JDuncan wrote: Now, I thoroughly expected some sort of tease at some point in the session so I laughed it off until Chuck asked me what I wanted him to do. I said "highball". He did then reported back that he was unable to get the wildcat to get off the track. Now, I'm getting curious so I head out into the railroad.... There's Chuck with a huge grin on his face and immediately ahead of #97 was Chessie firmly planted in his favorite deep cut snoozing away! Needless to say, I was red-faced, grabbed Chessie, apologized profusely and hastily got him to the bedroom and closed the door with him safely under the bed!
Now, I thoroughly expected some sort of tease at some point in the session so I laughed it off until Chuck asked me what I wanted him to do. I said "highball". He did then reported back that he was unable to get the wildcat to get off the track. Now, I'm getting curious so I head out into the railroad.... There's Chuck with a huge grin on his face and immediately ahead of #97 was Chessie firmly planted in his favorite deep cut snoozing away!
Needless to say, I was red-faced, grabbed Chessie, apologized profusely and hastily got him to the bedroom and closed the door with him safely under the bed!
Jim,
I just visited your website, and caught the guilty cat-napper in the act.
He isn't showing much remorse.
The cats I've had over the years have had no interest in my trains whatsoever. If anything, they were afraid of them. When Scooter was a kitten he was tiny enough to curl up in the corner near the control panel and clear the trains passing on the curve, which didn't bother him at all. When he got too big to fit, then he became scared of them.Go figure.
Nelson
Ex-Southern 385 Being Hoisted
"At 3 am, I have found that he can hold out longer than I can."
Cats have no snooze button!
Charles
My layout is located in our loft, open to the world including our two cats (it used to be in a spare bedroom, but our 1-year old son has that now.) Daisy, our smaller cat (12lbs), was born in my in-laws garage, and was the hardest to tame. For about her first two years, she would terrorize the layout (Catzilla!). By about age 2 1/2, she started to mellow out. Now, she's just a railfan. She'll get a little close, but never disturbs anything. Our other cat, Ludwig, is an 18lb tomcat (big more than fat.) He was born as domesticated as they come. I never struggled to train him to the litter box. He bothered the trains for maybe his first 6 months, then after that he became a railfan, then superintendent. He enjoys nothing more than to sit on a stool next to my son and I while we run trains. The cats will climb over things in the benchwork stage, but when scenery starts to go in, they leave it alone. All cats are different. A lot depends on their age, their background, and of course personality. You might consider putting plexiglass panels attatched with velcro around your layout. They might get the idea and just go in there to hang out while you work and operate, rather than tear down mainstreet. As for the wiring, tuck it up as flat against the bottom of the bench work as possible. Dangling things are what attracts them. Good luck.
John Dick
Fishers, IN
We have a sister and brother kitten who are about 7 months old (Chessie and Amos). Chessie is the smaller and more agile and has knocked over cars, pulled out wires. We needed to keep the door open because the train room is also the furnace room and where the de-humidifier resides.
I purchased an inexpensive vinyl screen door and had the Home Hardware store install pet screen on it. This kind of nylon screen is thicker and stronger than normal screen. It is perfect. They can both climb this screen and not a mark is left on it.
I also had to install a second screen door clasp to keep the door closed because Amos (the bigger of the two), discovered if he threw his body weight at the door it would open. Now the door stays closed.
So far this solution has worked.
Andrew
Have fun with your trains
trainfreek92 wrote: If I shut the door he meows at it until its opened.
Yep. My cat will scratch and moan on the hobby room door whether I am in there or not. Mostly because it is an area of the house with a closed door, so he must get in there whenever possible to claim the territory.
Like I have said, if you can't beat 'em, let them have a good spot to watch from. I'd rather have that then him jumping up from the floor to see what is going on.
I like that "trap" idea!The cayenne pepper does work if you can stand the odor without sneezing! I found that wads of duct tape left at strategic locations on the layout helps as well. Cats HATE anything sticky on their feet.
Another thing about my cat and trains, I had been putting on the control panel. I wasnt quite finished securing it but it was nailed in enough to stay up but not enough to stay in if weight was applied. Well I stop to get more nails and of course the cat jumps on it and down it falls. My cat likes to use my layout as a platfrom to get to the windows.
I knew someone would drag this old thread out of the archives sooner or later......the way you handle cats on your layout is to do one ot two things:
1. Cats HATE the noise of a rattlesnake. If you don't believe it, just take an empty tin can, place anything in the can that will rattle, like small pepples, marbles, even peanuts will work. When the cat come into your train room, just rattle the can and stand back. The cat will fly out of the room and be very wary of entering again, especially after several episodes if your cat is stubborn.
2. Another method is the charged capacitor method. If you cannot be around your layout to guard it from attack by the mad feline, then charge a capacitor of the proper size, and leave it in the path that the feline must follow. This works also.
