Former Ambassador, Deputy Prime Minister of Australia & Author Visits the B&O Railroad Museum

On Sunday, June 2, 2013, Museum Director Courtney Wilson was delighted to receive a visit from the Honorable Tim Fischer at the B&O in Baltimore. Tim, a fellow international patron, along with Mr. Wilson, to the World Association of Tourist Trams and Trains, was the Australia Ambassador to the Vatican for more than three years. Ambassador Fischer was honored to be named Companion of the Order of Australia in 2005, Australia's highest civilian honor, by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II in 2005. He was Deputy Prime Minister of Australia from 1996-1999. Courtney Wilson and Tim Fischer met for the first time in Leeds, England last year and became very good friends.

Mr. Fischer is also a world authority on heritage railway preservation and high speed rail. He is visiting the United States to do presentations on high speed rail projects in Australia before the American Public Transportation Association's annual meeting in Philadelphia this week. In addition to having his own radio program on CBS in Australia The Great Train Show, Mr. Fischer is the author of the book, Trains Unlimited in the 21st Century (Harper Collins, 2011). In the book Tim Fischer names the B&O Railroad Museum among the greatest railway museums in the world.