I am sad to announce that my best friend, and model railroad mentor Sid Deitch, AKA Wounded Bear,Left the earth this morning after a battle with a long term illness. I miss him dearly, and am struggling with his passing. He was a master model builder, his work was second to none. We spent hours on the phone, and i made an 8 hour trip last summer to spend few days with him. His friendship and kindness meant the world to me, friends like him only come around once in a lifetime.
God bless you Sid, i hope your pain is gone.
Sheldon.
Condolences to you and Sid's family. I only knew Sid from this forum, but I liked him.
Len
Sheldon,
Sad news indeed. Just got your note this morning. Thanks for letting me/us know.
Sid and I were pen pals, and occasionally chatted on the phone. We would converse about modeling, cars, and life in general. He was an inspiration to me and will be sorely missed.
I know he was battling illnesses for quite some time. Likewise, I'm sure he is now at peace and the Lord has taken him to a better place.
Regards,
Jonathan
I sure am sorry to hear about Sid. That is sad news. We shared a love of trains and fast cars. His modeling skills were excellent.
Sid was a pretty cool cat. We spent hours on the phone chatting about cars, drag racing, growing up etc. He made me a better model builder, and i now have a new way of looking at things that i build be it trains or plastic model cars. He was a very patient teacher, he just expected me to apply myself and try.
Sid and I had occasional differences of opinion but he was a grade a plus plus model builder whose work always inspired. Sheldon, I hope you can get a few of Bear's beautiful models to remember him by.
SId will definitely be missed. I only wish before he went he'd have provided us with an overall view of his railroad. The photos he posted here provided only tantalizing glimpses of his layout, and it would have been nice to see how it all fit together. I guess now i'll never know......
Sid's layout was insane. I got to see it in person. He spent a year with track software program designing it,then the next 10 years creating it. It had multi layers at opposite ends, and went into 2 different rooms with an upper and lower grade. His work shop was next to the layout room, and the train would make its way through the workshop. lol it took 9 minutes to make a lap around his layout.
He told me.. " Never plan on finishing your layout, it's not something you finish, it's something you do" The results will be way better and you will take your time that way.
I have a bunch of pictures from when i was there, i willgather them up and post them here.
This is a start, i have more in other folders i have to collect.
(https://i.ibb.co/rt3DrPZ/IMG-20190318-1023360.jpg)
(https://i.ibb.co/6ZdMHdV/IMG-20190318-1023515.jpg)
(https://i.ibb.co/4fBTD7R/IMG-20190318-1024209.jpg)
(https://i.ibb.co/6WNGp5y/IMG-20190318-1024337.jpg)
(https://i.ibb.co/5nC40gk/IMG-20190318-1024411.jpg)
(https://i.ibb.co/N2G32gk/IMG-20190318-1034289.jpg)
(https://i.ibb.co/VL1XBTX/IMG-20190318-1034331.jpg)
(https://i.ibb.co/WWkpcJp/IMG-20190318-1034438.jpg)
(https://i.ibb.co/C2GqMwY/IMG-20190318-1037114.jpg)
(https://i.ibb.co/rMYSBPY/IMG-20190318-1037266.jpg)
(https://i.ibb.co/1b3N2Lg/IMG-20190320-0903363.jpg)
(https://i.ibb.co/ZmhkbNT/IMG-20190320-0903540.jpg)
(https://i.ibb.co/G9CJ4Lh/IMG-20190320-0904187.jpg)
(https://i.ibb.co/G5FzDB6/IMG-20190320-1025498.jpg)
(https://i.ibb.co/X2dyKx1/IMG-20191003-1828391.jpg)
(https://i.ibb.co/M7F26j1/IMG-20191003-1828594.jpg)
(https://i.ibb.co/dLbnd2W/IMG-20191003-1829375.jpg)
(https://i.ibb.co/mcQJwJz/IMG-20191005-1022170.jpg)
(https://i.ibb.co/x3tydTj/IMG-20191005-1022296.jpg)
(https://i.ibb.co/Q8YhRx0/IMG-20191005-1022393.jpg)
(https://i.ibb.co/rvJSg7R/IMG-20191005-1022485.jpg)
(https://i.ibb.co/R4Rd5GC/IMG-20191117-0821387.jpg)
(https://i.ibb.co/Qcymr95/IMG-20191117-0821506.jpg)
(https://i.ibb.co/SRYQPcX/IMG-20191117-0822170.jpg)
(https://i.ibb.co/xSMs39q/IMG-20200108-0942094.jpg)
