NEWS Since NEWS 1931 Volume 30 Number 1, Winter 2011 COMING NEWS EVENTS Put these dates on TH your calendar! 76 Annual Dinner Annual Meeting & Election of Officers Monday, January 31, 2011, 50 Bay St., Suite 1400, 5 pm Valentine’s Dinner-Dance & Fun Casino Saturday, February 5, 2011, Imperial Room, Fairmont Royal Hotel. Annual Golf Tournament Friday, June 17, 2011, Glen Eagle Golf Club, Bolton, Ont. Other Events: CANADIAN RAILWAY CLUB - 103rd Annual Dinner Friday, Feb. 4, 2011 Hilton Bonaventure Hotel, Montreal Info & tickets for Canadian Railway Club events: Jean Corbeil at 514-636-4269 or email: [email protected] View of the Canadian Room at the Fairmont Royal York Hotel. Close to 800 members and guests attended the 76th Annual Dinner. In this issue... Annual Dinner .......pages 1 - 3 First Fall Social ...........page 4 News Briefs ..................page 5 For news and updates on events, check our website: www.torontorailwayclub.com MAILING ADDRESS: Toronto Railway Club 200 Bay St., P.O. Box 64039 Toronto, ON M5J 2J0 (L-R) Carol Wilding, President, Toronto Board of Trade and guest speaker at the Annual Dinner, Greg Percy, President, Toronto Railway Club and Judi Cohen, Vice President - Transportation, SNC-Lavalin Inc. th 76 Annual Dinner Thank you to our Annual continued... Dinner sponsors! The Toronto Railway Club celebrated its The Toronto Railway Club would like to 76th Annual Dinner, attended by close to 800 express its gratitude for the generous support of the following Annual Dinner members and guests, on Friday, December 3 sponsors: at the Fairmont Royal York Hotel. Head Table Reception - Greg Percy, Vice President - Operations, GO Hatch Mott MacDonald Transit and President, Toronto Railway Club, Program Sponsor - welcomed everyone and then called upon the Hallcon Corporation audience to raise their glasses in a toast to the railway supply companies. Judi Cohen, Vice Past President’s Table - Bombardier Transportation President - Transportation, SNC Lavalin Inc., responded with a toast to the railways. Head Table - PNR RailWorks Inc. Rubina Krestinski singing1 the American and Before introducing keynote speaker, Carol RailAmerica Inc. Canadian national anthems Wilding, President and CEO, Toronto Board of Trade, Greg thanked the an- nual dinner sponsors (see box Past Presidents - Toronto Railway Club at right) as well as the annual dinner organizing committee headed by club Vice President, Susan Sherman, ably assisted by Dennis Ryan, Kirk McDonald and Randy Pocrnick. Greg then proceeded to introduce keynote speaker Carol Wilding. A précis of her remarks can be found on the following page. Shortly after Carol Wildings remarks, Greg introduced well- known Canadian comedy star and Timmins, Ontario native, Derek Edwards who wrapped up the seventy-sixth annual dinner with his outstanding comedy routine. Derek is a veteran performer at Montreal’s Just For Laughs fes- tival and has numerous television (Back row L-R): Chris Jones (2005), Ken White (1992), Richard Bell (1995), Jim Presley (2001), Jed Drew (1996). (Front row seated L-R): Sam Spares (2004), Barry Bahm (1994), Susan Reid Tanaka (2008), Paul appearances to his credit. Kerry (2009), Richard Chorkawy (1998) and Frank Peters (2003). The Head Table at the 76th Annual Dinner 2 th Toronto Railway Club News 76 Annual Dinner continued... Published by the Toronto Railway Club for its members The aims and objectives of the Toronto Railway Club are the advancement and dissemination of knowledge in connection with the construction, operation and maintenance of railways and other Précis of the remarks by keynote forms of transportation, together with the equip- ment and supplies used therewith for the benefits speaker Carol Wilding, President of the members and the companies they represent. and CEO, Toronto Board of Trade Editorial Committee: Greg Percy President at the 76th Annual Dinner, Dennis Ryan Secretary Friday, December 3, 2010. Mary Proc Director Editor/Publisher: John Glatzmayer E-mail: [email protected] Ms. Wilding began by saying, “It is the future that all of us here tonight are striving to improve. Address correspondance to: The Board believes the success of both Intra- Dennis Ryan, Toronto Railway Club, 200 Bay Street, region rail and Inter-region rail are key to the P.O. Box 64039, Carol Wilding, President and CEO, economic success of our region, our province and Toronto, ON M5J 2J0 Toronto Board of Trade our country. It will boost our economy through E-mail: [email protected] 3 the creation of jobs associated with the projects and will also ease gridlock and the flow of goods and people across the1 Toronto region.” 