August 2015 Colour News.Pub
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WCRA NEWS AUGUST 2015 ROYAL HUDSON AT 75 CPR car #16 BRITISH COLUMBIA TURNS 125 Polar Express Now Selling WCRA News, Page 2 GENERAL MEETING The General Meeting of the WCRA will be held on Tuesday, July 28 at 1930 hours at Rainbow Creek Station, Willingdon at Penzance in Burnaby. Entertainment will be announced at the meeting. ON THE COVER Looking fine at 75! Royal Hudson #2860 shines on the turntable at the West Coast Railway Heritage Park on the afternoon of June 27, 2015. (Don Evans photo) AUGUST CALENDAR • West Coast Railway Heritage Park open daily 1000 through 1700k—Mini rail and speeder rides in operation daily. • Saturday, August 1—Business car British Columbia 125th birthday event—West Coast Railway Heritage Park—free cake at 1100 hours, High Tea available at 1200 & 1400 • Saturday, August 8—Deadline for items for the September 2015 WCRA News • Tuesday, August 25—WCRA General Meeting at Rainbow Creek Station, 1930 hours • Saturday, August 29—Mini / Mighty Machines Day at the Heritage Park (page 10) EDITORIAL GETTING BACK AT THE ROYAL HUDSON Nothing in our collection is as iconic or well known around the world as Royal Hudson #2860. Celebrating its 75th birthday on Saturday, June 27, it was great to see the beautiful, locomotive outside once again, and also to see how effortlessly it rolled back into the CN 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. Membership prices are as follows, Please note that GST must be added to all fees: Senior $50 ($52.50), Individual $55 (57.75), Family $65 (68.25) E Members (electronic newsletter only) are $35 ($36.75) Senior, $40 ($42.00) individual and $50 ($52.50) family. Other categories are: - Junior Member (age 18 and under ) $ 30 ($31.50) - Sustaining Member $100 (tax receipt) plus membership type regular fee - Life Membership $700 ($735) individual life / $1,200 ($1,260) family life All memberships include the monthly newsletter, Heritage Park admission (except Special Events), 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 Roundhouse & Conference Centre as part of the special celebration. The event also served to launch fundraising for the next phase of rebuilding to keep the Hudson in operable condition. Maintaining a mainline steam locomotive is a huge task, and the work ahead immense. But it can be done and will be tackled in a progressive series of steps. Many are asking what’s next, and the most immediate answer is to bring a steam locomotive expert here and go through the work needed with out team and Transport Canada. The goal is to define a work plan and budget for the next phases and to develop an outlook to completion. To all who came on June 27 and helped—a hearty thank you. The Royal Hudson Fund is once again open for donations and building to allow these important next steps to happen. Seeing the Royal Hudson operate is an incredible experience. It is up to us to make sure that others get this opportunity—so let’s get to work. Don ASSOCIATION NEWS FROM THE JUNE GENERAL MEETING Chair Bill Johnston called the meeting to order with approx 25 members and guests present: • Ken Tanner started off talking about the Heritage Park, noting that distribution of our brochures has resumed and we are once again in tourist locations throughout Vancouver area and on BC Ferries. Marketing has also been increased on social media and in Squamish with good coverage of our events in The Chief. He noted that the new Wash House has opened (at the Brightbill Heritage House) complete with a fully operational Maytag washer from 1928. He noted that the 75th birthday celebration for the Royal Hudson had been successful. A new mobile kitchen is being built for use at the CN Roundhouse & Conference Centre as well as for other events—this will increase our revenue from food and beverage at the site. • Ken noted that Dave Thethi will retire at the end of July, and that Danielle Fourchalk left us at the end of June. Both are wished well and thanked for their extensive contributions. • Ken Tanner reported for Robert MacBeth re operations and collection…. • Coach WCXX 5569 is near completion and was moved into the roundhouse for the Hudson 75th celebration—it looks great inside and out • PGE RSC-3 #561 is having its repairs completed and should be back in service soon • Trevor Mills has moved into a new staff role for operating rolling stock with the retirement of Dave Thethi • Don Evans provided the fundraising