John Cater, the archaeologist or archaeologian as some like to call him. first became interested in the Canadian industrial city of Abercom served by the M.A.T. railroad system when he heard of a strange artifact found there. The carbon dating showed it had come from an era well before the known findings in this part of the world. John decided to visit Abercom and make it an affordable vacation due to the difference in the Canadian dollar as compared to the US dollar. On arrival, John found that the artifact in question, had been found on the grounds of the Minerva Casket Company. John was intrigued and met with the octogenarian owner who told John, that if he wished to dig on his property, he should buy the land. The owner had no heirs and offered the land and business at a bargain price that John could not resist. The books showed this to be a profitable venture as there was always a demand for caskets no matter how poor the economy was. The end result was a business that provided funding for the dig John planned beneath the cellar floors. There was lots of room to house an archaeological team on the upper floors while the main floor kept on with the manufacture of caskets. All lumber for the business came from the Badger Creek Logging company owned by Paul Templar, a friend of Johns. It didn't take long for a change of name to Cater Casket Company to occur. Now as to the results and findings of the dig, you will have to get that story from John. Here is a view of the business. ] [ 03 March 2002, 01:05: Message edited by: Robin Matthysen ]
Robin,your not only an excellent modeler ,but a pretty good at story tellin' too.Now John will have to tell the rest of the story.
Robin, I loved that story and that is a beautiful building. JOHN. come on. what is the rest of the story?
That is a great job Robin! By the way, I may need a factory that makes custom fit stockings for Can-Can dancers. I figure it should handle at least 2 car loads a month!
Cater Caskets- we're the last to let you down Ask about our layaway plan (I suppose by the groans I'm hearing that my proposed slogans won't fly......oh well... )
Errrrr Gosh....I never had anythin' named after me before...I'm blushin' here guys! Of course the artifact was not the only reason I was interested in the company. I am always interested in helping out the local economy, and saw that this long-time business was helping the community. The artifact is something that I wanted to keep secret until it was properly studied, but now that its out, I think there is a Pulitzer in it for me. At first, my team could not make anything out of it, but as we carefully cleaned it with tooth picks and paint brushes it became clear that we had something special. The radiocarbon date indicated that the artifact belonged to an early Native American group in the region, the Can Nad Iannat Ionals. What was so incredible about the artifact that it appears to have been an ealry engineers cap, long before we ever thought railroads, or transportation of any kind was possible. We believe that there was indeed an early railroad, powered by horses. Only additional excavation in the basement of our new business will help solve this mystery. Thanks for the building, it would be great to see it in person! Bob, I took the puns in total dead pan. John
HA! erg! It's hard to type from the floor, especially laughing so hard. Friscobob love the slogans. You and I have the same DRY humor. I was once told it's soooo dry that it could make a canel thirsty. (Drum rim shot sound here)
Remember, the Cater Casket Company...one buisness people are dying to use!!! Jeff Augsburg & Concord R.R. (a fictional shortline in Central Illinois) http://www.pegnsean.net/~revnjeff
