A friend to many model railroaders and a leader in operations, track design, and the history of the Pennsylvania Railroad, Bill Neale passed away on December 28,2023 after a brief illness. He was 74. 
Bill started his model railroad career at an early age. He became a lifelong member of the National Model Railroad Association while still a teenager. Bill attended Purdue University where he was awarded a degree in computer science with a major in math and a minor in history. While at Purdue he was active in the Purdue Model Railroad Club where he began lifelong friendships with Tony Koester, Bill Darnaby, Ron Burkhardt and several other model railroaders. Upon graduation Bill married his love, Terry, who he had met while in high school in Anderson, Ind. Bill’s professional career began with a job at the Electro-Motive Division of General Motors in LaGrange, Ill. Throughout his career he worked at EDS, Hewlett Packard and General Motors having management positions as Account Manager and Program Manager. While living in Chicago, he and Bill Darnaby were the signatories that started the Midwest Railroad Modelers Club, also known as the “Batavia Club.” If you ever visited Bill’s layout you would appreciate the fine handlaid track and turnouts. Bill always claimed he learned how to do that through abundant practice at the Batavia Club. He used that knowledge and skill to help many people with complex track construction. As Bill moved on, he, Terry, and their two daughters lived in Toledo, Ohio for a while but eventually settled in Farmington Hills, Mich., a suburb of Detroit. He and Terry found a home with a spectacular backyard that supported Terry’s love of gardening and their mutual love of bird watching. As Bill and all model railroaders would say, it even had an adequate basement for a model railroad.
Farmington Hills is where Bill constructed his life’s work layout. He created a depiction of the “Panhandle” portion of the Pennsylvania RR that includes Weirton, W.Va. and Steubenville, Ohio. The layout is set in 1939 and is all steam; heaven forbid that a diesel would ever set foot there. Bill even included an amazing, almost full size, model of the Ohio River bridge. The layout is partially double deck and includes sufficient staging for 26 trains. The four-track main was great to watch and the significant grades leaving Weirton required helper service that just added to the interest of operations.
Operations were a high point for Bill’s layout. He held frequent sessions and modelers from around the country often visited. Bill used the time during the pandemic to essentially complete his layout. He finished his four towers and the associated signal system. Working a tower was a challenge but a lot of fun. Given the amount of staging that was part of the layout there was never a lack of traffic.
For over 20 years Bill was a member of the Midnight Pocatello Yardmasters, a Southeast Michigan Friday night round robin group. During those years Bill competed his Master Model Railroader, no. 480, making him one of eight in the group to reach that level. He was always a source of help to the group, whether it was design, electrical problems or any other issue. Bill was an outstanding layout designer. Working with Tony Koester, Bill had a regular article in Model Railroad Planning. His layout designs were always interesting and the basis for a wonderful layout. In addition to his love of model railroading Bill was well known and respected expert on the Pennsylvania RR. He was a member of and a regular contributor to the Pennsylvania Railroad Technical and Historical Society. Bill was a member of OPSIG, LDSIG and the SteelSIG. He was a member of Division Six of the North Central Region where he held many positions over the years. Bill had also been the Central Division Director of the NMRA. In many ways Bill lived up to the pledge that is contained on the MMR application to use your skills and knowledge to help others. We will all miss the op sessions Bill so frequently held and we will miss the help and expertise he was so gracious to share but most of all we will just miss a great friend.
