In 1979 he was honoured with the bronze tablet for 1926, set into the footpath along St Georges Terrace, Perth as part of the WAY '79 sesquicentennial (150th anniversary) celebrations of the colonisation of Western Australia by Europeans.
The latter was partially constructed and opened by Horace Dobbins, who incorporated the California Cycleway Company and bought a six-mile (10 km) right-of-way from downtown Pasadena to Avenue 54 in Highland Park, Los Angeles.
The rail line right-of-way was owned by CSX in 2002 when it was purchased by the R.J. Corman Railroad Group.
Its former right-of-way, along with a portion of the Freehold and Jamesburg Agricultural Railroad's right-of-way, has become the Edgar Felix Bikeway.
Most of the line, including stations, was built on a viaduct on reserved land (right-of-way) along the eastern side of Sha Tin and Ma On Shan (administratively within Sha Tin District.) Although currently the trains are only in four-car configuration, most platforms have provision for eight-car trains for when patronage increases.
The railway was incorporated on March 10, 1909, to purchase the right-of-way and tracks of the Midland Railway of Manitoba between Gretna at the International Boundary and Portage la Prairie, as well as between Morden and the International Boundary.
He also commissioned and produced a controversial Dorothy Hewett play, The Man from Muckinupin for Western Australia's 150th anniversary (WAY '79).
For a few decades the Chili Line, a narrow gauge railroad, ran on the east bank of the river as far south as the mouth of Diablo Canyon; some day the Rio Grande Trail may occupy the abandoned right of way.
Van Patten also spent extensively of his personal funds to beautify the city, including projects such as planting trees and shrubs in rights of way, and the creation of Ethan Allen Park.