Yet another dear friend and great model railroader has passed away. Early this morning I received word from his wife Lourdes that Ron had passed away during the night. Needless to say I was shocked to hear this news! Just a few days ago Ron had attended the weekly Saturday breakfast gathering of our group of railroad modelers, and seemed in good health and spirits.
I met Ron back in 1985 when he became a regular customer of mine. With our mutual interest in trains and model railroads, we quickly became friends. We spent a good deal of time traveling around Louisiana, Mississippi and Arkansas to photograph various railroads, and especially the short lines that were so numerous at that time.
Over this past decade, Ron had “completed” a model railroad layout at his home. I say completed, but in reality a model railroad is never complete, and Ron was constantly adding to his pike as he gained more space to house it.
Ron was also one of the regular operators on Mike Walsdorf’s L&N Railroad empire over in Mandeville, Louisiana. I know he’ll be missed there as well.
Ron was a Navy veteran, and as a Marine vet, we shared many stories of our time in the service. We also shared a love of military aircraft, especially WWII era airplanes, attending quite a few air shows together. We also often visited the National WWII museum in New Orleans, as well as the National Naval Aviation Museum in Pensacola, and the USS ALABAMA Battleship Memorial Park and its related museum in Mobile. Next to railroads, these were our favorite “hobby” interests.
Ron will be sorely missed . . . rest in peace, my good friend.
-Jack