Dave Meeks posted this morning on the Model Railroad Hobbiest board the passing of Verne Niner.. " Dear friends, I'm sad to announce the heartbreaking news that our friend and colleague Verne Niner passed away of a heart attack on Wednesday, Nov 18. He had been having heart trouble for the passed year. Verne and I were good friends and had worked on many model railroad projects together. His family contacted me by phone and asked that I pass this sad news along to the model railroading community. My heartfelt condolences go to his wife, son, daughter, friends and extended family. Verne, you were one of the best. Dave" RIP Verne.
Wow, this is a surprise. I knew he was not doing well, but he didn't ast like it was this bad. I have allways enjoyed his modeling, writing and sense of humor. He will be missed
This is quite a shock. The Verne I saw on the 'Net, involved in model railroading activities, was always lively and spirited.
Though I never had the pleasure of meeting or interacting with Verne, it's very sad to lose one of our family....RIP, my compatriot.
Sad news and our hearts go out to family and friends. They have trains in heaven , I am sure. Mike & Robin
Wow, hadn't heard this one. When I first joined the Atlas board, I was surprised to see a member named "Warbonnet Fan", great N scaler, but the biggest shock was that he was modeling not just Santa Fe, not just Arizona, but literally the exact same prototype spot I was - only in 1948 and I was in 1972. So after the initial surprise, we got to start emailing each other with photos and tips we had collected over the years. Verne Niner helped me with some photos I needed in Flagstaff to complete my scratchbuilding. His modeling, and photography, were just superb. And he was willing to share. My first Verne moment was when a little box showed up in the mail. The bullet-riddled pickup truck that was a centerpiece detail on his layout was mine; he figured this was 'too new' to be this decrepit on his layout, but would be appropriate for '72. It immediately went 'front and center' on my own layout, it's the first scene you see walking into my room: That was just the start. Verne got me the photos I needed for my backdrops. He got me signal and track photos, and some quick measurements of buildings. We started planning on some resin kit work together. During that time, he had great fun writing the "Adventures of N Scale Norm" on the A-board, featuring fictional stories revolving around a Santa Fe employee on his layout, with specific figures and Norm's entire family, down to the dog and cat - all actual N figures moved for his stories, including shrink rays and being sucked up in vacuum cleaners. Verne's photography blew me away. Much of what I do today is directly influenced by his methods. We also did several joint threads together, one on fixing problems with the Hallmark Northerns, and did some joint threads on April Fools (along with John Sing) that will likely live in infamy. When I had a business trip to Phoenix in 2007, we finally got together. By that time he had decided to take up On30. By the time I got to his house, the N scale layout was completely cleared and stored, with only the backdrops left.... but we still had fun. I finally got to meet him, and his family, and enjoy an evening together - one of my first friends made via the forums. I ended up buying a lot of his layout stuff, including equipment, and every one of his masterpiece telephone poles. Even with his materials, I couldn't match the workmanship - gluing individual insulators to wood crossarms. And in one shipment, I got a tiny surprise. Verne sent me "N Scale Norm", along with Sue, and the pets, for a permanent retirement home on my layout. I gave them a house just outside Flagstaff where they could watch trains from the porch. . Yes, that's also one of Verne's telephone poles in the foreground. We'd stayed in contact and had even planned a couple more forum hoaxes on you all that never quite got executed. I'd say that he probably made more of a positive effect on my modeling that about anybody in the recent era, and there's a whole lot of Verne Niner visible on my layout today. Definitely going to miss him, but I also feel glad that I took the chance, when I could, to actually meet him and accept his gracious and friendly help. He was a whole lot more person that just a good modeler.
Sad News. I spoke to him a few times & bought some of his n scale stuff when he changed to nn3. Real nice guy.
This is really sad news. I too bought some of his N scale stuff when he made the move to HOn3. I wish Model Railroader could do a memorial retrospective on great modelers who have left us, in order to make their legacy clear... Verne's Santa Fe layout was one of the inspirations for my interest in N scale.
I am really shocked and saddened by this news. I ended up with the bulk of his N scale stuff, and it is making it s way on to my layout. He was a good friend and a really big help with his layout and modeling advice. Verne, I am going to miss you buddy1
