David Popp no longer at FireCrown

[Bill H]

Group;
Just had an email to David bounce at FireCrown, so I checked LinkedIn and his tenure at FireCrown is showing as ending August 2026. He has a new gig showing on LinkedIn which was his wife's business - I thought. Dropped Pencil LLC. He had a great N Scale layout, did a lot to drag MR into the last century  .

He will be missed in our community.

Kind regards,
Bill

[Dave V]

He had been doing On30 for the last few years as well. I was enjoying his layout build on MR Video Plus but his updates became so infrequent that it made my subscription no longer worth it.

He's a good modeler, though, and a decent writer. Hope to catch his modeling via other mediums now!

[Spades]

FireCrown is going to release Track Planning Made Easy by author David Popp.  https://shop.trains.com/products/track-planning-made-easy-presale-available-august    January 2027 release date.

[Bill H]

I would assume that was penned prior to his departure and FireCrown surely is the owner of the book as well along will all the other items he produced during his long tenure...

[Point353]

Maybe he can do the opposite of Tony Koester and move from MR to RMC.

[Ed Kapuscinski]

I got the impression that David was having some health issues that may have had some affect on his modeling efforts. If that was the case I could see him wanting to "get out of the game".

[Dave V]

I got the impression that David was having some health issues that may have had some affect on his modeling efforts. If that was the case I could see him wanting to "get out of the game".

He's acknowledged in his videos that he has a condition that causes his hands to shake, and you can definitely see it in his vids. As someone who's dealt with his own neurological problems, I can empathize. His work is that much more impressive when you see how he tremors while he's painting and cutting.

Overall he strikes me as a really good dude, and now that he won't be hidden behind a paywall, I hope to see more of his work in the wild.

Us Daves have to stick together. Especially us bald ones.

[Ed Kapuscinski]

He's acknowledged in his videos that he has a condition that causes his hands to shake, and you can definitely see it in his vids. As someone who's dealt with his own neurological problems, I can empathize. His work is that much more impressive when you see how he tremors while he's painting and cutting.

Overall he strikes me as a really good dude, and now that he won't be hidden behind a paywall, I hope to see more of his work in the wild.

Us Daves have to stick together. Especially us bald ones.

Seconding all of this.

[Ed Kapuscinski]

Just saw in MR that he retired. Congrats DP!

[Dave V]

Just saw in MR that he retired. Congrats DP!

Good for him! Now he can be a free-agent modeler, LOL.

Would love to recruit him for TRW, but I don't have contact info...

[Mark5]

Would love to recruit him for TRW, but I don't have contact info...

I'm sure he knows about TRW. 

Congrats Popp! 

[chuck geiger]

RMC has an associate editor position open that is remote, hmmm

[muktown128]

Didn't he sell his NH themed layout a few years ago?  I thought I saw it listed for sale and I believe he was living in Waterford, WI at the time.  If he's still there, then he's not far from where I live in Mukwonago. 

[davefoxx]

Didn't he sell his NH themed layout a few years ago?  I thought I saw it listed for sale and I believe he was living in Waterford, WI at the time.  If he's still there, then he's not far from where I live in Mukwonago.

Yes, the N scale NH layout was sold a number of years ago and replaced with a huge slot car racing track.  I’m not sure of the status of the slot car track, but he took over, spruced up, and enlarged the On30 Olympia layout in his basement.  There’s a significant number of construction videos that he created on Trains.com.

DFF

[Point353]

https://www.trains.com/mrr/videos-photos/videos/series/mr-insider/mrvp-insider-mrvp-underground-with-david-popp-episode-13-off-to-the-races/