There is a downside to this hobby. It isn't money, it isn't trades that go bad, it isn't toys that can't be had. None of that. It's when I see a note like this on Facebook before I go to sleep (and then fail to sleep at all):
When someone leaves us; whether expected or not.
When you have someone that is an important person. To his family, his friends, to his co-workers and employees and is also a prolific collector and expert in his area. Brad was tough as nails and incredibly diligent getting answers to questions about the rarest of rare toy trains. And unlike Arno, he didn't have a great tome of work that we can look at and remember him by. It is up to us to remember him as the important participant he was, both in our hobby and as a gentleman scholar of train history.
He will be missed by many, myself included. We were scheduling and rescheduling lunch and time together. Now I could just kick myself for not chucking my schedule and getting out to see him. He was taken from us far too early. Enough said.
