Dear Bob,
On the weekend of September 16-18, 2022, the Copper Range Historical and Technical Society held its first convention in the Copper Country of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula (they have a website). One of the convention activities was a visit to the round house of the Quincy & Torch Lake Railroad.

Q&TL number 6 has been cosmetically restored. It was pulled out of the restored round house for the convention. Notice that during the life of the railroad the headlight was replaced with a vintage truck headlight.

In the second photo is Chuck Pomazal who organized the volunteer effort to save Q&TL artifacts. First was the restoration of #6; restoration of #5 is proceeding. Chuck wrote the Q&TL book Rock Down, Coal Up which is available from the Quincy Mine Hoist Association. In the middle is Pat Thoney whose layout was featured in the September/October 2022 Gazette. On the left is Al Peeso who built all six Q&TL locomotives for Pat’s layout.

Sincerely,
Gregg Condon, MMR, via email

Dear Bob,
I’ve just viewed and enjoyed the TSG video of your layout. I came across it this morning by accident.

Since about 1970, when I became a reader of Finelines (while at college) I have been a huge fan of your modelling and your approach to modelling. I miss those halcyon days of narrow gauge discovery and the characters who shaped our aspect of the hobby.

Your layout offers a fine view covering more than half a century of fine narrow gauge model building. It was also fun to see Bill Coffey’s engine house and little lokey. Always loved these models.

Here are a few photos of some of my complete 1/35 English narrow gauge models.

All the best and thank you.

Sincerely,
Peter Mesheau, via email

Dear Bob,
I was sorry to hear of Peter Barney’s passing. To say he was an important influence on my Maine 2-foot modeling would be an understatement. His many books and magazine articles published over the years helped drive my passion to model this niche segment of the hobby.

I met Peter in person at the 2014 National Narrow Gauge Convention in Kansas City. I showed Peter a few photos of my in-process Wiscasset waterfront scene. He was very kind but did point out some errors in the structures. He offered to provide me with a set of drawings he produced when building a display of that scene for the WW&F Ry Museum.

We have corresponded by email since then. In addition to advice, he provided much needed encouragement along my journey.

He will be missed.

Sincerely,
Pete Leach, MMR, via email

Dear Bob,
Just a note to let you know how long (September 20th) I must wait for my Gazette! Today I received the July/August issue. Slow boat to Australia, I guess.

But I must comment on the article about Hangman Creek Lumber Company. There has been a hand full of standout display/convention portable layouts over the years. Hangman Creek Lumber Company is up there with the best. I’m happy to see it still active and much admired. Some of these standout layouts need to be revisited just to inspire us all to push just that little bit harder with our modelling. Well done to all those involved.

Sincerely,
Bruce Treloar, Via email

Dear Bob,
After collecting information on narrow gauge “Americans” from the GAZETTE, I built this 2½-inch scale model of one. It weighs 750 pounds, is 11 feet long and is powered by two 350-watt 24-volt DC gearhead motors. During the Covid shutdown I fabricated all the cab interior details.

I am also finishing up a 2½-inch scale Class A Climax and will soon be starting a 2½-inch scale 14-ton Heisler.

Thank you for a great magazine.

Sincerely,
Ken Roeh, via email