WCRA NEWS OCTOBER 2008 HALLOWEEN EXPRESS OCTOBER 26 to 30 RIDING THE ZEPHYR WCRA News, Page 2 GENERAL MEETING NOTICE The General Meeting of the WCRA will be held on Tuesday, September 30, 2008 at 1930 hours at the Rainbow Creek Station in Burnaby, Willindon at Penzance. Entertainment will be a vintage slide show put together from the collections of Grant Ferguson and Bob Hunter. This is one not to be missed. ON THE COVER Remember Steam Expo and the grand show of steam that was put on as part of the Expo 86 major event in Vancouver? One of the most exciting aspects of that event was the several locomotives that came to Vancouver under their own steam, such as CN #6060. In this great shot by WCRA member Andrew Moody, we see CN Mountain class 4-8-2 6060 hauling the Jasper to Vancouver grain train in full flight near Mt. Cheam, Chilliwack, BC, May 30, 1986. OCTOBER CALENDAR • West Coast Railway Heritage Park open daily 1000 through 1700k • Saturday, October 4—Deadline for items to be included in the November 2008 edition of WCRA News • Tuesday, October 14 —Tours Committee Meeting, call Bernie at 604-325-0923 • Saturday, October 25 and Sunday, October 26—Mt Cheam Model Railroad Show both days, WCRA will be there. • Sunday, October 26 through Thursday, October 30—Hobgoblin Express Halloween event at the West Coast Railway Heritage Park • Tuesday, October 28 —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 OFF TO ARM 2008 Another fall, and time for the annual Association of Railway Museums Conference, this year in Colorado Springs, Colorado. I always look forward to participating in these, as they have proven very valuable to my own learning as well as to providing many ideas that we have incorporated at the West Coast Railway Heritage Park. This one is particularly exciting for a couple of reasons: • WCRA has its best attendance ever, as we will have a great group of people at the conference. In addition to myself and Deb, Susan Steen will be there as our official delegate, and we will also have our chair Colin Smith and Bobbi, Director Jeremy Davy and Donna, and also attending will be Randy Lucas from our shop staff and wife Lynne. • Next up is us! WCRA is the host for ARM 2009, which will be held in Squamish from September 16 through September 20, 2009. Our theme will be Changing Scenes, and the base will be the Heritage Park where we will hold the events, functions and seminars. We will be promoting our event while we are in Colorado and trying to get a delegate count of around 125 to 150 to come. Meanwhile, much of this issue will be written from Colorado. I am looking forward to a conference report in a future issue Don ASSOCIATION NEWS FROM THE AUGUST GENERAL MEETING The General Meeting of the West Coast Railway Association was held at 1930 hours on August 26, 2008 with Colin Dathan chairing the meeting and 45 in attendance: • Don Evans provided the President's report, updating the challenges of fundraising while we are in a major capital construction phase. He asked all members to really get out there and promote the SteamFest event for September. • Susan Steen gave a report on the Heritage Park, noting a very successful Garage Sale event on August 23 and also a great day on August 17 with Mini Rail Day and the Member’s Picnic. She thanked the volunteers who helped out, and updated the membership on staffing changes at the Park. • Jim Brown updated us on finances, we are running behind on our payables but holding our own at this time. • Jim also gave us a report on the 374 Pavilion over the summer, visitor numbers are good and our first year with a small gift shop operation proved successful. The WCRA’s September 17 Board of Directors meeting will be held at the Pavilion. WCRA News, Page 4 • Colin Smith updated us re the Roundhouse, noting that the steel fabrication was well along and that erection of the steel should now get underway in September. Perhaps we will see it when SteamFest is held. • Jeremy Davy reported in a soggy off-site mini rail held at the Rocky Mountaineer station on August 24th for a private company picnic event, he thanked Jim Saunders, George Massey and John Lighthall for their help. Next up is another event on September 7, then the Washington Marine Group picnic while we are all away in Colorado. • Jeremy also updated on membership, which is starting to show some nice growth in terms of overall growth, plus growth in both Corporate and Sustaining membership categories. • Bernie Tully noted the upcoming event in Chilliwack on October 25 and 26, and then the TRAIN 2008 show which will be November 8 and 9 in Burnaby. • Don Evans gave an update on the situation with the MP Shops, noting that MP 1 looks like it will have to come down for environmental remediation, and that WCRA will thus move most of its items and its tenants into MP 2. Details are still being worked, but it appears that a workable plan has emerged for all parties. • Don also provided a collection update, noting that the turntable parts are all accounted for and are at the shop in Sedro-Woolley. He updated the membership on the wheel and truck issue with the Henry Pickering open car, and with the progress coming well on the business car Alberta. • Bill Johnston provided a tours report, thanking Keith and Vera Anderson for a good job on the Vancouver Island West Coast tour. He noted that our scheduled tours for 2008 are just about all completed, and that we are still looking for a part time Tours Administrator. • Colin Dathan noted that this was a special evening, as we had two birthdays to celebrate—John Lighthall and George Blakely. Both were wished the best and a cake was enjoyed at the break. • Ryan Cruickshank and Bill Marchant provided Trackside Reports • Eric Anderson donated Canadian Tire money • Entertainment was of the White Pass & Yukon tour by Don Evans WCRA TRIVIA # 237 - by Ryan D. Cruickshank What jointly owned major North American railroad was larger than both its parent companies? (for answer, see Credit Lines) MEMBERSHIP RENEWALS Memberships dated 09/30/2008 have now expired, and if your membership expired 07/31/2008, 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 Robert Chasmar & family of West Vancouver, Mary Collins of Vancouver, George Game & family of Burnaby, Sonya Hutton & family of Squamish, Ivan Hughes & family of Squamish, Bobbi Jordan & family of Coquitlam, Randy & Lynne Lucas & family of Squamish, Dominic Mendes & family of Vancouver, Barry Primak & family of Squamish, Tangerine Ryan of Garibaldi Highlands, Murray Watt & family of Squamish, James and Vicki Weger & family of Squamish, and Mary Wong and Kim Johnson & family of West Vancouver. We also welcome new Life Members Wallace Audley and D’Arcy Nelson. We welcome back Iain Heleman-Crump & family of Eugene, Oregon, Sonya Hufton & family of Squamish, Chris Newton & family of Toronto and Michele Robin & family of Garibaldi Highlands. (J.D.) MEMBER NEWS Martin Angus Rogers, born March 28, 1944 in Vancouver, died August 13th, 2008 at Lions Gate Hospital. A former logger and retired sugar refiner, Martin had a life long interest in history and mechanics. He loved his property on Bowen Island, where he built his Cowan’s Point miniature railway. He enjoyed boating, particularly the Broughton Archipelago. In recognition of his support to the miniature railway hobby he was made a life member of the BC Society of Model Engineers.