John Armstrong

[edblysard]

Although he was mostly concerned with the model side of this hobby, we should note the death of John Armstrong.

Even though I never met him in person, I read almost every single article and book he wrote, and will miss his dry sense of humor, quick wit, and tremendous dose of common sense.

His ability to solve complex problems with simple, basic solutions were the main reason I read, then re-read all of his writings.

He was one of the "fathers" of todays approach to model railroading, and he will be missed a great deal....

Ed

[tree68]

He will be missed. My sympathies to the family and his many friends.

[locomutt]

He will be sorely missed! He did so much for the hobby. Cherokee woman's and
my sincerest, deepest sympathies go to his family and friends.

[Anonymous]

May he rest in peace.[:(]

[Anonymous]

R.I.P. Mr. Armstrong. May you travel the great fleet Limiteds of the Heavens in your afterlife in peace...say "Hey" to ol' Casey Jones for us, his brothers yet in the material domain...

LC

[JoeKoh]

Our condolances to his family and friends.
stay safe
Joe

[louisnash]

His family is in our prayers.

Brian(KY)

[RudyRockvilleMD]

I was saddened to hear about John Armstrong's death. Like Ed I read almost all of the many articles he wrote, both on model railroading and railroading. I also read his book, "Thre Railroad, What It Is, and What it Does." I consider that book to be one of the best reference books on railroading, and he wrote it for those who wanted to know how a railroad runs. We cannot forget his books on layout planning, and his layout plans which often appeared in Model Railroader.

I had the pleasure of working for him when I worked at NOL (The Naval Ordnance Lab in Silver Spring, MD). There he was the head of the Air/Surface Weapons Mechanical Engineering Department; prior to that he was the chief of the Environmental Evaluation Division so he knew both the design and the evaluation sides of the house. He was a member of the Potomac Chapter of the NRHS.

He had a wry sense of humor allright, and he was very much down to earth. For example, he referred to Alco's as honorary steam locomotives for the black smoke they emitted when they picked up the load.; his sense of humor came through in his writings as well. His wry sense of humor also came through in the names of stations in his layout plans, they were usually multi-consonant names. In addition to his books and his articles I also had to read his memos that sent to the department from time to time.

What some may not know is, his O Gauge layout was outside third-rail powered in this present age of two rail powering for layouts. He was a pioneer n planning layouts to reflect realistic operating conditions.

[CShaveRR]

When you realize that John the modeler and John the writer/teacher/explainer were one and the same, it deepens the loss. He will be missed.

[cherokee woman]

Rest in peace, Mr. Armstrong! My sympathies go out to his family and many friends.

Walt has several of his books on his bookshelf.

[Anonymous]

John's wit and wisdom were matched by his tremendous hospitality. I arrived in the DC area in the mid 1970s and a hobby shop guy told me I should get in touch with him. On doing so, and introducing myself as an O-gauger, the next thing he told me was how to get to his house and what time the crew met to run his railroad. He didn't know me from Adam's off ox; I might have been an ax murderer or some other kind of felon, but he picked up the thread of common interest and we became good friends.

There were very, very few people not involved with the business of railroading, and not many who were, who could match his breadth of knowledge; he could discuss any topic with you - signaling, track, locomotives, operations - you name it. And you would learn something with every conversation.

There are not many genuine giants in his hobbies, and he was at the top of the list.

My wife and I offer our deepest sympathy to his survivors.

[CBQ_Guy]

QUOTE: Originally posted by Old Timer

John's wit and wisdom were matched by his tremendous hospitality. I arrived in the DC area in the mid 1970s and a hobby shop guy told me I should get in touch with him. On doing so, and introducing myself as an O-gauger, the next thing he told me was how to get to his house and what time the crew met to run his railroad. He didn't know me from Adam's off ox; I might have been an ax murderer or some other kind of felon, but he picked up the thread of common interest and we became good friends.

There were very, very few people not involved with the business of railroading, and not many who were, who could match his breadth of knowledge; he could discuss any topic with you - signaling, track, locomotives, operations - you name it. And you would learn something with every conversation.

There are not many genuine giants in his hobbies, and he was at the top of the list.

My wife and I offer our deepest sympathy to his survivors.

Not much more can be added to that tribute, IMO. The man and his writings, both in the hobby of model railroading, and concerning the prototype as well, meant a lot to me, going back to my early days in model railroading, and so I felt I needed to acknowledge him publicly.

Though I've never even come close to having met the gentleman, I almost feel like I know him somehow through his writings which I've come to enjoy and depend on over the last 40 years or so as a model railroader, and as one with an interest in prototype railroads as well. His books which I've collected in that time are dog-eared and I will still pick one up on occasion and go through it again. Always informative, entertaining, funny -- a real pleasure to peruse, over and over again.

Yes, we have lost a GIANT. R.I.P. "old friend", thank you, and my regrets and condolences to the Armstrong family.

[rrnut282]

[sigh] Everything that has been said.[#ditto]