This is shocking news! In addition to a fine man, Jim was a a great mentor to all of the OGR readers and major ambassador of our great hobby. My sincerest condolences to Jim's family. Rest in peace, Jim.
Folks,
I am very saddened on hearing of Jim's passing. We all have great memories of him whether it was talking to him on the phone, at York or from his videos. May he rest in peace.
Has Jim’s obituary been posted?
Wow, I'm shocked and so sorry. My condolences to his family. It was a pleasure meeting him in person even so briefly at York. I always enjoyed reading his articles.
George
@CNJBill posted:Has Jim’s obituary been posted?
Not that I know of. Jim is survived by only a niece and a nephew. The nephew lives in California and I'm not sure where the niece lives.
I'm not aware of anything specific on his obit, but when we learn something it will be posted here.
Alan’s Mercury story sheds light on and refreshes my memory of a trip my wife & I took with Jim and Kathy (his wife at the time). We took the Amtrack Empire Builder from Chicago to Seattle with a couple days stopover at the Isaac Walton Inn in Glacier National Park. Jim was happy to let me rent a car in Glacier, but insisted that he had reserved a rental for our planned travels from Seattle to Tacoma. I’m still not sure how he did it, but the rental was a big Mercury virtually identical to Jim’s. And yes, he did make really good time on the highway.
We travelled together a few other times, all memorable and fun.
Like Rich, I will miss my friend.
Since I first learned of Jim's passing, I've been pondering what I could say about him that hasn't been said by someone else. I first met Jim at my first York and I came to realize that here was this nice guy who had a lot knowledge and wanted to share it with everyone. I grabbed up all the Back Shop videos when they came out and couldn't wait for the next issue of the magazine so see what Jim was going to write about or show us. Well, as far as I'm concerned, Jim went out in a blaze of glory. This past weekend I downloaded my digital copy of Run 315 and, for my money, Jim hit a home run with his last Back Shop article. It was explaining how the accessory ports on the MTH AIU could be used for lighting. He made it seem so simple that you'll wonder why you didn't think of it. So, all I can think of to say is that I'm glad that Jim was a part of my life and he will be sorely missed.
Hard news to read. Jim was someone trying to give back to our hobby and, if possible, eek out a modest income from the effort. I always thought he did a great job of conveying practical information when other people were drilling into mind numbing minutiae.
Jim had a sense of humor in the early days of the OGR forum and he and I used to trade notes occasionally. One of the highest compliments I ever got on the forum was a note from Jim after a sanctimonious dundermuffin raised heck over one of my O-Gauge Confessional threads. Jim told me the complainer was a stuffed shirt who needed to lighten up and to keep posting the Confessional because he always enjoyed the predicaments members were always putting themselves in. I always took that to heart.
I also used to enjoy trading notes with him about his time at Kenner. Good stuff.
Take care Jim.
I have an uncanny knack of saying something that is supposed to have good intentions not coming out that way. I hope to hope that I don't screw this one up.
All of the accolades above are sentiments I too share about Jim. He has helped me too, both directly and thru his videos an articles.
Here's something, not as important as his passing, but something that makes me sad ABOUT his passing: he was building that fabulous home layout that many of us followed along with for a while now. He seemed passionate about it. He never saw it to conclusion and that makes me sentimentally sad.
I hope that came out as intended.
- walt
Walt,
I think it did.
Ed Boyle
I am so, so sad to hear this news of someone who contributed so much in making O Gauge Magizine... AND the Forum such a success.
My heartfelt prayers 🙏 for his family... and all of US that enjoyed so much HIS contribution to the Model Railroading hobby and industry.
I enjoyed so much his comments and rebuttal to my posts, in years past.
Alan Hamel
I agree about Jim’s layout. So sad that he never got to finish it. I am sure it would have been awesome when he got it done and I too enjoyed following his progress. While that is sad what is even sadder is that the hobby and all people in it lost a wonderful person.
Jim’s layout was about 90% finished. It was a tremendous source of pleasure and satisfaction for Jim.
I enjoyed Jim’s “ backshop” over the years. I am deeply saddened by his sudden departure. Thoughts and prayers are with his family.
So sorry to hear of Jim's passing. A number of years ago, my dad and I had the chance to visit with Jim Barrett and see his old O gauge layout. He was a tremendously kind person and great embasador of the hobby.
