The WMRC will be there with two of their most popular interactive displays from their recent open house, the Thomas the Tank Engine layout and the John Allen Timesaver. Admission is free! Come on down to the Via Rail station lobby at 123 Main Street on Sunday, May 3 between 10AM and 4PM.
The Peg City Rail Joiners Club will be hosting Dave Pomarenski for the first in a series about N scale T-Trak modules. Part one will be the introduction, starting from the module. The meeting takes place at the Frog and Diamond Hobbyworks, 361 Bowman Avenue, on Monday April 27th, from 6:30pm to 8:00pm.
Come on down to the Charleswood Legion today between the hours of 10 and 4. Admission by donation, proceeds go to St.Amant.
The Winnipeg Model Railroad Club's annual train show and open house is happening today! Come on down to the Charleswood Legion, 6003 Roblin Boulevard between 10 and 5 to see six operating layouts, three interactive displays, award winning models and photographs, free how-to clinics and a chance to win a Thomas the Tank Engine train set! And you can even come back tomorrow from 10 to 4! Admission by donation. Proceeds go to St.Amant.
The Winnipeg Model Railroad Club's 2026 train show and open house is happening tomorrow! Where else can you see six operating layouts (including our new Thomas the Tank Engine layout pictured above) three interactive displays and free how-to clinics all under one roof? This is a once a year event that you can't miss! Come on down to the Charleswood Legion, 6003 Roblin Boulevard, on Saturday, April 18 from 10 to 5 and on Sunday, April 19 from 10 to 4. Admission by donation, proceeds go to St.Amant.
Come on down and see these modelling masterworks at the Charleswood Legion, 6003 Roblin Boulevard, from 10 to 5 on Saturday, April 18 and on Sunday, April 19 between 10 and 4. Admission by donations. Proceeds to go St.Amant.
What makes the WMRC's annual train show open house special is that we have clinics! Some of Winnipeg's top model railroaders (including those who've achieved the NMRA's Master Model Railroader certification) will be on hand to share their knowledge with you. Ask any question you want. They're there to help you out!
Come meet them at the Charleswood Legion, 6003 Robin Boulevard, on Saturday, April 18 between 10 and 5, and on Sunday, April 19, between 10 and 4. Admission by donation. Proceeds go to St.Amant.
Come say hello to the South family at the Charleswood Legion, 6003 Roblin Boulevard, on Saturday, April 18 from 10 to 5 and on Sunday, April 19, from 10 to 4. Admission by donation, Proceeds go to St.Amant.
Come on down and see their spectacular layout in action at the Charleswood Legion, 6003 Roblin Boulevard between 10 and 5 on Saturday, April 18 and on Sunday, April 19 between 10 and 4. Admission by donation. Proceeds go to St.Amant.
His layout is also interactive! Kids of all ages can operate the dump cars, the crossing signals and blow the whistles. We have three interactive displays this year. Come on down to the Charleswood Legion, 6003 Roblin Boulevard on Saturday, April 18 between 10 and 5 and on Sunday, April 19 between 10 an 4 and check them all out!
Admission to our show is by donation. When you donate, you are supporting St. Amant, so please come to the Charleswood Legion on Saturday, April 18 from 10AM to 5PM and on Sunday, April 19 from 10AM to 4PM.
As a special preview to this event, T-Trak’s Neil Berrington will make a presentation about the principles of model railroad module design at our next meeting on April 10. Neil will discuss types of layouts such as fixed, transportable, portable, communal modular and highly portable, and types of modular layouts including Free-mo and T-Trak. He will also show how he designs and produces modules with CorelDRAW and modern technology. Neil will also display some T-Trak modules.
The fun starts at 7:30 PM on Friday, April 10 in the Tank Room at the Charleswood Legion, 6003 Roblin Boulevard. The canteen will be open and we’ll have our usual model and photo displays.
The 40" X 60" layout was constructed on braced 1/2" plywood with banquet table legs. All structures are lighted with 12 volt bulbs mounted on styrene tube pedestals and power by a 12 volt one amp power supply. Two inch styrofoam was used to construct the land contours. Sculptamold was used for the final contours. The roads were made with 1/4" foam core. They were painted yellow, then masked down the centre line and painted grey. Scenery was made with various shades of ground foam and ballast.
The layout was designed so kids can operate it at the open house.
The project was spearheaded by WMRC secretary Brent Karr with help from past president Larry Leavens and Gino Kost. Special thanks go to Joanne Stempnick, who donated the banquet table legs, and to Sandra Mulholland, the wife of our part president, the late Ed Mulholland, who donated some of the structures from his layout.
The WMRC's annual spring train show and open house will be held in the Tank Room at the Charleswood Legion, 6003 Roblin Boulevard on Saturday, April 18 from 10AM to 5PM and on Sunday, April 19 from 10 PM to 4PM.
The WMRC's annual spring train show and open house is happening next month! We'll have some new features and surprises that will make this one of our best shows ever! Some of these features will be posted on this site and on Facebook as we get closer to the event. We'll be at the Charleswood Legion Saturday, April 18 from 10 to 5 and on Sunday, April 19 from 10 to 4. Admission by donation, proceeds to support St. Amant. Mark your calendars!
