January 2010 News.Pub
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WCRA NEWS JANUARY 2010 MERRY CHRISTMAS and HAPPY NEW YEAR FROM WCRA WCRA News, Page 2 GENERAL MEETING NOTICE The December General Meeting of the West Coast Railway Association will be held at 1930 hours on Tuesday, December 22, 2009 at Rainbow Creek Station in Burnaby. Nominations for board posiitons will be held. Entertainment will be vintage Canadian rail scenes on a new DVD (which will be available for sale) as well as some DVD’s being provided by Terry Muirhead. ON THE COVER It’s that time of year again, and the Brightbill Heritage House makes a great seasonal shot at the West Coast Railway Heritage Park in the snow, in this photo taken by Don Evans December 7, 2001. DECEMBER / JANUARY CALENDAR • West Coast Railway Heritage Park open daily 1000 through 1600k • December 15 to December 19—Christmas Lights in the Park, Heritage Park from 1730 to 2030 each evening • Friday December 25—Merry Christmas, Heritage Park closed • Friday January 1, 2010—Happy New Year, Heritage Park closed • Friday, January 8—Deadline for items to be included in the Feb. 2010 WCRA News • Tuesday, January 19 —Tours Committee Meeting • Tuesday, January 26—WCRA General Meeting, Rainbow Creek Station, 1930 hours 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 (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 EDITORIAL SEASONS GREETINGS TO YOU ALL We will take a break from editorializing this month to wish all our readers the very best for the Christmas holiday season and for the New Year. 2010 promises to be a very exciting year for WCRA as we will bring construction of our new CN Roundhouse and Conference Centre to a completion and look forward to the grand opening of this exciting new facility. With that event, many new doors will open for us— including many that we cannot even imagine today. And, seven more pieces of our collection will get indoor space protection, another important step forward. This is an amazing project, the largest we have undertaken to date. Without the support of our members, our donors, our corporate partners, our contractors and all involved, we would not be looking forward just few months to this major change for our future. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all of you. Don ASSOCIATION NEWS FROM THE NOVEMBER GENERAL MEETING The November General Meeting was the WCRA’s Annual Dinner and Awards night. There was a good turnout of 77 members an guests at Cheers Restaurant in North Vancouver. This year’s award plaques were once again by Paul Ohannesian with our thanks – depicting CN’s Super Continental. We are presently putting together our preserved version of this train, two of the coaches have arrived here, and two locomotives and another coach are on the way. Watch for an official unveiling in early 2010 as we are able to add another trainset exhibit to our collection. Craig McDowall mc’d the awards event, with the winners as follows: CORPORATE SUPPORT AWARD Winner – Southern Railway of British Columbia This year we acknowledge the long time and active support of Southern Railway of British Columbia. We have worked with SRY in many ways over the years, but the operation of the Royal Hudson on two excursions from New Westminster to Cloverdale in May of this year WCRA News, Page 4 was a real highlight for us all. We look forward to many future ways of working together in the coming years. Accepting the award was SRY’s Ken Doiron. Past winners: BCR Properties, BNSF Railway, All Pro Services Ltd., Continental Power Services, Duro Construction Ltd., Mountain Retreat Hotel & Suites, Canadian National, Canada Post Corporation, Rocky Mountaineer Railtours, Tim Horton’s Squamish, Howe Sound Inn & Brewing Co., BC Tel Education, Dairyworld Foods, BC Rail, Amix Salvage, Canada Place Corporation. MEDIA AWARD Winner – Marke Andrews, Vancouver Sun What an exciting morning it was on January 29, 2009 when the cover page of the Vancouver Sun’s Business section headlined Squamish’s Un-conventional Centre. What followed was major coverage of the development of the CN Roundhouse & Conference Centre (CN announced $1.25 million that day) and exposure for the Heritage Park’s major project that was read broadly throughout Southwestern British Columbia. Thank you to writer Marke Andrews and the Vancouver Sun; this year’s media award winner. Past Winners: SNAP Sea to Sky, Cable 10’s “My