Lantern photo contest deadline is midnight, February 3

WMRC Lantern editor Robert Weaver would like to remind all members that this month's photo contest deadline is fast approaching! You have until midnight, February 3 (that's next Tuesday) to submit a railway scene that best expresses the cold weather. The winning entry will have their image put on the cover of the February issue of The Lantern, the official publication of the WMRC. If we get 10 entries, the prize award doubles from fifteen to thirty dollars!

Vector Garden trains offers consignment sales service

    This Sylvan HO scale model kit is one of the many items available at Vector Garden Trains consignment sales section.

    Our good friends at Vector Garden Trains is now offering a consignment sales service. Although the store usually deals in G scale, this service is open to all model railroad scales.

   Vector Garden Trains is located at 491 Ferry Road, and is open from 7:00PM to 10:00PM on Thursdays, and from 9:00AM to 12:00PM on Saturdays. You can call them at 204-837-4776 or you can email them at vectormb@mymts.net

Brandon Hills Model Railroad Club to hold their annual open house April 11, 2015

    The Brandon Hills Model Railroad Club will be holding their annual open house on Saturday, April 11. They have two operating layouts (HO and N Scale), and they're located at #19 - 9th street in Brandon.

    They're also open to the public every Saturday from 10 to noon. Find them on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/pages/Brandon-Hills-Model-Railroad-Club/555309487888749

Rail Travel Tours celebrates the 100th anniversary of the completion of the Canadian Northern Railway

 

 On the year of 100th anniversary of the last spike of the Canadian Northern Railway, Rail Travel Tours will conduct a special rail tour to celebrate the completion of Canada’s third transcontinental railway.

   Scheduled for August 18-20, 2015 this tour is a fundraiser for the Winnipeg Railway Museum. It features a round trip from Winnipeg through western Manitoba and eastern Saskatchewan on the  Canadian Northern's prairie route – now part of Canadian National Railway.

  The tour begins with a visit to the Winnipeg Railway Museum (located in Winnipeg’s Union Station). The passengers will board Via rail's Winnipeg – Churchill train, which will travel through Gladstone to Dauphin, Manitoba (where the railway originated) with amazing views of Riding Mountain National Park.  The tour stops at the town named after the first 2 letters of the railway’s name (CAnadian NOrthern RAilway) - Canora, Saskatchewan.

   The tour will spend two nights and a full day in Canora. Those on the tour will experience how this railway supported the farmers and promoted immigration to the Canadian Prairies by visiting the National Doukhobor Heritage Village and the Ukrainian Heritage Museum. There will be a special demonstration of vintage farming equipment and a visit to the recently redeveloped Canora Station House Museum. 

   Also the tour includes a visit to Canada’s only Toy & Autograph Museum and a special themed banquet to celebrate the Canadian Northern Railway.  On the third day of the tour, guests will transfer south by motor coach to Melville, SK to visit the railway museum and the community's original Town Hall and Opera House before boarding VIA Rail’s Canadian to travel through the Qu'appelle Valley and return to Winnipeg.

 For more information about the tour, call Rail Travel Tours in Winnipeg toll free 1-866-704-3528

Christopher Robinson displays Algoma Central boxcars at Winipeg Model Railroad Club's January meeting

   WMRC member Christopher Robinson presented six Algoma Central Railway 40 foot outside braced boxcars at the club's monthly model display at their January meeting. These were Accurail boxcar kits, which he assembled, applied dry transfer decals, and installed Kadee Couplers.

    This was his first attempt at weathering anything, and he did a terrific job! No two boxcars were weathered identically. The level of weathering suggests that the cars came out of the paint shop recently. He used a thin wash of grey paint to weather the cars. Some cars received more than one coat. 

     The monthly model display is open to all WMRC members. A cash prize is given every month, drawn at random. Show us what you've got! We always love to see what our members have been doing!

Moose Jaw Thunder Creek Model Railroad Club to hold Train Show in March

   The Moose Jaw Thunder Creek Model Railroad Club will be holding their annual train show on March 21 and 22, 2015. They're still looking for exhibitors, and the deadline for registering is February 27.

   The show generally draws around 1000 people over the two days. It is held at the Moose Jaw Western Development Museum, History of Transportation. The Museum’s collection includes a number of railway artifacts such as Canadian Pacific 4-6-2 locomotive 2364 and a 1913 combination car. The show is spread throughout the Museum’s collection.

