Mel Lawrence **
Born 1937
Mel grew up in Sacramento, home of the shops of the SP and WP.
From the time he turned 10 years old, he haunted the Elvas Wye area,
biking down to the SP shops to sneak into the steam servicing area,
hopeful that a kindly hostler might allow a cab visit.
Mel began taking pictures of trains at 12 with an inexpensive twin lens
reflex.
A 35mm camera was an 18th birthday present. Mel's service in the Navy
included trips to many rail points in the US. He traveled around the
world as an aircrewman on patrol and transport aircraft.
He later moved to Texas and then to Georgia.
During the 1970's Mel traded slides with 30 other railfans, ultimately
building a collection of about 60,000 railroad slides. In 1989, after retirement,
he sold much of his train slide collection. He now lives in Commerce, GA
about 50 yards from a busy NS branchline.
.
"TraiNutz" © 2002 by Andy Romano
Rights to images displayed in "The Who's Who" remain with the
individual credited.
All forms of reproduction, electronic or otherwise, prohibited by law
08.02.81977