WCRA NEWS JANUARY 2011 MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY NEW YEAR ! WCRA ENTERS ITS 50TH YEAR—LET’S CELEBRATE WCRA News, Page 2 GENERAL MEETING NOTICE The December General Meeting of the WCRA will be held Tuesday, December 21, 2010 at Raibow Creek Station (Willingdon at Penzance) at 1930 hours. Please note this date. Entertainment will be announced at the meeting. MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE ON THE COVER Could you get a nicer winter day? A family poses in front of the WCRA’s Polar Express 2010 train as it readies for its second departure from the Mac Norris Station on Saturday, December 4, 2010. The snow on the ground adds to the scene and makes for the perfect environment. More than 2,000 people took in our third annual event, and the feedback was superb. See page 17 for more details (photo by Don Evans) DECEMBER / JANUARY CALENDAR • West Coast Railway Heritage Park open daily 1000 through 1600k • Friday, December 17 through Wednesday, December 22—Christmas Lights in the Park at the West Coast Railway Heritage Park, 1730 to 2030 each day. • Friday, January 7 —Deadline for items to be included in the February 2011 WCRA News • Tuesday, January 18—Tours Committee meets • Tuesday, January 25—WCRA General Meeting, 1930 hours, Rainbow Creek Station in Burnaby 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: Individual $50.00 ($56.00 with HST) , Family $60.00 ($67.20 with HST). E Members (electronic newsletter are $35 individual ($39.20 with HST) and $45 family ($50.40 with HST). (Outside Canada, please remit US $) Other categories are: - Junior Member (age 18 and under ) $ 25 ($28 with HST) - Sustaining Member $100 (tax receipt) plus membership type regular fee - Life Member (one time fee, HST included) $784 individual life / $1,3,44 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 THOUGHTS ON WCRA’S TURNING 50 The year 2011 will be a momentous one for the West Coast Railway Association, as our organization enters its 50th year with its original mission intact—the Preservation of British Columbia’s Railway Heritage. In fact, even the WCRA logo is the original one from 50 years ago. The exciting part of all this is that our society is alive and well, and even better, that many of our founding members remain active with us to this day. Our gratitude and admiration is due all of them for their foresight in starting the assembly of what is Canada’s second largest heritage railway collection today. You can watch for some special features as the year unfolds towards the actual anniversary in May. One will be a series of stories by some of our founding members, recounting some of their memories on how the WCRA got established and some of the activities that it did in those early years. Craig McDowall will interview some of these members and we will run one feature in every other issue of WCRA News through 2011. Without the efforts of these people we would not have the collection that we have today, nor would we have the opportunity to be involved in our efforts to see this heritage preserved. As for all of us today, well our mandate remains as important as ever. Our job is to see that our collection continues to be preserved, as well as to see that we get new members involved to continue the efforts of both our founders and the WCRA today. That’s a big job, but we wish to see our organization flourish and grow into future generations. The obligation to work to see that this is achieved rests with all of us. CORRECTION An error crept into last month’s issue—the gentleman from Calgary who assisted with the transport of the donated bell (page 10) was Kevin Quigley (not Trevor). Apologies! Don ASSOCIATION NEWS FROM THE NOVEMBER GENERAL MEETING The November meeting was the WCRA’s Annual Festive Dinner and Awards Night, held once again at Cheers Restaurant in North Vancouver. 75 members and guests were in attendance, and Don Evans acted as master of ceremonies. The meeting opened with the introduction of the Directors and Staff who were present, and WCRA News, Page 4 then Judy Board looked after sending us table by table to the terrific buffet. It was a fabulous spread that got accolades from all in attendance. Following dinner, the awards presentations were held. This year’s award plaques featured a photo by Deb Sankey of Royal Hudson 2860 on the newly installed turntable taken June 30, 2010—the day of the opening of the new CN Roundhouse & Conference Centre. The recognition plaques and framing was done by Paul Ohanessian. Here are this year’s award winners…… CORPORATE SUPPORT AWARD Winner – Cardinal Concrete / Coast Aggregates This year’s winner is an organization that has worked with us, supported us, and been a donor ever since we started our Heritage Park project in Squamish. One need only visit our site to see that we have huge amounts of gravel, and now concrete!; around our site and now in the new CN Roundhouse & Conference Centre. What many of you may not know is that our track to the north connection with CN also runs across a piece of Bob’s property with his permission allowing us to have this interchange connection – just another example of the long term support we have appreciated. The award will be presented to Bob Fast as he wasn’t able to attend due a bout with the flu. Past winners: Southern Railway of BC, 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 – The Chief This year’s media award winner is a repeat winner, but this organization has – and always is – there for us. They consistently provide outstanding coverage in the community of our activities; they also provide space for a monthly column and generously donate a significant amount of advertising for us each year. Recently, their readers voted the CN Roundhouse & Conference Centre the best place to hold a wedding reception in Sea to Sky. Our winner this year – the Chief newspaper. Past Winners: Marke Andrews b- Vancouver Sun, SNAP Sea to Sky, Cable 10’s “My WCRA News, Page 5 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 – John Day This year’s winner has made several feature article contributions over the years, and continues to do – as he makes his international travels. This year the story of note was of a visit to Turkey, and the experiences there. He is also helpful to us in other ways with his Blue and White Bus Co., which we use whenever we can to support a fellow member of WCRA. Our winner this year is John Day (photo above with Director Bill Johnston and Don Evans) Past Winners: Patricia Treadwell, 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 VOLUNTEER AWARD Winner – Howie Tichauer Our 2010 Volunteer Award goes to someone who has become a Heritage Park regular. He is there several times a week and can often be seen as engineer on the popular mini rail trains. He is also there for every event, and often puts in several days in a row to see that our guests are looked after. Our 2010 volunteer award goes to Howie Tichauer. Past Winners: John Jellis, 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. WCRA News, Page 6 MOST SIGNIFICANT CONTRIBUTION TO RAIL PRESERVATION Winner: Robert Hunter Our award this year goes to a long time WCRA member, someone who works quietly and consistently behind the scenes, and always with the long term preservation of our collection in mind. Much of his time is spent in the archives, and he has scanned thousands of photos from collections such as the David Wilkie Collection into digital format for their preservation and accessibility. He is also a active member of our Collections Committee, and an advocate reminding all of us of our real core purpose – the Preservation of British Columbia’s Railway Heritage. Our 2010 Preservation Award goes to Robert (Bob) Hunter. Past Winners: Chris Forget, 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.