Two great programs scheduled for the Winnipeg Model Railroad Club's first virtual meeting in December

The WMRC's very first virtual meeting is going to have two great programs for your viewing pleasure. First on tap is John Bate, who will present a short introduction and demonstration of LCC, or layout command control system. LCC is intended to operate items on a model railroad such as panels, turnouts, signals, as much as DCC runs the locomotives. John will give a short demonstration of a few simple
actions using switches and LEDs.

Next Dave Downie will present the elements of layout design. The design for a model railroad can make or break the layout. Dave will discuss some of the points that you should consider before starting to build a layout. He'll show you photos illustrating examples of what he's talked about and show you where you can see how a professional layout builder designs layouts for a living. Dave will also show how you can build a model railroad in a small area.

The meeting is scheduled for Friday, December 11, at 7:30 PM on Zoom. There will be a short business meeting prior to the clinics. We will also be holding an informal test meeting on Friday, December 4, at 7:30PM. This meeting will give you a chance to practice with Zoom if you haven't used it before. There will be no business meeting or clinics, but if you have something you've been working on, please give us a look!

Those whose names are on our members e-mail lists have already been informed about these meetings. All members on the e-mail list for the past season have been invited. You have until December 31, 2020 to pay your dues if you haven't done so already.  

If you are not a member and wish to join us in our virtual meetings please contact us at wmrc.trainclub@gmail.com and we'll see if we can fit you in.

 

Winnipeg Model Railroad Club to hold a Zoom meeting in December

And now for something completely different! The WMRC will hold its very first  member's meeting on Zoom! The meeting will be in two parts, on two different dates.

The first meeting will be held on Friday, December 4 at 7:30PM. It will be an informal meeting which will serve as a test run. There will be no business meeting or clinics. If you have something for an informal show-and-tell, bring it along! This meeting will give you the chance to practice with Zoom if you've not used it before. It will also give the moderator a chance to practice managing the meeting. Be prepared to be a guinea pig!

Having ironed out the bugs (hopefully), we will hold our official monthly meeting on Friday, December 11at 7:30PM. There will be no canteen or 50-50 draw. There will be a short business meeting and two clinics.

Those whose names are on our members lists have already been informed by email about these meetings. If you are not a member and wish to participate please email us at wmrc.trainclub@gmail.com and we'll see if we can fit you in.

Enjoy the CP holiday train concert at home on December 12

This year, due to the COVID-19 Pandemic, the CP Holiday Train Celebration is moving on line. On Saturday, December 12, 2020 at 7 PM CST Serena Ryder and The Trews will headline CP's 2020 Holiday Train at Home concert, which will stream via Facebook Livestream on CP's Facebook page. The concert will also feature performances by JoJo Mason, Logan Staats, and Kelly Prescott.

The event will raise money and awareness and help local food banks collect much-needed donations.
Holiday Train fans will be able to view the concert by visiting facebook.com/canadian.pacific at the show's start time. An archived version of the show will remain on the page for later viewing.

Neil Carleton is keeping busy creating a new Free-Mo module

WMRC vice president and NMRA No. 1 Northern Division Superintendent Ian Plett recently emailed members, asking them how they  “spent their summer vacation”. Long time member Neil Carleton sent some images of the excellent module he’s created.

Neil had originally planned his module for display at a train show in Regina, which was cancelled due to COVID-19 concerns. It’s built to the original NMRA specs but using code 83 rail and with his existing two foot adapter modules, it will fit in with other free-mo modules.

The streetcar tracks are girder type to allow a clear groove for the wheels. They are soldered to copper pc board ties and the tinted spackling is troweled on using home made tools, to leave the rail heads a bit proud of the road to allow for cleaning. He painted and weathered the road.

The overhead wire works. The Bachman streetcar is switchable from two rail to one rail and overhead. The poles are brass and connected to the wiring bus. The power goes to the span wires attached to the poles and are soldered to the running wire using lost wax brass castings. The span wires are not soldered to the poles to allow slight adjustments.

He used a special tool to bend the girder track and some turnouts, so the next modules will have loops to allow continuous running. He used information online at East Penn Traction Club and Trolleyville School as well as a multipart article he downloaded from Model Railroader.

The poles and small brass parts were sourced from a fellow in Ohio. The track is from Custom Traxx. A few other pieces came from Micromark. The sanding tower is a Kanamodel kit as is the water tower. The oil tanks are ABS plumbing pipes with added details. The lunch stand is a Bar Mills kit.

Winnipeg Model Railroad Club cancels their November meeting

We are deeply saddened to announce that the November meeting of the WMRC, scheduled for Friday, November 13,  has been cancelled. When October's meeting was cancelled due to the city going into code orange from COVID-19 concerns, we were hoping that things would improve in a month. But now the situation has worsened, and we've gone from code orange to code red. 

Hopefully, things might improve in December. If so, our next meeting will be on Friday, December 11. We will continue to inform and entertain our members and the general public as best we can social media on Facebook and this site.  Stay safe, everyone!

Fall rail fanning with Felix Lesiuk

Our stalwart photographer Felix Lesiuk didn’t do much Rail fanning last month as weather just wasn't cooperating. But he always travels with a good camera and he travels regularly to St. Eustache, Manitoba and back, which follows Canadian Pacific's mainline on Hwy 221 from Winnipeg to Marquette, Manitoba.
 
Felix claims that this was not necessarily rail fanning, as he was just catching stuff as it comes by. Nonetheless, he took some excellent photos of some unique maintenance of way equipment, some weather-beaten CP GE units and a beautiful heritage unit in Marquette.