Ray Ballash was a kind and gentle man. He loved animals and trains and old printing presses and friends across the country. He learned the printing trade in junior high school and made a career out of it. He also made a hobby out of it.
Ray’s father died when Ray was three years old. At a young age he became enthralled by trains, especially the electric trolleys of the Pacific Electric Railway whose tracks ran near his boyhood home in South Los Angeles. He built a model train layout in his bedroom and later enlarged it into the garage.
In 1952 he met other teenagers with similar interests in the local rail scene. They went on excursions together on the PE and the local streetcar lines. In 1953 as local rail transit lines were being converted to buses, Ray and his fellows decided they should try to save one of the old streetcars. They bought one for $200 and had it moved to Travel Town in Griffith Park.
By 1958 the group had acquired several relics. They purchased eight acres on the south side of Perris in Riverside County and moved everything out there. Today the successor Southern California Railway Museum is the largest such facility in the Western US.
Ray went to work at Jeffries Banknote Co. in 1957. He met a lady there named Patsy Brooks and they were married in October 1967. Patsy had a son named Jimmy that Ray raised as his own son. They bought their home in Cerritos in October 1972 and he recently celebrated 50 years there.
Ray and Patsy travelled all over the country hunting for railway museums, castoff railcars, and vintage printing equipment. Ray kept up a lively correspondence for many years with like-minded people all over the country.
Ray was special. He will be remembered fondly by all who knew him.
Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.whitesmortuary.com for the Ballash family.
