Robert W. Brown, MMR, founding editor of Narrow Gauge & Short Line Gazette, passed away peacefully in his sleep at home on January 31, 2026, just 18 days after his 93rd birthday.
Born in Modesto, Calif., Bob moved to Sacramento during World War II and discovered model railroading in 1944. What began as a youthful interest became the passion of his life. A pioneer of narrow gauge modeling, Bob founded Finelines in 1964, focusing on ¼-inch finescale narrow gauge, and in 1975 launched the Narrow Gauge & Short Line Gazette. Its first issue appeared as March/April 1975 (Vol. 1, No. 1). Bob served continuously as editor for more than 51 years, with his final issue scheduled to be March/April 2026 (Vol. 52, No. 1). In total, he devoted over six decades to the hobby as a magazine editor. He often said the Gazette existed because of the “fine fellowship of modelers,” a community he deeply valued and helped shape.
An award-winning modeler and Master Model Railroader, Bob was also proud of his contributions to the Narrow Gauge Preservation Foundation and the NMRA’s Magic of Scale Model Railroading exhibit at the California State Railroad Museum in Sacramento. His freelanced On3 Tuolumne Forks model railroad was a detailed tribute to narrow gauge logging and mining lines of the West. By profession, he was a beloved fifth-grade teacher in the Palo Alto school system.
ABOVE: Bob Brown with his freelanced On30 Tuolumne Forks logging and mining model railroad in 2023. —TSG Multimedia
Bob was married for many years to Irene Brown, a noted Stanford entomologist specializing in the Bay Checkerspot Butterfly. After Irene’s untimely passing, the Gazette remained a central and sustaining part of Bob’s life. Even following a recent diagnosis of terminal cancer, the magazine, his modeling, and the support of readers and close friends continued to bring him purpose and joy.
Bob had planned a final “Robert’s Ramblings” for the upcoming May/June issue, coinciding with the long-planned transition to new editor Chris Lane, a change arranged years earlier with publisher Kevin EuDaly. Though he never had the chance to write it, Bob would surely have thanked the readers for their decades of support and affection, acknowledged designer Sharon Olsen and publisher Kevin EuDaly for helping the magazine thrive, and expressed his confidence in Chris Lane as the next editor. Bob was immensely proud of the Gazette and deeply pleased that it would continue unchanged.
Bob Brown’s legacy lives on in every issue of the Narrow Gauge & Short Line Gazette — past, present, and future. Thank you, Bob, for everything. You will be missed.
—Charlie Getz
