Mike Sharman Obituary

Yes, I would think so. Note the ref to railway memorabilia.

IIRC, he also made really good wheels and wheelsets.

And wrote the bible on compensated chassis construction.

MBQ

Oh, yes, I forgot that!

I used some of his ideas for compensating a Japanese 2-8-0 decades ago. Improved its traction and electrical contact something wonderful. It was sold as HO, but was really a 1:64 narrow gauge loco. Looked OK until you put an HO loco next to it, and noticed the over-size cab. Still have it, a nostalgia piece.

RIP.

I checked elsewhere and someone who knows "our" Mike Sharman says that it is not him. He was in the RAF at one point in his life and that is not mentioned in the obit.

Jim.

I hope that's true.

I checked with people who were likely to know him but here's a message from a thread on the old RMWEB which specifically mentions his career in the RAF and also his wife's name - Hilary - which varies from the details given in the obituary.

The father of one of the respondents to my query was the officer who commanded Mike Sharman at one time in the RAF.

My own slightly hazy recollection from reading magazines for the last fifty years or so was that he had had a Forces background but I couldn't remember the details.

Jim.

Thanks for this. But my appreciation of "our" Mike Sharman's contributions to the hobby still stands. ;-)

Ditto.

I'm glad he's still with us.

Like many of us, I only know him through his stand at shows, where he took his obstacle course to show how well his flexichas system worked, his Bogsworth Junction mixed gauge layout, Mike's Models, his 7' broad gauge early Great Western locomotive kits, later his wheels and most recently his definitive book on Cramptons.

I haven't been back to the UK for a loooong time now, but when I knew him he was typical of many in the hobby - helpful, knowledgeable and above all friendly.