Large Scale Central

Bruce Bates

General Discussion
#1

It is with great sadness that I announce the recent passing of Bruce Bates. Bruce was the creator of the famous Birdwater and Raspberry railroad and cartoons that were featured in numerous Garden Railways magazines. He also was a major contributor to the once well known AWNUTS magazine. His cartoons were wonderful and were examples of his incredible imagination and fancy.

I recently came to know Bruce after he moved to Hendersonville, NC. He was a member of the Apple Valley RR club and the Piedmont Garden Railway Society. He became a friend during the brief time he was in this area and I was privileged to know him and share his humor and talents.

He will be missed by many.

Doc Watson

#2

Hi Don,

Sorry for the loss of your friend. I enjoyed his cartoons.

Chuck

#3

Chuck Cole said:

Hi Don,

Sorry for the loss of your friend. I enjoyed his cartoons.

Chuck

Yea, same here.

#4

It was announced on the Whimsy site (A.W.N.U.T.S. Again) that he has passed away. He will be missed by so many of us in this hobby.

#5

I enjoyed his cartoons in the early years of GR. Some of them were based on actual things on his railroad, like the BBQ grill bent in half and used as a bridge. Or the tea kettle building. RIP Bruce.

#6

Sad news, I always enjoyed those cartoons

#7

Sorry to hear. I’ve got one of his framed cartoons sitting on my shelf in the family room. As much as I am a scale modeler, his cartoons and approach to the hobby always reminded me to not take anything too seriously.

Later,

K

#8

I’m sorry to hear this. I got into the hobby too late to see much of his stuff, but liked what I saw.

#9

Truly Sad.

He will be missed.

I also found his cartoons very inspirational!

#10

some of us leave a gap, when they go.

i think, Bates was one of those, that do.

#11

I met Bruce almost by accident. I had longed after his 7/8 wooden kits after he introduced them, but never ponied up to get the funds to order one. Not too long ago I saw where he was going to try his hand in the Paper Arts (card stock). I emailed him, and learned he had indeed moved less than an hour away. My first trip up was a well spent afternoon with a master-craftsman! And I was able to purchase those kits (built by him) that I’d always wanted!

I made a few trips back up to his home in NC, and was amazed by his creativity-in every fashion, he was truly remarkable! The last time I saw him, back in the early fall 2015 (at his insistence) I took my older boys along-they too were taken in by Bruce and all of his ‘toys’! He took us out for Frozen Yogurt and a tour of the local history museum along with a stop by the Hendersonville Depot LS Layout.

This past weekend I caught up with Ralph Berg, and mentioned I needed to get those 2 together! I sat down this evening and opened my new GRR mag only to just now learn of his passing! I am completely shocked and saddened! The hobby lost something special with his passing. (http://largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-innocent.gif)

(http://largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-cry.gif)Cale

This is a good reminder to check into LSC more often!

#12

Aw man, condolences to his family. One has to wonder how much fun and how many ideas were lost with him?