Canadian Council for Railway Heritage Votes to Integrate with ATRRM

The TRHA is a member of the ATRRM (see http://www.atrrm.org/) and a member of the CCRH (see http://www.railwayheritagecanada.ca/ ).  We supported this initiative which is described below.  The CCRH has struggled over the years to operate as those involved typically had significant workloads to keep their own railway museums going.  Don Evans, who is quoted below, was the President (now retired from that position) of the incredibly successful West Coast Railway Association ( see http://wcra.org/ ) who have a wonderful railway museum in Squamish, B.C. which should be on every railfan's bucket list.  I spent a whole day with Don Evans at their museum and he shared an enormous "smorgasborg" of insights into Railway Museum development. I offered to take him for lunch but he refused as he had arranged for a catered lunch in their magnificent restored business car, the British Columbia, served up by their General Manager.

Here is the news release from the ATTRM which explains all:  

"The institutional members of the Canadian Council for Railway Heritage (CCRH) have voted to integrate into the Association of Tourist Railroads and Railway Museums (ATRRM). This move will serve to both strengthen resources in support of railway heritage in Canada, as well as to consolidate ATRRM’s role in serving Tourist Railroads and Railway Museums more effectively on a North America wide basis.

“90% of support activities undertaken by ATRRM are universal to both American and Canadian operations”, says Don Evans – Chair of CCRH and a Director of ATRRM. “This move will add greatly to the resources available to the Canadian members in the heritage railways and museums industry. At the same time, it creates a much stronger body to work with Canadian museums groups and Canadian railway regulators, activities that ATRRM has done very successfully in the U.S.”

Mark Ray, President of ATRRM says, “The Association welcomes the decision by the Canadian Council for Railway Heritage to integrate with ATTRM as this strengthens our bond with our Canadian members. Canada is rich in railway history, and is home to many of the best railway museums in North America. While ATRRM’s membership has included a number of Canadian members, this action by the CCRH and the formation of the Council within ATRRM will give greater voice to the Canadian members and truly make ATRRM a North American organization dedicated to railway preservation.”

Under the new arrangement, a new ATRRM Committee will be formed called the Canadian Council for Railway Heritage – retaining the same name. The committee will be active in museums and regulatory advocacy on behalf of all of ATRRM’s Canadian members."

Posting by Russ Milland