Winnipeg Model Railroad Club's annual spring train show happens on April 1 & 2

The Winnipeg Model Railroad Club will he holding its annual spring train show and open house on April 1 & 2 at the Charleswood Legion, 6003 Roblin Boulevard. Hours are from 11AM to 4PM on both days.

This is the second biggest train show to be held this year in the entire province, and it's going to be jam packed with plenty of features and exhibits! The No.1 Northern Division's Free-Mo group, the Kildonan Short Lines, the Assiniboine Valley Railway and WinNtrak all will be displaying. There will also be the popular Lionel Giraffe Car portable layout, which is always a hit with the younger set.

As an extra added bonus, the club has made a limited run of some custom made buttons which they will be handing out to the kiddies! But it'll be first come, first serve! There will also be the club's annual model and photo contest displays, and the canteen will be selling hot dogs!

Admission is by donation. A portion of the proceeds will be donated to St. Amant, who will also have a display at the show.

This is a sample of the artwork which will be used on the buttons the club will be handing out.

WinNtrak to display at Kildonan Place this weekend

The friendly folks at WinNtrak, Manitoba's largest N Gauge modular railway, will be displaying at Kildonan Place Shopping Mall this weekend. They'll be displaying on Friday, March 17 from 10:00AM to 9:00PM. On Saturday, March 18, they'll be displaying from 9:30AM to 6:00PM. On Sunday, March 19, they'll be displaying from 11:00AM to 6:00PM. It's a great venue to show off their fantastic modular railway and all the miniature scenic wonders they've created!

See Dennis Rietz's crawlspace layout on Train Town on Shaw TV

Dennis Rietze (left) explains the challenges of building a layout in a crawl space to Glenn Klaeesn during a recent layout hop organized by the Winnipeg Model Railroad Club.

Shaw TV's second Train Town episode features our own Dennis Rietze's layout in a crawl space. The five and a half minute long video is available to Shaw subscribers and also on You Tube.

The showcasing of his layout is a bittersweet moment for Dennis and the WMRC, as he and his wife LuElla will be moving soon, and the layout will have to be dismantled.

The next episode of Train Town will be shot at the WMRC's annual spring open house, which will be held April 1st and 2nd at the Charleswood Legion, 6003 Roblin Boulevard. Hours are from 11:00AM to 4:00PM for both days. Admission is by donation, and a portion of the proceeds will be donated to St. Amant.

You can view the Train Town episode featuring Dennis' layout by clicking here.

See the British National Railway Museum at the Winnipeg Model Railroad Club's March meeting

By Morgan Turney, Program Director

This month, we'll have Tommy Kucera give us a presentation on rail preservation in the United Kingdom. We'll begin with a short video, titled 'Steam on the Roch Valley Viaduct', and then to the main feature, a tour of the British National Railway Museum at York. The museum contains over 300 years of railway history with over one million railway artifacts. You'll see the indoor turntable in action, too!

We need to have any club trophies returned to Morgan Turney either at the March meeting or on a Tuesday evening between 7PM and 9PM at the Gateway Western Railway layout located at the Winnipeg Railway Museum. Please return the trophies before our annual open house and train show, which while be held on April 1 and 2.

Model contest entries will be accepted on Friday evening, March 31st, during set-up night for the annual open house at the Charleswood Legion. If you are unable to attend on the Friday set-up night, models will be accepted on Saturday morning up until 9AM only. Please have all of your paperwork completed beforehand. There is a model contest entry Form in the current issue of The Lantern. If you attend the set-up night but wait to enter your models in the model contest on Saturday morning, they will NOT be eligible for entry. The Saturday morning entry time is only for those who can not be there on the Friday evening.

The meeting starts at 7:30PM on Friday, March 10 at the Charleswood Legion, 6003 Roblin Boulevard. The canteen will be open, and we'll have our monthly model display and a 50-50 draw. Guests are always warmly welcomed. Hope to see you there!

Winnipeg Model Railroad Club members show off their modelling talents

Three of the club's most talented modellers displayed their latest works at the WMRC's February meeting's monthly model display. Morgan Turney brought his model of a bulkhead flat car with a rebar load (featured above).   Morgan made the rebar out of .007 inch steel wire, and tied them together using a twisted double strand of electrical braided wire from a piece of electrical cord.

Suzanne Lemon created this abandoned Ukrainian pioneer log home using balsa and basswood which she cut and shaped to give the appearance of rough-cut timbers. She notched each piece to fit in a tongue and groove fashion. The wood was distressed with an X-acto knife and a wire brush, and weathered with sweet and sour wood stain and a dark grey wash.

Aaron Woloshyn scratch built this speed swing out of scrap pieces of styrene and wire. He "harvested" a set of spare wheels from the WMRC's Gateway Western Railway, and used spare decals from various sets that he had left over.