Check out Neil Carleton’s brass model of a Canadian Pacific caboose

Long time WMRC member Neil Carleton submitted his model of a brass CP Rail caboose at November’s meeting. Brass models were popular in the 50’s and 60’s, and it is quite a rarity these days to see someone modelling brass. It’s much more difficult to do, and brass is not as pliable or forgiving as plastic.

Flat etched pieces of the kit were cut and trimmed, the soldered following the directions. Handrails, railings and ladders were built using brass wire and etched parts.

Neil’s model is still a work in progress. He plans to prime and paint the car, add window glazing and install no-flicker LED light modules. 

 
 

Winnipeg Model Railroad Club mourns passing of founding member Lloyd Franklin

Lloyd Franklin, one of the original founders of the Winnipeg Model Railroad Club,  passed away on July 26. He was 92 years old.

Lloyd was born in Winnipeg in 1929 and grew up in Weston. He worked for many years at CP Rail, then changed careers later in life to become a metals teacher. He graduated from the University of Winnipeg and Red River Community College. He retired after many years of teaching at College Sturgeon Creek Heights Collegiate. 

Lloyd loved every aspect of trains and had an impressive layout in his basement. He was an expert craftsman and built many projects in his workshop which continue to be admired and used to this day.
 

Exclusive photos of the Canadian Pacific's 2816 excursion train in 2007

 

For one of our monthly photo displays this season Dave Downie dug into his files and submitted these images of the legendary CP 2816 excursion train which traveled through Manitoba from Calgary on its way to Milwaukee and Chicago in 2007. 

The trip was sponsored by CP Rail and the Friends of the 261, a Minneapolis based group which has restored and owns the Milwaukee Road's 261 steamer and a fleet of the famous Hiawatha passenger cars.   

The excursion train featured a mixed consist of vintage restored CP and Milwaukee Road passenger cars, including the famous sky top lounge Cedar Rapids observation car.  The 2816 double headed with the 261 from Minneapolis to La Crosse, Wisconsin.

CP Rail honors veterans and armed forces with new paint schemes

The crews at the CP paint shops have really outdone themselves this fall! After first releasing several locomotives with their traditional grey and maroon paint schemes, they've just launched a fleet of locomotives in military style designs to honor our veterans and all of our armed forces.

Our two stalwart stringers and long time WMRC members Brent Tingey and Felix Lesiuk dispatched these images over to us. Thanks, guys!

Canadian Pacific reveals their heritage fleet paint scheme

How cool is this? CP Rail has revealed a set of SD70ACU locomotives done in their iconic and beloved maroon and grey paint scheme.Up until now, CP and CN have been the very last class 1 railroads who had not painted heritage colors on any of their modern locomotives. In the early 2000s, it painted a GP38-2 and FP9s used for its business train and other excursions.

CP will be painting a total of 10 units, five with block lettering and five with script lettering. The other eight locomotives will be painted in heritage colors by the end of the year. The locomotives are expected to be in service primarily in Western Canada. Rail fans all across the country can't wait to see these modern locomotives with that classic paint scheme in action!

Memories of CP Rail's Marconi Spur

The dog days of summer provide very few things for your faithful WMRC blog editor to post. But our good friend and longtime WMRC member “Long” John Longhurst unexpectedly came to the rescue and provided us with two links from his own Manitoba and Minnesota Subdivision blog about CP Rail’s Marconi spur. The spur, also known as the Molson cutoff, connected the Rat Portage Division to Winnipeg, was torn down this year.

You can read about the history of this spur by going to:
http://cprailmmsub.blogspot.com/2018/06/the-railway-line-that-made-winnipeg.html
http://cprailmmsub.blogspot.com/2018/06/more-memories-of-marconi-spur.html

CP to run special train to celebrate Canada's 150th birthday.

CP has announced that they will be running a train across Canada to celebrate Canada’s 150th birthday. The train will be in Winnipeg on Friday, August 4th, from 5:00PM to 8:00PM at the Southdale Community Centre, 254 Lakewood Boulevard. 

