I am sad to report that I received word that Bob Heil passed away on Monday. Bob was a frequent contributor to this forum. More importantly, he was one of the most genuine people I have ever come to know. His knowledge, passion for the hobby, and quick wit is a huge loss to our community and all he interacted with.
Bob humbly and quietly brought so much to this hobby. Those of you who knew him know he was a long-time consultant to Sunset models and helped bring many wonderful models to so many of us over the years. He was a master modeler and ardent champion for the B&O and PRR modeling communities. I will forever owe Bob a debt of gratitude as he introduced me to Scott Mann 15 years ago which personally has greatly enriched my knowledge, interest, and growth in this hobby.
My favorite memories of Bob include the first time I met him in person with Scott to pick him up on the way to the York TCA meet. We were in his incredible basement layout, and he pointed to a PRR Keystone on a steel plate that came from a B60b baggage car. He laughed, and asked, "What is the correct color for PRR Tuscan Red?" Upon closer inspection nearly every shade of Tuscan Red imaginable was visible on this 24" square plate. The other item that stood out was his scale 2 rail Thomas the Tank Engine that was leading his very lengthy Broadway Limited that consisted of mostly kit-built and scratch-built cars. Just goes to show we often take ourselves too seriously as modelers.
At York, between talking to the public, he would sit with his group of fellow 2-rail master modelers, and I would just listen and learn from the experts. The amount of knowledge they collectively had would fill volumes on this forum. Again, at this show, Bob's wit was always evident. I remember someone telling him about what model should be produced and how it would sell really well. Bob didn't miss a beat by replying, "I think you are right. It would sell so well, maybe you should produce the model. You can use our design team and factory even. All you need to do is to pay for the project and then you could keep all the profit!" Another comical moment was when someone asked us where the smoke unit was in the RDC on display and he said, "Jonathan, he's a 3 railer, you deal with him!"
This was much longer than I expected, but I will miss Bob horribly. He was so generous with his time, his knowledge, and his willingness to pass it on to others. We have lost another true great of this hobby.