Time: Saturday, May 27, 9 AM
Location: WMC 3260
Tony Thompson
Tony Thompson has been at the forefront of prototype modelling for over thirty years. Along with the rest of the Orange Shirt gang, he has been a major influence on the plethora of models available today. For many years, he has been delving deep to understand how real railroads work, and has been pushing the prototype-modelling ethos into operations.
A long-time SP modeler in HO and a native Californian, Tony Thompson is interested in both SP and PFE history, and has published both magazine articles and books (Pacific Fruit Express, SP Coast Line Pictorial, Southern Pacific Freight Cars, in five volumes, SP Freight Car Painting and Lettering Guide) on these subjects. His freight car enthusiasm has generated an extensive car fleet for his 1953-era modeling of SP’s Coast Line south of San Luis Obispo. He wrote the modeling column in the SP Historical and Technical Society’s magazine, Trainline, for 25 years, and has served as the Society’s President. He is retired from the University of California, Berkeley, Dept. of Materials Science and Engineering.
Photo credit: Leo Blackwelder on Flickr