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They are independent animals. I am always vacuuming hairs from the track. I have not finished with scenery and wiring so they have the run of the basement and the layout. When I finish I will try something else other than running the trains constantly.
hello guys and gals.............
They are not that independent when they beg for food as i am the mama of the house and they come to me for supper LOL. I have 2 of them myself and one of them like trains as he sits near by to watch the train go around LOL. If you have a room with train layout close the door to keep them out. Yelling, spanking or spraying water on them of course won't work but keeping the door closed will.
the woman who loves the S.F.#5011
Tiffany
layout is in the basement and the door is closed! however, we have a problem where the previous owners cat peed at the bottom of the stairs. once one cat marks, they all want to. so, our solution is air. at petsmart, you can buy a motion detector that sits on a can of air. i believe it was close to $40. we have one for the top and bottom of the stairs. the air coming out of the factory air can be seen. that stuff is way to expensive so after it ran out, we just use plain old canned air. it's called. cats don't like the hisss of air
Our Price: $12.99 to 39.99
and i might add that not having a train under the tree because of those darn cats wizzes ME off....
I have the same problem, Time to switch to standard gauge. 
franktrain
I got two cats by default. They would go after the HO set I used to have (we thinkt they figured it was a snake), but they won't bother the O. I would be really aggrevated if I were in your situation. Are there any smells that cats won't go near?
They don't like citrus smells. I'd be on the couch with a basket of oranges looking to score 15 points, if you know what I mean. And I don't want to hear from the cat huggers.
The previous 2 responses are right up my alley! 
--Greg
The cats are supposed to be chasing after the mice that are trying to get into the house for the winter.
How old are the cats?
Some cats have a very calm demeanor and will just sit and watch the trains.
Look for the relaxing variety of catnip, not the crazy catnip, to see if it will lure them away.
Put out some raw chicken breast strips or raw beef strips to lure them away from the layout.
Andrew
I have two cats. One, "Alexandra" aka "Alley" (she was a feral cat that latched onto us) is a primadonna who usually likes to lay on the backrest of the love seat. The other, "Rascal" (a rescue cat) keeps laying on the table behind my computer no matter how often I spray him with water. He gets what's about to happen when I pick up the spray bottle; he even jumps down, but five minutes later he's back.
Someone has a tag line "Women and cats will do as they please. We need go get used to it." Seems to ring true. They're high in entertainment value, but sometimes they're a pain.
3 suggestions...
1.Motion detecter that sets off loud noise
2.Large ..very large fake german Shepard at entrance to room
3.Taxidermy
I had a cat that was Satan. He used to do stuff just out of spite. He saw me enjoying the trains, and decided to jump on the tracks. Well, I pushed the throttle farther, and that Lionel 4-4-2 took off. I layed on the whistle, and he didn't move, until that fast, loud, crazy train hit him. He didn't try that again.
My cats respect the kitchen and dining area but everything else is fair game. Buddy, my rescue< especially likes lurking in the mountain. I actually enjoy his interest and don't mind the minor fix up involved. Lexi, my former feral, is now too fat to get up that high and could care less about what happens on the layout. If it cannot be consumed it holds no interest for her.
How about a few mousetraps scattered around the perimeter of the layout?
J White
The horns on my NYC GP-9s seem to work real well. We have 5 indoor mows 2 of which are sumo size, when the train makes the bend, their gone.
Most cats cant stand the smell of mothballs. You could put a few around the track or in a car. Not sure if you have little ones around though because they would look like candy or mint. This trick works outside to with problem animals like racoons.
A friend has what I think is a smart cat. This cat looks both ways before crossing the street, gets out of the driveway when you get in the car, and when you drive in, will then trot up the driveway to greet you when you get out of the car. This cat will sit on the layout, but when you start up an engine, and she sees it move, she gets fearful, crouches down and launches herself off the layout. She has not been destructive on the layout, though. That hissing trick with air probably awakens their N. African heritage instincts with snakes. When you find something that works
for you, let us know.
I'm not much of a cat person but usually there is a way to at least keep them out of the basement or close off the room with your layout. If that isn't possible, You can try a number of ways to "train" the cat to leave it alone. I am assuming you're smarter and more persistent than your cat. The bottom line is that it is your choice as to how much you let the cat "own the space" and have its way come before your way. Good Luck.
Is there no way to keep them out of that room? Is there no way to be a bit more persistent in some sort of physical "training" to get the cats to leave things alone? I never tried training a cat but I have heard that it can be done.
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