Of course if neither of these metods appeal to you because of greater love for your cat than your layout and equipment, then obtain more insurance coverage...LOL
As an alternative you could laquer the cat. ;-)
Eric
3railguy wrote:Never blame the cat. It is a cat's natural instinc to attack any thing small that moves. N scale trains are a popular target. Not only are N scale trains subject to cat attack, N scale engine gearboxes are magnets to airborne cat hair. The only practical solution is to completely seal the train area off from cats.
Never blame the cat. It is a cat's natural instinc to attack any thing small that moves. N scale trains are a popular target. Not only are N scale trains subject to cat attack, N scale engine gearboxes are magnets to airborne cat hair. The only practical solution is to completely seal the train area off from cats.
I recommend modeling the Butte, Anaconda and Pacific. Then it's just a question of aquiring a 6 foot anaconda for the layout room. That takes care of the cat problem.
Insert Cat Here!
Newyorkcentralfan wrote: I recommend modeling the Butte, Anaconda and Pacific. Then it's just a question of aquiring a 6 foot anaconda for the layout room. That takes care of the cat problem. Insert Cat Here!
there you go thats the way to do things
NSlover92 wrote: Newyorkcentralfan wrote: I recommend modeling the Butte, Anaconda and Pacific. Then it's just a question of aquiring a 6 foot anaconda for the layout room. That takes care of the cat problem. Insert Cat Here! there you go thats the way to do things
Compared to snakes, cats are not all that bad. We are between cats at the moment as Old Bowsky here is 14 and his bladder has made him unwelcome in any portion of the house. This thread has actually been quite valuable.
I've been ready, even particpating in the eventual return of a new, 2007 model frisker, but thinking about it, believe my dismissive attitude towards them should and will change into a more insistent, read resistant force against the refresh plans. Translation, let the lobbying for no new cats begin today!
You know, if the cat does not actually belong to you and something bad happens to it while it is trespassing on your space (the train room), I wonder, is that a sin?
The cat hair thing bothers me too. So far, I really like the capacitor thing. Gives new meaning to Capacitor Discharge unit.
I keep an old pet fencer in the junk box, it does a good job of discouraging certain behaviors. I wonder if some vinegar in a spray bottle would be more effective than water and no more harmful to scenery than H20?
Nice thread, good for my insomnia this morning. Remember laughter and smiling is good for the soul.
Best to all, let me see, I wonder what size caps I have laying around. Better to be prepared you know. I could use that old DC power pack to . . .
Soo Line fan wrote: 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.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. Jim
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.
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.
Jim
Let's hope this one entry slipped by a website wandering animal activist. Their mission does not include a statute of limitations. Re second cat, very interesting since motion is a trigger response for all cats. Your second cat, if he does the outside thing, must be a very efficient hunter since he's discretionary in his targeting technique.
I use the door, old tech but very effective.
Jon
I have a small 4by8 layout with a small extension in my basement.About a year ago I put some sides around the sides and this has worked pretty well. I also try to make sure there is nothing nearby they can get on to see over the sides. I do plan(hope?) to someday have a real live layout room.
joe-daddy wrote:You know, if the cat does not actually belong to you and something bad happens to it while it is trespassing on your space (the train room), I wonder, is that a sin?
The problem is that the owner on the cat, usually female, is hard to train. They get upset when you spray them in the face with water. They get very upset when you whack them on the *** with a riding crop when they do something they're not supposed to do, well most of them.
Broads are totally irrational about their furry monsters...er, cats. My girlfriend got very upset when upon getting ready to go out to pick up some chinese food for dinner I picked up one of her cats and informed her I'd try and make the best deal I could. She was not amused.
I have a problem with my landladies cats coming up to my floor and using it as a litter box. When I catch one, I'm seriously thinking about doing what the forest service does with problem bears. I'm thinking about relocating it to a far off part of the city with the hope that it won't return.
Basement layout: I have a tunnel going from the train room to a little display set up at the bottom of the basementstrais. I found my cat laying in the tunnel. She is a funny one all you saw was her head peaking.
Upstairs Christmas layout I had a removable moutain incase the lcomotive got stuck inside well one day I was sitting and reading MR and all of a sudden the moutain moved. thought it was a mouse or something got up and the cat took off with the mountain attached to her back it was halarious.
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..."
Well, I have a new kitten named Cudda, who is 8 months old now.
when I decited to (expand) my layout beyound my train room, I had to request land grants from the commitee (i.e. the wife) to take up 17 feet and over a work bench which I made for the wife. To make a new staging yard, I would have to cut a hole through the train room wall.
In doing so, I had to cut a hole big enought for two tracks to go through. Which my cat (Cudda) used to gain entry to the train room where he would cause great chaos to the room.
I have tried to block it with wood, cardboard, nothing would hold back "Hurricane Cudda" from his path of crash and smash! (The wife would laugh with joy) when I would report to her the latest exploits Mister Cudda would do via "The hole". So I glued a wood beam in the middle of the tunnel hole so he could not get through! So far, so good!! Stay tuned..
B.E.Cannon