The Railway & Locomotive Historical Society has announced the winners of its 2020 railroad history awards. The organization said the COVID-19 pandemic delayed naming the winners.
The awards went to John P. Hankey of Omaha, Nebraskas, Gerald M. Best Senior Achievement Award; Brian Solomon of Center Conway, New Hampshire, Fred A. and Jane R. Stindt Photography Award; William L. Withuhn (posthumous), George W. and Constance M. Hilton Book Award; and Bill Leistiko of Wichita, Kansas, David P. Morgan Article Award.
The Morgan award for article writing for 2019 also was announced and went to Gregg Ames of St. Louis.
Hankey was honored for his half-century of professional involvement in railway preservation.
He is a former manager at the B&O Museum in Baltimore and has consulted for museums, historical societies, projects, and film/television/radio productions.
Hankey has written more than 100 articles on railroad history, preservation, or interpretation.
Withuhn (1941-2017) worked for 27 years for the Smithsonian Institution, much of it as curator of transportation. His book American Steam Locomotives: Design and Development, 1880-1960, was published by the Indiana University Press with the financial support of the R&LHS.
The publication is a comprehensive engineering study of the steam locomotive between 1880 and the end of steam operation in common-carrier service.
He died in 2017 at age 75 before the manuscript was ready. It was completed by his widow, Gail, and the late Peter A. Hansen, a former editor of Railroad History.
Solomon was recognized for having authored and illustrated more than 60 books.
His articles and photography have appeared in Trains, Railway Age, Railroad Explorer, Railfan & Railroad, and National Railway Historical Society Bulletin as well as several publications in Europe.
Leistiko was wrote a three-part series, “Silvis Shops” that was published in Remember the Rock Vol. 12, Nos. 1 and 2 (2018); Vol. 12, Nos. 3 and 4 (2018); and Vol. 13, Nos. 1 and 2 (2019).
The articles offered an overview of the shops of the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Railroad.
Ames wrotre “Mother Hubbards’ Bone of Contention: In Search of the ICC ‘Ban’ on Mother Hubbard Locomotives,” which was published in Railroad History No. 219 (Fall-Winter 2018).
The article sought evidence for the oft-mentioned but never documented Interstate Commerce Commission “ban” on the use of Camelback-type steam locomotives, which place the cab astride the boiler.
Ames said he found no ICC rulings or orders banning the locomotives.
Tags: Railroad history, Railway & Locomotive Historical Society, writing awards
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