Winnipeg Model Railroad Club mourns passing of former member Roger Wood

                                       Roger is seen displaying one of his many Lego creations.

Long time former WMRC member Roger Wood passed away on September 7, 2024 at the age of 92. Roger had a truly impressive layout which literally went from floor to ceiling, which was one of the highlight of the 1983 NMRA national convention held in Winnipeg.

Roger was born in Leamington, Ontario. He was one of three members of the WMRC, along with Neil Carleton and Moe Smith, who worked at the CBC.

Roger was also a licensed pilot. He also built remote-controlled model aircraft. In his later years, he turned his attention to building elaborate Lego models of every description.  

An early picture of Roger when he worked at the CBC.

Winnipeg Model Railroad Club mourns passing of past President Ed Mulholland

Former WMRC President Ed Mulholland passed away on November 13. Ed served two terms as President from 1990 to 1996, and was a great force in the model railroading community.  He was also responsible for getting the club into their present meeting location at the Charleswood Legion. He was also a member of the Assiniboine Valley Railway.

Ed was a retired school teacher. One of his students was WMRC member and former club librarian Bart Hasselfield, who had him as a teacher when he went to High School in Deloraine.
He built some spectacular layouts in his Charleswood home. His most memorable layout was the Cumbrian Mountain Lines, an N scale railway modelled after his childhood home of Northern England. He painstakingly modelled many structures and location which he first photographed himself on one of his many visits to his homeland. His layout was featured on CBC radio on Ron Robinson’s weekend morning show.

Ed was also a champion lawn bowler. He was along time member of the Tuxedo Lawn Bowling Club. He was their head coach, chief umpire and committee chairman. He and Brenda Frank were the Manitoba Mixed Pairs Champions, who competed of a national title at the Qualicum Beach Lawn Bowling Club in British Columbia.
 

Visit Moe Smith's layout in 1984 on You Tube

 In case you don't recognize this young fella, that's our own Moe Smith back in 1984 being interviewed for the CBC series "Breakaway".

Here's a real treat! Shane Smith, son of legendary WMRC member Moe Smith, has posted on You Tube a segment from the CBC series "Breakaway" featuring his dad's layout from way back in 1984. There are also few familiar faces on this clip besides Moe. Check it out! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pyChf3AaVeI
 

Take a ride on the Tshiuetin railway in Northern Quebec

Looking for a unique rail fanning experience? Want to get away from it all? Then take a ride on the Tshiuetin railway in Northern Quebec!

Tshiuetin Rail Transportation runs Canada’s only privately owned passenger rail service. It is owned by three First Nations in the region. Tshiuetin means “north wind”. They run a twice weekly passenger train from Sept-Îles to Schefferville, Quebec. The head end crew and track for the 132.5 mile trip are provided by the Quebec North Shore and Labrador Railway, which is owned by the Iron Ore Company of Canada.

You find more about them by going to their web site at https://www.tshiuetin.net/?lang=en. There is a good thread about the train on trainorders.com and a CBC documentary on YouTube.

 Our good friend Steve Boyko, author of the popular rail fanning blog, Confessions of a Train Geek, also has an excellent post about long time WMRC member Alan Graham's journey on the train, which he rode in 2017. You can read all about his adventures in Northern Quebec by going to https://blog.traingeek.ca/2017/07/three-passenger-trains-in-northern-quebec.html

Using a model railroad as therapy

Karl Purchase and his son Matt view photographs of Corner Brook and Karl's layout. 

Former WMRC member Karl Purchase was featured in a story that was broadcast nationally over CBC. Karl is well known among the local model railroad community for his impressive recreation of his native town of Corner Brook, Newfoundland that he modeled in his basement. The layout, with scenes that he made entirely from memory, fills two rooms and spans two different levels. It took him 20 years to complete it.

Karl is 71, and his memory is fading, and until recently, he hasn’t seen his layout in over a year. He has been living in a personal care home after breaking two hips. Friends and family hope that viewing his layout will reignite his memories.

This is a remarkable story of how model railroading can have therapeutic values. To read the story and view the videos of Karl’s layout, please click here.