Golden Spike Award

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Golden Spike Award

George Falcon, publisher of Key magazine (an entertainment and dining guide for the Los Angeles and Orange County area), got the idea for the Golden Spike Award in the mid-1960's from actress Debbie Reynolds, a train lover whose father worked as a conductor on the Southern Pacific Railroad. She was the first recipient. The second recipient was Walt Disney. Since then, the Golden Spike has been given to celebrities, elected officials, and others who have made important contributions to the passenger rail cause.

The award itself originally was just a golden spike. Going back to the completion of the Transcontinental Railroad in 1869, golden spikes were used by railroads in ceremonies to mark the completion of important projects. By the 1970's, the award became a golden spike mounted on a wooden plaque with a brass inscription plate.

Mr. Falcon was an active early member of NARP, which was founded in 1967. As he became more active in NARP, the Golden Spike evolved into a NARP award. Since 1984, the NARP Board of Directors Executive Committee has approved all choices for recipients. Mr. Falcon continued to provide the awards and publicize them in Key through 2003, the year he passed away.

Recipients of the Golden Spike Award

mid 1960's-1973	Debbie Reynolds
	Walt Disney
	Lowell Thomas
	August A. Busch, Jr.
	Sen. Howard Cannon (Nev.)
1974	Johnny Cash	Promotion of trains through songs
1976	Barron Hilton, president of Hilton Hotels	Services to travelers
1976	American Freedom Train	U.S. bicentennial exhibit on rails
1978	California State Sen. James R. Mills, President Pro Tempore	Devotion to California rail issues
	Los Angeles County Supervisor Baxter Ward	Work on southern California rail issues
	Anthony Haswell	Founder of NARP
1979	NARP President Orren Beaty	Work on balanced transportation
1980	Sen. Birch Bayh (Ind.)	Work to preserve Indiana passenger trains
1980	Arizona Gov. Bruce Babbitt	Work on Phoenix commuter service
1981	Board of Directors, Metropolitan Transit Development Board, San Diego	First new light rail system in U.S.
	City of Los Angeles	Work on intermodal aspects of Los Angeles Union Passenger Terminal
	Sen. Bob Packwood (R-Ore.), chairman of Senate Commerce Committee	Work on rail issues
	Amtrak President Alan Boyd	Improvements to Amtrak
	Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Museum	Preservation of railroad heritage
1982	Amtrak	For handicapped-accessibility design of new Superliner equipment
	Rep. James Florio (D-N.J.), chairman of House Commerce Transportation Subcommittee	Work on Amtrak issues
	California Gov. Edmund G. Brown, Jr.	Support of new Spirit of California
	Rep. Robert T. Matsui (D-Cal.)	Support of California rail projects
	NARP Director Don Maxwell	Efforts to save Cardinal
1983	Ira Fistell, ABC Radio	For writing America by Train, travelers’ guide to national rail system
	City of Anaheim, Cal.	New Anaheim Stadium Multimodal Transportation Center
	Amtrak President W. Graham Claytor, Jr.	For various improvements to Amtrak
1984	NARP President John R. Martin	Effort to save Spirit of California
1984	NARP Director Leif E. Lange	Effort to save Spirit of California
1985	City of Santa Ana, Cal.	New Regional Transportation Center
1985	NARP Executive Director Ross Capon	10 years of service
1986	Sen. Mark Andrews (R-N.Dak.), chairman of Senate Transportation Appropriations Subcommittee	Leading Senate fight to save Amtrak
1986	Rep. Silvio O. Conte (R-Mass.), ranking member House Transportation Appropriations Subcommittee	Support of public transportation
1987	People of Baltimore County, Md.	Assistance to victims of Colonial accident
1988	Sen. Frank R. Lautenberg (D-N.J.), chairman of Senate Transportation Appropriations Subcommittee	Commitment to passenger trains
	Rep. William Lehman (D-Fla.), chairman of House Transportation Appropriations Subcommittee	Work toward balanced transportation
	California Assemblyman Jim Costa	Development of rail network in California
1989	Rep. Lawrence Coughlin (R-Pa.), ranking member House Transportation Appropriations Subcommittee	Support of Amtrak
1989	NARP Assistant Director Barry Williams	10 years of service
1990	Sen. Paul Simon (D-Ill.)	Work to save Chicago-St. Louis corridor
1990	NARP Director Samuel E. Stokes, Jr.	Dedicated work toward balanced transportation
1991	Arthur L. Lloyd	On his retirement from Amtrak, for contributions to public awareness of passenger rail in the West
1992	Rep. Al Swift (D-Wash.)	Leadership on his bill for a gas-tax penny for Amtrak and a passenger rail trust fund
1993	Sen. George Mitchell (D-Me.)	Work toward Boston rail link and Maine service
1994	Gov. William Weld (R-Mass.)	Work toward Boston rail link
1994	State Rep. John Businger (D)	Work toward Boston rail link
1995	Mayor John Robert Smith, Meridian, Miss.	Work to alert public officials of need for national system
1996	Sen. William V. Roth, Jr. (R-Del.)	For work on dedicated funding for Amtrak and ISTEA flexibility for states
1997	Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-Tex.)	For advocacy of intercity passenger rail service outside the Northeast
1997	NARP Membership Director Jane Colgrove	Ten years of service
1998	Sen. John H. Chafee (R-R.I.)	For work on ISTEA flexibility for states and improved public transportation
	Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan (D-N.Y.)	For work on ISTEA I, Washington Union Station, and dedicated funding for Amtrak
	Former Sen. Claiborne Pell (D-R.I.)	For support of passenger rail during 36 years in Senate, and for "Megalopolis Unbound" (1966) which laid foundation for Northeast Corridor
	Tim Gillespie, former Amtrak Government Affairs Vice President	Important contribution to the progress intercity passenger rail has enjoyed in the U.S.
1999	Gov. Tommy G. Thompson (R-Wis.)	Encouraging bi-partisan support for nationwide intercity passenger rail
2000	Sen. George Voinovich (R-Ohio)	For hard work to secure for states the right to invest their federal transportation funds on intercity passenger rail projects
2000	Sen. Frank R. Lautenberg (D.-N.J.)	For long, distinguished career of successfully and significantly increasing federal funding for passenger rail nationwide
2001	John R. Martin	Awarded posthumously for many vital contributions during his 21 years as president of NARP
2002	Sen. Ernest Hollings (D.-S.C.)	For advocating saving and upgrading our national intercity passenger rail network and for developing high speed rail corridors
	Rep. Jack Quinn (R.-N.Y.)	For support of an authorization with adequate funding to continue Amtrak's nationwide network
	Doras Briggs	For untiring advocacy and creation of California's station host program
2003	Sen. Patty Murray (D.-Wash.)	For work to prevent shutdown of Amtrak in 2002 and provide reasonable funding in 2003 and strong support for mass transit in general
2003	Rep. C. W. Bill Young (R.-Fla.)	For work to prevent shutdown of Amtrak in 2002 and to provide adequate funding for Amtrak in 2003
2004	Sen. Tom Carper (D.-Del.)	For work to include rail titles in surface transportation legislation and in general to keep nationwide rail service
2004	Rep. Sherwood Boehlert (R.-N.Y.)	For work over many years for high speed rail development and for our national rail passenger system
2005	Senator Arlen Specter (R.-Pa)	For, "his long service on the Senate Appropriations Committee. Thanks in part to (his) hard work, our national rail passenger system continues to operate and report growing ridership and had reasonable prospects for weathering the current crisis."
	Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D.-Ore.)	For his strong support of Amtrak in Congress, and for working "tirelessly throughout his career in support of light rail and pedestrian-friendly land use planning."
	Rep. James L. Oberstar (D.-Minn.)	"Representative Oberstar has one of Capitol Hill’s most extensive records in support of a modern transportation system. He has worked tirelessly both in defending Amtrak and in promoting development of world-class high speed rail." (Presented at the NARP Board Meeting in Minneapolis in October)
2006
	Senator Trent Lott (R-MS)	For his work to complete an Amtrak reauthorization and his defense of a National rail passenger network.
	Senator Robert Byrd (D-WV)	For his tireless work in the Senate to properly fund Amtrak and particularly for his defense of Amtrak's Cardinal.
	Rep. Steve LaTourette (R-OH)	For his work to raise Amtrak funding last year and continuing efforts to complete a reauthorization bill.
	Rep. Corrine Brown (D-FL)	For her work to raise Amtrak funding last year and constant pressure to put out the facts about Amtrak.
2007
	Senator Richard Durbin (D-IL)	For his leadership and committee roles in the House and later the Senate to secure funding for Amtrak, expand state-supported service through Illinois, and protect long-distance trains.
	Rep. Denny Rehberg (R-MT)	For his steadfast support of both Montana’s Empire Builder and the entire national Amtrak network, and for his chairmanship of the Congressional Rail Caucus.
2008	Senator Gordon Smith (R-OR)	For being a strong supporter of passenger train development, both intercity and commuter, and for working to save a threatened freight rail line.
2008	Rep. John Olver (D-MA)	For consistently being an articulate voice in favor of a balanced transportation system in which passenger trains play a growing role.

2009
	Senator Harry Reid (D-NV)	For his long-time supporter of passenger trains in general and Amtrak in particular and efforts as Majority Leader to get the Amtrak and Rail Safety Bill through Congress at the end of the 110th session.
	Rep. John Mica (R-FL)	Rep. Mica has made it “a personal mission to see that the United States has world class high-speed trains..." according to the text on the award plaque. As Republican Leader on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Commitee, Mica played a key role leading to the October, 2008, enactment of the Rail Safety/Amtrak reauthorization.
2011
	Senators Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe (both R-ME)	For their work in support of passenger train service generally and of Amtrak’s highly successful Downeaster, which has run between Boston, New Hampshire, and Portland, Maine, since 2001.
	Rep. Louise Slaughter (D-NY)	For being a steadfast Amtrak supporter and for co-founding the Congressional Bi-Cameral High-Speed and Intercity Passenger Rail Caucus.
2012
	Senator Daniel Inouye (D-HI)	For his unfailing support for robust passenger train funding and his work to advance the Honolulu rail rapid transit project.
	Rep. Patrick Meehan (R-PA)	For consistently voting to preserve Amtrak funding and for understanding the importance of Amtrak's Keystones and SEPTA Regional Rail service to his constituents.