Hello everyone,
Do cats need to be kept away from O gauge trains or can model railroads and felines co exist safely? Should I worry about cat hair getting into locomotive mechanisms? All sugestions and stories are welcome…
Scott218
PS: Geting rid of the cat or hurting him/her in any way is NOT an option!!!
Depends on the cat. No problems with fur. Be carefull about the kind of ballast you use, kitty might mistake it for litter. Our cats have “stalked” trains on the floor layouts. They tend to favor small fast items like speeders. They also can do Catzilla routines though scenery, usually they’re pretty non -desctructive.
Don’t have a cat, don’t want one. I did have a cat and got to know them pretty well. They are curious and like to investigate and chew. Just watch that kitty doesn’t try to chew the scenery.
Dennis
I often get the impression grease and track magnetically attract cat hair. If cat hair gets on the track, it likes to get sucked into gear trains, wrapping itself around axels and pinions causing drag. A single strand will stop an N scale engine dead in its tracks but it often goes unoticed with our O gauge trains because they are large enough and powerful enough to overcome it until the continuous feeding of cat hair becomes excessive.
A lot depends on the cat too. Is she furry and shed a lot? I have a fat hairy cat and if she gets in the train room, she loves to sit on the track for some reason leaving all kinds of fur behind. (I always vacuum it off). The room air circultion blows hair all around the layout too. You can only see it in a sun beam shining through a window.
It’s fun to sit back with the cat and enjoy trains but when the train room is unnattended, I would keep the cat out.
Cats and O Gauge trains work really well together. When they get on the track you can chase them all around! Not that I’ve ever done that…[:-,][:-,]
Tom S
I don’t find that cats and trains are any more of a problem than cats and anything else - computers, home theater systems, etc. Keep the area cleaned regularly and cat hair shouldn’t be a problem.
The only thing I really have to watch out for is our cat gnawing on wiring. It hasn’t been an issue with the trains, but for some reason he loves to gnaw on small insulated wires and phone cords. So I keep an eye on where his is and what’s he’s doing for his safety.
Other than keeping an eye on that, our cat absolutely loves being in the train room with me. Male cat. Maybe it’s a guy thing.
My Lionels and my cat, Challenger, seem to get along very well. I have made him my official mascot.
From my experiance cats and O gauge trains don’t mix at all!! My cat Chessie shot out of the room when I blew the whistle on the tender! Usually the cat hid under the train layout when I ran the trains, but the whistle must have been more than he could stand.
Other experiances with cats have been two to five cars derailed at one time so the cat could sleep on my layout when I was not home.
From my personel experiance put up a door or wall between the cats and your layout or be sorry later!!
Lee F. in West Palm Beach FL
After a little talk with the cat, never had another problem.
Our cat gets along fine with the train. He will sit in front of them and then give me his sad look, until I fire them up. Then he just sits contently and watches. At first the whistle bothered him, be he got over it. Their hearing goes several octaves higher than ours, so they may actually expirience pain from the whistle. Dave
At my parents home the cats sit on the edge of the table or layout & watch the trains go by, allthough some times they get darring & in goes a paw in front or inbetween the train. When the train derails the cat looks at you as if to say that will teach you to bug me!
The dog sit under the lay out & runs around it chaseing the train, better than going out side & doing that or going after a car.
Our cat loves to chew electrical cords of all types, especially the small diameter ones that go to computer components. There’s not a lamp cord in the house that doesn’t have teeth marks on it.
My cat loves to sleep in the tunnel. It has not caused any problems other than an interrupted nap when I run trains.
Jim H
Ok, thanks for the info guys. I am relieved to hear that I don’t have to wory much about cat hair especially since I have to run my trains on the floor for the time being!!!
phillyreading,
I have a kitten named Chessie too. She is three months old [angel]. I also have another cat named Belle [zzz]. She is 3 years old. Belle sits next to the tracks and takes naps when I run the trains. Chessie likes to chase them.
I named Chessie for (as most other train fans with a cat named Chessie) for the Chesapeake on Ohio Railroad’s mascot Chessie the Sleeping Kitten, as well as the Chessie System Railroad.
My cats love trains. I got a picture of Chessie trying to catch smoke coming out the 2055’s chimney. Got another one of her leaning against the 2055 while taking a nap.
steel rails
I accidently trapped the nieghbor’s cat in the garage with my layout. I didn’t know it for a couple of days until I pulled up in the car outside and heard the cat meowing very loudly in my garage/layout room. I immediately let her out. The only damage I saw was a paw print on the control panel.
George
We had a cat once. He liked to do his business on the Christmas Layout. He went outside one day and never came back. Always wondered what happened to him.
DOGS love trains.
Cats I am with BUCKEYE get the gun!
laz57
Laz also has a 800lb Bear that enjoys Trains and doubles as a Guard to protect Pennsylvania from a Invasion of Grits from the Southern Boogeyman who comes at midnight to leave boxes of the stuff on their front doorstep.[:o)][:P][:)][;)]