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(erielack) Ron Wallace
In 1963 I returned from living in Solvay, New York, where I found the Erie-Lackawanna Railroad. One day I went to check on a group of Trolley cars I'd seen in 1961 in the B&O freight yard at Saint George, Staten Island. For the first time there was someone there. On meeting him, he said, "My name is Ron Wallace." I spent many a weekend after that hanging out at the Trolley cars in St. George. (This group today is in Kingston, NY.) A few years later, he was very excited: he'd just gotten a job on the Erie-Lackawanna! I wanted to work there too--and tried--but the company and the industry were in decline at the time. I ended up on the C&NW in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. But I always took the train back and forth to the east coast (which I still do today). I've always been a fan of Erie-Lackawanna and other East Coast railroads.
When back in the East, I would stop by and visit Ron, whether it was at Kingsland, Summit or, in later years, Orange. He also worked at all kinds of stations on freight-only branches which I'm sure are gone today. One day while I was living in Kansas City--it was 1973--Ron called and said, "I'm on my way to Mexico by train. Wanna join me?" I was off with a bump at the time. I knew I could take up to six months off, so I said yes! I and a friend from Germany rode with him all the way to Mexico City. I couldn't afford to go on, so I returned from there; but Ron, kept going riding Mexican trains and streetcar systems.
He was working Kingsland when it was the last days of the "Lake Cities." I wanted a souvenir. I asked if he would sell me something that I could keep. He already was having me answer customer questions and provide train information at the counter. He said just make out a ticket booklet and put the money in the drawer. That's what I did. I sold myself an Erie-Lackawanna ticket from Hammond, Indiana to Chicago, Illinois I even wrote out the ticket; it was a book-type ticket. We also made a Elmira turn together with a friend of his, on the "Lake Cites" I went from Milwaukee to Hoboken then met Ron and his friend and rode Hoboken to Elmira and back and then back to Milwaukee. These were my last trips on EL 5 & 6.
I should also mention the dining car group. Ron was a big fan of dining cars. I know they have lost a great fan of theirs. He wanted me to visit him where he lived in the Lehigh Valley. But I never was able to do it. The last time I saw him was at East Stroudsburg in the parking lot across from the station. ( I guess there used to be a roundhouse there.) I had a stop-over for lunch on an NRHS steam trip. Now that will be a special place for me. I'm sure glad I spoke with him last week. It's hard to lose someone you've known since 1963.
Lance Erickson
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