How about some fun with naming of industries?

There used to be a cheese shop in Nazareth, PA called Cheeses of Nazareth...

Don

Wannabee Honey, Stumble Inn, The Lunch Box, First Gear Cog Co., Second Fiddle Music Shoppe. 

Don

Shorts Electrical Supply

 

You Snooze You Lose -  A real truck junkyard in Muncie, Indiana

 

Change Order Construction

 

Stop & Rob -  a corner convenience store

Two more-or-less local eateries:

 

Du-Kum-Inn

Circle Inn

 

 

For the green thumbs, we need Roger's Shrubberies and Herring-Knight Tree Removal Services.

From the former GATSME layout (a local HO club):  Twin Peaks Brassiere Shoppe.

 

From my layout: Curious Gorge for a town near a narrow valley, Holz Lumber (holz means lumber or wood in German)

A liquor store in Colorado. I have one of their hats.

 

       BEAVER LIQUORS

Coming up with names, be it for towns, industries, or even the railroad, is one of the hardest parts for me.  Being the Jurassic Park nerd that I am, I do want to slip InGen and/or another Masrani Global subsidiary onto one of the layouts.  Aperture Science, from the Portal video game series, is another fictional company I've considered.

More than likely, sometime this summer, I'm going to "The Dam Store" in Oscoda Mi. (near the dam) 

There was a TM video years ago with a layout (Ron Zweig maybe). He had a bunch of funny names. Losten Foundry was my favorite.

I'm amazed at the real signs. 

 

In my home town of Hazleton, Pa., we have a small restaurant called 3rd BASE.  The reason it is called 3rd Base is because this is the closest to Home cooking.

Where is it at Laz? My wife and I will be coming back from Hometown around lunch time tomorrow.

Don

West's Global Robotics

"Sorry, Plastic People are Sold Out"

 

Andy Auragitty

Naval Recruiter

 

Nurse on duty

Ann R Getty RN

(Raggedy Ann and Andy)

 

Barbara Millicent Roberts

Realtor

Ken Carson

Exotic cars, Air planes, Coach Homes

(Barbie & Ken have last names)

 

Earnest Piles!

Toy & Soldier Shoppe

or

army surplus

(likely, you wouldn't have had GI Joe's without this guy. And that's a shallow reference.)

　

An old roofline awning full of rows of the same shape rectangular holes, it reads..

Itty Bitty Magic Co.

(IBM punch-cards)

 

New awning at ground level:

Bill's Gates, Brass Globes & Garage Hardware

NEW INFO, FARMERS: We can supply the gateway to your dell.

Please pay up front, then go help yourself.

We have the answer, if you know the question.

No refunds, exchanges, or give-backs.

100011 Abacus Row,

　

 

The Old Laughing Lady's Downtown Party Supply

Colored Balloons, Barkers, Cards, Dealers

Beacons, Flags, Railings, Curtains, Turnstiles

Stars & Stripes,The Reds, The Whites,& The Blues

Bounce house, Rain dance instructor.

River Ferry Gambling Tours, Mystery Train Theaters

 One Man Band & his occasionally performing dogs

See us by the subway.

 

(I've had Neil Young playing)

Spotted this in Philadelphia yesterday.  Frozen Yogurt place.

 

Saw an Optometrist on the way home call "For Eyes."

Oops.  Found these squirreled away on my hard drive:

 

Ben Dover Car Repair
Lee Key Boat Company
Noah Fence
K.G. Contractors

I'm not into whimsical stuff for a layout at all but I couldn't resist this as the reference is so specific:

The name of the company was something I had on my old HO layout when I was about 13, as it just sounded really funny to me for some reason. The 'Amalgamated barrel staves' reference is from an old Bullwinkle cartoon where he's looking to invest in stocks. I never forgot that and always thought it was funny. It's the only whimsical anything you'll find on my layout, but it's something I just couldn't resist.

Right here on the backdrop on my layout, behind the dual tracks (can't be seen) and the cheesy rooms-by-the-hour motel and the tacky trailer park, will go a 1-inch thick backdrop refinery/industrial plant belching smoke:  big sign proudly  proclaiming:  I. B. Pharten Industriesl, Noxious Gases Division

I have a plumbing business Dick Long Plumbing (We Lay Pipe). A U Toke M convience store instead of U Tote M. An Evil Williams Brewery, not Evan Williams. And not such a twist on a name, just humerous a muffler shop Foreman and Son Mufflers, "no muff is too tough". from the 70's show. And of course I have an ACME warehouse.

 Atlasta Motel  Boonville, MO

  

The only one I have on my layouts is Reid & Wright Lumber Co., but both of those names are names from my father's family in Hastings County Ontario.

 

Jeff C

 

 

Harrison Trains sells some pretty interestingly named roadside signs and boxcars:

 

HALF FAST AUTO REPAIR " We can almost fix anything"

 

DOGGY DO CANINE LAXATIVE  " Doggone it really works"

 

FARTZWELL BAKED BEANS " Making every meal a real gas" 

 

AND some others that I won't put here on the forum, however, you can check them out at their website:  HARRISON TRAINS and SCENES click on " Not for primetime products"

A friend of mine with a large HO layout started at one end and worked his way around the layout using the Alphabet.    The first industry name started with an "A", the second with a "B" etc.   When he got to the end, he went back to A again.   In many cases he also used friends names who operate there that start with those letters.

 

I just named industries after the friends who operate on the layout.   For instance, I have an electrical contracting outfit named "Jones Brothers Electrical Contracting" (named changed to protect the innocent".    I also have a "Blank Over Bearing Company" which brings some chuckles.   So many of mine are named after friends and I try to tie them to something that the friend might do such as a machine shop and the electrical contractor.  

A sign.....

There are sure some clever and funny ideas on this thread. I've named places on my layout both according to its 'Ivor the Engine' theme and for my toy-train friends... Fortner Yard, Eagles Ridge, O'Hare Junction and lots of mountains: Mt. Tassel, Stoia Mountain, Mount Moulden... 

 

I think I remember that. I think did a SCARM track layout of Ivor's M&L for fun.

That came out to about 15'x30' in the end I think.

How fun, Adriatic! This layout is about 24 by 14 feet. It runs from Ivor's shed, past the water column and signal box into Llaniog, then Ivor can switch Pugh's Pit, run by Mrs. Porty's manse, stop at Dinwiddie's mine, past Smoke Hill, through Grumbly Town, past the main line connection at Tewyn, past Pugh's Farm and then loops back to Llaniog. 

 

There's also a Mount Lazar. . .