Hello all....longtime lurker, first time poster. I'm sad to say that avid PRR modeler, O scaler, custom painter & model builder, and most importantly, my father, Dan McCaffery passed away yesterday in Elkton, MD. He was an avid PRR fan and hailing from St. Louis, a fan of many midwest roads including the Wabash and Ilinois Central. Growing up, he frequented White Castle prior to trainwatching near StL Union Station. He would make his way east and grew to love the Washington area railroad scene and operations after meeting the late Charlie Carangi (another PRR fan & ops pioneer) Dan switched from HO to O and never looked back as he constructed his Washington DC/Baltimore based railroad. He did however change the layout over to the PRR Middle Division after a trip to the EBT hooked him on the narrow gauge short line. Dad was a walking encyclopedia on all things plan, train, and ship related. While layout scenery was not a strongsuit, he was sharp with electronics and track laying. The railroad featured all hand-laid/spiked track, relay logic home signalling with cut rail signal knock down, tower headphone telephones, and an over-driven Dynatrol Carrier Control from 1983 to 1999, with DCC to come. Many of his own models were heavily detailed/painted/weathered KTM locomotives. He was a passenger train junkie, and built many American Standard & Walthers passenger car kits. His railroad was a good mix of older O scale models (Labelle, Walthers) and newer (Atlas, Intermountain). He would later start his own O scale painting & detailing business out of his home in Chesapeake City, MD. I can say that Dad never had a shortage of work, but when coupled with the art of procrastination and the joys of a train loving son at home during summer badgering him in his workshop......well he had his share of late nights of painting, decaling, etc. Dad was also a fan of streetcars and volunteer at the Baltimore Streetcar Museum for many years, He was a great model railroad, excellent pilot, and awesome dad!
Thanks,
Sean McCaffery
Ankeny, IA
