WCRA NEWS MARCH 2008 WESTERN RAILS SHOW SUNDAY, MARCH 16 64,587 GUESTS IN 2007 WCRA News, Page 2 GENERAL MEETING NOTICE The Annual General Meeting of the WCRA will be held on Tuesday, February 26, 2008 at 1930 hours at the Rainbow Creek Station in Burnaby. Members are encouraged to attend to review and approve the financial statements from 2007, the budget for 2008, and the Directors slate for the 2008 year. The February General Meeting will follow the AGM. Entertainment will follow the metings as time permits. ON THE COVER Canadian Pacific ES44AC’s #8863 / 8864 pose in the snow at Coquitlam on January 27, 2008. The Evolution Series are GE Transportation Systems' new diesel locomotive models that meet the U.S. EPA's Tier 2 locomotive emissions standards that took effect in 2005. All are powered by the new GEVO 12-cylinder engine which delivers equivalent power to the older 16-cylinder FDL engine while consuming less fuel and producing fewer emissions. The units are part of the latest order of 18 new General Electric locomotives, all of which will wear the 2010 Olympics scheme. (Dave Emmington photo) MARCH CALENDAR • West Coast Railway Heritage Park open daily 1000 through 1700k • Wednesday, March 5—Newsletter deadline for items to be included in the April 2008 WCRA News • Saturday, March 15 through Sunday, March 23—Wild at Art at the West Coast Railway Heritage Park, 1000 to 1700 daily, free admission during this event • Saturday, March 15—Royal Hudson steams for Wild at Art • Sunday, March 16—Western Rails Show, Cameron Rec. Ctr., Burnaby, 0900—1600k • Sunday, March 16—Dedication of Model Railway exhibit, 1100 hours, Heritage Park • Tuesday, March 19—Tours Committee Meeting, call Bernie at 604-325-0923 • Tuesday, March 25 —WCRA General Meeting, 1930 hours, Rainbow Creek Station in Burnaby, BC The West Coast Railway Association is an historical group dedicated to the preservation of British Columbia railway history. Membership is open to all people with an interest in railways past and present. We are a non-profit British Columbia society, registered as a Canadian charity. Individual membership in the WCRA is $50.00 per year, family membership is $60.00. E Members (electronic newsletter, $15 savings) are $35 individual and $45 family. (Outside Canada, please remit US $) Other categories are: - Junior Member (age 18 and under ) $ 25 - Sustaining Member $100 (tax receipt) plus membership type regular fee - Life Member (one time fee) $700 individual life / $1,200 family life All memberships include the monthly newsletter, Heritage Park admission, mini rail rides and discounts on food and merchandise. The Association holds a monthly meeting on the last Tuesday of the month at 1930 hours in Burnaby at Rainbow Creek Station in Confederation Park. Apply through www.wcra.org or mail to WCRA, PO Box 2790 Stn. Term., Vancouver, B.C., V6B 3X2. WCRA News, Page 3 EDITORIAL TOWARDS OUR GOAL OF 100,000 GUESTS BY 2010 The results are in for 2007, and West Coast Railway Association is on its way towards our big goal of touching 100,000 guests through our various activities and venues by 2010. It is indeed a lofty goal, and we have some way to go yet, but we managed to achieve growth from the 57,000 guest level in 2006 to 64,587 guests in 2007. Had there not been the civic strike in Vancouver (which forced closure of the Locomotive 374 Pavilion through the peak tourism season) we would have made our 2007 goal of 75,000. Here are how the results break down for 2007: • West Coast Railway Heritage Park guest visits 38,201 • Locomotive 374 Pavilion guest visits 10,860 • Western Rails Railroadiana Show attendance 1,200 • West Coast Mini Rail community events 13,240 • West Coast Rail Tours guests 1,086 Total guests at WCRA venues / activities 64,587. Last month, I wrote about long term financial progress in this column. This month the focus is on an equally important aspect for our long term, and that is attracting the interest in people to participate and visit our events, facilities and activities. It is most encouraging to see this grow steadily years after year. A number of continuing plans will keep us moving forward, and getting us to that magic number of 100,000. A major step, of course, is the new Roundhouse and Conference Centre at the Heritage Park, designed to bring us an additional 25,000 guests by its third year of operation as they attend the various events and functions that will come to the new facility. We also plan to do a major review of the Western Rails show (which has seen declining attendance in recent years) with an eye towards a revitalization of this great event. Guests are our lifeblood for the future. All of the things we do need to encourage our guests to return for