Truly sad news. CW was always a great contributing member to this forum and its members. My most sincere condolences and prayers go out to Charlie's family and friends.
This indeed is sad news and I also will add my heartfelt condolences for his family & friends.
Very sad news to lose someone so young. He helped me with a couple of questions I had with PW repairs. Obviously, from the many comments on this forum, he will be missed.
Jim Policastro posted:While Charlie was always a humble man who never flaunted his considerable knowledge and ability in the toy train field, he nevertheless deserves recognition for the number of people he has helped and befriended over the years both in person and on the forum.
I'm sure he would grudgingly admit that it is right and proper at this time to allow those who knew him as Charlie and those who only knew him as C. W. to join together in honoring his memory here on the forum.
Jim
I think the key word there, Jim, is "grudgingly!" I debated about making a post after learning of his passing from the online care page maintained by Charlie's wife, but wasn't quite sure if and when to do it for a friend who wanted to maintain a degree of online anonymity.
We started corresponding in the early 1990's, and he was a great guy with which to share info. It's always a more enjoyable hobby when guys like this are around!
My favorite OGR posts from Charlie are when he would respond in a single thread as both CW Burfle and his "regular" persona, CharlieS. I don't know if it was unintentional, or if he was just having fun.
TRW
I echo the comments above about his being a knowledgeable gentleman who also had a sense of humor. I never saw a post of his that wasn't worth reading. My prayers go out for his family and friends.
A great source of knowledge for many of us. He is already missed. My thoughts and prayers were for him and his family today.
God Bless and High Ball. May you be "Green lighted" to your new home. May God Bless your surviving Family.
Sad to hear the passing of C.W. ,a fellow hobbyist whom I never met in person,but enjoyed his posts and knowledge .
May God Bless his family at this time .
My sincere condolences to Charles’ family and friends.
Even though I didn’t know him personally or converse with him very often, I still feel the loss being part of this forum’s community. May he be with God and his family find peace and comfort.
Always admired his postwar knowledge and experience, CW is probably well involved in the celestial forum, sharing good times with Nicole {N.Q.D.Y.) and others, constructing a grand spiritual layout.
I can't even be sad. I'm still too busy being angry 
Thanks anyhow Jim.
C.W. was a great presence here since almost the beginning. I will miss him.
Jon 
This is very sad news. CW was always helpful, knowledgeable, and a gentleman here on the forum. My thoughts and prayers are with his family who lost a wonderful guy.
He directly helped me fix a bad smoke unit in my son's Lionel 2026. He also helped me indirectly, numerous times, through all of his posts on this forum over the years. I'm sure his existing posts will continue to help me and all of us for many years into the future. His presence will be missed though.
Just a thought for those of you who knew him in person, after this thread slows down, consider printing out this thread to share with his family. It might be comforting for them to hear how highly regarded he was around here.
Would like to offer my condolences to his family and friends. His posts were always a must read for the knowledge he was so ready to share with us. Always learned something from his posts.
My condolences. I talked a lot of postwar & MPC with him over the years. As others have said - he always came across as very nice person willing to lend info or a helping hand. May he rest in peace.
What a vacuum his loss creates. As jon says above, "..since almost from the beginning...".
Truly sad to read.
Condolences to friends and family.
This forum is the poorer for his loss! My condolences to his family and friends! He is missed!
My condolences
Alex
My condolences to CW's family I remember his posts on here and they were always helpful and polite. He will be missed.
Very sorry to hear this.
My Condolences... very sorry to hear...
Sad to lose one of the good guys. Condolences to his family.
I think the large number of responses on this thread is a testimony to the impact which CW had on the members of this forum. There is no question he made more than just a significant contribution to the body of work posted here. He and his contribution will be terribly missed. Rest In Peace CW.
Sad news indeed. He always seemed quick witted and very knowledgeable. There is a kind of immortality on the internet that makes it seem more shocking to find out that someone has passed. RIP CW, you will be missed!
Sad to hear when one of the fellow posters passes. Tough to think about it.
I can certainly relate to the feeling of loss for people who have contributed to the hobby and the forum, and hate it. I don't want "nice guys finish last" verified. Immediately recognized the "handle".
My sincerest condolences to his family. I did not know CW, but always enjoyed his posts. He will be missed
My condolences to Charles' friends and family. I am stunned to learn of his passing.
I thoroughly enjoyed reading CW's posts. He was a great teacher and I learned a lot regarding maintaining and restoring trains just from reading his posts. When he offered suggestions on some of my questions, it was like little tablets handed down from Mount Sinai.
I sometimes wondered if CW Burfle was his actual name. Now that he has passed and we learn his real name, Charles Sigadel, it reminds me of Ray L. Plummer who wrote many repair articles for Classic Toy Trains and authored several books as well. It was only after he passed, that we learned that Ray Plummer was actually John Grams, a college professor. Model Railroader magazine also had authors that used nicknames (Boomer Pete and Ray L. Rhodes). CTT editor Dick Christianson said that Ray Plummer's name was a take on "rail plummer -- A crotchety old toy train repair-guy who prefers the 'classic' toy trains of the prewar and postwar period".