The CP F-unit 1401 will lead the train, hauling over 10 CP heritage cars. A highlight at each stop is the opportunity to take part in decorating a special car named the Spirit of Tomorrow. Children can write their hopes for the Canada of tomorrow on a commemorative card. The cards will be attached to the car. This car will be included in CP's 2017 Holiday Train.

Also included in the train is CP's  stage car where Dallas Arcand, champion Aboriginal hoop dancer and Juno award-winning country music singer Dean Brody will be performing.

For more information about the CP Canada 150 train, click here. 

CP has also updated its website to provide a history of the company, which can be accessed by clicking http://cpconnectingcanada.ca/#building-the-railway

Winter rail fanning with Felix Lesiuk

The prairie winter landscape is beautifully caught by Felix lesion's lens as Via Rail's Canadian barrels down the countryside.

At least once a month, long time member Felix Lesiuk sends us somewhere between 5,000 and 10,00 photos of his rail fanning adventures. He's usually accompanied on these journeys by Louis Lenz, another long time WMRC member. We have been using them as filler when there's nothing else to post, but they've proven to be extremely popular. Two of these posts have made the all time top ten most popular posts on the WMRC blog! So we're gonna give the customers what they want and post this most recent entry, which he took near Meadows, Manitoba.

By Felix Lesiuk

I got up real early last Thursday, as one of my military friends used to say, at OH dark hundred. It was worth my trip out to Meadows to catch the sunrise by the old elevator. The sun came up on cue pretty much at the end of the tracks. The only drawback was the temperature, minus 25 degrees! After bundling myself back into my truck, I went out to pick up Lou. Even though I was around CP for about 2 hours, here were no trains. 

We went out along Wilkes Ave and caught a CN train almost immediately. Then we decided to go back to CP as the snow banks along Wilkes block the view of the tracks. We followed CP out to Portage, but there were still no trains. We travelled west out on Hwy 1 and saw two CN trains. We saw a CP train sitting parked by Austin. We waited for a while but it just sat there so we headed west. After piking up our Subway lunch at Austin we headed out west to Moffat.  

I stuck to the main roads as there was a lot of drifts on the roads from the previous night. At Moffat we caught a parade of trains some using a distributed air car and two with distributed air containers. The real catch of the day was a freshly painted BCOL cowl unit into the current CN paint scheme. I am really glad they are going to keep some. We did see two other BC units that perhaps soon will be run through the paint booth.  

The day started off nice and bright and sunny, but as the day wore on it became overcast.  VIA showed up on time but after the sun went away. At around 4:00 we had to start heading back home.  We did see the CP train still sitting by Austin. It now had two units tied on to it now. The new Eco unit was smoking heavily. We waited a bit but it was not going anywhere so we headed home.  We caught a CN train in Portage, but the light now is fading fast. All in all, a great day to be outside, even though we had to keep the truck running often to keep us cozy.

Winnipeg Model Railroad Club mourns passing of telegraph operator Dan Kollesavich

Dan Kollesavich demonstrates Morse Code at the WMRC's meeting on November  8, 2013 

Our good friend Dan Kollesavich has died. Dan will always be remembered as Winnipeg's "Morse Code Guy". He often held Morse Code and telegraph demonstrations at the Winnipeg Railway Museum's Railway Days, The WMRC's Great Canadian Train Show and the Manitoba Mega Train Show. 

He will be fondly remembered at the WMRC for his excellent presentation on the history and usage of the telegraph at the club's meeting on November 8, 2013. Dan, who started working for CP Rail in the 1950's, also regaled us with his experiences of working for CP Rail as a station master in various rural communities in Manitoba and northern Ontario.  Dan also delighted the audience by clicking out "Winnipeg Model Railroad Club" in morse code!

It's not going to be the same going to Railway Days and the Manitoba Mega Train Show and not seeing Dan happily clicking away at his telegraph.

One of only three roundhouses left in Manitoba

An overlooked resource for Manitoba rail fans is the Manitoba Historical Society archives, which has a treasure trove of railway data. The building in the image is a former CP Rail fan shaped, four bay roundhouse built in 1908 in Reston, Manitoba. 

