Golden Spike Award (rail)
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| Golden Spike Award | |
|---|---|
| Awarded for | Outstanding contributions to passenger rail in the United States |
| Country | United States |
| Presented by | Rail Passengers Association (formerly NARP) |
| First award | mid-1960s |
| Website | www |
The Golden Spike Award (formally the 'George Falcon Golden Spike Award') is a recognition presented by the Rail Passengers Association to "honor work done to advance the cause of a robust national rail system in the U.S." Since the 1960s, the 60+ recipients have mostly been members of Congress, as well as celebrities, railroad workers, and advocates. The award is among the most prominent honours in the American passenger rail advocacy community.
The award's name and physical form come from the ceremonial tradition of driving a Golden spike as the last spike when completing a railroad in the U.S.: for example, a golden spike was used to complete the First Transcontinental Railroad at Promontory Summit, Utah, on 10 May 1869.[1]
The award was conceived in the mid-1960s by George Falcon, publisher of Key magazine, an entertainment and dining guide serving the Los Angeles and Orange County area.[2] Falcon was inspired by actress Debbie Reynolds, an avid train enthusiast whose father had worked as a conductor on the Southern Pacific Railroad. Reynolds became the award's first recipient; Walt Disney was the second.[3]
Falcon was an early and active member of the National Association of Railway Passengers (NARP), which was founded in 1967. As his involvement with the organisation deepened, the Golden Spike evolved from a personal initiative into an official NARP award.[4] Originally the prize consisted solely of a golden spike; by the 1970s the presentation form had evolved into a golden spike mounted on a wooden plaque bearing a brass inscription plate.
Since 1984, the NARP (later Rail Passengers Association) Board of Directors Executive Committee has approved all recipients. Falcon continued to supply the physical awards and publicise recipients in Key magazine until his death in 2003, after which the award was formally renamed in his honour as the George Falcon Golden Spike Award.[5]
Recipients
The following is a list of known recipients, compiled from Rail Passengers Association records[3][6] and from some industry/local news sources. A number of sources suggest that Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan (D-NY) received the award at some point, but no official or contemporaneous record is available.[7][8]
| Year | Recipient | Notes | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1967 | Debbie Reynolds | Actress and train enthusiast; first recipient; inspired the creation of the award | [3] |
| 1968 | Walt Disney | Animator and producer | |
| 1974 | Johnny Cash | Singer-songwriter | |
| 1976 | American Freedom Train | Presented in Anaheim, with AFT Foundation President Petr Spurney and Astronaut Edwin 'Buzz' Aldrin | [2] |
| 1976 | Barron Hilton Sr. | Hotelier | [3] |
| 1983 | City of Anaheim | [2] | |
| 1985 | Ross Capon | Train executive, and later President of the NARP | [3] |
| 1988 | William Lehman | U.S. Representative (D-FL); chairman of the House Appropriations Sub-committee on Transportation for his "strong and longstanding support for Amtrak and transit." | [9] |
| 1988 | Frank Lautenberg | U.S. Senator (D-NJ); first award (received a second award in 2000) | [3] |
| 1990 | Paul Simon | U.S. Senator (D-IL); for helping to preserve Chicago-St. Louis, and supporting use of some federal gasoline tax funds for Amtrak | [10] |
| 1992 | Al Swift | U.S. Representative (D-WA); for introducing H.R. 4414 and work on seervice between Portland, Seattle and Vancouver | [11] |
| 1993 | George J. Mitchell | U.S. Senator (D-ME); for "strong support of rail passenger service generally and especially of construction of a rail link between Boston's North and South Stations and establishment of Amtrak service to Maine" | [12] |
| 1994 | John A. Businger | Massachusetts State Representative (D-Brookline) | [13] |
| 1994 | William F. Weld | Governor of Massachusetts | |
| 1997 | Kay Bailey Hutchison | U.S. Senator (R-TX); chair of the Subcomittee on Surface Transportation and Merchant Marine; fought for extension of Texas Eagle | [4] |
| 1999 | Tommy G. Thompson | Amtrak Chairman and Wisconsin Governor | [14] |
| 2000 | Frank Lautenberg | U.S. Senator (D-NJ); second award, first time any individual received the award twice | [3] |
| 2000 | George Voinovich | U.S. Senator (R-OH) | |
| 2001 | Jack Martin | ex-president of the NARP | [15] |
| 2002 | Ernest Hollings | U.S. Senator (D-SC); recognised as a leading advocate for intercity passenger rail and high-speed rail corridors | [3] |
| 2002 | Jack Quinn | U.S. Representative (R-NY) | |
| 2002 | Doras Briggs | NARP board member; recognised for citizen advocacy and spearheading the California station host programme | |
| 2003 | Patty Murray | U.S. Senator (D-WA); recognised as Chairman of the Transportation Appropriations Subcommittee for preventing an Amtrak shutdown | |
| 2003 | C. W. Bill Young | U.S. Representative (R-FL); recognised as House Appropriations Chairman for preventing an Amtrak shutdown | |
| 2004 | Tom Carper | U.S. Senator (D-DL) | |
| 2004 | Sherwood Boehlert | U.S. Representative (R-NY) | |
