Your favorite model railroad injury ?

grumbeast

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Jan 13, 2003
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I don't have any "particular" injury story.. I'm more
plagued by an on-going clumsiness, particularly when
it comes to putting railjoiners onto N scale track,
I always end up badly impaling my thumb.. I have been
known to rush out of the railway room with a 3' section
of flextrack protruding from a thumb :)

as an aside.. I did once make a dolls house for my wife
and at various points I managed to hot glue myself to
1. The floor, 2. The sofa, 3. The sideboard, 4. The dollshouse
and 5.. Myself. STUPID HOT GLUE! :)

Graham
 

N Gauger

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Dec 20, 2000
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Easy One!! :) :) :) I was "attacking" a plastic model with an X-Acto knife and a tube of glue. I would glue a part - then clean the edges with my fingers getting every last bit of glue off.

Of course sooner or later the glue has GOT to get on the end of the X-acto, razor sharp, knife. So there must be an extra thumb to clean off the edge of the knife - then we have blood on the plastic model.

For months my buddy would ask me to clean his pocket knife with my thumb :) :) :)

But I'm feeling much better now. LOL
 

Drew1125

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Jan 28, 2001
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Mine, also relates to the infamous X-acto knife...
I was cutting some sheet styrene to make a roof for a structure, using the x-acto, along with a metal ruler for a straight-edge...I usually turn the knife blade backwards to score styrene, but for some goofy reason, this time I was drawing it along the straight-edge with the cutting edge facing toward me...all of a sudden, the knife jumped over the ruler, & went right across my left index finger...well, the next thing I know, I'm recreating a scene from The Texas Chainsaw Massacre! :D:rolleyes: :eek: :D
I make my way upstairs, & say in my most humble voice, "Honey, I think I need to go to the emergency room."
My wife grabs a dish towel from the kitchen, puts me in the car, & drives like a maniac to the hospital.
Well, now I'm sitting in the ER, feeling very brave, holding my hand, in the by now, completely blood soaked towel...(most impressive blood-letting in the waiting room at that moment! :D )
I notice this kid, probably about 14 or so, sitting next to me, also with an injured hand...
"What'd you do?", I asked.
"Stabbed himself with an x-acto knife.", says his mom, who is sitting with him.
"Oh my God!", says my lovely wife, & the next thing I know she, & the kid's mom are comparing notes on what a couple of idiots we are.
While this is going on, me & the kid strike up a conversation about modeling...turns out he's into airplanes...we chat about plastic, & wood, the different paints we like etc...
Anyway, a couple of hours, & 5 stiches later, I was back home, finishing up that foof, & being MUCH more careful! :)
 

Ralph

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Jun 18, 2002
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Soldering track, I dangled the iron from the bench work and then crawled underneath to look at wires. On the way back out I got a good half inch burn on my upper arm. Scar's still there after two years! They say that a research study of accident victims revealed that most knew they were doing something stupid right before they got hurt. Add me to the list! :)
Ralph
 

N Gauger

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Originally posted by grumbeast
I don't have any "particular" injury story.. I'm more
plagued by an on-going clumsiness, particularly when
it comes to putting railjoiners onto N scale track,
I always end up badly impaling my thumb.. I have been
known to rush out of the railway room with a 3' section
of flextrack protruding from a thumb :)

Graham

I finally gave up the consistant "Skewering" my thumb by HO & N gauge joiners. I now use needle nose plyers to install them. :) :) :)
 

Paul Davis

New Member
My story also relates to the X-acto but with less blood and stabbing motions. I was removing cork from some subroadbed, as the cork was well glued down I had to push pretty hard to slice it away. Anyhow I got to a rough bit which I couldn't seem to get through. After a little bit of pushing I realized my thumb didn't feel quite right. That's when I discovered that my thumb has slid onto the blade and I'd actually been trying to push the knife through it. I had cut down to the bone but being that it was a fresh blade it made a clean cut so it bled little. Probably why I didn't feel it either. (until I saw it)
 

K.V.Div

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May 10, 2001
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Mine would be another X-acto knife story.
One evening, several years back, I was in the process of removing some small detail parts from an N scale boxcar when one of my scottish terriers decided to sneak up and attack his favorite sock (any sock I happened to be wearing on my left foot at the time).
I had just replaced the blade with a new one and Webster's attack on his prey startled me into dropping the knife, which fell straight down and buried itself 3/4 the way into my inner thigh:eek:.
The pain did not register immediatly, as my concentration was evenly split between the knife sticking straight down in me and Webster shaking my sock loose and disapearing down the hallway with his ill-gotten prize:rolleyes:.
I probably sat there for about a minute before the wife walked in, looked and remarked that "surely you can find a better place to store your hobby tools":rolleyes:
After a few choice words, she put her first aid skills to work and patched me up.
Not a big scar, but it's still there :)
Cheers!

Terry
 

Lighthorseman

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Jul 24, 2002
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Mr. Injury-Prone...

There was no avoiding it. It was time to cut benchwork.

So there I was, facing the EVIL tablesaw. (I think you already know where this one's going...:D ) Being already worried about this devilish device, I was decked out in safety goggles, and had a push-stick to keep fingers away. I made sure that there were no kids around to be a distraction, and stood slightly off to the side to avoid any kicked-back material.