   Space within the Museum is limited. If you wish to attend please let them know what your space requirements as soon as possible, as layout size may have to be restricted. Please provide as much detail as possible regarding your requirements.

 A registration form has been attached to this post, which you can download and send to the club. If you have any other questions please contact Stirling Millar at stirling.millar@live.ca or Bud Guidos at bguidos@sasktel.net

Winnipeg Model Railroad Club announces date and new location for their 2014 spring open house

   Mark your calendars! The WMRC will be holding its annual spring open house on Saturday, March 28, and Sunday, March 29 at their new location at the Charleswood Legion Hall, 6003 Roblin Boulevard. Hours are from 11AM to 4PM both days. The venue is handicap accessible. Please enter on the west side of the building.

    There will be lots of stuff to see, such as the entries from our annual photo and model contests, and several operating layouts, including the No. 1 Northern Division's Free-Mo Layout, the Kildonan Short Lines modular layout, and the Lionel 027 "giraffe car" layout!

   The canteen will be open as well, serving donuts, pop, chips, coffee and our famous gourmet hot dogs, served with either mustard or ketchup! Come and help us celebrate our 60th year of model railroading in Winnipeg! Admission is by donation, and a portion of proceeds will go to support St. Amant. Hope to see you all there!

Selkirk Model Railroad Association to hold model train, plane and automobile swap meet in April

   Our good friends at the Selkirk Model railroad Association are holding their very first model train, plane and automobile swap meet this spring. The event will be held not in Selkirk, but in Stonewall, at the South Interlake 55+ centre, located at 5 Keith Cosens drive.

    Tables for the weekend are going for $25. Final registration deadline is April 1, but there are only 34 tables available,  so be sure to book your table right away!

Morgan Turney wins January Lantern photo contest

   Long time WMRC member Morgan Turney won the club's photo contest for January. His winning image was featured on the cover of the January issue of The Lantern, the official publication of the WMRC.

    January's theme was snow. The theme for February's contest is a railway photograph that expresses just how cold it is outside. It could be hoarfrost on a cold steel rail, ice crystals as exhaust plumes rise from diesel locomotives or wind driven sheets of snow caused by the velocity induced by train movements.

   To make things easier, any photograph that was shot in 2015, 2014 or earlier will be allowed. The winner will have their image featured on February's cover of The Lantern. They will also receive $15 or $30, depending on how many entries are submitted.  The deadline for entries will be no later than MIDNIGHT on Tuesday, January 27.

Memories of Ken Epp's Cougar River Subdivison layout

    A very young Ken Epp, looking very much like his son Jeremy, working on the first version of the Cougar River Subdivision in the mid-80's.

   WMRC member John Longhurst posted an excellent article about the late Ken Epp's Cougar River Subdivision layout, featuring many vintage photos taken during the years when it was in operation.
Ken's wife lent Ken's photo album to John, who proceeded to take images of the photos with his iPhone, which he posted on his blog site, The CP Rail Manitoba and Minnesota Subdivision, and on his Flickr page. 

    Ken (who was John's brother-in-law) took copious records of the building of his layout. The collection is a fascinating record of the building of one of Manitoba's greatest and most famous model railroads.

WinNtrak runs their N gauge modular railway at Kildonan Place Shopping Centre this weekend

   The crew of WinNtrak, seen here at the Manitoba Mega Train Show, will be displaying their N gauge modular railway at Kildonan Place Shopping Centre this weekend. Photo by Suzanne Lemon.

     Christmas is over, and the cold winds of January are upon us, but there's still plenty of good model railroading to see in Winnipeg! Our good friends at WinNtrak have set up their magnificent N gauge modular railway at Kildonan Place Shopping Centre this weekend! The hours are from 9:30 to 6:00 on Saturday, January 10 and from 11:00 to 6:00 on Sunday, January 11.

    Kildonan Place is located at 1555 Regent Avenue West in Transcona.  It's worth the trip!

Mark Perry to make presentation on the Greater Winnipeg Water District Railway at Winnipeg Model Railroad Club's January meeting

   This image, taken by our good friend Steve Boyko for his blog, "Confessions of a Train Geek" shows the GWWD RS-23 switching tank cars outside their yard on Dawson Road in the rain. The switcher was built in 1960 by MLW and purchased by the GWWD in 1985 from Devco.

