Rob Thompson - from the Chairman

Robert (Rob) Thompson R I P

We were very sorry to hear of Rob’s recent passing. He had been ill for some time and we were all very sad when fairly recently he had to drop out of Scaleseven Group Committee Meetings due to ill health.

Rob was a very dedicated Scaleseven modeller and member, and a man of high principles. He was a highly organised person, always passionate for Scaleseven and liked matters to be run professionally and in accordance with proper rules. He was a great upholder of S7 standards and layout quality.

Rob served on the S7 Group Committee for so many years, first as Secretary and latterly as Membership Secretary. He was well known by the membership and knew almost everyone on the members list which is a great tribute to his care and diligence in performing these roles.

For a number of years, he also was responsible for organising the S7 Membership meetings and exhibitions at Brightwell-cum-Sotwell. These were highly successful local shows for all who were able to attend. These shows were great social events mixing S7 members with layouts, locomotives, rolling stock, trackwork and technical expertise. Members brought along models and other S7 items to run or display and gained knowledge and encouragement from other member experts in the various domains. I was lucky to have attended these shows on at least two occasions which I enjoyed immensely. At one show an earlier version of the Love Lane S7 layout was on display. The shows were a great tribute to Rob and his wife April, who worked tirelessly to make them so successful.

Rob was very kind to me, especially when I first joined the S7G Committee, guiding me through the rules and regulations and the customs and practices of the organisation. He also helped out frequently driving me to S7G Committee meetings in the West of England and in the Warley Model Railway Club in the Birmingham area. Whenever we had difficulties or needed to sort out problems he was always there offering to physically help or making practical suggestions. He also spent much time and effort organising members to support S7 trade stands at shows around the country.

Rob liked attending several area group meetings and was a regular member of Peter Mann’s South East Group attending on-line or at Peter’s house in Northwood.

Dear Rob, your friends and colleagues will sorely miss you. Your recent struggles for us and for all your other activities are over, may you now rest in peace.