Oh my. I’m devastated to hear this. I did not know there was a health issue. I feel like I’ve lost a brother. What a wonderful man. Condolences to his family.
Oh man very sad news. He will really be missed. Have a small TV and a VCR DVD player in train room just for Jim's back shop videos. Was always hoping he would bring out some more. They were so helpful. Kind of smile when I think back Jim saying in the videos not for the faint of heart. Condolences for his family and friends. Sad to say here today gone tomorrow.
Wow what a shock. His contributions will be missed by all of us as well discussions and presentations at York. Condolences to family friends. Big loss in the RR community.
I am very sorry to hear about Jim. He made me smile at my first York in October 2017 by teasing Rich. He told me the simplest thing about using water colors and scotch tape for grout lines and putting windows in a building I bought. I remember telling him that I would have never thought about something so easy as that. I guess it is often we tend to overthink modeling things and there is an easier solution.
This picture was last year at the NJ Hirailers hosting the OGR 50th Anniversary which I was fortunate to attend. Jim was introduced by Allan Miller shortly before I snapped this. We all had a good old time there on what was a very rainy Sunday, but trains, food and friends really made it grand.
I just remember on all the occasions I talked to Jim at York, he always smiled and laughed. My condolences to his family, and his family at OGR, he will be greatly missed. God bless you Jim. 
Attachments
Images (1)
So sad, so sorry. Jim was a superlative ambassador of our beloved hobby.
Steve
I just read this now and I am shocked also. I have met Jim and talked to him a couple of times and he was always cheerful and a fun humorous person. Godspeed and prayers for the family.
I'm shocked by this news as all of us are. His contributions to this hobby and his fellow hobbyists are immense. My condolences to his family and friends.
-Greg
I am devastated to hear this news. Jim always has a smile on his face and we had many good times at our club with him. Rest In Peace Jim.
I'm so sorry to hear this. I have some of his video's. R. I. P. Jim, you will be missed.
For the few times Ive met him at shows, he was a really nice Guy. his Video segment on OGR the Video were just awesome to watch. He will sorely be missed! May God bless him and his family! He will be remembered greatly.
I am stunned. For the first time in a long time, I am at a loss for words. I just lost my partner and a magnificent pillar of our hobby. Jim was always willing to help a fellow hobbyist, fun to be around and a good writer and teacher to boot and now he is gone. I am still trying to wrap my head around his loss and not doing a real good job of it.
I want to thank Allan Miller and Alan Arnold for letting me know the awful news within minutes of each other. God bless them both and, more importantly, God bless Jim Barrett.
Ed Boyle
This is a real shock. Jim always had a smile on his face and was a great ambassador to the hobby. Condolences to his family and friends.
I feel like I just lost a great friend, even though I never met Jim in person. My deepest condolences to his family, his partners at OGR and all of his friends. By every measure, he is a Hall of Famer.
Dave
I am also shocked, Jim was a great teacher, video star and a very nice guy, who, I've had the pleasure quite a few times over the years. we all will miss him and the backstop.
Jim's passing is a terrible loss for our hobby. Condolences to his family.
Mark A. Hoffman
I am so sorry. A great loss to all his family and friends.......and, a great loss to the hobby.
Prayers for Jim and his family. I feel so fortunate for having known him all these years......He will be missed as a friend and O Gauge colleague to all of us. A sad day for us all......
Peter
Very sad news. A true gentleman who always had time to stop and talk to me when I would see him at York. Not a good year for the hobby with the losses of some very good men, but there is very interesting train talk in heaven today!
Talked to Jim several times on the phone about my layout ideas. Great man and very knowledgeable about our hobby. He will be deeply missed.Thoughts and Prayers to his family and God Speed Jim.
So sorry to see and hear about this. Kindly, informative, interesting, a fount of knowledge, etc., etc. His columns were great.
