Well on the South Massey I have a buisness called the Stuff Factory. You all know we all need stuff and that is where the stuff comes from.
Funny thing is I picked the name Massey after seeing it on a video game I play online and tried to see if there was any realy life towns with the name Massey is it and could not find one. I figured that would be perfect for my fictional railroad in a fictional town, and for a town it is fine. Now that I have named my town and railroad that I have met 5 people with the name Massey. I had never seen the name before my layout and now look what happenes.
RAYMOND MASSEY was a featured actor in 1940s, 50s and 60s movies and TV shows (Dr. Kildare)
My 1958 Official Guide of thde Railways lists:
Massey, Indiana, served by New York Central;
Massey, Iowa, Milwaukee Road;
Massey, Maryland, Pennsylvania RR.;
Massey, Ontario, Canada, Canadian Pacific.
LOL I did a search of the name Massey and also South Massey and didnt come up with anything. Just tried again as well didnt come up with any towns but I did find now a few ppl named Massey. Yahoo search is strange. OH well thanks for showing me that there is a few places that share the name as well. [:)]
There is a moving business here called “Hernia Movers” Actual name. Their slogan on the trucks and in advertising is “The potentate of totin’ freight”. I used to have an industry on the layout called Burnham Downs Matchworks, but after a freak accident it was lost to fire.
You do not NEED a model Railroad, In Pensy there are is a town called Intercourse. My wife said If I used that on mine she would add one called Got-A-Headache.
We a a grave yard on ours where we out henames of those who heave derailed a train.
The Undertaker is STIFF & DEADLY. the phone one the wall is 1-8-0 and Away you go.
The mine is Called the PAY-PAL mine after one of our stores.
This is why this hobby is fun.
John Allen liked to disguise his odd names with spelling. For instance the Gorre and Daphetid was pronounced gory and defeated. It ran through the Akinbak Mountains, pronounced achin’ back.
I have run across: Beecher Meat Co., Lumpy Flats, Roger’s Shrubberies (for Monty Python fans only). My 2 Ntrak modules are based on MR’s “Port of Los Angeles” HO module (1994?) but since I had recently aquired a DeLux Innovations cast resin N scale porta-potty, I couldn’t resist naming my terminal what else? The “Port of Paughty”
Real towns in South Texas
Papalote (“windmill”)
Ganado (“cattle”)
Blessing (Post Office would not approve the name “thank God!”)
Swinnery Switch (hoping to attract a railroad that never came)
Realitos (sounds like Spanish for “reality” but actually means royal encampment. The reality factor is that it was once the once place on the length of the Texas Mexican where trains over a certain length could pass.)
Magnet
Towns named after kids not realistic? How about “Miranda City” Texas on the Texas Mexican.
Hard to beat real names-- except where the postal or other authorities have nixed them.
Thanks to the wonderful line of HO scale construction equipment available from Norscot and other’s, I decided that my Tidewater and Albemarle Railroad (no abbreviations allowed!) needed to have a team track by a general contractor, Ricky Diaz Construction. As soon as he gets his medical license, Ricky’s son Payne will be opening his proctology practice.
The railroad also serves Fossel Fuels, a coal and oil dealer. There was an abandoned gas station that became a country & western bar after I bought some small hat pins with built in flashing lights. It was going to be named Pistol Dawn (Drink 'til midnight, Pistol Dawn), but then I picked up an IHC pizza shop at an auction that fit right next door. The bar must now be called … Spaghetti Western!
Rusty - isn’t that shubber’s shop next to the Knights Who Say Ni Hall ??
There was a real business in St.Paul MN called “AMHOIST” from it’s full name, AMerican HOIST and derrick. I’ve thought I might do a company called “AMSCRAY” for a scrap dealer called AMerican SCRAp Yard co.
But there are a lot of funny names in real life. A block away from me used to be a plumbing co. in a building called the Annis Building. Guess those plumbers got to the bottom of the problem?? A model railroad business called Model Stone would seem like a joke, but there is one about a mile from me in Minneapolis MN.
NW Minnesota has cities called Fertile and Climax…guess you could include Moorhead.[:O]
BTW don’t forget, railroads use cities and states in their names, but some cities were named after railroads, like Centralia IL (Illinois Central RR) and St.Louis Park MN (Minneapolis & St. Louis RR).
p.s. Canadian-born actor Raymond Massey narrated Northern Pacific’s 100th anniversary LP, “A Thousand Miles of Mountains”, in 1964. Hal Linden sang on the record.
Real groaners, some inspired by others, some originals, all planned into my NS Hocking Division HO scale layout…
B and E Locksmiths
Dewey Cheatham and Howe (Attorneys at Law)
Dr. Ima Buchiere (Be sure you check out his license…)
Royal Flush Plumbers … A straight flush beats a full House (This is an actual company in Florence Kentucky)
Pairodyce Motors (a used car lot with questionable looking vehicles)
Strahan, Umphe and Fliryte Aviation Products
Stanken and Schlossen Septic Service
Band - Aid Station (a music store)
Squintyeye and Munchee’s Head Shop (Kids ask your parents)
Deep Kah (A new age councelling service for the seriously disturbed)
Snuggle Bunny’s (an, ahem, “gentleman’s” club)
Speed Trap, West Virginia (a very small fictional town along my mainline)
Lokupp, West Virginia (Home of the County Jail)