Squamish”, Vivian Moreau, The Province (Damian Inwood), Soul Image Communications, Art Jones & Co., BC-CTV, Squamish Chief, Global TV News, Seniors Scene, www.wcra.org, Squamish Chief, Bill Hughes, Squamish Chief, Mountain FM, Eleanor Godley. BEST CONTRIBUTION TO THE NEWSLETTER Winner – Patricia Treadwell West Coast Railway News readers this year got a delightful two part story relating to travels across the US and back on Amtrak. The travels on the Southwest Chief and the Empire Builder were chronicled in a charming and inclusive way by Patricia Treadwell, this year’s winner of our Newsletter Contribution Award. Past Winners: Jim McPherson, Bill Johnston, Craig McDowall, Grant Ferguson, Dave Emmington, Jim McPherson, Richard & Margaret Harvey, Paul Ohanessian, Allan B. Peden, Bill Yeats, Win Oliver, Art Hamilton, Randy Rand, Bill Yeats, Ryan Cruickshank, Patrick Hind Patricia writes….I am sure all of you have enjoyed journeys by train - so how did this start for you? What was your first ride? WCRA News, Page 5 My brother and I were young train spotters. We would walk to the Hogs Back - a cliff overlooking a shunting yard for the L.N.E.R. line in North London, bustling and noisy. The highlight of our day was to hear the whistles, the thundering of the wheels, the I-think--I- can and finally see the majestic green engine of The Flying Scotsman beneath us - clouds of black and white smoke as she gathered speed on her daily journey from Kings Cross to Scotland. We then knew it was ten minutes past four and time to go home. We also looked forward to our annual trip to the seaside by train accompanied by the traditional thermos of tea and package of sandwiches - sitting facing the engine for that first glimpse of the sea. Since then, memorable journeys have included my introduction to mountains - the Alps - as we crossed Austria; the Prairies and Rockies in midwinter breathtaking in their white and silent beauty; - contrasting with the vast and endless red sands of the Nulaboor Desert in Australia. Our Amtrak journeys cris-crossing North America have been very enjoyable and we hope to do some more. Thank you for the award and Happy Train Travels. VOLUNTEER AWARD Winner – John Jellis Whether it is leaning out the cab window while operating PGE 561 or a Budd RDC, lecturing a group of BCIT conductor students on operational safety, touring guests around the shops, or working tirelessly on the Troop Sleeper 722 project this year’s winner of our volunteer award is always there for us. His years of operations with BC Rail are an asset, as are his skills chatting with groups or working with a team on restoration. We are delighted to recognize John Jellis with the 2009 Volunteer Award. Past Winners: John & Fay Lighthall, Jeremy Davy and Donna Simon, Chris Forget, Irena Erdos, Kevin Smith, Joe Kerr, Ken Mason, Glen Wideman, Percy Fairhurst, Nick Monkhouse, Dusty Rhodes, Devon Generous, Paul & Mary Roy (twice), Bill & Dorothy Lahr, Marcie Phillips MOST SIGNIFICANT CONTRIBUTION TO RAIL PRESERVATION Winner: Chris Forget Our award this year goes to someone who is multi talented, and who contributes to a number of WCRA projects, both model and full scale. But the reason for this award is his initiative getting a restoration project started, funded and underway – with the coordination, the motivation, the dollars and the hands on work. Quite an impressive effort, as the work on BC Rail Crane Idler car 6502 is well underway, thanks to Chris Forget, this year’s Preservation WCRA News, Page 6 Award winner. Past Winners: Dave Emmington, The Troop Sleeper gang, The 6503 team of Greg Robertshaw, Michael Batten & Richard Courage, Peter Cox, Richard Courage, Bob Spencer, Paul Ohanessian, Fred Dannells, Ron Anstey, Kevin Pruden, Dave Simpson & Judy Lunn, Barbara Brown & Bruce Mackay, Devon Generous, Gerry & Jo Black, Ron Anstey, Ken Paget. MEMBERS’ CHOICE AWARD Winner: D’Arcy Nelson This is the members’ award, as votes from you, the members of the WCRA, make the choice directly. This year’s winner is D’Arcy Nelson, a regular volunteer at the Heritage Park on the mini rail, and with pretty much any special event we do. He was active with the recent ARM 2009 conference, serving as greeter and chauffeur as our guests arrived on the Greyhound buses, serving as master guide on our outing to Whistler, present throughout and operating mini rail, and even leading the singing of the national anthems at the banquet.