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AGM 2011 Minutes
The minutes of the 2011 Annual General Meeting of the society are now available on the website. These are "Draft" minutes until approved at the next AGM.
At the 2011 AGM the minutes of the 2010 AGM were approved.
Work is underway at Cloverdale
June 2011;If you are in the Cloverdale area, and look South on 176th St. you will see piles of "dirt" on the new home of the FVHRS. The Lark Group has started the site preparation for the construction of the new FVHRS Car Barn.
There will be pictures of the construction when the barn itself is started. With this digging and piling, we are looking forward to the move from Sullivan to Cloverdale this Fall.
If you are around the site, please understand that as a working construction site you are not allowed to go inside the blue fence (except with proper clothing and boots, and safety training for this site).
Successful Fundraising - One Passenger at a Time
April 2011; The FVHRS is pleased to announce that our 2010 fundraising campaign One Passenger at a Time has been completed with the required funding obtained to connect to the mainline, secure power to run the restored BCER 1225 and to expand the car barn.
Our original intention was to connect to the mainline at Sullivan, however with the move to Cloverdale we will connect directly to the original Fraser Valley line that now remains as a spur off of the relocated mainline. We will be building a new, larger car barn at Cloverdale with room for BCER 1225, BCER 1304 and a new replica baggage car in the future. The Replica baggage car is not included in the funding for Cloverdale, but funds for a "Donkey" power cart are included in the budget. Using this generator set on a trailer, BCER 1225 will have power to move within the new Cloverdale compound, on the Cloverdale spur and on the SRY mainline.
We will now focus on the next projects that require new funds: A replica of the Cloverdale station, the replica Baggage car and funds to rehabilitate BCER 1304. The new property at 5554 176 St. in Cloverdale is directly across the railway right of way (RoW) from the site of the original Cloverdale station. This area was depicted in Brian Croft's 2010 Christmas card. We are working with members of the Cloverdale campus of Kwantlen Polytechnic University (FVHRS Corporate member) to reproduce the plans and then build a replica station close to the original site.
Now that we can generate power for BCER 1225 with the new Donkey, we can focus on our plans to acquire a replica 1700 series Baggage car. This Baggage car will house new generators to provide power for either BCER 1225 or BCER 1304 - which has different power requirements as it has larger motors. The replica Baggage car will also allow us to operate in the traditional train set that ran on the Fraser Valley line.
We have not forgotten BCER 1304, the only remaining "Chilliwack" car needs to be rehabilitated and, while not as old as BCER 1225 and in somewhat better shape when it arrived at the Sullivan barn, will need extensive work to be certified to run on the SRY mainline.
The new fundraising program is termed "Cloverdale to Sullivan" and targets $1.5 Million to achieve the three goals of: replica Cloverdale station; replica baggage car; restore BCER 1304. Please consider a donation to help us achieve these goals. A tax receipt will be issued for each donation and for each $50 donated you will receive a special souvenir ticket to ride from Cloverdale to Sullivan, return in 2012 or 2013.
City of Surrey Moves the FVHRS
January 2011; City of Surrey supports the FVHRS heritage rail project with an additional $2.9 million dollars. This investment by the city will make the FVHRS heritage rail operational as a demonstration project between Cloverdale and Sullivan.
City council has asked the FVHRS to fundraise for an additional $1.5 million to construct the Cloverdale Station, acquire the replica baggage car (to house the power generator) and to rehabilitate BCER 1304. The FVHRS will re-launch its one passenger at a time campaign to attract donations.
The City of Surrey approved the corporate report from staff to relocate the FVHRS operations from Sullivan park to Cloverdale. The move is supported by the city with the purchase of commercial property on 176 St to become the new home of the FVHRS car barns.
FVHRS Volunteers and Board members at the new
Cloverdale site.
This move will enable the restored BCER 1225 interurban car to operate from Cloverdale to Sullivan as part of the Heritage Railway Demonstration Project (HRDP) as the proof-of-concept on the return of the passenger Interurban cars to the original Fraser Valley line of the B.C. Electric Railway. Working with SRY Raillink, the current owner of the line and also a corporate member of the FVHRS, we look forward to initial runs for the HRDP this October.
The City of Surrey is providing great support to the FVHRS with access to the existing spur line in Cloverdale – originally the main line for the BCER. We will also be working with B.C. Hydro ( the successor of the BCER) to complete the access to the line. Operation as a railway will be undertaken with the B.C. Safety Authority and Transport Canada.
Relocation to Cloverdale will require the building of a new 3-bay car barn, a workshop with storage area and a lunch room for the crews and staff. Expansion for the future is planned with an eye to work with the City of Surrey for future heritage streetcar access to downtown Cloverdale. The new barn will house the interubans currently at Sullivan, the power cart or ‘Donkey.' The current car barn in Sullivan will be turned over to the City of Surrey for other use.
Proposed layout for the Cloverdale site. (click to see larger version)
This major investment in heritage rail by the city of Surrey will enable the FVHRS to work toward our goal of providing Heritage Rail Tourism services along the interurban rail corridor through Surrey, from Cloverdale to Sullivan, Newton, Kennedy and the Scott Road – South Westminster area with connections to transit and Skytrain in the future. Cloverdale is the historic rail hub of Surrey with three major rail lines operating there in the 1900's, the 176 Street location of the new FVHRS car barn was on the historic Great Northern line.
