Within the last few days some very important people have passed on. Farrah Fawcett and Michael Jackson

But both pale in a loss to the railway world.

Peter Jones, the owned and operator of the Compton Down Railway, has passed on. For those of you who don’t know, He was a well-loved and highly respected member of the garden railway scene, and will be sadly missed by all who knew him or had read his wonderful writings. His articles I lived for. His style and approach to model and real railroading was one in which I just loved. I never met him in real life, but I felt as if I did in his writing. His railway the CDRW [link] is one of the most beautiful railways I have ever seen. Steamby51 it would be your world in miniature. It was such a beautiful and magical railway, that even I, the anti-British Rail, all US steam lover, was trapped in its embrace. Perhaps it was because the CDRW wasn’t a British railroad, even though that was its location. It was a steam railway, running both 4-4-0s with balloon stacks, and buffer plated narrow gauge slate locos.

And Mr. Jones was a steam railroader.

Peter Jones, 1944-2009