Looking through some old magazines I found articles by Vern Niner and Phil Brooks. I read Vern Niner changed scales but don't remember hearing about Phil Brooks. Is there any others that had articles but haven't heard from lately.
This is interesting. I've noticed that some narrow gaugers seem to do this. I have, switching from HOn30 to On30 and then back to HOn30. Argh.
Availability of certain models is one of the influences for this activity. One of the early motivators for modeling in HOn30 (aka HOn2½) was the ability to use N scale track and loco mechanisms. There was a migration to On30 after Bachmann starting producing products made for that scale. Likewise, some made the change to HOn3 after Blackstone and Micro-Trains introduced their product lines.
I've been wondering about Phil Brooks, too. He's a good writer, and his Clinch River is one of my all-time favorite N scale layouts.
I bought a sweet SF F3 abba detailed & weathered set off Vern,real nice guy.Wish he would come back too.
I have run across some of Vern's work in a few of the occasional magazines that I buy for inspiration now and then. I cannot ever envision him returning to N scale as the potential for the detail and scenery is so great in the larger scales when one stays with the narrow gauge portion of it. Probably the one other scale area where the proportion of the scenery is right in relation to the smaller narrow gauge equipment. He has a lot of great scenic effect in a smaller area and is a good choice for limited space.
I saw a reference to Vern in the current Model Railroad Hobbyist - an online magazine - but it was just in passing and I don't recall what it was about. I usually just skim that magazine (it's free, Google it...).
Vern is as noted a regular contributor on the Model Railroad Hobbyist forums and blogs. He was mentioned in their latest magazine issue under staff notes as one of the rotating columnists for their freelancer column.
I enjoyed Orange Belt Lines done by Bob Russell…. super modeler and I have his ABA set of ATSF PA's that he did sound in early on in the dawn of dcc…. they are still my favs….. I have wondered what happened to him too… some vids are still on you tube and he did have a website at one time… Any news?
Add me to those that miss Verne here. I really loved his layout and it was a great inspiration for me.
I was just looking for pics of his Orange Belt Lines layout yesterday. I too want to add him to the list of "Where are they now?"
A slight search of the web turned up the last dated activity of a photo being used in a publication back in 2012. Everything else seems earlier.
I believe that as time has marched onward, a lot of people have backed away from the Internet, seeing how much time was invested which would be potentially used on their model RR.