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Cats and Trains [1]

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Date: 2023-02-05  

A star is born

TRAINS magazine has an article on one of the most famous cats of all time: Chessie the Railroad Kitten. * May be a paywall — limited free views.

Chessie’s story is a unique one. Born to the world in 1933, from the imagination of many, Chessie’s tale begins innocently with her asleep, one eye slightly opened, and a paw stretched out from underneath a blanket. Her story, as it develops, flooded the mainstream media, creeping into people’s homes during a painful and uncertain time. It was the 1930s, the U.S. was engulfed in The Great Depression, families were searching for hope, and World War II was lurking over everyone’s shoulder. That’s when it all happened. Lionel C. Probert stumbled upon a drawing of the kitten in the Sunday magazine section of the New York Herald Tribune. He immediately became enthralled with her gentle appeal. As the assistant to Chesapeake & Ohio Railway’s President J. J. Bernet, Probert is just about to settle on the slogan, “Sleep Like A Top,” for an advertising campaign that will promote C&O’s new air-conditioned sleeping cars. However, when he sees this drawing, his motivation changes. He unknowingly goes forth and transforms this kitten into an ingenious advertising campaign for C&O based on a love story – a story that was unexpectedly written and directed by the public.

It’s a fascinating story of how a straightforward advertising campaign went viral.

Chessie giving up her bunk to a serviceman traveling to war.

Chessie sleeps while her two kittens Nip and Tuck gaze up with admiration at their father, decorated veteran Peake.

The public’s reaction to the original image quickly took on a life of its own. Chessie acquired a family, became the star of a calendar, helped with war effort in World War 2, and eventually became incorporated into the logo of the railroad.

C&O disappeared into CSX, but Chessie is not forgotten

There’s the old saying about a picture being worth a thousand words; Chessie went way beyond that.

There’s another connection between cats and trains; how to enjoy model railroading while living with fur babies who think you are building them a big cat toy. Model Railroader passes on some tips on how to get cats and toy trains to coexist. Associate Editor Steven Otte relates how he attempts to cope. * May be a paywall — limited free views.

As the saying goes, curiosity killed the cat. But if you, like me, have both cats and model trains, it’s usually your layout that suffers the brunt of your cat’s curiosity. Model train layouts have all kinds of enticing chewable trees, invitingly textured landscaping, and of course, fun moving cat toys (a.k.a. locomotives). So what can you do to ensure your cats and model trains coexist peacefully? I can hear the people out there now. “Just close the door!” Though that does make the most sense, it’s not always practical or possible. Not every train room has a door. My HO scale Cincinnati, Lebanon & Northern layout is in my basement, which is also home to the cat litter box. So it can’t be completely closed off. I have two entrances to the train room blocked off with makeshift barricades made of pet gates, cardboard boxes, plywood, and a folding screen. The third entrance, which does have a closable door, gives access to the layout via a duckunder. This less than ideal situation is part of why I haven’t done much work on my model railroad recently. And even that doesn’t always work. My two cats, Clinchfield (pictured above) and Missabe (named for the Duluth, Missabe & Iron Range) are very curious about what goes on in that mysterious closed room. When the door to the train room is opened, one of them often tries to bolt inside. And the cat has much less trouble threading his way under the benchwork than I do, believe me.

Other staff members at Model Railroader share their own methods of keeping the trains running: a garden protection device that emits an ultrasonic burst when a motion detector goes off, loading hoppers with laundry detergent powder whose smell keeps the cats away, and so on.

Not everyone wants to keep cats off their layouts; in one case Bored Panda reports cats and model trains helped keep a restaurant open during the pandemic.

