A sad auction

[daniel_leavitt2000]

I won a auction on eBay for several pewter vehicle kits. The price was very good, though other lots got very pricey, very quickly. Looking through the items... lots of metal kits, obscure vehicle kits, etched parts and half-finished projects, I realized this was John Coots' private collection.

I never met John, but was very familiar with his work. When I was 8, I took a hard fall of my bike and landed down a hill. My mom bought me my first new Model Railroader (all the ones I had were from my cousin) to calm me down. Among the articles was in depth look at John's N scale Union Pacific layout. That article was the reason why I am a model railroader now. You could almost smell the oil and soot from the passing GP9s, all of which were retrofitted to be more realistic.

Mr. Coots was proof to the term nothing is impossible. Me made bad engines look good, goofy cars look realistic and built from scratch what wasn't readily available. I use his scale rulers daily and always will. I have heard many stories about John Coots, some bad, most good. He was a character to say the least.

The fire trucks are on my workbench now. I hope they come out well enough to make him proud.

[ljudice]

I had a chance to meet John once - and also spoke to him on the phone a few times.

He was a one of a kind individual with a big sense of humor...

[Tom L]

I have been lurking here for a while, but this is probably my first post.  Anyway, the topic brought to mind a similar experience I had and I felt compelled to share.

I model the Minneapolis and St Louis RR. which is unusual in N scale.  Through the M&StL list, I began to correspond with another N Scaler (not many serious MSTL N scalers!) named Mark S.  Turns out he lived only about 75 miles away, so we met a few times to railfan, attend train shows and once he arranged tours for us at Intermountain Railway and Red caboose, which was near his location.  Super nice guy and about the only person I have ever really hung out with because of trains.

He had some serious medical issues that eventually took his life about 2 years after I met him.  He had a large and distinctive collection of custom painted loco's, among other things.  I regularly cruise Ebay for M&StL stuff and about a year after Marks Death, I noticed a Custom Painted Atlas Geep up for sale that I recognized from his Collection. The seller was from the same area in Colorado, it had been correctly detailed, etc., so I am sure it was Marks work.

I bid and won it with no competition which was good because I was willing to pay 2 or 3 times the amount I paid.  I contacted the seller to see if they had anymore of his stuff, but they did not.

Anyway, this is one of my most prized loco's as it is one small remembrance of a truly nice guy who was taken way too soon.

I don't mean to hi jack this thread or anything but it really brought back some nice memories.

Tom L.
Milepost 85 1/2,BNSF Front Range Sub

[BOK]

Tom:

If you want to email me we can talk about the M&STL.

Although I model the Illinois Central, I was born and lived just a few blocks from the yard in Albert lea, Minnesota until I was twelve and we moved to Champaign Urbana, Illinois.

Barry

[Tom L]

Barry,

Thanks for the offer!  Look for a PM in the next day or so (I have a MSN email address and it sometimes gets hung up in spam filters).

Regards

Tom L.

[Puddington]

Daniel: I know exactly how you feel...exactly...I bid and won some items from the "dean of n scale pasenger trains", the late, and very great Norm Wright.... I am yet to finish any of the half done models I won but will someday and hope to do a job that would both please and honour such a great modeler... I know that John would be happy a real modeler like you won them..........

[John]

Although I model the Illinois Central, I was born and lived just a few blocks from the yard in Albert lea, Minnesota until I was twelve and we moved to Champaign Urbana, Illinois.

Barry

Hey .. I used to live in Rantoul .. 84-87

[AlkemScaleModels]

I won a auction on eBay for several pewter vehicle kits. The price was very good, though other lots got very pricey, very quickly. Looking through the items... lots of metal kits, obscure vehicle kits, etched parts and half-finished projects, I realized this was John Coots' private collection.

I never met John, but was very familiar with his work. When I was 8, I took a hard fall of my bike and landed down a hill. My mom bought me my first new Model Railroader (all the ones I had were from my cousin) to calm me down. Among the articles was in depth look at John's N scale Union Pacific layout. That article was the reason why I am a model railroader now. You could almost smell the oil and soot from the passing GP9s, all of which were retrofitted to be more realistic.

Mr. Coots was proof to the term nothing is impossible. Me made bad engines look good, goofy cars look realistic and built from scratch what wasn't readily available. I use his scale rulers daily and always will. I have heard many stories about John Coots, some bad, most good. He was a character to say the least.

The fire trucks are on my workbench now. I hope they come out well enough to make him proud.

Thanks for the note. It's good to think about John again. John was very kind to me during a visit to Reno several years back, the only opportunity I had to meet him. He was very generous with his time and patience, spending practically the whole weekend with me and a colleague. Drove us to Portola in his convertible to see the museum and to see his layout and shop. Fun times.