I am a few years older than CW but I know we had similar tastes in TV shows (like the Addams Family). I wonder if Charles selected the name "Burfle" from the TV show Laugh In, where Ferd Burfle was the "good friend and trusted neighbor" of the Farkle Family. Maybe a bit obscure, but CW was, indeed a good friend and trusted neighbor here on the OGR forum. CW was our postwar and MPC train repair guy and he will be missed.
Charles, Rest in Peace,
My condolences to CW's family his posts were knowledgeable, friendly and very helpful rest in peace
RIP CW, your post were always among the best.
It is amazing that CW has received such warm praise from so many here. I knew him well enough to know that he deserved it all. What I did not know was how many people would speak so well of him, given that he was a quiet person, in the sense of simply being helpful. I can only add another such story, although dimmed by the passage of time. There was an earlier board, which was somewhat unruly. We met face-to-face in one of the York halls one day, at his table. He greeted me by name, having read it off my tag, saying he had always wanted to meet me in person.
Somehow he knew that I had a train set my parents, aunt and uncle had given me at some expense. It was the 1950 Anniversary set with the orange Alco F's, the freight, the orange boxes. In a short four years I would have totally different interests. He also knew, I cannot remember how, that I had literally run the wheels off the engine-- the motor truck had oilite bearings, but the trailing truck did not, so the contact slider for the coupler was hanging up in switches. He had a brand new truck block casting; I didn't even know how he found it. He must have brought it to York after York. Of course, he would take nothing for it.
He said it was his way of thanking me for not taking part in the unkind comments made at times in that bygone forum. I remember rather than criticizing one of the new control systems, I had tried to sort out some of the problems. It was a bit of an effort, and I thought passing the 70th post, if I ever got to 100 posts, it would be too much. Now I had dragged my feet on this repair, and given the sacrifice made to give me this engine, I had wanted it to be a like-new repair, although I don't recall ever saying this to anyone. Perhaps I said something about the circumstances of receiving the set; he did follow my posts. I only checked that once, and then only two did so.
And of course, now too late, I wonder if I ever thanked him enough for his thoughtfulness. Perhaps I gave an impression of lost youth, having been 20 years an Army brat and having had 20 homes in 10 states in 4 nations on 3 continents in that time. Did I say 8 schools and 3 high schools? But I seldom mention that, not here that I recall. Did CW realize that the train was the only working artifact of those years? Once a college friend asked me how I'd managed those years with parents and family so far away. I thought, no, the problem is that one loses friends too easily. A failure to take the time to write a few words is the problem; it is hard to do so well.
I can only be glad that I have had the help of so many here in their kind words for CW. For myself, I can only feel that I have fallen short, and will have only burdened his family by the length of this post. But my friends will justly take me to task for that.
--Frank Maguire
Frank, That is a beautiful tribute! It really captures the helpful nature of CW. I was hoping to get to York again and try and meet CW. Your story tells me it would have been a wonderful experience.
Wow …. I missed this discussion. I'm so sorry to hear of his passing, and well before his time.
CW helped me resurrect a PW 2046 set and accessories that had been up in a family attic for decades, for my kids. So eager to help me. That was many, many years ago here at OGR, and I've enjoyed his posts ever since.
You are missed CW. Deepest sympathies to his loved ones and close friends.
Jim
I came upon this info late and by accident. CW Burfle was unknown to me except as a poster of terrific help and information. I always read his posts because he had excellent knowledge of all things Postwar Lionel. My condolences to his family and friends. First, Barry Broskowitz and now CW, how saddening. The forum has lost two great ones.
CW is still helping me since I just posted about repairing the rocket launcher of the USMC #45 rocket car. Someone directed me to one of his posts. He will live forever in my mind.
We all can extend their memories by helpful and polite posts to help others that we don't know except through the forum.
May the Lord bless CW's family and grant them peace.
My condolences to his family and friends as well. I always enjoyed CW's posts, he had great knowledge of many things and always provided good help and advice to everyone. We have lost another wonderful contributor here and he will certainly be missed. Way too many are leaving us.
The late, great comedian, W.C. Fields, was fond of inventing funny sounding names like Effingham Hoofnagle. I once asked CW if he was a fan of Fields, since Burfle sounded Fieldsian to me, but he was not. I later learned his forum name was a pseudonym. He will be missed!
A tribute I wrote in 2001 when we lost a member of the North Central O Gaugers. Appropriate, I feel...……. CW will be long missed for a very long time. God bless.
Jesse
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texastrain posted:A tribute I wrote in 2001 when we lost a member of the North Central O Gaugers. Appropriate, I feel...……. CW will be long missed for a very long time. God bless.
Jesse
That’s a powerful tribute, Jesse. Beautifully written.
