SEPTEMBER 2005 BUDD CAR RIDES START! ROUNDHOUSE GROUND BREAKING Sept. 9 WCRA News, Page 2 GENERAL MEETING NOTICE The General Meeting of the WCRA will be held on Tuesday, August 30, 2005 at the Rainbow Creek station, Willingdon at Penzance in Burnaby, starting at 1930 hours. Entertainment will be an interesting slide show by Colin Dathan titled “Ruminations of a Locmotive Salesman”, recounting his years with Montreal Locmotive Works. ON THE COVER Former Pacific Great Eastern / BC Rail Budd RDC-3 #BC-33 is a new star at the West Coast Railway Heritage Park, as we now offer our first full scale train ride. The RDC departs from the Mac Norris station for a trip along the tracks of the West Coast Railway Heritage Park, offering a new attraction for our guests. In this July 21, 2005 photo by Don Evans, BC 33 is set to depart the Mac Norris station on one of several test runs. SEPTEMBER CALENDAR • West Coast Railway Heritage Park Open daily 1000 through 1700k • Saturday, September 3—Newsletter deadline for the October issue of WCRA News • Friday, September 9—Ground Breaking ceremony for CN Turntable Plaza and the Roundhouse & Conference Centre, 1100 hours, West Coast Railway Heritage Park • Monday, September 12—WCRT’s Fraser Valley tour departs Waterfront Station at 1550 • Sunday, September 18—Interurban 1223 Open House, 1300 through 1600 hours, at 6857 Royal Oak in Burnaby • Thursday, September 21—Tours Committee meeting—contact Bernie at 604-325-0923 • Tuesday, September 27—WCRA General Meeting, 1930 hours, Rainbow Creek Station. • Thursday, September 29—WCRT’s Queen of the North repositioning tour departs • Friday, September 30—WCRT’s Okanagan Wine and Steam tour departs 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. Other membership categories are: - Junior Member (age 16 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 HERE WE GO AGAIN (OR SOME MORE!) Once again we have taken great strides forward with new things at WCRA and the West Coast Railway Heritage Park. Our strategic plan continues to drive us forward, but the pace of completing and implementing new things continues to exceed all of our expectations. This month, our big step is the introduction of the first public full size train rides at the Heritage Park. RDC-3 #BC-33, one of the two Budd cars purchased unserviceable from BC Rail last year, has been returned to serviceable condition by our crews and is ready for passengers again. That happened in late July, and the West Coast Railway Heritage Park then introduced a new Budd car ride attraction starting August 13th. While it may be a short ride—it’s a big step. BC 33 departs the Mac Norris Station on a several trips a day schedule, weekends through August until Labour Day September 5. Departure times start at 1100 and run through 1500 hours, fare just $2 per person. The ride travels our main track on our new lead to the CN interchange and then back to the station. I have to admit, the memories flooding back on Thursday, July 21 were powerful. The sight and sound of BC 33 idling at the Mac Norris station (of a classic PGE design) was just what has been heard and experienced all up and down the Pacific Great Eastern / BC Rail line since 1956. A Budd RDC, APU cycling on and off powering the air conditioning, the idling of the below floor diesel. It all sounded and looked right. Boarding the car even more memorable— settling into the comfy seat, cool inside on a hot day, two blasts of the air horn, and accelerating away from the station in a smooth ride. What can we say—well you just have to experience it yourself. Don ASSOCIATION NEWS FROM THE JULY GENERAL MEETING 35 members and guests were present, the meeting was chaired by Colin Dathan: • Don Evans presented the Executive Director’s report, noting progress in the fundraising area. He welcomed Arthur Irving back after his surgery, and noted the passing of David Vanderspek, son of board member Carl. • Don Evans encouraged members to consider WCRA Debentures, noting them as a good investment as well as a great assistance to WCRA at this time. • Jim Brown presented the financial report, noting we were almost finished the Day Out WCRA News, Page 4 With Thomas accounting. He also advised that funds are presently tight, but things are all under control. • Paul