more. Let’s remember their importance to us in every guest interaction we have. Don ASSOCIATION NEWS NOTICE OF ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING Notice is hereby given that the Annual General Meeting of the West Coast Railway Association will be held on Tuesday, February 26, 2008 at 1930 hours at the Rainbow Creek WCRA News, Page 4 Station in Burnaby. Reports will be presented for the 2007 fiscal year, and members will be asked to approve the 2007 financial statements, the 2008 budget, and the directors for 2008. FROM THE JANUARY GENERAL MEETING 30 members and guests braved the snowy weather and made it to the meeting, which was chaired by Colin Dathan: • A minute’s silence opened the meeting in respect for recently deceased members Lee Holtby, Bill Lahr, and Mildred Whitehead. • Don Evans provided the President’s Report, noting fundraising for January and several projects now progressing. He went on to cover finance and Heritage Park items in the absence of Jim Brown. • Colin Smith updated the members on the re-start of construction work on the Roundhouse and Conference Centre at the Heritage Park • Colin Dathan noted the status of things at the 374 Pavilion • Bernie Tully noted the upcoming Mount Pleasant Railroad show—which was incorrectly dated in the newsletter as Feb. 1 (should have been Feb. 10) • Bill Johnston noted a date change for the Okanagan trip (see Tours section) and talked about the planned changes to The Canadian timetable by VIA Rail starting next winter • Colin Dathan once again asked members to submit their volunteer hours from 2007, and gave verbal notice of the February Annual General Meeting • Dave Emmington noted and sold second hand railway books as a fundraiser • Colin Smith recognized Ron Anstey for his hard work on the roundhouse and the Turntable over the past few months • Ryan Cruickshank gave his Trackside Report • Guests were introduced • The raffle and 50/50 were held, winner Joe Carroll donated his winnings back to WCRA • Entertainment was a show by Don Evans that covered Ireland, Beijing, Colorado and Pennsylvania. WCRA TRIVIA # 230 - by Ryan D. Cruickshank What railroad was formed with standard gauge on one end while narrow gauge was in use on the other? (for answer, see Credit Lines) MEMBERSHIP RENEWALS Memberships dated 01/31/2008 have now expired, and if your membership expired 11/30/2007, this will be your last issue. Please check the label on your newsletter and renew today. Remember that renewals are being accepted for memberships with the E–Newsletter—check page 2 for current membership rates. WCRA News, Page 5 Is your email address current???? It is particularly important that those of you who have registered for access to the Members Only area keep your email address current in the Server. Each time a new issue is posted the Server sends a notice to the email address you supplied when you requested access. Because the undeliverable messages from a Server do not bounce back to it I have no way to be proactive. If you have changed your email address, or think the one we have is out of date because you do not receive notices, please send your current email address to Jeremy at [email protected] and the server will be updated as required. (J.D.) NEW MEMBERS The WCRA welcomes new members Jocelyn Duplisse & family of Garibaldi Highlands, Terry Muirhead of Vancouver, Ken and Janet Klakowich & family of Vancouver, and Tom & Elaine Pruden & family of Vancouver. (J.D.) MEMBER NEWS A memorial service for Bill Lahr was held in Seattle on February 7th, at the Seattle Asian Art Museum. Bill passed away January 12, and was pre-deceased by his wife Dorothy a few years ago. Both Bill and Dorothy were active members in WCRA, particularly as members of our tours committee for many years, (B.J.) We are sad to report on the passing on of member Lee Holtby. Lee and husband Harold (who predeceased her a few years ago) were active in WCRA in many ways over the years. Lee passed away peacefully at home January 27, 2008. Our sympathies to the family. VOLUNTEER HOURS NEEDED We need your volunteer hours for 2007. Please let us know on an ongoing basis when you volunteer at activities, preparing newsletter submissions, hosting on tours, running mini rail, or volunteering at any of our events, activities or facilities. We use these to assist us on grant applications as well as for a host of other very helpful things for WCRA. Please submit your hours regularly to Colin Dathan at 604-298-3734 or [email protected] (C.D.) WESTERN RAILS 2008 Western Rails, Canada’s Largest Railroadiana Show is coming to Cameron Recreation Centre, 9523 Cameron Street in Burnaby (behind Lougheed Mall) for it’s 26th Annual Show on March 16th 0900k to 1600k.