My first layout and Catzilla...

My first layout (N scale, on two hollow core doors) was in the living room of our apartment. AFTER the layout was half built, we were gifted with a kitten. With no door and not wanting to lock her in a bedroom all the time, keeping the cat out of the train room wasn't really practical so we had to keep her off of the layout. Squirt bottles, sour apple spray, and even ammonia were tried to no lasting effect.

(Not ours, but yeah, that kind of thing...)

What finally worked was this:

I took a Sunday newspaper and opened the pages out over the layout, a few layers thick. With everything well covered, I got a dozen mousetraps, set them, and put them UNDER the layers of paper.

The next time the cat jumped up on the layout, she walked gingerly on the newspaper for a bit until WHACK! A loud noise and movement right under her feet. No chance of actually catching her paw because of the newspaper, but it put her into high gear getting off the layout! She tried jumping up there a couple more times in the following days, but with (eventually) the same results. She gave it up as a bad job and left the layout alone ever after.

Kitty on the layout

Really like this post. I own a few cats and after having them damage expensive things on my layout I decided they had to stay out. I now keep the train room door closed. My cats seemed to care less about the running trains and more about rubbing their faces on the sides of buildings and railroad crossing signals which resulted in lots of damages.  Don't even get me started about cat fur in the gears of my locomotives! Really surprised your cat does not jump over that barrier my cats can jump almost twice the height of that. Love the window box idea my cats would love that.

Here is a tip If you want to keep air flow in your house why not try a removable screen door? or screen panels meshed together? My friend whom also has cats and a layout made a removable screen panel to his train room entrance to allow air flow but keep his cats out. From what I have seen first hand most pets and trains don't mix well.

No picture of Mattie in her

No picture of Mattie in her perch?

A favorite trainroom sign of mine...

Says he who lives with more cats than I am allowed to tell!

-Eric

Keeping Cats Away From Trains

In the 1980's I had an N-Scale layout that attracted my cat.  While working on the layout one night, I discovered that my cat hated the sound of my corded drill, so I took one of those motion sensors you use around the house to turn on lights, and rigged it up to the drill.  I placed the sensor on the spot where the cat usually mounted the layout.  It didn't take long for my feline friend to learn that jumping up on the layout would trigger a noise he hated.  Problem solved.

Mark

Door shut!

I've learnt to keep the door more or less closed now, ever since I caught Blaze sitting on top of my brass Rock Island caboose! However, he cannot enter the room quietly anyway, so I used to know when he was about! Mind you, he'd scarper when I sounded the horn for the grade crossings.....

Brian

I just kept the door to my

I just kept the door to my train room closed. Both my cats are now in kitty heaven, so I am going to move my layout into a longer room that can't be locked, but is more suitable. Both my kitties were big (20lbs!) and could jump at least 42" straight up, so that was the easiest solution. It's nice to be able to move my layout out into another room, but its a poor trade. Would rather still have the kitties, but we did have 19+ years together.

I can relate to this post

A soon as I get a photo of Mattie

Trainman6446,  As soon as I get a photo of Mattie in her perch, I will post it.

markpaulson, Your cat hears a high frequency that human ears can not pick up on.

Mr Bridger,  Looks like your cat made a play toy out of one of your trees.

metraF40PH163,  Mattie has never tried to jump over the door, yet. (good kitty)

G. T.

Great Wall of Katee

Hi Ghost Train,

Our original cat had no interest in model trains.  The second cat had exquisite taste.  She knocked over and totalled my only Kato locomotive.  Bachman and Life-Like would not do!?!?!

I walled off the train room the next day.

I made 4x8' panels using 1/4 plywood sides, 3/4 foam insulation core and 1x2s for the frames.  I suspended the panels from the ceiling using hook and eyes.  It made a light, cat-proof wall that could be removed for furnace and water heater maintenance.

No cats...

I used to have an English Mastiff

Ours was about 235 lbs and the big danger other than slobber was his tail. When he had the tail in full swing it would be very painful to catch a direct hit. He passed several years ago and we still miss that dog, best dog I ever owned. Great with children, and people stopped coming to my house to solicit money. He also learned to turn door knobs with his mouth and open the doors funniest thing I have ever seen.

@ Rob

Slobber door knobbers?  I guess you always knew which doors he had opened!

Thats why I dont have a cat

My ex wife had two cats and they tore up everything with their claws, and the would jump up on everything.

So when we got divorced I decided that I would never have a cat again. Mainly because I didn't want  a cat jumping on my layout.

Rob

GO ON MAKE MY DAY - Just try to spot that caboose

Out late cat Felix - "Twenty pounds of appetite with an attitude":-

Had settled on a five track transfer table inhibiting all operations..

This chap was originally going to be a three week visitor while a relative was hospitalized,

last year he passed away after a twenty year stay.  Sure miss him !!!

Cat's corner on the layout

This little female cat never busted anything on the layout.

She had a place near the window, in the afternoon sun, and 

was just watching the trains go by.

Missing her a lot.

AH, cats!

My two will come in and lie next to the radiator if its cold, or sit on my feet if its warm out, but neither one makes the leap to the layout (some 50 inches off the floor).  Of course, my tabby is 14 and slightly arthritic, so he jumps way less then he used to.

Cat deterant

If the cat jumps somewhere you wish she wouldn't put some tape, sticky side up, there.  The cat will quickly learn that that is a bad place, and stay away.  Not necessarily good for a layout, but good for counters, tables, etc.

Brilliant

What a great solution! I have to keep the door closed to the train room, or supervise the cat when I am in the room working and he comes in.

Our cat Oliver has sharpened

Our cat Oliver has sharpened his claws on the scenery and has sent one loco crashing to the floor. He also trod on a building one day and collapsed the roof, so these days he's not allowed near the layout. Crazy thing is, I miss him because he's family.

Perhaps I should add this one to the track bumpers thread.

Lucked Out

I guess I lucked out.  Our previous tabby was afraid of the engine.  The first time I turned it on, she high-tailed it out of the room.  Unfortunately, she passed away in January (aged 14) 2 days after I came home from the hospital.  Our current cat is actually a stow-away.  While I was in the hospital and my wife was feeding the outdoor cats, he darted in the open door and lived under the beds for several months - only coming out to eat, etc when it was quite and he thought we weren't around.  It's obvious he was an indoor cat and afraid of people, so we figured he had been mistreated and kicked out of his previous home. We assume he was sent our way to be the replacement cat.  Anyway, he eventually adopted us and is now training us, but has shown very little interest in going in the train room and has never tried to jump up on the shelf.  He is not much of a high altitude cat, preferring to spend most of his time on the floor at the back door watching the outdoor cats or sleeping where ever he happens to light.  

Pump Spray Bottle

Back when we had cats, we just kept some plastic pump water spray bottles around. They have a long throw, across the room reach, and the cats stopped in their tracks whatever they were doing whenever it came out. It worked great for keeping the cats off the layout.

John

One other thing that seems to

One other thing that seems to work well is aluminum foil spread over the surfaces they like to get on but should not. For some reason most cats that my mother had did not like it or the noise it made when they walked on it.