The Official Dome O' Foam
"Foamer's Brain"
(This is your brain on foam!)
- our original logo lately banished
from the front page
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1958 2023 atomic pink naugahyde edition
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Wx4 Card Catalog
Latest Claptrap:
7-3-24
Drone O' Foam?
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Welcome to the Grab Bag, our virtual 55 gallon trash bag loaded with content that will shock, amuse and ultimately drive you to the safe psychological waters of Train.com. This is where all of the odd humor off front page has wound up over the years.
2023 update: The Grab Bag has been on Wx4 since the beginning and has never experienced a do-over, so we figured that it was time. Thus, we have selcted a 1950's motif, since we get a kick out of the pop art and pop science of the time that highlighted a rosy future replete with nuclear-powered everything, all trimmed out in atomic pink and blue naugahyde. Bonus: the scheme's colors match the Dome logo at left! (As an aside, we are pleased that atomic power has not found a way into Precision Scheduled Railroading.)
We also would like to point out that we have retained Grab Bag's original banner as a historical artifact, produced using an online engine in the days before we learned Photoshop. It also goes well with naugahyde. |
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Retired, but not forgotten logos
sic transit gloria mundi
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We celebrated our 15th in 2018, only to discover later that Wx4 actually went online in late 2002.
Our 20th Anniversary logo - designed by Ikea
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CAPTION THIS!
wx4org@yahoo.com
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- 6-29-23: Tony the Tiger loses his head in response to a pay cut by Kellogg - Bromley O. Wilf, Swamp on Tyne, Northumberland, U.K.
- 7-1-23: Why it is important to firmly attach a "do not hump" placard to a shipment - Bob Blue, Gravity Iowa
- 8-22-23: Inadvertent problem with protective tarp reveals super-secret USAF hypersonic wind tunnel, camoflaged in "Tony the Tiger" crushed velour. - Clarence Clarksdale, Tonopah, Nevada
- 10-17-23: This must be the mascot for Precision Scheduled Railroading: Large claws and no head. - Omar Sanchez, Colorado Springs, Colorado
- 4-30-24: It is a perfect graphic representation of what AI is, and what it portends for humanity! - Gary Greenblat, Amityville, New York. Staff: So ai is the next Amityville Horror, then?
- 9-27-24: The Lion King in aftermath of unfortunate grade crossing incident - Benny Kutz, Arbuckle, Ca
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a Gallery of All Things Dome
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Miscellaneous Claptrap:
- The Wx4 Standard Railroad Joke (loads better than The Willys Joke)
- Silly Johnny is Dead!- BEWARE! admittedly snarky commentary about RR advertising
- Professional RR Terms Disambiguated by a "Seasoned Pro", Part 1 NEW addition 4-30-2024
- Professional RR terms Disambiguated by a "Seasoned Pro", Part 2: Humps and Humping
- Historic SP Bloody Nose diesels congregate at West Oakland, 1959 - Dave Maffei gets
a coveted Wx4 Eagle Eye Award for spotting something we missied
- NEW 4-30-2024: Wx4 Looks at the Particulars of Baggage Smashing
- NEW 4-30-2024: Basking Shark on the Adirondak Railway - another sign of civilization's decline
- NEW 4-30-2024: Smokey, the Dog Formed By a Committee - a nostalgic & sick look at safety
- NEW 5-14-2024: Motor Camping in olden times- proper railfan auto camping in olden times;
includes illustrated 324 page PDF of the 1924 book, Motor Camping
- The Wx4 Funnypapers
- Black Valley Railroad
- Dad, Where Do the Tracks Go?: An Xmas Vignette
- BART Simulator Training: Overview
- Lance Ludlow, Caltrain Engineeer, Parts: -1- -2- -3- -4- -5- -6- -7-
- HELIXTRAM!, Tomorrow's transportation, yesterday:
NOW, the FULL BOOKLET in PDF!
- HELIXTRAM 500!, a what if...
- The Reaching Claw - scary!
- Super Quick RP25 Action Trucks a startling admission...
- The Dangers of Underage Railroading - times were different back then
- Mayan Apocalypse, Now...coming to a platform near you!
- Harold Lloyd? Not the best selection for a railroad spokesperson, we'd say...
- The Wx4 FoamOfan Car: Shower-Up, Fans!
- Would you like fries with that [train] order?
Real Railroad Stories:
These stories are entirely true, as far as you know.
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We should have paid attention:
Many years ago, when we were looking for a suitable building image to match with our foaming dome animated gif logo (see this page, top), we happened upon the ideal one. Without thinking, we adapted it to our purpose, only to learn ten years later that it was a railroad equipment repair facility, Dome Railway Services. They even have an 80 year old SW1. We bought the hat! click image |
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We moved Wx4 headquarters to Hawaii more than a decade ago. The lack of nearby railroads nevertheless has its compensations. By "compensations", we mean that we spend most happy hours at the Wx4 Tiki Bar making sacrifices to the volcano god, Pele. Pele likes gin. According to the rangers over at Volcano National Park - who also like gin - sacrifices to Pele should only be made at a specific spot within the park, which seems kind of fishy to us, particularly because Pele and gin do not coincide in Hawaiian folklore. As a test, we recently made an enormous gin (and Mai Tai) sacrifice to Pele at the Tiki Bar, and darned if she didn't create a "dome fountain" just for us. It even got noticed on CNN. That's nice. |
The gloom of Dome, Alaska
- Ektachrome slide Wx4 Collection
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Inside the Dome Railway Service shop?
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Wye at Ombey (103.7 miles west of Ogden) at the top of Red Dome Pass on the old CP/SP "Old Line" via Promontory - some great "NecroFluggen" by Steve Bush
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The hills of Dome, Arizona, 1959
-photo Wx4 Collection
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We hated to see this graphic - one of our favorites - totaly disappear
from our site in 2023, so we elected to preserve it in perpetuity here.
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