As I was cutting the second last piece of wood, my labrador ran behind me, barking at a squirrel. "Huh??"....I turned to the left.........running my right thumb through the tablesaw.

You do NOT want to know what that sounds like.:eek:

Fortunately for me, I ran the thumb through lengthwise, and now sport a slightly mis-shapen, but intact thumb....





Oh, yes...by the way, I wrapped the thing up, got back out there, and cut that last piece of wood. ;)
 
Where do I start? I guess with the one that left the bigest "impresion".:D I was doing the garden crawl. On my belly, hands , and knees. Soldering the Code 332 rails together. This requires substantial heat. Whell, I have several joints done quite nicely and I'm moving right along, making great time. If I hurry I might be able to run some trains before it gets too dark. O.K. put that arm down right on the HOT Rail!:mad: OUCH!
Now, when I wear short sleves people ask how I burned that cool pattern into my arm?
I just say it's a long story.:p
 

Vic

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Feb 1, 2002
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The "Evil Xacto Knife" also struck here....:eek: .... Never model barefooted....:eek: .... The darn thing rolled off the table and impaled my left big toe to the hardwood floor!!!!!!!:D :D :D

Tale #2..... A friend and I decided to split a 100# bag of Hydrocal Plaster.....We got two 5 gal gallon sheet rock mud buckets to divide it up in....We filled the first bucket but notice that there was still about 3/4ths of the Hydrocal left in the bag and there wasn't near 50# in the bucket....My friend said "tamp it down" so I bent over,grabbed the bucket by its sides, raised it about a foot and "banged" it against the concrete floor.....BOOM!!:eek: About 30# of Hydrocal "exploded" right in my face!!!:eek: :D I looked like a ghost!!!:eek: :D :D Seems that an airpocket formed when we were transfering it to the bucket and when I "tamped" it it came to the surface:eek:....No problem though....I'll just run in the house and take a quick shower clothes and all:) ..... Yea!!!...All the Hydrocal came off!!!:).....The next morning:( ... The shower drain is totally clogged:( :eek: ... hard as concrete:eek:...$150 to the plumber to replace the drain :eek: :( ..My billfold is still "aching" from that one:D :D :D
 

Clerk

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Everytime I crawl under the layout to do some wireing or something, as I back out I always raise up to soon and crack my head either on the benchwork or the control panel. I am constantly haveing scars on the top of my head. When people ask what happened, i just say my wife keeps leaving cupboard doors open. The other day I said this just as my wife came up and I suddenly got a good smack on the shoulder. I am now also wearing a bruise on my left shoulder.
By the way, the top of my head is almost bald so the scars and bruises really show up nice a bright.
 

TinGoat

Ignorant know it all
I've got two...

Ralph wrote: They say that a research study of accident victims revealed that most knew they were doing something stupid right before they got hurt.

You can add me to the list too....

I was carving a sailboat and hollowing it out with a dull chisle... :confused:

Got a 1 inch long scare on the pad of my left thumb from that one.... :eek:

Not as bad as the time I slashed my left wrist with a dull chisle. I was using it to scrape old putty from around a window frame. That one earned me 7 stitches.

We really need to keep the pets away from the hobby room too....

The other scar is from soldering at the dining room table last summer.

I was wearing shorts at the time...

The dogs ran under the table and hit the soldering iron cord. :eek:

They pulled the soldering iron off of the table and on to my bare leg. Got a nice 1 inch wide by 2 inch long burn that blistered, peeled and scarred.
 

N Gauger

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Dec 20, 2000
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Originally posted by YakkoWarner
wow! all these people who hurt themslves with an Exacto knife... It says to me...

CLASS ACTION LAWSUIT! Lets go get them Bastiches! Reparations for all!:D

Yeah!! They shoulda made them with Oval shaped handles so they wouldn't roll off the tables -- and they should come with some kind of warning on them.

Always keep point AWAY from any body parts -- any table edge -- any animal -- any body parts (oh yeah I said that one already)

:) :) :) Misery Loves Company eh??????? :) :) :)

ROFL!!!!!!!
 

Vic

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Feb 1, 2002
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Stop That Rolling Knife

Most office supply places and drugstores have these....It a three cornered rubber cushion that will slide over a pencil or pen so that people this arthritic fingers can grip it better. They also fit an Xacto Knife!!:) It will keep the knife from rolling.:) Cheap too...3 for a buck! Also the "cushioned" models of Xacto Knives have a rubber "bump" on them that keeps them from rolling. Micromark has what they call an "Executive Xacto Knife" it has six sides and won't roll.
 
another dreaded x-acto knife story....

I was cutting on the pilot of an Athearn SD40-2 with a chisel bladed x-acto knife, trying to cut it down enough so my snowplow would fit. when, as always happens, the blade sliced completely through the pilot, and into my pointer finger of my left hand. cut all the way to the back side of the knuckle. you cant really see the scar, but i still have no feeling in one side of that finger from the knuckle to the tip.
 

eightyeightfan1

Now I'm AMP'd
Jun 18, 2002
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Xacto Blade......Same as Vic.
Rolled of the workbench, point first into the big toe...through the toenail. Looked down to see it sticking up.Pulled it out and went back to work. Couple of minuates later, looked down for a part that had rolled of the workbench,noticed the sock covered in blood.
OOps.....