Roy talked about Mini Rail Days—scheduled for August 21 at the Heritage Park • Bernie Tully talked about events, noting a planned Engine 374 Picnic and Social, scheduled for Friday, August 19 from 1230 to 1430, at the 374 Pavilion. • Don Evans covered off collection items, noting progress on the Royal Hudson, S3 switcher #6503, the BC 33 Budd car, the business car Alberta, and the North Coast Explorer equipment. • Bernie Tully reported on tours, noting a new mailout had just gone out and providing updates on our tours in progress. He noted that the Skeena-Fraser tour now had a new four day itinerary • Bill Marchant gave a report on the recent tour with CPR steam locomotive #2816, with Gordon Hall also adding some details. • Ryan Cruickshank gave his Trackside Report • Bill Marchant gave his Trackside Report • Colin welcomed guests and visitors and referred all to the newsletter for calendar items • The 50/50 draw was held • Entertainment was a slide show by Don Evans of travels to Ireland, Illinois, and Train Mountain in Oregon. WCRA TRIVIA # 200 - by Ryan D. Cruickshank During an average Monopoly Game, which railroad square is landed on most often—the Reading RR, the Pennsylvania RR, the B & O RR, or the Shortline RR? (for answer, see Credit Lines) Ed. Note: This is Ryan’s 200th Trivia Question for WCRA News. Our thanks to Ryan for his long standing running of this popular feature of our newsletter. YOU KNOW YOU’RE A RAILFAN WHEN……. ……..you buy a Cadillac horn for your vehicle because it sounds so much like a diesel locomotive chime horn. NEW MEMBERS There are no new members to report this month, due people away and internal mail distribution delays. We will catch up with these next month. Remember to watch the renewal date on the mailing label of your newsletter—if it says 7/31/05 your membership has now expired, and those saying 5/31/05 or earlier are receiving their last issue of WCRA News. Please renew today and continue your support. (J.D.) WCRA News, Page 5 MEMBER NEWS Our best wishes to long time member Arthur Irving as he recovers from surgery. It was good to see him at the July meeting, he is doing well. Our condolences to Carl Vanderspek and family on the passing on of Carl’s son David Vanderspek on July 14th. SPECIAL OLYMPICS SUCCESS FOR WCRA MEMBERS Our congratulations to WCRA members who participated in the recent Special Olympics Games in Comox. Member Robert Misjak won a gold medal and a silver medal in aquatics, while Karl Anderson won a silver and a bronze in track. WCRA Director Keith Anderson coached the gold winning team in soccer and the silver winning team in softball, while Vera Anderson acted as Regional Coordinator for the Provincials in Comox and Host Coordinator for the softball and bowling championships in Surrey. (J.D.) WWW.WCRA.ORG FEATURED IN BRITISH COLUMBIA HISTORY British Columbia History magazine featured www.wcra.org in it’s Website Forays page, Volume 38 Issue 2 edition. Author Christopher Garrish covered the WCRA’s website in some detail (a full page article with photo of the Royal Hudson taken from the site). The article covers the history of the WCRA and some of our more historic collection pieces, and notes our substantial archival collection as well. The Feature Articles section of the site also gets some note, particularly the articles of historical interest “an oral history repository”, such as Bill Yeats “Plowing Snow On The Coquihalla”—a segment of which is quoted. The coverage ends with, “switch over to www. wcra.org to see what is new and exciting in the field of heritage railways”. VOLUNTEERS SOUGHT FOR 374 PAVILION With our taking on assisting with the volunteer staffing of the 374 Pavilion in Vancouver, we are seeking expressions of interest to help from WCRA members. The Pavilion, located at the Roundhouse Community Centre on Pacific Blvd. in the Yaletown area of Vancouver, exhibits historic locomotive #374 which pulled the first passenger train into the city on May 23, 1887. Duties would include opening and closing the Pavilion, and guiding guests who visit to see the locomotive and other exhibits at the site. Parking is provided for volunteers. Our goal is to see this great exhibit maintained and available to the public on a consistent schedule seven days a week.