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Man uses toy train to serve gin to Christmas party guests
Transport historian and marketing specialist Tim Dunn has converted his Playmobil train set into a drinks trolley which transports gin and tonics from his kitchen to his sofa every two minutes.
While some people opt for festive drinks accessories, train buff Dunn went one step further, delighting guests with his indoor gin-carrying railway. The marketing manager, blogger, historian and star of BBC Four’s Trainspotting Live, has added another string to his bow by serving his Christmas drinks from an adapted toy train with its own ‘bar car’.
In a Tweet that his since gone viral, Dunn explained that he had laid out 40ft of track in his flat in London’s Borough, reaching from his kitchen to his sofa.
According to Dunn, the route is restricted to gin and white wine only – “strictly no red [wine] due to possible spillage on the tight corner behind the dining table”.
I have laid 40ft of train track between sofa and kitchen. A good service is now operating: this train carrying two gin & tonics has just arrived. pic.twitter.com/VZJGKvifiV
— Tim Dunn (@MrTimDunn) December 17, 2017
Operating on a timer, the train delivers drinks every two minutes with a festive fairy light flourish.
Speaking to Huffington Post UK, Dunn explained: “Model trains can often be a solitary pursuit – but I tend to have more fun when I’m sharing my railway-related hobbies with friends.
“My boyfriend and I had a Christmas drinks party this weekend – so last week I dug out a whole load of my old garden railway model trains and track, bought a special timer unit so that it would shuttle end-to-end every two minutes, and set it up on the floor.
It’s a G Scale* railway – LGB 45mm gauge track, converted Playmobil diesel loco and wagons, @Gaugemaster shuttle unit from @HattonsModels. (*G usually stands for “Garden”. From now on it stands for “Gin”). Every home should have one. pic.twitter.com/UZADiRJn1j
— Tim Dunn (@MrTimDunn) December 17, 2017
“I converted a toy Playmobil train to run on the track, hooked up a couple of wagons bedecked in LED Christmas lights and, throughout the weekend, drinks were made in the kitchen and sent out to guests across the flat every two minutes”.
For Dunn, however, the best thing about the attention his tweet has received is the fact that many people are deciding to copy him and make their own train set.
As Dunn points out, he is not the first to adopt this method of drinks delivery. In 1887, industrialist Gaston Menier built a “Midget Electric Railway” to transport food to his dining table, while Buster Keaton served food and drinks via a model train in his short film The Electric House in 1922.
Bars and restaurants around the world have employed the use of trains to deliver dishes and drinks. Dunn cites the example of the Vytopna Restaurant in Prague which delivers beer to guests via a toy steam train.