The cab and long hood were stripped of paint using 99% isopropyl alcohol. The four lift rings on the long hood were scratch built from brass wire to replace the missing ones. Both the cab and long hood were primed and painted with Tamiya paints (primer and yellow colours). Decals are Microscale black stencil lettering. Tamiya and Vallejo clear sealed the decals.
The handrails, grab irons, and other details were painted using black and yellow Tamiya paints. The walkway paint was kept as is to give the completed model a simple, but visible, industrial look.The model’s open framed motor had to be rebuilt before the Soundtraxx Tsunami2 1100 decoder and a single ESU “sugar cube” speaker were installed. To fit the new electronics and LED headlights the top frame cap had to be left off and a speaker shelf fabricated out of sheet styrene and attached to the frame using one of the frame plate screws.
Peg City Rail Joiners will be presenting another workshop by Jason Golebioski on Monday, March 16th at 6:30PM at Frog and Diamond Hobbyworks. Jason will be doing a two part series demonstrating techniques in epoxy water scenes and effects. Part two will be presented on March 23rd at 6:30PM. All are welcome, free to Peg City Rail Joiners club members. Non-members are asked to consider a donation. Frog and Diamond Hobbyworks is located at 301 Bowman Avenue.
We have two great presentations on tap for our March meeting. Luca Maytas will give us a brief history of the Vintage Locomotive Society’s Prairie Dog Central number 3 locomotive. He’ll give a brief explanation on how it works so everyone can have a basic understanding of steam locomotive components. Then he’ll show how they removed and replaced the boiler tubes after it was taken out of service in 2023, which took almost two years to complete. He’ll also show all the work they’ve done over the last few months to return it to its early 1900's appearance.
Then Eric Dawson will make a presentation about Manitoba T-Track, the province’s newest and most innovative modular group. T-Track N scale modules are small enough to fit in a briefcase and are often assembled together on banquet tables. They’ve displayed at the Manitoba Train and Hobby Expo, the Portage Model Railroad Club’s spring and Christmas open houses and the WMRC’s spring open house.
The fun starts on Friday, March 13 at 7:30 in the Tank Room at the Charleswood Legion, 6003 Robin Boulevard. The canteen will be open, and we’ll have our usual model and photo display, plus our 50-50 draw. Guests are always warmly welcomed.
Murray Brown brought in this unique model of a CN “Auto With You” car to the WMRC’s monthly model display at February’s meeting. The prototype was introduced by CN in the 70’s, along with Daynighter coaches and Red, White and Blue fares as an attempt by government owned CN Rail to grow passenger traffic and recoup some of the cost of the service by generating additional revenue.
The service allowed a passenger's car to travel with them on the Super Continental, trains between Toronto and Edmonton. Reservations were required for passengers and their cars. Passengers delivered their cars four hours prior to departure, with the cars made available soon after arrival in Toronto, Winnipeg, Edmonton, or Vancouver.
There were six autos per car. Enclosed auto transporters were painted in CN's passenger colours and were positioned on the rear of the Super Continental. Ramp facilities in Winnipeg were in the east yard at the southwest corner of the Provencher Bridge. The cars were too high to pass through Union Station.
The first year’s services in 1972 were peak summer only, three times per week. In 1973, the service was boosted to daily service. In 1974 it became a year-round service. The cars were fitted with BARCO steam lines. The service ended in 1976 due to lack of patronage.
Murray fitted his model with Walthers Proto trucks, Kadee scale head couplers, Utah Pacific marker lights, Custom Finishing Models BARCO steam heat hoses, Cal Scale UC passenger air brake fitting, Hi-Tech Details air and signal line hoses, He hand fabricated the uncoupling rods, self designed and 3D printed the coupler fit bar brackets and ink jet printed end of car decals.
Trucks were weathered with Tamiya X-21 Flat Base, Vallejo IDF Sand Grey. Vallejo Special FX Rust and Orange Rust were applied to the coupler knuckles and the wheelsets. Tamiya Panel Line Accent Color was used to heighten certain details. AK Terrains concrete acrylic was used to simulate tracks 1 through 6 at Winnipeg’s Union Station.
Former WMRC member Fred Shannon passed away this week. Fred was an active member of the club until he moved to rural Manitoba, but he remained a very enthusiastic model railroader and rail fan all of his life. Fred was a life long employee of the CPR. He had recently bought his retirement home near Emerson, Manitoba, and regularly posted his rail fanning pictures from that location on RailsMBSK onFacebook . Fred will be remembered for opening his impressive HO layout to hundreds of NMRA members for viewing during Railway Jamboree, the 1983 NMRA national convention held in Winnipeg.
Then we'll have a video clinic on modelling a view block to enhance the long view on your layout and to make trains disappear by using different scenic techniques. The canteen will be open, and we'll have our usual model and photo display, plus our 50-50 draw. The fun starts on Friday, February 13 at 7:30PM in the Tank Room at the Charleswood Legion, 6003 Roblin Boulevard. Guests are always warmly welcomed.