report, noting a significant improvement in June and a successful Royal Hudson 75th birthday event with good fundraising results. It was great to see the locomotive outside and several other things were also happening WCRA News, Page 4 • Bill Johnston talked about tours, noting that both the second Haida Gwaii tour and the White Pass & Yukon tour were about to depart • George Game noted that the locomotive 374 Pavilion is very busy with summer traffic now that the good weather is here • Jeremy Davy noted that mini rail volunteers are needed to operate the mini rail daily at the Heritage Park. The line is in very good shape and is a key attraction as always • Dave Emmington gave a trackside report, providing a report on the recent Canadian Northern last spike centennial event in Kamloops (page 26) • The events calendar was reviewed • Eric Anderson made a donation of Canadian Tire money • Ryan Cruickshank also provided a Trackside Report • Entertainment was a show by Don Evans of several recent travels—to the ATRRM Conference in Pennsylvania, to Montreal and Exporail, recent developments at the Heritage Park, and the start of the May Haida Gwaii tour. NEW MEMBERS We welcome to membership: • Elise Ebner and family of Squamish; • Michael Emerick and family of Squamish; • Michele Fung and family of Vancouver; • Tammy Golaiy and family of Garibaldi Highlands; • Scott & Klara Langeloo and family of Squamish; • Jocelyn Leaker and family of Garibaldi Highlands; • Jeanne Leeson and family of Squamish; • Shannon Lorenz & Meghan Connolly and family of Squamish; • Andy Negus and family of West Vancouver; • Kirby Read and family of Garibaldi Highlands; • Bill & Donna Robinson and family of Surrey; We welcome back to membership: • Joe Hardy and family of Maple Ridge; • Mike McGaw of Brentwood Bay; • Natai Perdue and family of Garibaldi Highlands; • Brian & Johanna Uphill and family of Aldergrove; (J.D.) PLEASE RENEW YOUR MEMBERSHIP If your newsletter label says 6/30/2015 your membership has expired, if it says 03/31/2015 this is your last issue of WCRA News. (J.D.) THANKS —to Dave Emmington for donation of a coal bucket and briquettes for CN bunk car WCRA News, Page 5 WCRA TRIVIA #320 - By Ryan Cruickshank Who were Raymond Loewy, Henry Dreyfuss a nd Otto Kuhler ? (Answers on page 30) COLLECTION BRITISH COLUMBIA 125TH CELEBRATION Our Business car CPR #16 British Columbia will celebrate 125 years on July 31, 2015. There will be a special 125th birthday celebration at the Heritage Park on Saturday, August 1—mark your calendars now. Not only is this the oldest piece in our collection, this is also the very first piece of rolling stock to be owned by WCRA—it is what got the whole thing started. This will be a daytime celebration with a cake in the CN Roundhouse & Conference Centre at 1100, and a special High Tea (Traditional sandwiches, pastries, scones with Devon cream etc.) in the Tea Room at the Mac Norris Station . Tickets for the tea are available ($25 each) by calling the Heritage Park at 604-898-9336. High Tea is at noon and a second sitting will be added if needed. Some other special surprises are in store as well. (J.N.) Do you have an artifact from the 100th birthday celebration that was held in Cloverdale in July 1990? If so, please bring it along so we can have a display at the event. BUSY WEEK AT MP 2 The MP 2 Shop has been having a busy time as we enter July. On 4 of the 6 tracks in there were active projects happening: • Track 2—FP7A #1404 had its rear truck out and passed all tests—it will be put under 4069 to get the gearing matched up for improved operational performance • Track 3—FP9A #6520 is having brake portions changed and other maintenance as it is prepared towards mainline certification • Track 4—Mike McGaw and Bob Gordon were working on BC Electric #960. • Track 5- Trevor Mills and Dave Thethi are fixing the water leak on RSC-3 #561. ( The liner is back in and we should be able to fire it up the week of July 13) (T.M.) ALBERTA BEING COMPLETED FOR CERTIFICATION Final work is underway to complete the business car Alberta for its certification and future operations. The brake system is now operational after installation of the cylinder and some upgrades and tests. Final things to be done will be performed at the MP 2 shop. These include a finishing of work on the underframe to seal up some holes and patches, and some adjustments to the trucks WCRA News, Page 6 which have new full wheel treads that cause the car to sit a bit high.