In 1938, Russ Mobley promised his mother that he'd stop sucking his thumb if she would buy him a train set. Since that time, Russ has done many things. He started as an A& P bag boy, spent 21 years in the United States Air Force, and drove an 18-wheeler semi, among other things. He has lived in Texas, Ohio, Alaska, and Georgia.

In 1965, when the NASG was only five years old, Russ was designated by General Director Bernie Thomas to manage the round-robin letter “circuits.” Upon Bernie's sudden death a month later, Russ was became the third General Director of the NASG. Russ served until 1970, when Ed Schumacher took over. Since then, Russ had been a tireless NASG booster, introducing S gauge to kids, developing and marketing “Amity Star” kits, and promoting S at many different venues.

Russ was profiled in the Augusta Chronicle/Augusta Herald (Georgia), Sunday, Nov. 7, 1982 in the Nov. 1982 issue of Rural Georgia, the official publication of Georgia Electric Membership Corp. and in the Oct. 1994 issue of S/Sn3 Buyers' Guide.

After Russ died this past summer, the NASG decided to honor his contributions to S by naming the newly-created NASG Library after him.

For more information on Russell M. Mobley, the Russell M. Mobley Memorial Library can furnish copies of the profiles cited above. The NASG Library site also contains a five-part history of the NASG, where you can read about Russ's years as head of the NASG in Part 2.

Photo courtesy of Bill Wade, Jr.