WINDSOR LOCKS, Conn. — The first presentation of the Jim Wrinn Award for Biggest Railroad Preservation story highlighted the Fall 2022 conference of the HeritageRail Alliance — the first in-person meeting of the organization since 2019 — held Sept. 7-10 in Windsor Locks.
Cate Kratville-Wrinn, wife of the late Trains Magazine editor, handed out the award to the Friends of the East Broad Top and the EBT Foundation for their ongoing restoration of the historic EBT narrow gauge line, the railroad’s shops, and 2-8-2 locomotive No. 16 at Rockhill Furnace, Pa.
The meeting drew over 120 attendees for professional development sessions geared toward managing and marketing rail organizations. It also included visits to several Connecticut tourist railroad and trolley lcoations, including the Essex Steam Train and Riverboat, the country’s only combined steam train and ferry operation. The event also saw the introduction of new HRA president Bob LaPrelle, president and CEO of the Museum of the American Railroad in Frisco, Texas.
Formed in 2012, the HRA is a professional trade group for tourist, scenic, historic or excursion railway and trolley operations in the United States and Canada. Next year’s convention will be in Montreal.
The 2022 award recipients include:
Significant Achievement-Steam: Western Pacific Railroad Museum, Portola, Calif., for WP 0-6-0 No. 165; Nevada County Narrow Gauge Museum, Nevada City, Calif., for Nevada County 4-6-0 No. 5.
Significant Achievement-Diesel: 470 Railroad Club, Portland, Maine, for Boston & Maine F7 No. 4268.
Significant Achievement-Electric car: Fox River Trolley Museum, South Elgin, Ill., for Chicago Transit Authority L car No. 4451.
Significant Achievement-Passenger car: National Railroad Museum, Green Bay, Wis., for Chicago & North Western hospital car Lister.
Significant Achievement-Freight car: Exporail, Saint-Constant, Quebec, for Canadian Pacific automobile boxcar No. 295544.
Significant Achievement-Non-revenue car: Illinois Railway Museum, Union, Ill., for Union Pacific rotary snowplow No. 900075.
Significant Achievement-Infrastructure: Wiscasset, Waterville & Farmington Railway Museum, Alna, Maine, for reconstruction of the WW&F to Trout Brook.
Significant Achievement-Archives: Illinois Railway Museum and Milwaukee Road Historical Association for a new joint archives building
Friend of Railway Preservation: Reading & Northern owner and CEO Andy Muller for bringing steam and tourist trains to his railroad.
Lifetime Achievement: Bill Wall for his contributions to trolley museums; J. David Conrad for his contributions to the preservation of steam locomotives.
Jim Wrinn Award for 2022’s Biggest Railway Preservation Story: EBT Foundation and Friends of the East Broad Top for the rebirth of the East Broad Top.
Very surprised at the awards for NRM and IRM. When I visited NRM in 2019, some of their exhibits looked like models from a crude model railroader in need of Champ decals and Floquil paints. And, much of the steam at IRM has been forever “neutered” by removal (and presumed scrapping) of mucvh of their motion, valve gear, etc. I consider both museums to be “tarnished” by things like that.