By Capt. Bill McKelvey
In 2020 Richard had to move to an assisted living facility. Recently, he moved to Alcoeur Garden, a specialized care facility on Rt. 34 in Aberdeen. In the interim his home at 214 Sterling Place, Roselle, NJ has been unoccupied. Richard’s cousin, Patricia Ruther, who also lives in Aberdeen, NJ has been kindly helping Richard and preparing his home for sale. Mitchell Dakelman purchased Richard’s model trains, but there remained his large, diverse and eclectic collections of books (many are hard cover, color, and of very desirable subjects), periodicals, bulletins, videos, CDs, movie films, post cards, artifacts, etc. There were an estimated 1,500 items in total…
McKelvey called Pat Ruther and asked if we might assist in saving Richard’s collections, and she welcomed our help. Having just turned 84, I realized that I would need help from a couple of younger, stronger guys. I recruited Jersey Central Chapter member, Bob Hingel of Shot Hills, and long-time friend, Charles (Rusty) King of Florham Park. Rusty retired from NJ Transit as Chief Dispatcher at MMC a few years ago. The afternoon before, David Corson, a volunteer from the National Museum of Industrial History, at Bethlehem, PA, made a “just in time” pick-up of over 100 sample sections of railroad rail, plus other artifacts, freeing the plastic crates they were stored in as well as floor space for Wilson’s collections.
We mobilized early on Saturday morning, July 1, and the three of us met Pat in Roselle. Pat had obviously been diligently working for weeks preparing for the move. Nearly all the railroad books were neatly tied in bundles of 6 to 10. We packed the loose items into the dozen plastic milk crates we brought with us. We began by schlepping the books out the front door to the top step of the porch, and from there into our vehicles in the driveway, without climbing the stairs each time. That made it a short, easy move first to fill my CRV to the brim and then Rusty’s pick-up truck – to the weight limit.
By noon we had finished loading and departed Roselle for Berkeley Heights to unload. There we could back the vehicles right up to my front steps as there is no curb on my street and the lawn is perfectly flat… My neighbors are used to my logistics methods as I do this frequently… The milk crates allow stacking to seven feet, and we did the same with the tied books, as floor space in my “ware”- house is rather limited. We then departed for Harlee’s at New Providence for a well-deserved lunch, courtesy of Liberty Historic Railway. That evening I got a call from Pat Ruther – we forgot to get the items which she had in her car! So, on Sunday morning I returned to Roselle and filled up my car again, but the trip was worth it as I got items we overlooked and/or did not see the prior day. Needless to say, that material will stay in my car until I do enough processing to make room in my house.
In order to get back floor space in my home I will be under pressure to sort Richard’s collections and get them to their designated repositories. We are fortunate in that the Friends of the NJ Transportation Heritage Center is establishing a library in the Phillipsburg Union Station Museum, which they own. It will become home to books with generic or general transportation subjects, and also, in secure, glass fronted, locked book cases will be a hand-picked reference collection of local / NJ titles. Duplicate NJ Canals books are given to the Canal Society of NJ. We will make available at PU Station the common railroad periodicals which visitors may take as they are not saleable and are too bulky to economically store. However, there will be a sign “FREE MAGAZINES <> YOUR DONATIONS ARE APPRECIATED”. Pat allowed us to have a steel milk can – which will be perfect for donations as it is very heavy…
Specific non-NJ and other broad US subject books will go to the Industrial Archives and Library in Bethlehem, PA. They, incidentally, share duplicates with the National Museum of Industrial History, also in Bethlehem. In recent years I have sent thousands of books to these two organizations because they want them and they come to Berkeley Heights and pick them up. We have not found similar libraries in NJ with such desires. In fact, Tri-State Railway Historical Society (NRHS) established a railroad library at the Morris County Library, but library management changed and it was disbanded. The NRHS, itself sold off its research library of books. Richard’s films will go to Mitch Dakelman who is the Media Specialist for the NRHS and their collections are stored in Phillipsburg Union Station.
Now, a bit about Richard Wilson: He was born in 1948 and was the third generation of Wilson’s to occupy 214 Sterling Place, Roselle. His father and mother lived there with his grandparents, and Richard grew up there and continued living there after they all passed. Richard graduated college and then worked for Social Security and Disability in their Newark office. It was a good walk to the Roselle / Roselle Park station (Roselle Park is on the north side of the Jersey Central and Roselle is on the south side of the railroad) and Richard commuted by train via Elizabethport to Newark. Incidentally, Roselle was the World’s first town and railroad station to be lit by electric light (perhaps that was the incentive for the Wilson’s to move there in the first place), and Frank Reilly worked as an agent at that same station in his early days on the Jersey Central… Although their paths surely passed at the station, they did not get to know each other until later in life as members of railroad clubs.
Richard was a long-time member and recent past president of the Jersey Central Chapter (NRHS); he was also a member of the Railroadians, the NJ Midland RR Historical Society, the Central RR of NJ Historical Society, Friends of the NJ Transportation Heritage Center, and he participated in the Homer Hill dinner meetings. A very big thank you to Richard, Pat, Rusty, and Bob !
Over the years I and Liberty Historic Railway have processed, handled, and/or re-distributed collections from the following individuals and organizations: Edward T. Francis; John Brinckmann; Marie Wright; North Jersey Chapter, NRHS; Bob Yuell; Harold Geisenheimer; Al Riker; Bill Kessinger; North Jersey Electric Railway Historical Society; Tri-State Railway Historical Society; United Railroad Historical Society; Phil Craig; Ted Gleichman; Charles Leemans; Al Mankoff; Dr. Chuck Wrege; and MANY others. Now, I would now very much like to retire…