Last week, after several months of illness, Marc Simpson passed away. A year younger than I am, and even worse at saying “no” he leaves all of us reeling.
Marc was the clinics coordinator for the Railway Modellers’ Meet of BC, which kicks off online this Thursday. In addition to his committee work, the Friday evening layout tour was to include his Hudson Bay Railway this year. In January, after having recruited most of the clinicians for the programme, he stepped down from the clinics coordinator role so he could concentrate on his health.
He was planning to take a reduced role with the meet in 2027 because he was taking over as chair of the CNR Historical Association. I don’t know where he planned to get the time for that, because throughout the lower mainland, and probably beyond, people knew Marc for the amazing photo collection he brought to shows. He devoted countless hours to cataloguing and scanning collections that came into his possession, and while he sold prints, I doubt if he ever made enough money to cover his time.
But that wasn’t all! Marc lived quite close to the owner of Kaslo Shops Distributing. Their kids went to school together, and formed an underground courier system for models. As the two men became friends, KSD came to rely on Marc to complete the models that graced their box art.
Marc was a talented and prolific modeller, who especially enjoyed weathering. We could expect him to fill a table with fresh 1980’s Canadian National equipment each year in the display room at the RMMBC, and his models roll on several local layouts.
But while Marc was a great modeller, and passionate about railways and modelling them, he was a better friend. You could always count on Marc to support you and cheer you on, and to encourage you when you needed it. He had a great sense of humour.
While he was generous with his time to the model railroad community, his real devotion was to his family. My heart goes out to them because if he left a big hole in my heart and my life, I can’t imagine the gap he has left in theirs.
Marc and I had a standing bet for years: the first to be invited to the other’s operating session on our perennially unfinished layouts would bring a case of beer. It’s a bet I wish I could lose.
Pembroke:87 