Re: Farewell to Jim Vail

Ned,
I too am saddened by Jim's passing. He was a bonafide Icon in the HO narrow gauge community. A bachelor, Jim had one less baggage car than most of us, and proceeded to live the dream. I don't want to know how many hours he put into his models and subsequent articles on how he conceived and built them and added them to his ever expanding layout. I met him years ago, and only a couple years ago, he actually came to our place on the west slope of the northern Sierra Nevada to inspect Mears' Madness. Always congenial, he wished only the best for fellow modelers. He leaves quite a legacy. In manus tuas, Domine, commendo spiritum meum.