I was fortunate to spend time with Jim largely through my friendship with Marty. And in at least one way, Jim was my idol. I don't recall how many years ago it was, but Jim came to York with his wife on his HONEYMOON! I mean, how many of us beg, cajole, etc. simply to take a couple of days to go to York? (I do not. My wife has always been supportive of my trips to York. I would come home and she would ask, what did you get? I would tell her. She could figure out what I spent. She then went to a jewelry store and I kept my mouth shut. Her jewelry did much better than my trains.) My recollection is that marriage did not end well for Jim.
Jim will be sorely missed. My condolences to his family and friends.
Gerry
My condolences to his family. He will be sorely missed.
I'm not sure how I missed this thread before now but what a shock as I log on this morning. Sad news, indeed. There have been lots of pictures posted over the last week and many of them are of past York Meets. Jim is in several of them and what stands out are the twinkle in his eye and smiling face. He was happy to be around trains and train people!
Condolences to Jim's family, friends, and the OGR community.
Jim was an excellent and humble person.I enjoyed many conversations with him including, if I recall properly, the one at the OGR 50th birthday party where we were able to sit and have lunch and talk about Trains, old and new.
A profound loss for the OGR family, his family and friends. He will be missed. His articles were fantastic.
Thoughts and prayers for his family.
The Martin’s
This terrible, I never got to meet him or speak with him but I felt as if I knew him personally. What a shock it was when I saw the side bar on the site that told about his passing, it took a few seconds before it really sank in. We in the O Gauge hobby and model railroading in general have lost a truly great gentleman and a really nice man. I liked to watch his video when I could and enjoyed them very much. He will definitely be sorely missed and such a huge loss to the OGR community.
My condolences to his family and all of his friends, may God Bless his Soul. We can all rest assured that he is in a much better place.
I read numerous articles by Jim over the years and learned a lot. RIP
My condolences to Jim's family and close friends.
We have lost another Icon of the HOBBY. R.I.P. Jim
SAL GAMBINO/PRESIDENT ELECT-LCCA.
Sad news indeed. Enjoyed reading his many articles. He will be missed....
Very sad to learn of Jim’s passing. I met him at the OGR booth at York many years ago and enjoyed my discussions with him and as well as reading his how-to-do articles. Condolences to his family and friends.
Such sad new. I never met Jim but learned so much from watching his videos. A great teacher and man has be loss. Thoughts and Prayers go out to his family.
Very sad news. My prayers to family and friends. ...........Paul 2
My condolences to Jim's family and the entire OGR community. We've lost a very talented man and a good friend.
Jim
I meet Jim over 20 Years ago at an Edison train show. Tho OGR booth was the first place I would stop when I entered the halls at York to say hello. Jim and the NJHirailers would close Friday's bar on many a Thursday night. Jim was a good friend and will be missed. Rest in Peace my Friend.
Jim D.
I did not know Jim but his contributions to our hobby are obvious. A big loss for the O gauge community. Condolences to his family and friends.
As I wake up this morning, my sense of loss is even more intense. So, I want to inject a short story here and share with the rest of you a little about Jim with respect to his humor.
On one of my first trips to York, Jim anxiously wanted an update of where I was located with respect to his home. Generally I would stay in Dayton for the night and then leave from there in the morning and arrive in York that afternoon. He would text me, call me, and ask how far away I was and what time I would be leaving the hotel and then say he would see me on the interstate. Mind you, I would be scores of miles ahead of his entrance onto the interstate and I wondered how we would "see" each other on the interstate unless I slowed down to a crawl. Jim arranged when and where we would meet for lunch during the trip knowing that he was many miles behind me and I wondered how long I would have to wait at the restaurant for him to arrive. BOY was I SURPRISED!
