Custom Traxx CEO new president of Orange Empire Railway Museum
George Huckaby Jr., founder of the Southern California Traction Club and Owner/CEO of Custom Traxx, an HO scale model electric railway supplier, was recently appointed President/CEO of the Orange Empire Railway Museum in Perris, California.
The appointment of this Los Angeles resident comes at a time when the 1,600-member museum is expanding its educational outreach through the construction of a Southern California railway history library and a permanent exhibit on the Harvey Girls, a pioneering women’s work force in the Western railroad.
Huckaby says his and the board’s priorities are fundraising for the museum capital and restoration projects and improving volunteer facilities. Four hundred volunteers punch tickets, run excursions, staff events and preserve and restore the rolling stock at the 56-year-old, non profit museum. “Volunteers are the heart of the organization,” Huckaby says.
At 250 cars, spanning Southern California and Western railway history, the museum owns, restores, maintains and operates one of the largest collections of rolling stock in the country. The museum has an extensive collection of Pacific Electric Railway cars and PE railroadiana.
“The promotion of rail history to younger generations and bringing newcomers into the pastime of preservation are important parts of our mission,” Huckaby says.
Huckaby and the Board of Directors are looking at ways to extend the Orange Empire Railway Museum’s track to reach the Perris Depot, which the 100-acre, museum owns. Once complete, visitors can take public transit to the museum from Perris, which is expected to be tied in to the planned Metrolink extension from Riverside.
Huckaby, who founded the Southern California Traction Club and is owner/CEO of Custom Traxx, has volunteered as a rail operator at the Orange Empire Railway Museum since 1972. He joined the board a year ago, and now succeeds Riverside attorney Tom Jacobson, who was President/CEO since the 1980s. Jacobson continues as Board Chairman and heads Day Out With Thomas (the Tank Engine), the museum’s largest festival fundraiser which draws 30,000 to the rail museum for five days every November.
For more information, contact the Orange Empire Railway Museum at (951) 943-3020 or email at info@oerm.org. Like the museum at www.facebook.com/orangeempirerailwaymuseum
