For Better or For Worse by Lynn Johnston for May 28, 2019

We have seen the Patterson family laundry room and that would be a terrible place for model trains. There are giant stacks of clothes in that laundry room.

The whole laundry room? Uh, yah.

So now you expect her to step around and over your new toy. I repeat, when does she get to buy something for herself?

John: “You don’t need the whole laundry room, do you?”

Elly: “Well, no, if you are willing to do the laundry for me.”

John: “The basement. I’ll set up in the basement. (Whew! That was close!)”

Garage

Reality is starting to set in.

N-gauge fits in smaller spaces and is just as good.

What a loser!

New project. You need to build a model train shed. Little hobbies grow up so fast.

nothing like thinking things through

Now he’ll have to build a room extension on the house!

Is that John’s idea of a compromise?

Build a 600 sq ft hobbyhouse.

Isn’t the attic the traditional model train place?

spoiler alert it eventually takes over the back yard

My brother had a trainset up down in the basement. . .and I mean LL over the basement. One “date” (college) came to pick me up, went downstairs with my brother to “look at” the train. . .needless to say, not only did we NOT go out that night, but we never went out again. . .

That’s how this sort of thing starts…

Why is it always the laundry room where people drop their ‘stuff’? I tell my husband: this is my work space.

Must not have a decent basement.

I knew a guy once who had most of his basement devoted to an HO gauge layout, and while I think they’re neat, I don’t need one. I can appreciate the work done by others. For me it’s like a Harley. If I could have gotten a brand new Harley for around $7K, I would have. I’d like one, but not enough to spend what they cost. And now that I’m older, with bad knees and a bad back, etc., the odds that I will ever get a new Harley are on a par with the chances some drop dead gorgeous woman will find me attractive and run off with her. I’m not rich enough for that, either. And I’m grumpy, so I’m not going to win on charm, either.

Not the laundry room, the garage and invest in covers for the cars.

I like how Elly’s face is drawn in 3rd panel.

I was about John age when I got into trains never look back

My small laundry room houses not just my washer & dryer & freezer, but also: a chest of drawers for my husband’s seasonal clothes, his winemaking equipment & bottles, a bookcase full of his jigsaw puzzles, a large “log” growing oyster mushrooms, and a 100-gallon fishtank to overwinter our koi. I can only pray he doesn’t develop an interest in trains…!

I seem to see it in the front yard

FYI: For those of you didn’t see Pawn Stars last night. According to the 2019 edition of Greenberg’s Lionel Trains Pocket Guide. It was a 1957 Girl’s Train. If it was in excellent condition, it would sell for $815.00. The owner of the Pawn Shop, Rick Harrison bought it for over $3,000. OMG! Later, in the show, Rick gave a brief history of toy trains and Lionel.

A pet peeve at our house…my laundry room is used for everything else and when I want to do laundry…Aack!!