Press Information
12 February 2019 PRESS INFORMATION For immediate publication A BUMPER YEAR FOR HRA AWARDS Saturday February 9th saw the celebrations surrounding the Heritage Railway Association’s 2019 annual awards. At a gala dinner in the Burlington Hotel, Birmingham, attendees were entertained by guest speaker Pete Waterman, prior to an awards ceremony that recognised the very best of the UK’s heritage rail industry. The HRA Awards recognise a wide range of achievements and distinctions across the entire heritage railway industry, and the awards acknowledge individuals and institutions as well as railways, tramways and cliff railways. The February 9th event saw the presentation of awards in record 15 categories, which includes one completely new award. Several categories saw a record number of nominees, and in one case, joint winners. The Statfold Barn Railway won the Morton’s Media (Heritage Railways) Interpretation Award, for their outstanding museum of international narrow gauge railways, and repository of information and artefacts relating to the Hunslet engine. The Railway Magazine Annual Award for Services to Railway Preservation was won by John Bate of the Talyllyn Railway, quite possibly the world’s longest-serving heritage rail volunteer, and whose skills have made a unique contribution to railway preservation. The NER 1903 Electric Autocar Trust won double honours. The Trust took the Morton’s Media (Rail Express) Modern Traction Award, for their restoration of the pioneering 1903 NER Autocar, the first railway vehicle to combine an internal combustion engine with a generator and traction motors, and thus the forerunner of all modern trains. Underlining their achievement, the Trust also won the Heritage Railway Association Manisty Award, one of the heritage rail industry’s most prestigious awards, which acknowledges an outstanding contribution to railway preservation.
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