Remembering the NMRA's 1983 Railway Jamboree - Part four

This is a page from the Railway Jamboree '83 handbook and timetable, featuring the layouts of Marcel Blair, Jock Oliphant, MMR, Betty Jackson and Bruce Smith, and Stafford Swain, MMR.

By Dave Downie

   It has been 31 years since Railway Jamboree ended. It has been fun for me to look back but a big part of the convention is its legacy.

   Winnipeg was a “small market” and not close to any other major population centre, yet the organizing committee had successfully marketed the city as a magnificent city with three percent of all MMRs at the time (Jock Oliphant MMR#15, Stafford Swain MMR#98 and Moe Smith MMR#100). They were smart enough to market the convention as one where you could see and do everything. This was not something that was feasible in other cities. We were also smart enough to market the train show to the general public as a once in a lifetime experience. We succeeded on all counts.

   At the time, the convention was the most profitable in the history of the NMRA. These profits were largely retained by the TLR, which underwrote the original bid. The WMRC did get a small disbursement to acknowledge the support of its members. Since the Winnipeg convention, the NMRA has rewritten the terms of its contract with host committees to reduce windfall profits like we had in 1983.

   Winnipeg's bid and organization structure became a template for other conventions. Nick Andrusaik's Handbook and Time Table was a huge success with everything well laid out and small enough that it fit in your pocket. This format is still used thirty years later.

   Stafford Swain had assembled an organization that was committed to success and put petty differences aside. Throughout the convention, our guests continued to compliment their hosts acknowledging that we  were “Friendly Manitoba”. New friendships sprouted within the committee and we saw a new influx of people into the WMRC with some of these still members today.

Time changes and people move on. Stafford Swain, Nick Andrusiak and Hilt Friesen turned their attention to creating the CN Lines SIG (now the Canadian National Railways Historical Association).  Mid Western Rail morphed into the Winnipeg Railway Museum and the Vintage Locomotive Society finally got their own line to run on. Bill Taylor and Peter Abel had a dream that is continuing to unfold as the Assiniboine Valley Railway. The WMRC lost its meeting room and layout in Union Station and we have relocated several times. We presently meet at Westworth United Church. 

   Since 1983 the club's library has grown with the addition of hundreds of videos. Our annual model contest has morphed into a annual spring show. The club created The Great Canadian Train Show, an annual fall show and flea market, to further promote the hobby. The club no longer operates Great Canadian Train Show. As of 2013, we have partnered with the Manitoba Mega Train Show.

   More recently, the club has has acquired a new location for a new version of the Gateway Western at the Winnipeg Railway Museum within 50 feet of Duffy, who has been patiently waiting for us for all this time.

   But the saddest and most unfortunate thing to occur since 1983 has been the many friends who have passed away. They contributed to the convention's success just as they contributed to the WMRC. Unfortunately, there are far too many to mention here.

   Oh......one last thing. That plant that grew from the seed planted in 1975-1976 is still growing almost 40 years later!