Marshall Thomson, owner Replublic Locomotive Works has passed

[reinhardtjh]

A notice seen on the front page of the Republic Locomotive Works web site:

I am very sorry to announce that Marshall Thomson has died. This is a great loss to the Nn3 community because of Marshall's leadership in developing and selling products for our community. /s Bruce Hunt

If you have entered an order, it will not be filled and you will not be charged for it because charges are only applied upon shipment.

Please be advised that the shipping department is closed and will not open again until further notice.

https://www.republiclocomotiveworks.com/

[brokemoto]

This is sad news; sorry to learn it.

I bought a few kits from them for my nineteenth century pike.  They are excellent kits.

[nkalanaga]

He was probably the main source for American Nn3, and an all-around nice guy.  The only time I met him was at the N-scale convention in Portland, in 1994, but for several years I bought from him regularly, until I had everything my narrow gauge needed.  I also sent him quite a few masters to cast, mostly items that I needed, and some of them are still in his catalog.

He will definitely be missed.

[glakedylan]

sorry to hear this word.
may those who know this loss have all comfort and strength

sincerely
Gary

[Nato]

    Very Sorry to hear this. He will be really, really be missed. Nate Goodman .(Nato). Salt Lake, Utah.

[randgust]

Marshall was instrumental in helping me on my custom-build steam projects find parts for years - the 25-ton Shay, Climax B, Climax A, Lima 2-6-0,  D-16 4-4-0 was the last one we worked on.   I could call and we'd talk about the parts I was searching out.    He'd dig around and see what he could find.   The etched brass tenders on every one of those builds were done from the etched tenders he'd developed from Nn3 that I adapted.

I hope they can either keep going or find a buyer - this is about as much of a hit as when we almost lost NWSL.    He'd accumulated a huge stock of old GHQ castings and they were the 'good stuff', pewter, not of this brittle FUD nonsense.   He'd had a real mess with his web page and got through that.

The individual that put the note up on the web page about Marshall's passing - Bruce Hunt - is known for maintaining the web page but is reportedly a pretty good modeler on his own, so I hope there's a plan to continue.

[Mark5]

Huge loss - he will be missed.

I hope Republic is able to carry on somehow - many products you cannot get anywhere else.

[mike_lawyer]

I ordered a number of GHQ castings from RLW several years ago, they were great at helping me track down the castings I needed.  I hope the business is able to survive.

[JMaurer1]

I've ordered from them as well...they always seemed to have stuff that just didn't exist anywhere else. Very sorry and sad to see another great modeller pass away.

[johnb]

He will be missed.

[sp org div]

RIP Marshall

Proud owner here of his multiple N scale offerings, including his Espee G-70-King wood chip gons, rail chip loaders, and truck chip loader.
Great models!
Hopefully the business still lives on at some level…

[nkalanaga]

Thank you!  It's nice to know that someone likes those chip cars.  I did the masters for them, more years ago than I care to remember.  I needed some for my BN, and he suggested that I make a master and send it to him.

I don't remember seeing them in any of the Northwest-theme photos here, or on the Atlas forum, and sometimes wondered if I was the only one who actually built them.  I know he sold several every year.

It's a little surprising that Micro-Trains never did these, since the SP owned some, and they were built in Portland. 

[wazzou]

I don't remember seeing them in any of the Northwest-theme photos here, or on the Atlas forum, and sometimes wondered if I was the only one who actually built them.  I know he sold several every year.

I’ve built a few.

[NSEGeorge]

Thank you!  It's nice to know that someone likes those chip cars.  I did the masters for them, more years ago than I care to remember.  I needed some for my BN, and he suggested that I make a master and send it to him.

I don't remember seeing them in any of the Northwest-theme photos here, or on the Atlas forum, and sometimes wondered if I was the only one who actually built them.  I know he sold several every year.

It's a little surprising that Micro-Trains never did these, since the SP owned some, and they were built in Portland.

The reason we never did these at deLuxe was that Marshall was such a great guy, and we didn't want to compete with a friend.  Marshall was a valued member of our scale community, and a really helpful fellow.

Great masters, thanks for sharing. I have several in my NW train.

George

[nkalanaga]

Bryan and George:  Thank you!  Those GN cars were the real reason I made the masters.  These, and the SP&S versions, were common in BN trains in the 70s.  Bryan, yours turned out nice.  Good job!

I can understand not wanting to compete with a friend, not to mention that these are a specialty car, and those who model other areas probably wouldn't be interested.  I imagine that the total market was quite limited.  MT did the chip conversion on their GS gon, which meant that much of the cost could be covered by sales of the gons themselves.

One of mine is GN 174002 - missed having the same car by one digit.

Along with the NP and GN wood-sided AAR boxcars, the Northwest probably had a higher percentage of "wood" freight cars than anywhere else in the US in the 60s and 70s.  During WW II all railroads built the "War Emergency" cars, but the GN and NP started before the war, mostly (I've heard) because they served more lumber mills than steel mills.  I suspect that these chip cars were the last wood-sided freight cars built for a standard gauge North American railroad.