Last week, I heard that Ed McCamey passed away, and I confess that it rather took the wind out of my sails.
Ed was one of the first Proto:87 contacts I made, way back in 1994. He sat behind me at Jim Harper’s clinic on detailing track; when the discussion turned from 1:48 scale to 1:87, he distinguished himself with his knowledge and his outrageous moustache. By the end of the clinic, I had a handful of names of folks who were interested in pushing the frontier to Proto:87, but not Ed’s. I sought that moustache out, and we met in the bar where I convinced him to join me.
That was his first mistake. Over the ensuing two decades, Ed proved to be a leading light of the Proto:87 movement. It was he who designed, financed and distributed the gauge that I use to this day. When the NMRA technical standards committee needed a chair, Ed took that on, and with boundless energy and enthusiasm refined Proto:scale from recommended practices to full NMRA standards. If you became a member of the Yahoo group, chances are that Ed approved it as neither Andy nor I could get ahead of him.
Over the years, whenever I was to attend a convention where I thought I meet see Ed, I would make sure we met. Many times, he was a willing and companionable roomie. I can’t think of many people whose company I have enjoyed more.
I never met any members of Ed’s family. However, from the way he talked about them, it was clear that he loved them dearly. I am so sorry for their loss.
Photo: John H Wright, Ed and me at Utrecht in 2009
Pembroke:87 
Reblogged this on Proto87.org.
Rene, that is sad news. I never met Ed but corresponded via email when I started in P87. I remember being honoured that he asked me to proof read the Proto Technical Notes. He will be a great loss to the hobby. R.I.P. Ed.
Cheers Ian.
Very sad to read that Rene.
RIP Ed
Cheers John.
That is sad news indeed. It demonstrates how connected we all are. As Ed was for you, you were my first contact and influence when I switched to P87 so many years ago.
Mike
Cheers Mike