THE PASSING OF ANOTHER TRANSPORT FRIEND

 
It was so sad today to hear that my friend John F Bromley of Toronto had passed away a few days back, we visited John and Margaret in Toronto a couple of times, he was widely traveled and enjoys his trams or streetcars in many counties with Margaret also taking the cine or stills as required. This obituary appeared on the front page of 'Transit Toronto'. John was instrumental in getting the TTC to let us copy their film archives, a shame Youtube don't like that sort of film anymore.

'The railfan and transit historian community are saddened to hear of the passing of John F. Bromley. John passed away on Sunday, December 1st, leaving behind his wife, Margaret, of 46 years.
John’s contributions to the logging and remembrance of Toronto’s transportation history is renown. He has faithfully recorded the operations of the TTC and Toronto’s other rail and transit agencies for most of his adult life, accumulating an unparalleled collection of photos and references. He also faithfully delved into Toronto’s archives, helping and with the help of his friends like Ray Corley, uncover key data that might otherwise have been disposed of and forgotten. Transit agencies like the TTC are often hard-pressed to maintain their historical artifacts, and sadly some don’t value their history as much as they should. Much could have gone into the landfill to be forgotten forever without the work of people like John to rescue them.
Although John didn’t suffer fools gladly, myself included, he was generous with his time and happily granted me permission to use his photographs on Transit Toronto, and shared key information that helped me on a number of articles. He has provided a wealth of information to the railfan community through numerous publications, particularly the landmark Fifty Years of Progressive Transit, co-authored with Jack May; still a vital reference to the history of the TTC (and one which, as a reference, anchors many of the articles on this website), even almost 50 years on, and still well sought after.
I offer my condolences to the friends and family John leaves behind, and I honour his memory, his contributions to the railfan community, his genuine warmth, and say may he rest in peace.'

Memories of trips out with John and Margaret, we went down into the States and to Niagra etc plus several railroad and streetcar museums. I suppose the toast should be with a coke and a McDonalds hamburger which was John's favourite.

I've collected together a few more films for the VE celebrations, I'll get them edited together for my friend Roger who is putting the event together for our villages commemorations next May.

The broken film scanner is on its way back to China, they are sending the replacement straight away so I can resume copying. An awful day in a lots of respects, my computer went down after a blasted Microsoft update, I thought these were supposed to stop for Windows 7. Lots of new friends joining us via Facebook.

Wretched weather hopeless for filming this week, fingers crossed that Friday may turn out as a possible, tomorrow I'm doing a presentation at the Polio Fellowship on some of the more unusual countries I've visited.

John Bromley was also a railroad modeller in his huge basement a large collection of O gauge equipment, so sad it becomes almost a monthly event at our age to see friends and relations pass away.