This rail facility used to have a station, section houses, a water tower, a coal dock, wood sheds, and several grain elevators. The CPR Reston Subdivision was abandoned in September 1960. The former engine house, is one of only three surviving in Manitoba. The others are at The Pas (which is an actual working roundhouse operated by the Hudson Bay Railway) and in Dauphin). 

The Reston turntable is a municipally designated historic site. It was closed in 1930 and was sold and converted for use as a seed house by Colin C. Campbell and son, which operated until 1969. The building is still in use for private storage.This roundhouse was featured on Gordon Goldsborough's "Abandoned Manitoba" segment on CBC Radio, which was broadcast on January 17, 2016. 

For further information about this roundhouse go to the Manitoba Historical Society website at: http://www.mhs.mb.ca/docs/sites/cprenginehousereston.shtml

To hear the broadcast go to: 
http://www.mhs.mb.ca/docs/sites/abandoned/20160117.mp3

Train Days at Portage la Prairie has been caneclled

   There will be no band playing at the CP Rail station at Portage La Prairie this year.

 
     We regret to announce that Train Days at Portage la Prairie has been cancelled this year.

     The Portage la Prairie Model Railroad Club has always put on a great show at the Canadian Pacific Railway Heritage Park and Interpretive Centre  (Formerly the CP Rail station). The event was usually held during the last weekend of May. But complications during the station's extensive renovations has caused them to remove their layout and place it in temporary storage.

     It is our sincere hope that Train Days will be able to be held next year. It's a great place to party, view a great looking model railroad, and do some rail fanning near the CP and CN mainlines!

Invest in trains (the real thing, not the models)

Canadian Railways have always been a very solid investment.  No one has ever gone broke investing in Canadian railways. They also pay quarterly dividends. Thanks to the vastness of our nation, their future is secure. Both CN and CP have the advantage of having ports on both ends of the continent, plus connections to Chicago and one major U.S. port each.  Shipping by rail is still the cheapest and most efficient form of land transportation. Intermodal shipping, agricultural and resource  agricultural exports guarantee their prosperity.  

Especially resource.

Oil, that is.

Black gold.

Alberta tea.

As long as future pipeline development will continue to at a snail's pace, oil will continue to be brought to market by rail for a very long time. 

Look at any freight train that passes you buy. How many tankers do you see? Can you count them all? Of course you can't.

 CN stocks split in the previous decade, nearly tripled in value, then split again late last year. Pundits estimated that the price would climb to $66.00 by the year's end. As of this writing, the stock is listed at over $73.00. CN's second quarter profits increased by 18%.

The largest single shareholder of CN stocks is Bill Gates. Yes, that Bill Gates. The Microsoft guy.

In 2002, CP broke itself up into five different companies. CP Rail soon exceeded its pre-breakup value, and two of the companies, Fording (now Teck Resources) and Encana have become valued resource stocks. Encana also split into two companies, creating Cenovus, creating more shareholder value.

In 2012, CP Rail underwent a much publicized corporate takeover and management restructuring, where former CN CEO Hunter Harrison was hired to run the railway. Before the takeover, the stock was languishing in the mid 60's. As of this writing, it's now worth over $210. Shares have surged over 25% in 2014. Under Harrison, CP's operating ratio has fallen from 80% to 65.1%.

Will these stocks continue to go up? Hard to say, but keep in mind that we're still in a very strong bull market.

But your own homework before you invest. There's plenty of advice and information out there.  You're not going to impress your financial advisor if you tell him that you're going to sink your hard earned cash in a stock just because you read about it on the WMRC blog!

CN cracks down on rail fans in Portage La Prairie

   These two distinguished gentlemen and their unidentified "companion" were questioned by the RCMP during a recent rail fanning trip to Portage La Prairie.

    During a recent trip to Portage la Prairie, a small group of rail fans were reported by CN authorities and questioned by the RCMP.

    The group had settled in their usual rail fanning place at the foundation of the old grain elevator near the CP tracks. Two of them, who were in their 60's, left the site to walk to the Via Rail station to answer nature's call ( which is common for most men of that age). The two elderly men were walking  on the station platform on the opposite side of the tracks when a CN employee burst from CN's portable structure and shouted at them.

