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© George C. Thomas 2001
(Photos taken by Stan Cedarleaf)
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 might want to read their first adventure before you continue with this one.
When Slim and Stumpy "connect" they like to visit a great model railroad. In addition to visiting each others railroads they had already enjoyed many others, but one can never visit too many railroads. This goes without saying in our hobby.
"I have an idea, let's try Stan Cedarleaf's Prescott Canyon Southern Garden RR in Arizona," suggested Slim.
"Now that's a real mouthful," replied Stumpy.
"Knock it off. Do you want to come along?"
"Arizona? We've never been to Arizona before--so let's go!"
So off they headed for Prescott, Arizona, in the beautiful southwest. They immediately found some railroad tracks--they seem to have a knack for that. Within minutes the 3:35 happened along. It slowed to a stop and the conductor asked, "Do you fellas want a ride to Prescott Canyon?"
When they arrived they found a beautiful and clean little station, but Stumpy wasn't in the mood to enjoy it. "I gotta go--where's the bathroom?"
One of the locals gave Stumpy the directions and off he went. A few seconds later he called, "Hey Slim, come here. You won't believe this privy!"
Slim hurried over and observed, "This is one strange looking privy."
"Sure is," replied Stumpy. "Two doors for the ladies--must be a whole lot of them in this town. Let's go and see if we can find some of them."
"But I thought you had to..."
"Oops, almost forget. Give me a minute."
A few minutes later (so much for Stumpy's minute) our dynamic duo was wandering around Prescott Canyon looking for some pretty ladies. A little food store stalled their search.
"What are you serving?" asked Slim.
"Whatever you want," replied the owner. Since it was almost dinner time Slim ordered steak and potatoes and Stumpy ordered chicken livers with all the fixings.
While their meals were being prepared Stumpy whispered, "Did you notice that the cook looked kinda green?"
"Do you think it's from eating the food?"
Stumpy thought about it for a second. Then his hunger overruled any sense of caution he might have had. "I doubt it. Probably that's just his natural color. I read about it in some magazine."
Slim and Stumpy finished their meals, but before they could inquire about beautiful ladies the greenish guy happened to mention that gold had been found in a nearby mine. While he was clearing the plates Stumpy whispered, "Gold! If we had a bunch of gold we would have our pick of all the pretty ladies in the whole country!"
"I don't know," replied Slim, but it was too late. Stumpy had already run to the kitchen to purchase a map.
They reached the mine after dark and found four guys at the entrance. Before Slim and Stumpy could think of what to do or say, one of the men asked, "Did Cookie sell you a map?"
Without hesitation, Slim pointed to an embarrassed Stumpy. There was no way he was going to share credit for this goof.
"Heck," the man continued, "The only thing found in this mine is pyrite, you know, fool's gold. Apparently old Cookie fooled one of you!"
Slim and three of the guys had a good laugh, and then sat around swapping jokes and tall tales. But the fourth guy, one Bindle Jim, motioned Stumpy aside.
Shortly thereafter more money and another map exchanged hands. Stumpy would continue his search for gold; Bindle Jim had already found another sucker. Sometimes it's best not to trust an old miner.
Stumpy didn't mention the transaction to Slim. Slim had laughed at him, and Stumpy had no intention of sharing the gold with him. Later that evening they walked back to town and got a room at Aunt Paulita's Room and Board. It was simple, clean, and cheap--just what they wanted.
The next morning Slim awoke to find Stumpy missing. Where could he be? A fellow out front said he thought he saw him running toward the west end of town. So Slim headed that way, asking everyone he met, and finally found Stumpy digging in Boot Hill. "What in the world are you doing?" he asked.
"Shhh," answered Stumpy, "I'm digging for gold."
"What?"
"You heard me, I bought this map from Bindle Jim and I'm digging for gold."
Just about then the sheriff ran up and hollered, "Hey, you're not Bindle Jim, what are you doing?" You guessed it, web site reader, Bindle Jim was the town's grave digger. What could be more appropriate for a retired miner!
Slim and Stumpy didn't hang around to find out what action the sheriff would take. They had no intention of spending a night or two in the local jail, so before the sheriff could say another word, they ran down to the railroad yard. A freight train looked like it was getting ready to leave.
"Can we hitch a ride?" asked Stumpy.
"Sure can," answered the engineer, "Just as soon as we've taken on water."
"We'll help you," said Slim. Time was of the essence.
Then they ran back and hid in the caboose until the train got underway. A few miles out of town they jumped off and waived good-bye to the engineer.
Their short, though eventful, visit to Arizona was over. Slim and Stumpy knew that it was time for them to part ways again and, as we all know, it's not easy for good friends to say good-bye.
"When and where will I see you next?" asked Slim.
"Who knows," answered Stumpy. "It's up to the moon's cycle and a beautiful railroad song. There are lots of other fine layouts for us to visit."
"You got that right, little buddy, until next time . . ."
And so they left Arizona and headed eastward to their respective homes in Missouri and New Jersey. But rest assured, web site readers, Slim and Stumpy will meet again to make another layout visit. So clean up your cemeteries, it could be yours!
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