(https://i.ibb.co/xM1c4Rh/IMG-20200108-0942216.jpg)
(https://i.ibb.co/YdmFVXH/IMG-20200108-0942365.jpg)
(https://i.ibb.co/hL537pn/IMG-20200108-0942522.jpg)
(https://i.ibb.co/ZVSLgMN/IMG-20200116-0952221.jpg)
(https://i.ibb.co/wWqgRZK/IMG-20200127-0906435.jpg)
(https://i.ibb.co/bWvrY9b/IMG-20200127-1018132.jpg)
(https://i.ibb.co/Db2NX8M/IMG-20200127-1058310.jpg)
(https://i.ibb.co/SVJtsN1/IMG-20200128-1004549.jpg)
(https://i.ibb.co/SthwhP0/IMG-20200128-1005042.jpg)
(https://i.ibb.co/s9DTK9G/IMG-20200128-1005305.jpg)
(https://i.ibb.co/HGb5KQr/IMG-20200129-0737326.jpg)
(https://i.ibb.co/QvYSy8n/IMG-20200129-1048533.jpg)
(https://i.ibb.co/Fm2KyKR/IMG-20200722-0937403.jpg)
(https://i.ibb.co/Jkg1Df3/IMG-20200722-0940047.jpg)
(https://i.ibb.co/pfxZtBS/IMG-20200722-0943508-2.jpg)
(https://i.ibb.co/ZKxgPGY/IMG-20200722-0946597-2.jpg)
Really sorry to hear about Sid. He was a great contributor to the forums. R.I.P.
I hope someone in the family will keep it running.
Great photos.
Richard
I'm definitely going to miss his input.
Our loss.
S/F
Ken
That looks like something i'd design. I'm impressed with his construction techniques as i am with his scenery. That's a good solid foundation for a railroad. The biggest differences between him and me are that he used flex track on cork and plywood where i'd use handlaid track on white pine. But i'll probably never achieve his level of detail. Nice to see another layout from the old school. Those techniques are definitely NOT what the magazines are pushing these days. DO you know how long Sid was in the hobby and did he have family who mentored him when he was younger?
From what i know Sid was in the hobby for 12 years, Sid is a self taught man.
The new Sw 1500 loco and caboose are mine from when i was up there, he wanted to see how it ran on a layout.
(https://i.ibb.co/6WNGp5y/IMG-20190318-1024337.jpg)
(https://i.ibb.co/5nC40gk/IMG-20190318-1024411.jpg)
(https://i.ibb.co/k5dw2Nd/sid-3.jpg)
(https://i.ibb.co/Jcd2hHQ/sid-4.jpg)
(https://i.ibb.co/R28wFPc/sid-5.jpg)
(https://i.ibb.co/qrTmFFc/sid-6.jpg)
(https://i.ibb.co/2ZB73ks/sid-7.jpg)
(https://i.ibb.co/Msq8kD9/sid-8.jpg)
(https://i.ibb.co/XfHP04w/sid-9.jpg)
(https://i.ibb.co/FDBX4Dw/sid-10.jpg)
(https://i.ibb.co/yWgcXcK/sid-11.jpg)
(https://i.ibb.co/y8rR6bR/sid-12.jpg)
(https://i.ibb.co/prxwQ2d/sid7.jpg)
Sadly i no longer have anymore of the pics he sent me.
Very, very sorry to hear this.
He will certainly be missed.
2020, what a year...
the Bach-man
I just learned of his passing this past Monday, after having sent him an email wishing him a "Happy New Year" (we last spoke this past September); I received an email from his son, letting me know of his passing. This struck me as well as I also consider myself a friend of Sid's and will greatly miss speaking to him about all manner of things and hearing that laugh of his.
After I first logged in here back in 2013 or so he reached out to me for my number and was not shy about calling me from time to time and never stopped calling me even after I stopped coming here for all intensive purposes about 5 years ago. I will miss him greatly because while he was a greatly skilled modeler without question, always giving and willing to share advice, he was a great person.
As stated, he loved his modeling, whether trains or cars and told me he won several modeling competitions. Here is an example of some of his great car modeling work in case you were not aware of his penchant for those as well:
http://www.slixx.com/deitch.htm
Beautiful!
...a great loss...
the Bach-man
I spent 3 days with Sid at his place in July 2019. His bench room where he does all his work is very old school, he has a great collection, selection of tools for modelling. It was great to watch his technique and have him explain things he does in person. I am forever grateful for his friendship.
His work shows the very highest level of craftsmanship, I will miss him indeed. He was very kind to me. I hope and pray that his family will feel blessed that he cared so much for others, Paul G.