The Covid-19 pandemic hit everyone unexpectedly. For some people, together with the feeling of uncertainty and fear, it also brought a lot of financial difficulties. One of them was Naoki Teraoka, a railway model enthusiast and owner of Diorama restaurant in Osaka, Japan. Peaceful co-existence Naoki opened the restaurant in 2018. It’s a miniature railway model-themed ramen eatery where people could not only try delicious food but also admire the miniatures around them. However, after the global pandemic struck, the owner was on the verge of shutting the business down. Luckily, a fluffy creature came to help and now the restaurant can operate again, but slightly differently… ...It was June 10, 2020, when Naoki noticed a critically ill kitten that was around 10 days old next to his restaurant. The owner decided to raise the animal and named him Simba. The next day, Naoki saw another cat that was peeking out of the window. It would come every day to look into the restaurant. It was Simba’s mother. Naoki started feeding the mother surplus food because they had a lot of leftovers due to the lack of customers. Naoki remembered that it was raining every night from the end of June to July. On one of the rainy days, the mother cat brought three of her other kittens. It was then that Naoki decided to change the concept of his restaurant and rebuild it. “It was a financially difficult time for us, but we decided to help the cat family. Yes, we thought we were helping them, but they were the ones who helped us.”

Naoki began using Instagram to post pictures of the cats lounging around the dioramas. Word spread and people began coming to the restaurant to enjoy the cats enjoying the trains. The story doesn’t end there:

In 2021, as a way to thank his fluffy helpers, Naoki opened a cat shelter and a cat-only hotel on the second floor of his restaurant. People can also visit the cat hotel and spend up to two hours there while drinking tea and interacting with the cats. Visitors can also ask for adoption if there’s a pet they made a strong connection with. The owner wanted to rescue cats from being killed so he searched for areas with the highest number of cats being slaughtered. In September, he went to one place, which was around 224 miles away from his restaurant, and rescued two kittens. Since then Naoki has helped around 100 animals and found a new home for more than 60 cats.

Cats and railroads seem to be made for each other — at least in the age of social media. Felix, the Huddersfeld Station cat in Yorkshire and her apprentice Bolt have their own following.

It was her role as the senior pest controller at Huddersfield Train Station that initially catapulted Felix the cat into social media stardom. Since the publication of ‘Felix The Railway Cat’ which became one of the top-selling titles in 2017- Felix has notched up hundreds of thousands of ‘likes’ online and the tales of her adventures will no doubt continue to be a hit with the follow-up book ‘Full Steam Ahead Felix’ which I recently had the pleasure of reading.

Nevada Northern Railway had its own feline mascot: Dirt. Nevada Northern Railway is a national historic landmark. For 15 years Dirt was their official greeter and mascot. When he recently passed away, it triggered news stories around the world. From Nevada Northern:

It is with a very heavy heart that we report Dirt, our Boss Shop Cat, passed away January 11, 2023. He was 15 years old, and beloved by everyone here at the railroad and around the world. In 2008 Dirt was born here, in the main locomotive repair shop, under one of our historic steam locomotives. He was shy little kitty who looked for nooks and crannies in the shop to hid. The shop staff became attached to the little guy. Both the shop staff and the locomotive crews always liked to have him hang around the shop with them as they went about their tasks. With a can of Tuna here and there, and some attention every so often he became very familiar routine in the shop. He fit right into the work being done here, and seemed to want to keep an eye on it all. Dirt was almost always front-and-center to great our museum guest and tours. He also loves to greet the locomotives as they return to the shop after a day of work out on the line. He is unflustered by the routine noises in the shop as the machinery operates. The shop was his home, and all that he really knew. He just loved the attention from his fans all over the world! Dirt got his name because loves to roll in the Dirt in the back rooms of the engine house. He got his title, King of the Shop, because he carried out his role as official greeter and mascot in such a regal way. You can come to Ely Nevada and visit the Nevada Northern Railway. Dirt Jr., the new mascot, is still holding court in the main locomotive overhaul shop of the Nevada Northern Railway. While your at it, come take a train ride! A guided tour of the main yards and shop is included in the cost of the train ticket.

Dirt will not be forgotten.

Two life-size bronze statues of Dirt will be cast. One will be put on his gravestone at his gravesite, and the other will be in the machine shop where he can continue to watch over his fellow crew members. The gravesite is easily accessible to the public for visiting. It’s on a knoll right outside of the East Ely Depot. A livestream memorial service is being planned; date and time are yet to be determined.

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