Let me first say that I am not light footed on the interstate and generally set the cruise about 5 to 8 miles OVER the speed limit. I learned what many others apparently knew about Jim and that was he was the heavy footed champ when it came to speeding down the interstate! As we got closer to our lunch destination, Jim would check in with regular car to car calls indicating what mile marker he had just passed....holy cow, he was getting closer and closer to me! AND, I might add, rather quickly! This went on for a couple of hours and then in my rear view mirror I saw that big and mighty late model Mercury he loved so much and there he was with that big grin on his face! He had to have been averaging around 100 MPH to catch up with me!
As I saw Jim approach the rear of my car, a PT Cruiser, I wondered how the heck I was going to keep up with that big V-8 which was almost the size of my entire car! Then the phone rang. It was HIM ... He said, I am on your (another word for rear) so lets get going! Follow me he said as that almost 20 foot long car screamed by me like I was backing up! So I pushed the petal to the metal like the little engine that could and did my best to keep up with Jim. I had never gone that fast on the interstate and wondered if this was a wise decision as we sped down the highway. Looking down at the speedometer, I could not believe that my PT could go that fast! Zippity doo dah we went and before much time went by, we had arrived at the lunch destination. We parked and got out of our cars me being a little slower than Jim because it took a while to dislodge my fingers from the steering wheel! Those of you that knew Jim are familiar with his strolling type of walk and so there we were walking into the restaurant with limited conversation as I was trying to get over the warp speed we had just been going. As we sat down at the table, Jim said to me, "That little Cruiser amazed me!" "I can't believe you were able to keep up like you did!" All the while he was smiling and giggling (he had a neat giggle). He then started what became a story he told many times to others about that trip. He would tell about the time when some guy in a PT Cruiser was chasing him down the interstate and was trying to keep up with his Mighty Mercury. "That PT was losing parts as the air friction heated up the metal" he would say. "I could see the fenders and antenna de-materializing" he would remark as everyone at the table was laughing. You see, little did I know that Jim was well known for his heavy foot while driving. Everyone knew that a trip with Jim was going to be interesting and full of fun conversation as he blew the paint off every car he passed! And the story of the trip was going to be a "Jim Barrett Original" with his typical funny comments and facial actions all of which was very animated. We never failed to reminisce about the "Trip To York" and how that crazy guy in the PT was chasing him down the interstate thinking he could keep up with the big bad Mercury. With tears in my eyes right now, I am sure going to miss that big guy.
Condolences To Jim's family and the ORG staff. A difficult time for all.
Back in the 90’s when I was building my 2nd layout I was trying to wire up an indexing kit to my Diamond Scale turntable. I was at my wits end & I remembered a story that Jim had mentioned in one of his commentaries in a LOTS (Lionel Operating Train Society) article when he was affiliated with them. I called him and he spent a good hour on the phone with me walking me thru each step with his helpful little tricks.
Jim was an amazing person to talk with. Another friend once told me Jim didn’t have blood in his veins, he had smoke fluid. Jim’s stories were very entertaining especially when he got married & had his honeymoon on a train.
This photo was taken at Isaac’s in Strasbourg before York in 2016. Our hobby has gained a lot of knowledge thanks to these fellow forum members. Jim Barrett, Barry Broskowitz & Marty Fitzhenry. RIP gentleman.
Attachments
Images (1)
Jim was a valued friend to me--and we never even met. I learned so much from his backshop articles and videos. I bet that I use some of what Jim taught me every day. I have all the videos and I re-watch them as they fit whatever I am working on at the time.
All my best to Jim's family and thanks to OGR for sharing Jim with us!
Don Merz
Met Jim when OGR had their display at Trainfest in Milwaukee, and the IHMD layout was set up across from the OGR display. Absolutely shocked and saddened. Jim was one of the most vibrant, funny, and helpful people I had ever met.
Regards,
Jerry Zeman
I could hardly believe the news when I saw it on Facebook. Jim was such a pillar in the O gauge community that its hard to believe he is gone. We will all miss him.
I'm so heartbroken to hear this. Jim was a great guy.
-Eric Siegel
