Re: Happy 100th Birthday to Ward Kimball

I too am one of those guys, who as a kid, wrote Ward in 1976 after a Model Railroader article came out about his line. He was a very nice gentleman in his response, and encouraged my interest in cartooning. My all time favorite movie with him in it remains "Model Railroading Unlimited" or something like that. I have an LP of the Firehouse Five jazz band he played in. There are also a couple great home movies of him operating 15" gauge trolley cars in the backyard of Kaj Pindal, another cartoonist but not a Disney fellow. Kaj was still kicking and twisting the controllers, last I heard, yet he is quite the senior member of that community these days.
Kaj Pindal's cartoon shorts and home movies
I never made the trip to ask for a visit to Kimball's backyard, but I understand how the group of railfans he associated with were influential in railroad preservation and modeling.
He is an inspiration in so many ways...
Best,
O. Anderson
NG-Traction