| 2005 | Earl Blumenauer | U.S. Representative (D-OR); for his "support of light rail and pedestrian-friendly land use planning" | [5] |
| 2005 | Arlen Specter | U.S. Senator (R-PA); for "his long service on the Senate Appropriations Committee" | [16] |
| 2005 | James Oberstar | U.S. Representative (DFL-MN); for "staunch defense of Amtrak and the national network" | [17] |
| 2006 | Trent Lott | U.S. Senator (R-MS); recognised as a defender of the national rail passenger network | [3] |
| 2006 | Robert Byrd | U.S. Senator (D-WV); recognised for over three decades of advocacy for the national rail passenger network | |
| 2006 | Steve LaTourette | U.S. Representative (R-OH) | |
| 2006 | Corrine Brown | U.S. Representative (D-FL) | |
| 2007 | Richard Durbin | U.S. Senator (D-IL); recognised for expanding Amtrak service in Illinois | |
| 2007 | Denny Rehberg | U.S. Representative (R-MT); recognised for chairing the Congressional Rail Caucus and securing Amtrak funding | [18] |
| 2008 | Gordon Smith | U.S. Senator (R-OR) | [3] |
| 2008 | John Olver | U.S. Representative (D-MA); Chairman of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Transportation | |
| 2009 | Harry Reid | U.S. Senator (D-NV); recognised for role in the 2008 Rail Safety/Amtrak reauthorisation and inclusion of passenger trains in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act | |
| 2009 | John Mica | U.S. Representative (R-FL); recognised for support of high-speed rail and as a leader on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee | |
| 2011 | Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins | U.S. Senators (R-ME); recognised for support of the Amtrak Downeaster | |
| 2011 | Louise Slaughter | U.S. Representative (D-NY); recognised for founding the Bicameral High Speed and Intercity Rail Caucus | |
| 2012 | Daniel Inouye | U.S. Senator (D-HI); recognised as Chairman of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation for passage of the Passenger Rail Investment and Improvement Act (PRIIA) of 2008 | [19] |
| 2012 | Patrick Meehan | U.S. Representative (R-PA) | [3] |
| 2013 | Mark Kirk | U.S. Senator (R-IL); recognised for support of public-private partnerships in rail infrastructure | |
| 2013 | Peter DeFazio | U.S. Representative (D-OR); recognised for 25 years of advocacy for passenger trains in the Pacific Northwest | |
| 2014 | Kevin Cramer | U.S. Representative (R-ND); recognised for highlighting freight congestion delays to the Empire Builder | |
| 2015 | Joseph Szabo | Administrator of the Federal Railroad Administration, 2009–2014; fifth-generation railroader and first union member to lead the FRA | |
| 2016 | John Thune | U.S. Senator (R-SD); recognised for leadership on the FAST Act | |
| 2016 | Roger Wicker | U.S. Senator (R-MS); recognised for drafting the rail title of the FAST Act | [20] |
| 2017 | Patrick Leahy | U.S. Senator (D-VT) | [3] |
| 2017 | Ann Kuster | U.S. Representative (D-NH) | |
| 2017 | Elise Stefanik | U.S. Representative (R-NY) | |
| 2018 | James Hamre | Rail passenger advocate and vice president of All Aboard Washington; awarded posthumously following his death in the 2017 Amtrak derailment near DuPont, Washington | [21] |
| 2019 | Jerry Moran | U.S. Senator (R-KS); recognised for protecting long-distance Southwest Chief service | [3] |
| 2019 | Pat Roberts | U.S. Senator (R-KS) | |
| 2019 | Michael Bennet | U.S. Senator (D-CO) | |
| 2019 | Cory Gardner | U.S. Senator (R-CO) | |
| 2019 | Martin Heinrich | U.S. Senator (D-NM) | |
| 2019 | Tom Udall | U.S. Senator (D-NM) | |
| 2020 | Dan Lipinski | U.S. Representative (D-IL) -- for work to "better relationships between railroads and the communities they serve" | [22] |
| 2021 | Frontline Amtrak Employees | Awarded collectively to six rail unions — BLET, TCU/IAM, TCU-ARASA, SMART-TD, TWU, and Unite Here — for maintaining essential services during the COVID-19 pandemic | [3] |
| 2022 | Peter DeFazio | U.S. Representative (D-OR); second award, recognised as Chair of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure for advancing passenger rail legislation | |
| 2023 | Steve Cohen | U.S. Representative (D-TN); recognised for defending the rights of coach passengers and rolling back Amtrak service cuts |
Relationship to other Rail Passengers Association awards
The Golden Spike Award is the oldest and most prominent of several awards presented by the Rail Passengers Association. Other awards include:[23]
- John R. Martin Passenger Train Advocacy Award – named after a late president of NARP, given at the discretion of the Chairman and President to individuals who have provided many years of exceptional service to rail travellers.
- Youth Passenger Citizenship Award – presented on occasion to students and young people demonstrating exceptional leadership or passion in improving the passenger train experience.
- Tracks to the Future Leadership Award
- NARP Academic Award – established in 2011, given annually to university and college professors with a distinguished record in advancing knowledge of passenger rail in the United States and Canada.
- Dr. Gary Burch Memorial Safety Award – given annually to a railroad worker who has done the most to improve the safety of railroad passengers; awarded in memory of Dr. Gary Burch, one of eight passengers killed when Amtrak's Silver Star derailed in 1991.