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When CNN linked Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson to years of offensive posts on a pornographic website last week, a key piece of evidence was the online handle: “minisoldr,” a name Robinson has used online across a number of platforms.

Robinson claims he didn’t post those things. But after further unflattering revelations, Robinson’s already floundering campaign lost most of his campaign staff. And a WRAL story published Monday said Robinson rejected offers of information technology help to prove his assertion that someone else posted using his identity.

But one thing remains a bit of a mystery: What’s a “minisoldr,” anyway?

Some have posited it’s a shortened form of “mini-soldier,” perhaps a reference to Robinson’s stint in the Army Reserves.

That explanation seems doubtful. On the campaign trail, Robinson frequently references his own size; he seems unlikely to refer to himself as a “mini” anything.

Robinson has also been open about his abandoned attempt to become a professional soldier. He did join the Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps at Grimsley High School and continued as an Army reservist after dropping out of NC A&T, serving as a medical specialist. He claims to have enlisted in the active Army in the late 1980s, but he wrote in his autobiography that he begged off when it was time to actually report for active duty. He was placed in the Individual Ready Reserves, freed from drills or training. 

Robinson wrote that he lacked the discipline to be a soldier: “I was too much of a talker and didn’t want to always keep my opinions to myself.”

Robinson did, however, retain a love of military symbols and iconography. Last week The Daily Beast reported an account using the “minisoldr” handle posted photos of 1/6 scale Nazi SS figures—or “mini soldiers”—in an online forum called The Ultimate Soldier.

Still, the answer to the “minisoldr” mystery may be found elsewhere: Robinson’s love of toy trains.

A mini soldering iron or “mini solder” is a common tool used by model railroad enthusiasts. Robinson would almost certainly have used one when setting up model train “layouts.” In his book, he describes making his first electric train layout in the small apartment he shared with his wife-to-be, when she was pregnant and he was making $7 an hour at a Sbarro’s at the mall.

He has continued buying expensive model trains, tracks and related gear while in office.  In 2021 an Amazon profile with the username minisoldr reviewed a water tower for a model train layout. The same user bought and reviewed toy helicopters and men’s slimming shapewear shirts.

In 2022, a WRAL profile found him shopping for toy trains and discussing their finer points.

“At Mike’s Trains in Thomasville, Robinson reflected on locomotives with sound he previously bought for about $320 each,” the profile noted. “He then rushed out the door with glee as a full-sized train passed by across the street from the shop.”

Robinson wants to upgrade to a small steam powered train he can actually ride, he wrote in his book.

“Before I leave this earth, what one thing do I want more than anything?” Robinson wrote. “My own tiny railroad on my own property. Doggone, I’m going to get it!”

Correction: This story previously cited an inaccurate price for part of a model train.

Joe Killian is The Assembly’s Greensboro editor. He covered cops, courts, government and politics at Greensboro’s daily paper, The News & Record, for a decade. He joined us from NC Newsline in Raleigh, where he was senior investigative reporter.

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