2 “The Board strongly believes,” she said, “that a seamless regional transportation system is essential to attracting investment and growing this regional economy. We continue to sup- port the Pearson Link, a renewed Union Station, and of course the Metrolinx plan.” Canada’s leading full service track & signal contractor She pointed out some troubling facts about some of the region’s transportation shortcom- 455 Silvercreek Pkwy. North, Guelph, Ontario N1H 8M7 ings: 70 per cent of Torontonians drive to work; their current average round trip commute 519-763-2960 Fax 519-763-2964 www.pnrail.com time is 82 minutes which lags behind legendary Los Angeles by 24 minutes. The OECD warned in a recent report that congestion in Toronto is costing the Canadian economy over $6 billion a year. WHITING “Ontario is also making historic investments to support planning and development of re4- EQUIPMENT gional transit and inter-regional infrastructure. The 25 year, $50 billion plan called The Big CANADA INC. Move, developed by Metrolinx, is the key regional project aimed at addressing our gridlock www.whiting.ca with new infrastructure investment. The Province through Metrolinx is now supporting the • TRACKMOBILE® plan to the tune of $9.5 billion over the next 10 years,” she said. “But there are a couple of SALES, REPAIRS & PARTS big challenges to its completion. One is getting the new Toronto Mayor to buy into the plan, • LIFTING SYSTEMS and Two, how to pay for it.” JACKS, DROPTABLES, “The Toronto Board of Trade has not taken a position with respect to what and where transit TRANSFERTABLES, TURNTABLES, lines should be constructed. Our position has always been to ensure that plans are devel- PROGRESSION SYSTEMS. oped and projects built on time and on budget. Time and money are the key issues.” 1-800-407-3384 She said that in the upcoming provincial election8 the Board will be pressing candidates to show Ontarions their party’s regional transportation plan. “All of us must continue to find more ways to end gridlock, including providing more and convenient transit options. The Presto smart card is one way. It’s user-friendly and gives transit riders a single-payment method that creates a seamless and integrated regional system.” “Another project that the Board supports is the rail link to Pearson International Airport. This is a service which, according to Metrolinx, will take an estimated 1.2 million car trips We understand all aspects of rail, per year off the road. We understand that some along the corridor would like to see electric infrastructure, operations, logistics, trains. And that may come in time. But to forestall the project until they arrive would be a rolling stock and training. disservice to the economy, the environment and region building.” 3950 Hickmore Street, “We are also excited to see the long awaited renewal of Union Station underway which is St. Laurent, Quebec, Canada H4T 1K2 an important investment in Toronto’s future success. Back in 2009 the Board’s federal bud- Tel. (514) 734-4700 • (800) 588-4387 Fax (514) 734-4850 get submission underlined the importance of transit infrastructure investment in the Toronto region, and specifically called for federal investment in the revitalization of Union Station. www.canac.com Concluding, Ms. Wilding said, “The Board believes rail service - be it freight, inter-city Serving the rail industry passenger, or regional transit - is vital to the economic success of Toronto today and tomor- for over 35 years row. The Board believes reliable and sustainable investment in railway and transit infra- structure is a debate that must continue until a solution is found.” 3 FALL SOCIAL AT STEAMWHISTLE BREWERY The Toronto Railway Club held its first ever Fall Social event Thursday Oct. 7 in the beautifully restored former CP locomotive roundhouse, now the home of Steamwhistle Brewery and the Toronto Historical Railway Association. The roundhouse is located in the former railway yards right downtown beside the CN Tower.. The event was a sellout with 300 members and guests in attendance in Steamwhistle’s private facility and included an outdoor BBQ featuring hamburgers, chicken and salads. Tours of the brewery and the roundhouse were also made available. A fine array of prizes were raffled off including a surprise draw for a pair of tickets to the opening Maple Leafs game that evening courtesy of Bombardier Transportation. Our thanks to the other sponsors of the Meet & Greet, AECOM, Bombardier Transportation, Behavior Science, Dan Jagos, Genevar, Herzog Railroad, March Network, Mass Electric, Sherwood Electromotion, SNC-Lavalin O&M, Toronto Transit Commission, VIA Rail Canada Inc. and the Toronto Railway Club.Our thanks to the organizers chaired by Orest Kobylansky, Kirk McDonald, Dan Jagos and Dennis Ryan along with many other members of the railway and supply industries. Peter Schrum, Bombardier, Greg Percy, President, Raffle prize winnerDominic Bonaldo, Canadian Toronto Railway Club and Talha Riaz. Pacific with Greg Percy. Golf bag winner Nicole Jagos with Prizewinner Wayne Duncan and Greg Percy Prizewinner Florin Meruta, Hatch Mott MacDonald Greg Percy and Greg Percy 2 1 Zee Zaid of TTC receives Steamwhistle gift basket from (L-R: Ian Crisp, Hydra-Nor International, Dan Jagos, AECOM and Henry Wasylyk of VLS.