Veteran modeller Fred Headon submitted these CP passenger cars at the WMRC’s January model display. The models of the Canadian Pacific Combination 4208, Canadian Pacific coach 4711 were Pacific Pike kits from the mid-1950s.
They were assembled with White metal sides, ends, clerestory vent representations, Queen posts, brake fittings and truck side frames, wood floor and roof (roof required shaping to curve ends of clerestory), brass steps and end railings. Plastic wheels were replaced with nickel silver sets.
Sides and ends were painted with Scalecoat CPR tuscan red. Under frame and end platforms were painted with Floquil flat black. Roof areas with single ply Kleenex applied, painted Floquil flat black. Clerestory vents interior area were painted with silver.
Fred used Champ Decals produced by the late Rich Meyere of Minot, North Dakota, and Black Cat Decals of Winnipeg. Interior walls and ceiling were painted with Floquil Central Vermont green. Seats were painted with two different shades of brown. Seat railings were scratch built. Figures came from various sources from the past and Preiser.
Colfax, Saskatchewan was a station on the Lewvan Subdivision, running between Regina and Lampman. Located approximately 40 km north of Weyburn, the village was founded in 1911 with the arrival of the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway, later to become Canadian National Railways. Settled by American immigrants from Iowa, the community was named by B.A. Brown, after Colfax, Iowa. At one time there were three grain elevators: Sask Pool, Searle, and Federal. The Lewvan Subdivision no longer exists but is remembered by Lewvan Street on the south side of Regina.
This model is completely 3D printed, with 52 pieces painted with Vallejo acrylic paints and AK Concrete acrylic diorama terrain. All assembly was with Liquitex Matte Medium. Decals were printed on inkjet waterslide decal paper. A final coating of Mr. Super Smooth Clear Matte finishing spray was applied.
You’ll see this model station in April 2026 at the WMRC Spring Show, as part of an entry for the Special Event!
This article was originally published in the January 2026 issue of The Lantern, the official publication of the Winnipeg Model Railroad Club.
By Neil Carleton
The province of Manitoba has started a consultation process on how and when rail right of way and yards can be moved.
Lloyd Axworthy, a former Member of Parliament and Cabinet Minister has been hired to head the study. As minister of transport he was involved with the relocation of the rail yard that became The Forks.
The group includes Barry Prentice, professor of Supply Chain Management a University of Manitoba and Director of the Transport Institute; Jino Distasio, professor in the department of geography at the University of Winnipeg and director of the Institute of Urban Studies.
The group also includes lawyer Mary-Jane Bennett, who was on the Canadian Transportation Agency and recently involved in relocation of the BNSF cross boarder rail relocation in the Vancouver area, Jennifer Moore Rattray, Chief Executive Officer of Marymound. In the past she has worked with the Southern Chiefs organization and was a CBC journalist.
There will be six meetings in the city, held in areas that are affected by rail trackage.
The outline for the study is available online at;
https://www.gov.mb.ca/asset_library/en/proactive/20252026/rail-study-report-2026.pdf
The report can also be found by searching Government of Manitoba and look for Winnipeg Rail Relocation Study.
When relocation is mentioned the first thing people think of is the Canadian Pacific yards that isolate the north end of Winnipeg. While a significant project Winnipeg also has two other class one railways that slice through the city.
Relocation also applies to the CN mainline, BNSF lines and the smaller Greater Winnipeg Water District Railway. The CN Symington yards are also in consideration, as the residential sprawl moves in that direction.
I attended the presentation held at the Norwood Community Club at which the St. Boniface area was considered.
Interesting to note that one third of St. Boniface is the “Mission Industrial area”. This includes the former stockyards, a tank farm and dismantled oil refinery, the busy automobile delivery yard and some rail served industries. The area is crisscrossed by the CPKC, CN and GWWD. Marion Street traffic is regularly stopped at any of three or four crossings.
When you look at the map of the area it there is a spaghetti of tracks and crossings.
It was interesting to hear concerns from some of the over 40 people at the meeting.
One woman wondered if the hump yard at Symington could be closed, ‘it makes a lot of noise’. Symington is not included in the outline for the consultation. At over 700 acres it would be a formidable project to move. By comparison the CPKC yard in the north end is less than 300 acres.
An engineer attending said he had a part in closing the Arlington Bridge. His observation was removing he CPKC yard would open up significant real estate but wondered if the city has the water and sewage capacity for so much new housing? He also pointed out that rerouting the mainlines would still require bridges to cross rivers and the floodway. There would continue to be many crossings of main and rural highways.
Drs. Axworthy, Distasio and Prentice listened closely to all the comments and responded as best they could.
While relocating tracks and yards is the starting point, the final goal is the development that would follow.
An example given is the 4 kilometres of abandoned track in the Brooklands area; as an example of a recreational conversion. The possibility of commuter rail to the Interlake on the exisiting underused line was discussed, as was rail transit south on the Emerson sub right-of-way to open that area for commuter rail traffic.
Repurposed rail lines crossing Winnipeg could also be considered for Light Rail transit, recreation or housing.
There will be a large relocation symposium in the early spring, with a final report published shortly after.
