Cold dogs and lots and lots of trains

Otis is not a cold weather dog. 

Yesterday it rained and was cold. I drove to the field I have been planting to remove a leaking hydraulic hose from the grain drill. I put Otis in the pickup with the engine running and heater on as he was getting rather muddy. I am not sure why I am worried about mud as the inside of my pickup is full of shredded cardboard and coats that Otis has drug into the back seat area. 

I returned to find that Otis had climbed onto the dash and on top of the heater vent. He actually rode home that way and only would move when I shut off the truck and left.

Later he dropped a double deuce in the laundry room. I guess he feels more relaxed there... I do love a warm place to go to the bathroom. 

 

There are hobbies and then there are obsessions. We went to look at a 1955 Minneapolis-Moline G which was almost started once in the past twenty years. 

The fellow and his wife are into trains. We spent several hours viewing their HO scale train layout. It is bigger than my house. Of course they also have pigs, make their own feed which they grow on 40 acres, that they farm with a vintage Stieger tractor, and have a threshing machine. Plus they collect tractors and farm implements and are involved with a museum and steam trains.

You can see where they cut Grandpa's layout into sections. In this photo is looks like a waterfall. I moved one of the cars to see how much dust had accumulated. Not as much as I expected. I think they play with it fairly often.

 

It started with his Grandfather's massive layout in the basement. When his Grandfather died, they cut the train tables in pieces and got friends from work to help carry them out of the basement. 

His Grandfather lived in the city at the end of a cul-de-sack. Our hero backed a 40 ft van trailer down the street to Grandpa's house. (much to the surprise of the neighbors-also, this was a farm truck and trailer so not new I assume) They loaded the train layout sections on new mattresses the farm had bought for their bunkhouses, and had "about 20 helpers."

I think about the hours spent building this and all the detail. I am not sure where you find those hours. 

Train people have an odd sense of humor... Not a bad sense of humor!

Since then he and his wife have added on. His father's train club closed and they took that layout and a lot of donated kits, they have added their own sections, there is another set of tracks under the main layout for spare cars. There are black and yellow plastic tubs full of scenery, kits, track, train boxes, and wiring.

Then there is a wall of toy tractors.

Out is the shed he showed us an Allison out of a P-40 that had been at Pearl Harbor during the attack. 

He has a friend who is an alumni of Benson High School in Portland. It is a technical/vocation high school which has a 91 percent graduation rate. Apparently, kids actually learn something there. (Hopefully they don't have the shite-useless National Honor Society) 

When the school was renovating they were going to junk their nicely restored Model T truck, another Model T coupe, and a running Alison on a skid. I am happy they went to a good home.

Of course they also know Jay Leno...

We got home late...

The tractor will be delivered Saturday...