MONTREAL — As part of its fall conference, the HeritageRail Alliance announced the 2023 awards for significant achievements in railway preservation. The annual meeting was held Sept. 20-23 in Montreal with the Canadian Railroad Historical Association and Exporail serving as hosts.
Railroading Heritage of Midwest America was the recipient of the Jim Wrinn Award for the biggest railway preservation story of 2023, recognizing its 2022 purchase of the 90-acre Silvis shop facility in Illinois, followed by acquisitions of historic locomotives and rolling stock from the Union Pacific Railroad and others – notably 4-6-6-4 Challenger No. 3985. The award was presented by Cate Kratville-Wrinn, wife of the late Trains Magazine editor Jim Wrinn.
The HeritageRail Alliance is the trade association for museums and tourist railroads in the U.S. and Canada. Its mission is to further railway preservation through the communication of best practices, regulatory advocacy and networking, according to a recent press release.
The release also includes the following 2023 award recipients:
- Significant Achievement-Infrastructure: Timber Heritage Museum for its restoration and acquisition of the former Hammond Lumber Company Samoa Shops complex.
- Significant Achievement-Steam: EBT Foundation for the restoration of East Broad Top 2-8-2 No. 16.
- Significant Achievement-Diesel: Fort Wayne Railroad Historical Society for the restoration of Nickel Plate Road SD9 No. 358.
- Significant Achievement-Traction: Fox River Trolley Museum for the restoration of Chicago Aurora & Elgin interurban No. 458.
- Significant Achievement-Freight Car: Nevada County Narrow Gauge Museum for the restoration of West Side Lumber tank car No. 2.
- Significant Achievement-Non-revenue car: Illinois Railway Museum for the restoration of Pennsylvania Railroad bobber caboose No. 476199.
- Significant Achievement-Archives: Canadian Railroad Historical Association for the continuing project to catalog and conserve the Canadian Pacific Railway archives.
- Friend of Railway Preservation: Amherst Railway Society for its financial support of railway preservation.
- Lifetime Achievement: Jim Schantz for his career at the Seashore Trolley Museum, service to the Association of Railway Museums/HeritageRail Alliance, and his support for new heritage trolley lines; Rod Fishburn for his career at the Southern California Railway Museum and service to the Association of Railway Museums/HeritageRail Alliance, including running the National Parts List; and the late George Walker for his career at the Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum and his influence on railway preservation in the Southeast.
- Jim Wrinn Award for the biggest railway preservation story of 2023: Railroading Heritage of Midwest America for the purchase of the Silvis Shops and acquisition of important rolling stock from the Union Pacific Railroad and elsewhere.