Construction of the new car barn is planned to commence in May with completion during July 2011. Plans are underway to move from Sullivan and to relocate BCER 1225 and BCER 1304.
Open House 2011 UPDATED!
This year marks two major milestones for the FHVRS: 10 years as a society and the move to our new home in Cloverdale.
Because of the impending move, construction of the new car barn and the cleanup needed at Sullivan to turn over the barn to the city, we will not hold the monthly Open House events this year. We will have one very special Open House on June 5th.
UPDATE: a second open house has been added for Sunday July 10th. This will be the absolute final Open house event at Sullivan as we must pack up and move out on our way to Cloverdale.
The “Good bye to Sullivan” Open House on Sunday June 5th & July 10th, 2011 will be the only chance to ride on the speeder cart this year. As the speeder will change function when we move, we will not have the oval track for the speeder rides any more. If you have been waiting to ride on the oval speeder track, these are your last chances to come an experience the fun of old fashion rail travel – until we start operations with BCER 1225.
The Open House will run from Noon to 4pm, with live music from the Circle of Friends, showings of the Chilliwack Run- the last passenger run from Vancouver to Chilliwack, and hot dogs to accompany the chance to see the restored BCER 1225 and the only remaining Chilliwack car – BCER 1304
Annual General Meeting 2011
The 2011 FVHRS AGM will be held on April 30, at Hampton Inn, Langley bypass.
This meeting will elect 5 members to the Board of Directors, regular reports to members and presentation of the plans for the Cloverdale site.
Registration starts at 12:30 pm; meeting starts at 1:00pm.
Keynote presentations will be:
- Robert Ashton, Vice Chair – restoration of BCER 1225
- John Sprung, Chair – plans for 2011 and the future of FVHRS.
If you wish to stand for election to the Board of Directors, please contact Nomination Chair Robert Ashton:
by fax at 604-591-8149 or
by e-mail at: rashton@dccnet.com or
by regular mail to: 7463 Barmston Pl, Delta, B.C. V4C 4M9.
Please include nomination form. Completed nomination forms can be faxed to 604-591-8149
Advisement of members seeking election to the Board of Directors must be received by Monday, April 18th, 2011 in order that ballots can be printed, if need be. Those seeking election will need to be nominated and seconded by completion of the attached Nomination Form.
Winter Newsletter available here
The Fall 2009/Winter 2010 newsletter is now available online. Members should have received their printed copy earlier this year in the mail. Our Volunteers are celebrated in this issue. Profiles on volunteers Ron Jones & John Welsh are part of the coverage of the annual Volunteer Dinner. Also included is a reprint of the late David Reuss article on BCER 1304 and the great fire of 1945.
Of special interest to many who attended the dinner was the gift of Christmas cards based on the painting A Christmas Reunion - 1914 by the artist, Brian Croft. This painting shows BCER 1304 at Jardine Station. You will have to see the newsletter for the whole story.
Open House - Sept 19 -
Cancelled
Sunday, Sept 19, 2010: Due to weather related issues caused by today's storm, the Open House is cancelled for Sunday, Sept 19.
We will look to reschedule the Open House for October, when we can have the Speeder running and our usual entertainment. Please check back here for news on the revised date.
100th Anniversary Excursion
Sept 2, 2010: Due to circumstances beyond our control the Fraser Valley Heritage Railway Society (FVHRS), SRY Rail Link and the West Coast Railway Association (WCRA) announces with regret that the 100th anniversary excursion rail trip from New Westminster to Chilliwack, planned for October 9th and 10th, has been postponed until a possible future date.
The partners involved, FVHRS, SRY Rail Link and the WCRA are committed to working toward a future excursion.
All FVHRS members and friends who have paid for tickets for the Oct 9th or 10th excursion will be receiving a refund.
AGM 2010
The draft minutes of the 2010 AGM are now available. (in .pdf format - you will need Adobe Acrobat reader to view) These will be reviewed and approved at the 2011 AGM. Please check back here for dates and location.
May 2010
Richmond Open Doors - Steveston
We were pleased to bring our collection of goodies and background to Steveston, Sat. May 1 and Sun May 2 for the annual Door Open event throughout Richmond. At Steveston Park, next to BCER 1220 we talked about the BCER and our efforts toward returning Interurban cars to the Fraser Valley line.
April 2010
AGM 2010
Our Annual General Meeting was held on Sat, April 24. A wonderful turnout with guest speakers: Councillor Marvin Hunt with greating from the City of Surrey, Mr. Douglas Parker speaking about operating the Edmonton Radial Railway Society, and our own Vice Chair Bob Ashton - with the annual works & accomplishments movie.
Many thanks to Brian Croft for the donation of his painting - A Christmas Reunion. The image of BCER 1304 at Jardine Station was won by Mr. Frank Horne, whom you can see pictured at the top of this page.
You can see the picture and more of Brian's work at his website.