John Street Roundhouse Inducted Into The North American Railway Hall of Fame
Click on each image for a closer look!
On Friday June 22, 2012, the John Street Roundhouse was
inducted into the North American Railway Hall of Fame at a ceremony held
at the Canada Southern Railway Station in St. Thomas, Ontario,
Canada. The ceremony began with introductions by Paul
Corriveau (past president, NARHF) and Steve Peters (National Selection
Committee) and was presided over by Laurence Grant (historian, NARHF).
Guest speaker Susan Ratcliff, President of the Architectural Conservancy of
Ontario began the evening's events with a terrific lecture on the Perception
and Reality of conservation in Ontario which included recent
examples of unfortunate losses to our cultural heritage as well
as great examples of restoration and adaptive re-use.
The main event
of the evening were the inductions into the North American Railway
Hall of Fame, in the following categories:
- Railway Workers/Builders
- Community, Business, Government, Organizations
- Technical Innovations
- Rolling Stock
- Railway Art Forms and Events
- Facility/Structures
Each award was preceded by the reading of the
nomination citation aloud to the attendees followed by the presentation of
the award to the nominee. The John Street Roundhouse was
the sole building inducted in the Facility/Structures category;
yet another reminder of its importance as a National Historic Site and the best
surviving example of a roundhouse in Canada. James Rasor, COO of the
Toronto Railway Historical Association, read the citation which was
written by nominator John McIntyre. While most of those in attendance are
well aware of the work of the TRHA and our volunteers, the announcement that
the TRHA is currently faced with the impending loss of the Machine Shop, the
intended home of the Toronto Railway Museum, was met with surprise, regret
and no shortage of outrage and bewilderment.
Orin Krivel, President of the TRHA, accepted the award on
behalf of the TRHA and all of our volunteers. Orin reiterated the
challenges facing the TRHA and the future of the Machine Shop and Toronto
Railway Museum and assured the audience of the TRHA's continued commitment to
work towards the preservation of the Roundhouse as a whole and the
establishment of the Toronto Railway Museum, as mandated by Toronto City
Council. The TRHA is pleased to announce this award and we are
gratified by the many pledges of support and action that we received from the
attendees at Friday's event.
In the photo above we see (from left to right) James Rasor (TRHA), Laurence Grant (Historian - NARHF) and Orin Krivel (TRHA)
Posting and photos by James Rasor
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