beautiful. When our old cat died, my wife got this kitten (about 6 months old). It got into my basement and ate, yes ATE, all of the players in the field. I figred kitty got punnishment enoug just passing those plascit figures, but suffice it to say we make extrasure the basement door stays latched now.
Ron
Owner and superintendant of the N scale Texas Colorado & Western Railway, a protolanced representaion of the BNSF from Fort Worth, TX through Wichita Falls TX and into Colorado.
Check out the TC&WRy on at https://www.facebook.com/TCWRy
Check out my MRR How-To YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com/c/RonsTrainsNThings
birdogman wrote:This reminds me of a saying I saw in a Railroad Modeler magazine I saw when I first got into the hobby back in the very early '70's ...... " Model railroaders need a cat like a submarine needs screen doors "...lol.
That would be exactly where I got it. Railroad Model Craftsman. Vintage mid-70'S. Somewhere I have the issue still. It was part of a hilarious comedy article about the hobby we all love. And possessing the issue tends to give hints at my age.
Oh, and yeah, I wore bell-bottoms. Sometimes they were even plaid. This was after we got color tv. It had rabbit ears. Our phone had a dial on it. Never had a leisure suit, but always wanted one.
I hear tv antennas are making a comeback if you air-broadcast HD tv. Yippeee!!!!. get out tthe tin-foil. er, rather aluminum foil!
Three cats are going to be a way of life with the Compromise Central. One of the three is not likely to be a problem...the other two are ornery snots, so I know I'm going to be in for problems. Since the layout is going to be in the dining room, no doors...so I'm trying to incorporate them in my plan...If I can work it out, my staging/fiddle area will have a removable lid. The cats are part of why I went with Unitrack...no separate "looks like kitty litter ballast.
This mustard seed oil...any drawbacks?
Reality...an interesting concept with no successful applications, that should always be accompanied by a "Do not try this at home" warning.
Hundreds of years from now, it will not matter what my bank account was, the sort of house I lived in, or the kind of car I drove...But the world may be different because I did something so bafflingly crazy that my ruins become a tourist attraction.
"Oooh...ahhhh...that's how this all starts...but then there's running...and screaming..."
I don't really have a problem with cats, mostly because I have a dog. I do, however, have probems with crickets and spiders on my layout, seeing as my layout is in the basement. Let me tell you right now, it's a big mess when one of my trains hits one of those critters who have taken up residence on my layout.
-Brandon