    January's WMRC meeting features a special presentation about the Greater Winnipeg Water District Railway given by Mark Perry. The GWWD is a unique short line owned by the City Of Winnipeg. It is a 167 kilometer long line that runs from St. Boniface to Shoal Lake, which is the source of Winnipeg's water supply. It was built 100 years ago to assist in the construction of the aqueduct running from Shoal Lake to Winnipeg.

     The railway has been the subject of a book by our good friend Peter Lacey of the Winnipeg Railway Museum. An article in Trains magazine was written about the railway by former WMRC member Jeff Keddy for their March 2013 issue.

    Many of our members will fondly remember passenger service on the line, and the many excursion trains that ran on the weekends until 1982. They ran a special excursion train of the very last time in 1983 for the attendants of Railway Jamboree '83, the 1983 NMRA national convention that was held in Winnipeg.

     The meeting is on Friday, January 9 at 7:30 at the Charleswood Legion at 6003 Roblin Boulevard.
Guests are always welcome!

Neil Carlton holds weathering technique clinic at WMRC's December meeting

   Neil Carlton displays weathering techniques to Bob King and Val Lemon at the Klinic Karnival held at the WMRC's December meeting. 

    One of the more interesting clinics held at the WMRC's Klinic Karnival in December was member Neil Carlton's demonstration on various weathering techniques. Neil is a master of many weathering methods. His detailing is admirably meticulous, and he employs many unique methods to weather his models. Note the special gloves he wears (we should all be that neat).

    He also used makeup sponges to apply various shades of pastels onto his models (yes, he buys them all by himself at the makeup counter). Using these wedge-shaped sponges gives him extraordinary control over the application of the pastels. These versatile sponges can also be used to "pick up" over-applications of pastels on the models much better than a brush.

    Thanks for the great tip about these wonderful sponges, Neil! But if you want to try them out, don't steal them from you wife! Go to the store and buy them yourself, just like Neil does! 

  

Winnipeg Model Railroad 60th anniversary T-shirts on sale at January's meeting

    Member Godfrey South proudly displays the WMRC he just bought at December's meeting. He bought five of them - one for every member of the family!

    We do have a number of extra shirts that were ordered, and they will be available on a first come, first sold basis. These high quality shirts, with a spiffy logo designed by WMRC blog editor Paul Ullrich, are selling for just $15!

     Our next meeting is on Friday, January 9 at the Charleswood Legion, 6003 Roblin Boulevard. The meeting starts 7:30 PM. If you didn't order a T-shirt, but still want to buy one, please get there early!

Read John Longhurst's article: Winnipeg's CN downtown east yard, then and now

     CN's east yards in the 70's. Quite a difference compared to 2015!

   It's been 25 years - an entire generation - since The Forks opened to the public, changing what was once CN's bustling downtown rail yard into Winnipeg's premiere meeting place. The Forks is now home to the Canadian Museum for Human Rights, the Winnipeg Goldeyes, The Winnipeg Children's Museum, and dozens of shops that are housed in some of CN's structures.

     WMRC member John Longhurst takes a nostalgic and informative look back at the CN donwtown east yard in an article he wrote for his blog, The CP Rail Manitoba and Minnesota Division. Long time WMRC members will recall fondly when we used to meet in the basement of the Via Rail station when the CN yards were still in operation. Later, we held meetings in the Children's Museum after The Forks was established. Now we're back at The Forks, operating the Gateway Western layout in the Winnipeg Railway Museum!

The Manitoba Mega train Show has a new location!

    We are pleased to announce that our good friends at the Manitoba Mega Train Show have a new location for 2015. They're moving to Red River Exhibition Park, which is a much larger venue than their previous location at the CanLan Ice Sports complex.

      Some had doubts that a train show would even be able to fill a space as large as the indoor soccer pitch at CanLan, but the Manitoba Mega train Show has been a victim of its own success! They've packed that venue for the past three years, with attendance increasing dramatically every year!

       The WMRC is partnered with Mega Train, and we receive a portion of the revenues from this event, which is an important revenue source for the club.

     The new venue not only has much more room than the old one, but it has plenty of free parking for everyone! Hope to see you all there in September!