It happened the other evening, just as it had happened before. When the old
gibbous moon was high in the sky and someone in Circleville, Ohio was playing “The City of New
Orleans” on the radio, Slim and Stumpy entered the plastic-plasma phase and began to “connect.” If
this doesn’t make sense, you should read an earlier adventure.
Slim is a 1:20 figure on “Engineer” Jeff Saxton’s
Winona & Thorny Mountain RR in St. Louis, Missouri, and Stumpy is a short 1:20 figure on George
Thomas’ Lazy Acre Lumber Company RR in Delran, New Jersey. When they “connect” they like to
visit a great model railroad. They had already traveled to six, including a
Y2K
Misadventure on the Lazy Acre RR. That time they had meant to visit Konrad Richter’s
railroad in New Jersey, but it wasn’t to be.
“Let’s try Konrad Richter’s Lakes Sand & Lumber Co. again,” suggested Slim.
“OK,” replied Stumpy. He didn’t really want to go, but there was no way he would admit this
to Slim.
So off they headed for Marlton, New Jersey. Since it was right on his back porch, it didn’t
take them long to find Konrad’s large scale railroad.
“Watch out for those big cracks,” warned Slim. “I bet we could easily fall through them.”
Stumpy remembered getting stuck, head first, in the snow on the Lazy Acre RR. Misery loves
company, so he thought that maybe he could trick Slim into getting stuck here. “Wow,” he said,
peeking through one of the cracks. “Look what’s down here.”
“What is it?” asked Slim.
Stumpy sensed he had Slim hooked. Now to reel him in. He bent way over to pretend to get a
better view. “Why it’s a...” Just then Stumpy lost his balance, fell forward, and got stuck in
the crack.
“Oh my goodness,” said Slim. “Y2K all over again.”
“What do you mean?” asked a muffled voice.
“Y2K for You’re too Klumsy,” roared Slim. “I’m getting tired of seeing your feet wiggling
in the air.”
“Get me out,” whimpered Stumpy. He wanted to yell, but couldn’t.
Slim carefully pulled Stumpy up and out of the crack in the porch.
“Thanks, pal,” said Stumpy. You can imagine how embarrassed he was.
“Don’t mention it.”
“Yeah, like you won’t remind me of it sometime in the future.”
“Hey, let’s forget about it and check out the railroad,” said Slim. He clearly wanted to
change the subject.
They realized they were standing next to a small gas station, and the train tracks were just
in front
of it.
“Let’s walk down the tracks and see what we find,” said Stumpy.
They did, and soon found a little diesel locomotive attached to some log cars.
“Anyone here?” shouted Slim. There was no answer.
“Let’s take it for a ride,” said Stumpy.
“What!” exclaimed Slim. “That’s stealing!”
“No it isn’t,” replied Stumpy. “We’ll bring it right back when we’re finished.”
Slim couldn’t argue with that logic, even though, inside, he knew it was wrong. “Promise
we’ll bring it right back?”
“I promise.”
So they started the critter and headed down the tracks. Konrad’s railroad was quite simple;
the interesting buildings reminded them of big bird feeders. Then they spotted a bunch of angry
people chasing them.
“Uh oh,” said Stumpy.
“Are you thinking what I’m thinking?”
“Yup, time for us to call it a day and skidaddle.”
They sped up to put some distance between themselves and the enraged mob. Then they slowed
the locomotive and jumped off. Saying good-bye was usually difficult for these two railroad
buddies, but this time they did it in record time.
“When and where will I see you next?” asked Slim.
“Who knows," answered Stumpy. "It’s up to the moon and a beautiful railroad song. There are
plenty of other fine layouts to visit.”
“You got that right, little buddy,” said Slim. “Until next time.”
And so they both vanished into the cool, thin air of south Jersey, heading back to St. Louis
and nearby Delran. But rest assured, Slim and Stumpy will meet again to make another layout
visit. So build your buildings, web site readers, it could be yours!
