Got an ad from Kalmbach this AM anouncing that the company is now selling wearable gear. I don’t know why, but the first thing that came to mind was the Smothers Brothers version of “Streets Of Laredo”. Lyrics follow.
As I walked out on the streets of Laredo, As I walked out in Laredo one day, I spied a young cowboy all wrapped in white linen Wrapped in white linen as cold as the clay.
I see by your outfit that you are a cowboy; I see by your outfit you are a cowboy, too; We see by our outfits that we are both cowboys. If you get an outfit, you can be a cowboy, too.
If you can be a cowboy by buying the outfit, then by gum you can be a model railroader the same way.
I do not prefer to wear a Uniform to practice my hobby. I don’t wear an engineers cap while running my layout. I feel I don’t have to dress the part to play the part. It’s Tee Shirts and Blue Jeans and bald head. When I take my bicycle out on the rail trail I don’t wear Spandex ( you wouldn’t want to see my wearing that). When I was in the Army I was proud to wear the Uniform and Fatigues. But now I don’t even own a suit. When I pass on I will be buried in my favorite Jeans and a Tee shirt.
Wish I knew it was this easy 40 years ago. I wouldn’t have wasted any time learning to build models, lay track, install couplers, build benchwork, wire the puppy up, etc.
Anybody remember the FORUM MEMBER t-shirts that were offered when the whole idea of the Kalmbach magazine forums was new? It has the logos of the magazines as well. We would wear them to pre-arranged get togethers, such as at Galesburg Railroad Days (I remember seeing Jay Eaton there), Milwaukee’s Trainfest, and other such places.
Caps - don’t wear’em. Coffee mug - well, I don’t drink much coffee, but a mug can be used for other things. Problem with a coffee much around a layout, at least one under construction, is that you will become the character in the old MR cartoon where the guys in the club all have a mug of coffee and another member yells out that the coffee pot is full of tie stain. As for an apron, well, it could come in handy if I worked on models while wearing nice clothes for some reason. I think I’d rahter the type that you pin up to the edge of the workbench to (hopefully) keep small parts from flying off to the great void.
But hey, obviously enough people asked for this stuff so they decided to sell it.
Ain’t technology wonderful? And they’re ready-to-wear outfits (RTW). 40 years ago, you’d have been given pile of fabric pieces and you’d have to sew them together yourself.
Ya gotta respect Cody for unashamedly “letting his geek flag fly”, but has anybody else actually considered wearing an apron while working on model railroad projects?
When I was in shop class we were required to wear an apron. Now that I think about it, if someone tried to make me do that now, I would take home economics instead. I’m sure the school would have loved a lawsuit from parents whose child got pulled into the lathe by the apron.
My model railroad uniform consists of camo pants and a plaid button down. I do admit I’ll wear a railroad company logo t shirt from time to time, and I’d probably wear a kalmbach t shirt. But certainly not a model railroader magazine shirt. Unless it was free. [:-^]
I wouldn’t be foolish enough to wear nice clothes while practicing my hobby. And no, I won’t tell you how I got India ink on my nice work oxford. [:O]
Aprons have uses. I wear one when airbrushing (had the color cup fall off the airbrush once) and more importantly, when assembling models with little fiddly-bit parts that want to go astray. I fasten the bottom of the apron to the workbench so any parts that would otherwise fall to the floor land in the apron. I’ve learned it is helpful to remove the neck strap when you get up from the workbench.
However, the apron bears the very un-railroady logo of a specialty foods store, now closed, where my son worked as a bagger - his first job in high school.
Andre & Br. B: I’m glad I’m not the only one who treasures the memory of that dopey song.
Retsignalmtr: My dear Uncle Jim passed away quietly while fishing at his favorite spot. He was buried in the clothes he was wearing when he died, because his kids knew that’s what he would want. Be careful when choosing your attire.
Randy: I’d use any coffee cup that can keep the coffee hot, no matter what logo. The hat doesn’t matter.
Carl, Charlie, Ted & George: Is it possible Cody is only wearing that thing as an April Fools joke?
Ted & George: Over the years, I’ve decorated many a piece of clothing with various shades of Floquil; and on one memorable occasion in my teens I nailed an expensive table cloth. This did nothing to improve my standing in the family heirarchy.
Anyway, I spend all my money on trains, there isn’t anything left over for silly train cloths, heck, I’m going to have to stop buying trains long enough to afford decoders and stuff!
Folks who work in jewlery manufacture seem, by my observation anyway, to wear aprons at their work bench. As Randy points out these have the very useful feature of a fully functioning drop cloth that is clipped to the edge of the bench and is an extension of the apron and designed to catch fallen parts before they dissapear forever gone.
The apron offered for sale by our hosts seems to harken back to the old days of the cobbler - other trades as well, I guess. But that is what this apron reminds me of which is not such a bad thing to remember as it happens.
I am undecided what the practical value is of this piece of attire other than the chest high pocket in which to stash a pack of smokes & a lighter! A cellphone perhaps? Me? Well I just wear old clothes that the Mrs. Is too embarresed to be seen out with me wearing any more so their final days are spent aworking on the railroad “all the live long day”.
