Western Railroad Discussion > Bruce Petty passes away

Bruce Petty passed away this morning at his home in Dunsmuir after a long illness. Bruce was a great historian and was known for publishing many volumes of Southern Pacific Lines Common Standard Plans books. They were published by Bruce's Steam Age Equipment Company here in Dunsmuir. He has also written many articles for Model Railroad Magazine. Rest in peace Bruce you will be deeply missed.

Robert Morris
Dunsmuir, CA
Robert Morris Photography

Bob:
Thank you for letting us know, this is sad news.
Mike

Bruce was a fixture at Winter Rail Stockton,  Rest in Peace Bruce. 

So sorry to hear. He was a great asset to our hobby!

So sorry to hear about Bruce passing, Prayers to Family and friends.

Dave Dodds
San Dimas, CA

Bruce was responsible for getting the Dunsmuir webcam running and maintained during the early years before it was moved to the depot. Mason and I made a handful of trips to Dunsmuir and spent time working on the camera and running his really cool Los Angeles River layout, complete with giant ants representing the movie "Them!"   He was a very patient man with my son who was in love with the layout.  I don't think there was a mean bone in his body, and was very personable. 

 

Todd Clark
Canyon Country, CA
Trainorders.com

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Bruce was a great guy with a matching sense of humor.  He and his contributions over the years will be missed.  RIP Bruce.

Kent in CArmel Valley

That’s too bad, I enjoyed his articles in MR over the years.

Nathan

Posted from iPhone

Sorry to hear of Bruce's passing. He was quite involved in the WP community for quite a few years. Really nice guy, always a pleasure to chat with. Here he is on the right, next to Dave Pires and Mark Granados at the WP Historical Society convention we held in 2006. Rest in Peace Bruce.
 

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My memories of Bruce will be when he ran the Dunsmuir Steam Tractor during the Dunsmuir Days event of the 80's. They kept the tractor in the Mallet Shed which Bruce had been leasing from the City. He was a major figure in the Dunsmuir Model Railroad Club as well as many other projects like the series of Common Standards drawings that he put together and sold at WinteRail and other events.

There's also his Century Foundry model casting business, I was astonished when he explained that he had cast all those little marker light tripods on the Athearn blue box SP bay window kits. His SP searchlight signal castings are astonishing, the line was sold to Showcase Miniatures a few years ago. There's been discussion about moving his HO scale Layout to Medford and displaying it at the shows in the area.
Rest in Peace Bruce, fare thee well.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/16/19 11:30 by TCnR.

Very sad, Bruce was always knowledgeable, fun to talk with and very kind.

Per chance, was Bruce from Burbank, California? The first layout photo is an obvious depiction of the Burbank Junction Tower. The billboard touting Genio's Restaurant, a long-time local fixture, confirms the location.
...Lorenzo

EDIT -
What a simple web search reveals -
From the Golden West Books site re: Southern Pacific in Los Angeles 1873-1996
BRUCE PETTY grew up near Southern Pacific’s busy Burbank Junction in the 1950s, where he began a lifelong interest in railrods and photography...



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/16/19 13:44 by 567Chant.

Met him in Colorado,TN Pass years ago. Years ago, goes by so fast. Always smiling and talking of the best 
way to transport anything. Railroads.
Dave jakubiec

567Chant Wrote:
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> Per chance, was Bruce from Burbank, California?
> The first layout photo is an obvious depiction of
> the Burbank Junction Tower. The billboard touting
> Genio's Restaurant, a long-time local fixture,
> confirms the location.
> ...Lorenzo

HIgh Green, Bruce. You done your duty.
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Yes I also ate at Genio's Burbank, CA now a Social Security office.
 

Anyone who has giant Ants on his layout is admired by me...did he have Mr.Spock looking at the teletype machine too?
I never met him... sounds like a great guy...may he Rest in Peace..SHM



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/16/19 19:33 by the_expediter.

I visited Bruce Labor Day week and had a good chat about the good times, modeling and his enjoyment of living in Dunsmuir for all those years. The first time I met Bruce was during the first Dunsmuir winter Railfair (80s?) He had a friends steam tractor in the cab forward shed connected to a SP six chime at the roof of the shed. Anyone could drop in and pull the cord to remind the town of the ghosts of locomotives of the past. It was snowing and made for great Dunsmuir memory. He was talented in many ways and a true craftsman, model railroader, tool and die maker, writer and inventor. His attic layout looked out over the steam locomotive parked at the entrance to city park 1727 ... Rightfully so as his biggest passion was steam technology. We will miss him...

Rail cam Bruce https://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?1,134691,134691#134691
Bruce's posts (steamco) https://www.trainorders.com/images2/index.php?category=0&search=steamco&author=1
My visit to Bruce's layout  https://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?3,3001570,3003322#3003322



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/16/19 20:59 by dmaffei.

Sorry to hear the sad news.Great contributer to the railfan community.Bill Webb