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Model railroading and hobby icon Hal Carstens dies
THANK YOU HAL FOR YOUR PERSONAL RECOMENDATONS OVER THE YEARS ON TRAVELING AND MODEL RAILROADIING.
WE ALL WILL, WITH YOUR LOSS, BE LOSING A SIGNIFICANT MENTOR TO ALL HOBBYISTS.
This is very sad news. Hal was one of the last of the old school folks that I remember as a youngster in the hobby 50 odd years ago. Rest in peace, Colonel Hal. May God be with you.
The Colonel had a great run. He was a giant in the hobby and one of the last of the pioneers. He helped lay the foundation for all of us.
That’s really sad news, my condolences go out to his family. The hobby has lost great person.
“Hal” made significant contributions to this model rail road hobby and he will, indeed, be missed!
Thank you Hal, for all your guidance and wisdom through the years.
Hal & Phyllis attended our NRHS Baltimore Chapter banquet in mid-March & Hal presented an interesting slide show. I’m so glad I was able to meet him. His passing is a great loss to the model railroading community. My condolences to his family.
I’ve known Hal for 50 years and found him not only an excellent spokesman for the hobby, but an entertaining and inspirational individual. His contributions to model railroading will be missed.
This is such sad news. Rest in Peace my good man.
May God be with Hal and the Carstens family.
Sad news to read of another mmr pioneer leaving us. My condolences to the Carstens family. Rest in peace.
So sad! He did so much for thew hobby and then some. Rest in Peace, Hal.
The “Colonel” was certainly an icon of model railroading and his personality and wit will leave a great void. my condolences to the Carstens family.
So sad to hear of Hal’s passing. I started model railroading in the era of John Allen, Linn Westcott, Carmen Webster (a trip to Model Railroad Equipment Corp. was like going to Heaven for aan early '50s teenager), Bobbye Hall, and, of course, Irv Athearn, Bill Walthers, and Al Kalmbach were also still aroound and active. I’ve left out a lot of other pioneers, but all of these folks mentioned are, of course, no longer with us. When RMC made the move to Newton NJ, Carstens was in my area of ancestry on one side of my family, many of whom grew up in nearby Stillwater. Although I have been gone from NJ for many, many years, family ties are still deep and strong in that area.
My condolences to the Carstens family - both personal and business - and many thanks for the info passed on to all of us model railroad nuts.
God bless him and his family.
Sad news indeed. Col. Hal was the last of the Pioneers of model railroad publishing I grew up reading since the '50’s. I can’t imagine RMC without “Notes on an Old Timetable”… His familiar rambling style always put a smile on my face… Condolences to his family and all at RMC.
I’ve been reading RMC since the 70’s, and Mr. Carsten’s “Notes on an Old Timetable” column is always one of the first things I go back to read in depth after skimming through each current issue. I’ll certainly miss his historical perspective on model railroading as well as his overall enthusiasm for the hobby.
Sorry to hear of Hal’s passing.
Hal, like Linn H. Westcott, was one of the names in model railroading that I always associate with my beginning years in modeling when I was 11 or 12 years old in the early sixties. They seemed to aim their magazines towards modelers who had limited funds and experience, and they had a “can do” attitude for everyone in the hobby, young and old, alike. At the same time they had their hands on the pulse of what was new in the technology and materials of the day.
Both are missed.