He Wasn’t Just Dirty, He Was Filthy, And Quite Simply Too Scared To Come Out!

Ajays | August 25, 2019 | Articles

Then as if he knew it was his cue to appear Dirt just walks into the room

Over to where the tour is, or out from under one of the trains and sits in the middle of the group with a sense of pride that only he can have,” Mencis told Bored Panda.

Dirt learned at quite a young age not to lick himself clean as regular cats do. Probably the taste of coal dust and engine oil was probably quite off-putting. However, being partially feral it’s probably good for his tough-guy image. Always being covered in coal dust and oil also means pesky insects stay right away from him.

Although he doesn’t look it, he is actually an orange and white kitty. But after his daily railway adventures that look disappeared long ago.

People agree that appearance is not the only feature that makes Dirt the perfect fit for railway life, he also has the personality to match.

He looks like he works on engines all day.

“Dirt is pretty much one of those old-time railroaders living now as a cat. Dirt walks around the shop like his the boss making sure everything is working right. The type of boss that started at the bottom and worked his way up the latter, the type who knows how hard and tough the job is but has faith that his men can get it done.

He walks with a sense of pride around his engine house like these are his trains and he and he is proud of the men to keep them going. He will climb on and walk around the trains, like he is inspecting them, checking to make sure not a bold is loose or that the bearings are properly oiled up,” described Mencis.

“Dirt had kittens years ago, and most were also orange and white and got just as dirty as Dirt. Most didn’t have the sense of how to live around the trains so we rehomed them, with many of our train crews and volunteers adopting them and taking them home.

One of Dirt’s kittens lived in the engine house for about 7 years but just over a year ago found a better home. Dirt has gotten fixed since then.”

Thanks to a push on social media, the museum gets about 30,000 visitors a year and Dirt has fans on every continent. “Some people have even rerouted their trip 200 miles out of the way to visit our museum and meet him.