Winnipeg Model Railroad Club mourns passing of long time member Louis Lenz

Louis Lenz, one of the WMRC’s longest serving members, passed away at the age of 91 on August 13.

Lou was one of five other club members who, along with Charlie Scott, Bill Morrison, Tommy Kucera and current WMRC President John Bate, were professors at the University of Manitoba. Lou spent his 31 year career at the U of M in the Department of Plant Science, working in the area of Landscape Horticulture before retiring in 1995.

Lou was presented with an Honorary Life Membership in the Canadian Society for Horticultural Science in 2000. In retirement he continued to be active in horticulture and model railroading.

Lou was a quiet, gentle soul best known around the club as Felix Lesiuk’s rail fanning companion during his many excursions in western Manitoba. He continued rail fanning with Felix long after he moved to an assisted living residence. 

As per Lou’s wishes, a cremation has take place with is ashes to be scattered, and no formal service will be held.

 

Bryan MacNeil wins two awards at WMRC annual model contest

                       Bryan MacNeil won two awards for this CAD model of a fertilizer plant.

Bryan MacNeil, one of our newest members, won two major awards for the same model at the WMRC’s annual model contest, held in April at the club’s spring open house. The awards were presented at the WMRC's AGM and banquet, which was held in May. 

His diorama of a BDO fertilizer won first place in the special event category, which was to build a scene on a picture frame.  He used computer aided design (CAD) to draw the plans, then scratch built it from styrene. Some of the elements were drawn in CAD and 3D resin printed. 

Bryan also won the Tyro award for the same model. This award is given to a member who has never won an award from the club before and has shown extraordinary modelling skills. Congratulations, Bryan! Keep up the good work and keep modelling! 

Cliff Davidson sweeps WMRC prototype photo contest awards

Cliff Davidson won two awards for his photo of a CN freight train in the Assiniboine Valley at the WMRC's annual photo contest.

Long time WMRC member Cliff Davidson walked away with five awards for four of his photos in the WMRC’s annual photo contest, held in April at the club’s spring open house. The award was presented to Cliff at the club’s annual banquet, held in May.

Cliff won best in show for his image titled “Along the Feather Canyon”. He won first prize in the prototype category for his image titled “CN in the Assiniboine Valley", second prize for his image titled “Reflections” and honorary mention for his image of the “Keddie Wye”, a popular rail fanning spot in northern California. He also won the people’s choice award for “CN in the Assiniboine Valley”.

Cliff is a seasoned rail fan photographer who frequently barnstorms all across North America and always brings home such unique and fantastic railroading images. We’re delighted to share them with our members and all of our readers from around the world.

Cliff won the best in show award for this image of a UP freight in the Feather River canyon.

 

Cliff won second prize for this image,  appropriately titled "reflections".

 

Cliff also won honorable mention for this image he took at the Keddie Wye.

 

The 2024 Manitoba Mega Train Show is just seven weeks away

The Manitoba Mega Train Show, the biggest train show between Toronto and Calgary, is only seven weeks away! Every year the show attracts more and more guests, and we're looking forward to having a record breaking attendance this year! 

The Mega Train will be up and running, along with several great modular layouts such as WinNTrak and the NMRA No. 1 Northern Division Free-Mo Group. There will also be displays from Manitoba Lego Users Group, a Geotrax and a Meccano display, remote control boats and military miniatures.

There will also be many vendors with a huge variety of model railroad equipment in all scales to sell. There were so many deals made last year that the ATM's at the Red River Exhibition Place ran out of money and had to be refilled!

Mark your calendars for Saturday, September 28 and Sunday, September 29! The doors open at Red River Exhibition Place, 3977 Portage Avenue at 9AM and close at 5PM on Saturday. On Sunday they're open from 9AM to 4PM. General admission is $12. Youths ages 4 to 12 get in for six bucks. Kids under three get in for free!
 

Visit the Dunnottar Station Museum every weekend this summer

Bruce Smith, Betty Jackson and the rest of the Dunnottar Station Museum crew pose in front of their most recent acquisition, a speeder that they nicknamed "Big Stan".

It’s worth the trip to the Dunnottar Station Museum! It's loaded with amazing pieces of railway history, including a velocipede and their latest acquisition, a speeder track car which they named “Big Stan”.

The museum was founded and still operated by Bruce Smith and Betty Jackson, who were both long term members of the WMRC before they retired and moved to Dunnottar. Betty was the very first female member of the club!

Once a stop of the “Daddy Train” running from Winnipeg to “The Beaches,” the Dunnottar Station Museum is actually the refurbished Matlock CPR station, which was built in 1904. Historic photos and vintage police siren are among the artifacts. The station is also home to a Geocache. Next door to the station you can see the vintage 1930’s Ponemah Beach grocery store and Post Office.

The museum turned 18 years old on July 2. Its open from 10 to 4 every weekend in July and August. Admission is free. They're located on 300 Railway Street in the Village of Dunnottar, Manitoba.