RIP Earl Roberts

I was surprised to hear that I would be receiving a free copy of the 2024 “Canadian Trackside Guide” book. I submitted photos for the book late last year but I never heard that one made it into the book until I was asked for my mailing address.

My joy at being included in the “Trackside Guide” was muted by the fact that this is the last one with Earl Roberts as co-editor.

Earl was a very long-time member of the Bytown Railway Society in Ottawa, and was behind many of the greatest achievements of that group. He suggested the creation of an annual motive power review book in 1981, and the first Trackside Guide came out in March 1982.

I have the 1983 edition of “A Trackside Guide to Canadian Railway Motive Power”, with three names on the front: Earl W Roberts, Colin J Churcher and Paul J Smith. Canadian railway fans may recognize all three names. That book is just over a hundred pages long, while the 2024 “Canadian Trackside Guide” features almost 800 pages.

Earl was the managing editor of Branchline magazine from mid 1985 to December 1998, becoming the editor at the start of 1999. He continued in that role for well over a decade, retiring from that position in September 2015. Thirty years at the head end!

He continued to produce the “Consists” and “Motive Power” sections at the end of the magazine for the next twenty years, so he wasn’t idle after retiring from the editor position. The January/February 2024 Branchline magazine has a lengthy article on Earl’s many accomplishments.

I had some correspondence with Earl over the years, mostly related to the Consists in Branchline and locomotive / rolling stock updates for the next “Trackside Guide”. Earl was the person who emailed me in late 2021 to tell me that two of my photos would appear in the 2022 “Canadian Trackside Guide”.

Earl died on December 1, 2023 at the age of 84. My condolences to his wife Barbara, his three children and his extended family.