Winnipeg Model Railroad Club mourns the passing of MMR Ron Einarson

Ron Einarson is seen receiving his Master Model Railroader certification from fellow MMR Moe Smith at the Winnipeg Model Railroad Club's annual general meeting and banquet in 2017.

Ron Einarson MMR died suddenly on November 18, 2022 at Grace Hospital in Winnipeg after contacting Covid and undergoing hip surgery.

Ron was born in Winnipeg on September 25, 1949. He attended Grant Park High School and graduated Grade 12 from United College. He worked 43 years for the Federal Government in Winnipeg. 

Ron was a member of the Winnipeg Model Railroad Club since 1983, and was a member of the NMRA for almost as long. He also served as superintendent of the No.1 Northern Division and as the President of NMRA Canada. He served on the board of the WMRC as recording secretary. Ron achieved a a lifelong dream when he was designated Master Model Railroader (MMR) #593 in 2017.

Before the reorganization of the #1 Northern Division in 2008, he was the President, chief cook and bottle washer and tub thumper for the NMRA. Ron single-handedly kept the NMRA alive in Manitoba when no one else wanted the job. Every month he set up the NMRA display at the Winnipeg Model Railroad Club's meetings and held clinics. One of his popular features was the "tool of the month”. 

Ron was the heart and soul of the WMRC and the No.1 Northern Division. He was front and centre at every WMRC open house and TLR regional convention held in Winnipeg, giving his time and talents to help make them a success. Ron organized the layout hop for the 2010 TLR convention held in Winnipeg.

Ron's love of life and enthusiasm for the hobby was truly infectious. He was a blood donor with  over 50 donations. He was a tireless volunteer, a highly skilled model railroader and a great friend.

Ron had been suffering from dementia for several years and was unable to attend meetings of the Winnipeg Model Railroad Club. He had been residing at the West Park Manor Personal Care Home shortly before his death.

He is survived by his wife Yvonne of 49 years, son Neal and daughter Louise, his grandchildren Amber, Eddie, Zoe and Link, his brother John, his sister-in-law Marilyn and numerous nieces and nephews. Ron was predeceased by his parents Helen and John Einarson, in-laws Elsie and Eddie Attwater, Grandmother Olivia Einarson, as well as many aunts, uncles and cousins.
 

 

Everything from G to Z at the Winnipeg Model Railroad Club's November meeting

We had two wildly different sized models submitted for the club's monthly model display, held on Friday, November 18 at the Charleswood Legion. 

Gino Kost brought in a massive G gauge Burlington switcher. He installed a RailPro decoder and changed the incandescent bulbs to LEDs. He wired the battery powered lighting for track power and installed a speaker.

Richard Mikolayenko modelled a water tower and a coaling station in Z gauge, the smallest scale in model railroading. He hand painted all pieces of the water tower, and painted the water tank, the roof vents, and the trim of he coaling station. It was assembled and weathered with a mild black wash.

We couldn't resist posing the models together to emphasize the size difference. Those models Richard built could be used for a G gauge garden railway! 
 

This month Dave Ackmann of St. Louis, Missouri will make a presentation about automating CAD generators in 3D printing for Model Railroading. Dave will show us that CAD is not the only way to design structures.

3-D printing can be a real game changer for modelling, but CAD is difficult to learn. There are better ways, and Dave Ackmann created six of them, called “Generators”.

   When Dave wanted to create shake shingle roofing, he realized that such an “organic” shape was just a bunch of rectangles with random variations in size and placement. Dave has a background in computer science, and he wrote a program that runs under Microsoft Windows to collect the specifications for the roof he wanted. His program then created a CAD file that met the requirements, and when the file was post-processed in OpenSCAD, a 3D model was created.

The fun begins on Friday, November 18 at 7:00 PM at the Charleswood Legion, 6003 Roblin Blvd. The canteen will be open, and we will have our usual model and photo displays and a 50/50 draw.

There are no longer any COVID related restrictions at the Legion. The meeting will also be broadcast on Zoom. Guests are always warmly welcomed, but If you are not a member and wish to view the presentation on Zoom please email just at wmrc.trainclub@gmail.com and we will send you a link.
 

Winnipeg Railway Museum signs 25 year lease with Via Rail

Great news! The Midwestern Railway Association has signed a 25 year lease with VIA Rail to allow the Winnipeg Railway Museum to stay in their current location at Union Station in Winnipeg. Now that the lease has been secured the museum will be looking at getting grants to upgrade the building to meet code requirements for an occupancy permit. 

This may involve some structural changes to the Gateway to meet code. At this point there are no details on what has to be done. As the museum is still under renovations, there is no access to the club’s Gateway Western Railway at this time.