I have been off the Forum for a while, so am just hearing this sad news. Jim was a very important contributor to OGR and the hobby at large and will be missed. RIP, Jim.
I’m very sad to hear about Jim’s passing. It’s comforting to know that his Back Shop articles and videos will always be with us. I met him many times at York in the OGR booth. During one visit I remember Jim taking the time to help me find a copy of the OGR video that featured Louis Ertz’s West Tennessee Central O scale layout.
Jim will be missed.
Richard Gonzales
My condolences to his family.
Thoughts and prayers to Jim’s family. He had a tremendous impact on this hobby and will be missed.
Andy
Very sad news.
Prayers to family and friends.
Jim was always personable and fun to talk with when I saw him at York. He is greatly missed.
May he Rest In Peace.
GO WITH GOD! BROTHER JIM
Jim will be missed. I have followed him off and on since 1990 or so.
Deepest condolences to Jim's family. He will be missed.
Answering a question previously asked whether there is an obituary for Jim, this is all that I know...
Thank you Alan for the link. I will certainly check it out.
I haven't been posting on this forum anywhere remotely close to prolific as I used to within the last decade (originally joined within a few months after it went online and seemed to post every single day). Needless to say, I didn't know about Jim's passing until after Christmas, and my mind is still processing it, it's so sad. I remember meeting Jim in person for the first time back in the early 2000s when he and his lovely wife paid us a visit at the San Diego 3 Railers club layout in Balboa Park to take pictures and ask us questions in anticipation of featuring us in OGR. I found his approach amusing as rather than walk up and introduce himself to myself and the members running that day, he kind of tried to mix in with the other visitors, as if to try to avert attention to himself. Of course I spotted him right away, and he confided in me earlier that he did that on purpose; he was being a bit playful by seeing how long it would take for someone to recognize him or at least notice he was in the room.
He was also amusing in the sense that he was very much the perfectionist when it comes to staging pictures, bordering on getting a bit "cranky" a few times (a self-admitted vice on his behalf, but I certainly didn't find it offensive in the least, since I know it takes a lot of work to get magazine-quality shots). His one and only disappointment was that everyone was running eastern railroads that day as he was hoping for western roads since of course this was in California (and how many times do you need to have pictures of Pennsy and NYC trains in each magazine run anyways, sheesh!). All in all he was an absolute delight to have as our guest. 
At any rate, I think a book honoring him as Alan announced recently on the forum is a terrific idea! He was certainly legendary with his long-running Barrett in the Backshop articles, sharing his wizardry at train repairs for everyone's benefit, and just a genuine good guy. He'll certainly be missed.
Nicely said John.
Tom
When I received my latest issue of OGR Magazine today the first thing I saw was the banner, Remembering Jim Barrett. I was in shock and learned that Jim had passed away in October 2020.
When I first met Jim at the OGR Booth at York I was a little hesitant to talk to him as I was a true novice back then. But Jim put me at ease right away with his friendly, approachable nature. Since then I always made it a point to speak with Jim at the York Meets and he remained the same friendly, down to earth guy you'd enjoy talking about trains while drinking a beer.
I'm sure that I probably have some photos of Jim and the OGR crew when we used to meet at Friday's Restaurant on Thursday evenings. He was truly an ambassador for the hobby and will be missed by all who knew him.
For his many friends and family, let's cherish and treasure his memory and let it be a source of peace and comfort to all. May his memory be a blessing.
Steve Tapper
Sorry to hear this, my thoughts and prayers go out to his family and friends.
Jerry
My condolences on Jim's passing. I put some of his VCRs on DVD and used what I learned. I'm trying to catalogue the tips he put in the back issues of OGR. I bet him and Neil are in Heaven right now talking trains.
Very sorry to hear this. My condolences to Jim's family. I first met Jim way back when I lived in Cincinnati/Milford and Jim worked at Davis Electronics. I was doing some take-home customer repairs at the time helping out Joe at Davis Electronics and got to know Jim. He was always happy and just a good guy to be around. I was happy to see him go on and work with and join the team at OGR and share his knowledge in all the repair and build videos that he did. It was good talk with him at York too when the Barrettsburg Tool & Die kit came out, I know he was really proud of that. He will be missed.
Upon reacquainting myself with the OGR Forum, I was very saddened to learn of the deaths of Jim, Marty, and Barry. Three of the most helpful guys in the O Gauge galaxy.
