The WMRC's 2025 spring open house and train show is happening on April 26 and 27

All aboard for the WMRC’s annual open house and train show! It’s happening on April 26 and 27 at the Charleswood Legion at 6003 Roblin Boulevard, and it’s chock full of railroading fun! We’ll have several operating layouts in HO, O, N gauge and T Track, our annual model and photo contest and how-to demonstrations by our finest model railroaders. 

Test your model railroad switching skills with the John Allen time saver! Our canteen will be serving gourmet air fried hot dogs, donuts, chips, coffee and pop. Hours are from 10AM to 5PM on Saturday and from 10AM to 4PM on Sunday. Admission by donation. Proceeds go to support St. Amant.

 

Joh Bate builds an N scale mine

WMRC president John Bate brought in this N scale model of a mine to the club's monthly model display at our last meeting, which was held at the Charleswood Legion on March 14. The structure, which John says is a work in progress, was a Walthers kit which he painted a flat aluminum with an airbrush. 

Memorial service for Norm Leathers scheduled for March 25

 A memorial service celebrating the life and legacy of our dear friend Norm Leathers will take place at St. Mary’s Road United Church, 613 St. Mary’s Road, on Tuesday, March 25 at 11:00AM. The service will also be streamed live on You Tube at this link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4nKu-WotNLA

Is Felix Lesiuk going to eat a T-Scale passenger car?

Don't try this at home, folks! Felix Lesiuk is pretending to eat a T-Scale car to show how small they are.

Felix Lesiuk surprised us at the WMRC's March meeting by bringing in a complete T-Scale layout, complete with tracks, a power pack, a locomotive and a passenger car. He also brought in some accessory packs. The houses were so small they they looked like dice! 

T-Scale is the smallest commercial model railway in the world. Its scale is 1:450, making it ten times smaller than O scale. Its track gauge is just 3mm, or 0.118". The name T-Scale is derived from "three millimeter scale" and "Third of N scale". They were introduced in 2006, and they're powered by 4.5 volt micro motors. 

If space is at a premium, then this scale might be for you. But don't expect a realistic sound system at this size. When it runs, it sounds like there's a  mosquito in the house!

Here's the entire layout that Felix brought in, which is just a bit larger than a dish.

 

Take a rail fanning tour with Tommy Kucera of the northern UK at the WMRC's March meeting

At our next meeting Tommy Kucera will take us on a tour of five heritage railways, a few transportation museums and an occasional pub in the UK. Tommy spent almost three weeks in the northern UK last summer. He will give brief overviews of each railway, with pictures of the rail lines, the scenery, and of course the equipment along with a few diversions along the way. Tommy will also offer up an articulated, narrow-gauge steam locomotive as well as some peculiarities from the transportation museums he visited. 

The fun starts on Friday, March 14 at 7:30PM in the Tank Room at the Charleswood Legion, 6003 Roblin Boulevard. The canteen will be open, and we will have our usual model and photo display and a 50/50 draw. Guests are always welcome!

 

Two great model railroaders, Gary Peters and Alf Goodall, have passed away

Gary Peters was a fan of the Soo Line.

We are saddened to report the deaths of yet another two veteran model railroaders and former WMRC members, Gary Peters and Alf Goodall. Gary was an enthusiastic model railroader whose passion was for the Soo Line. Alf was past president of the WMRC in the 70's and remained an active member until the early 2000's when he moved to Winnipeg Beach and spent his time between there and Arizona, where he was also an active member in a local model railroad club. The Winnipeg model railroading community has lost four model railroaders in just a few weeks, and we hope and pray that we don't lose any more for some time to come.