The Significant Achievement Award went to the Fraser Valley Heritage Railway Society in Cloverdale, British Columbia. In the past year the Society built and relocated to a new carbarn, completed the restoration of British Columbia Electric Railway interurban car No. 1225, built a replica depot at Cloverdale next to the original site, moved a replica of the Sullivan interurban shelter close to its original location, and began scheduled operations.
Don Evans and Bob Opal received the Friend of the Association Award for their work merging the Tourist Railway Association and the Association of Railway Museums to form ATRRM. Evans, an organizational development consultant, is active in the West Coast Railway Association in Squamish, B.C. Opal, a retired Union Pacific attorney, is a longtime volunteer at Illinois Railway Museum in Union, Ill.
The Lifetime Achievement Award went to Cathy Taylor. She started at California State Railroad Museum as a docent in 1981. By 1983, she was actively involved in developing a tourist railway operation on the Walnut Grove branch line, at that time still owned by Southern Pacific. Taylor actively assisted California state parks in the acquisition of the line, and was a key player in the operation of demonstration trains in 1982 and 1983 to show state park and railroad officials the value of preserving the line as a tourist opportunity in Old Sacramento, which occurred in 1984.
Taylor was elected in 1988 to serve on the TRAIN Board of Directors, which she did for four years. She served as the program chairman for Railfair ’91, which brought together exhibits, locomotives and rolling stock from around the country and world. Railfair ’91 attracted over 180,000 visitors. She followed this with Railfair ’99, a similarly spectacular event. Both Railfairs were huge promotional opportunities for railway heritage internationally, and both raised more than $500,000 for the museum and its programs.
In 1990, Taylor was hired to manage the California State Railroad Museum Foundation. The entity at the time had barely any money and not much prospect of success. As executive director, she built the Foundation from the ground up, creating earned income sources and fundraising capacity to an annual budget of $2.5 million and 30 employees assisting the museum in its mission. During her tenure with the Foundation, she also oversaw the rebirth of Railtown 1897 State Historic Park as a functioning heritage attraction and tourist railroad.
In 2002, Taylor was recruited as museum director for CSRM, following Walter Gray in that position. She moved up to Capital District Superintendent in 2007. During her tenure as museum director, Taylor emphasized the growth and development of the Museum to new audiences through a refresh of the museum’s interpretive themes and exhibitions.
The committee that selected the recipients included Train magazine editor Jim Wrinn. Cathy Taylor was nominated by Kalmbach Publishing Co. Vice President of Editorial Kevin P. Keefe.