    "Hey, get off of there! You're trespassing!" Shouted the employee.

     The two men immediately complied and walked across the tracks to the passenger platform at the station. When they returned to their rail fanning site, they were surprised to see an RCMP police car approaching them. The police informed them that the CN employee had called them to report a trespassing incident.

    The two policemen took their names and told them that they'd have to call CN Police to see if they wanted to lay charges against them. The police seemed a bit embarrassed by the situation, and as they were waiting for the CN Police to respond to their 800 call, they chatted with the three men about camera equipment (It should be noted that while this was going on, other people were freely crossing the tracks at various locations). About ten minutes later, the CN Police responded.

   No charges were laid, but the RCMP strongly advised the men not to cross the tracks for any reason except at the designated level crossings. With that, the rail fans parked at the station, then later went to the diamond, far away from the prying eyes of CN.

    This might've been an unusual and even an isolated incident, and the rail fans might've been just a victim of bad timing on a lazy Sunday afternoon, but CN (and CP) are well within their rights to report such incidents. They might've not taken some of the more extreme measures we've all heard about the U.S. railroads regarding rail fanning, bur keep in mind the CN and CP have a strong presence in the U.S. and are influenced by the practices of other railroads.

    As Canadians, we are often inclined believe that we can rail fan more freely than our friends south of the border. Incidents like this show that this is no longer true. When we rail fan, we should always exercise extreme caution and respect the property laws of the railroads, whether we are rail fanning in the U.S. or in Canada.

Portage La Prairie - one of North America's best rail fanning spots

   WMRC blog editor Paul Ullrich caught this rare scene of two vintage CP SD-40s being towed by an AC4400 by the level crossing by the former CP rail station in Portage La Prairie. 

    We have one of the best rail fanning spots in North America just an hour's drive from Winnipeg in Portage la Prairie. But don't take our word for it - Trains magazine said so several years back! It's one of the few places where the CP and the CN mainlines travel parallel to each other only a few yards apart.

     There are several good places to rail fan here. The obvious choice is either at the CP or the CN stations. Many prefer the CN station, as CN runs far more trains during the day than CP (which prefers to runs most of their trains at night). Another favoured spot is the foundation of the old grain elevator by the CP tracks just west of the Tupper Street overpass, which is accessible by a service road that runs in between the CP and CN rail lines. But just a few blocks further west is the diamond, where the main lines interesect. If you're looking for a a spot to view both main lines, can't get any closer than that!

    Please be advised that both CN and CP frown upon anyone crossing their tracks at any place other than at a level crossing, so for safety's sake don't test fate by doing otherwise, even if it means missing out on a good shot.

   This moody shot of a CN freight passing the station was taken on the same day as the sunny shot of the three CP diesels! We had a lot of weather that day!

    This astute observer points to the locomotive in the middle of  this mile long freight train.

The number one rule about rail fanning is that you have to be very particular about the company you keep!

Next meeting: Friday, February 14 at 7:30 P.M.

Happy Valentine's Day!

   Our February meeting features a presentation by WMRC Vice President Dave Downie. Dave has been very busy digitizing hundreds of 35mm slides and prints that he's taken over the years. He's collected the best of the lot from the past 40 years and he'll be showcasing them at the meeting.

    Dave's name is certainly familiar with the followers of this blog, for he is the author of the very popular four part series about the 1983 NMRA national  convention, "Railway Jamboree", which was held in Winnipeg. Part four will be posted later this week.

   Dave has been rail fanning all of his life. Rumour has it that he started rail fanning even before he could walk! Tales have been told of how his mother used to wheel his baby carriage up the Arlington Street bridge. Dave, dressed in a T-shirt bearing the CP Rail crest and a grey and maroon baby bonnet with yellow trim, would stand on his tip toes in the baby carriage and lean over the railing, taking pictures of passing locomotives with his Kodak Brownie box camera!

   We won't be seeing any of those pictures on Friday night, as he hasn't digitized them yet. But he will take us all the way back to the swinging 70's, so there will be plenty of vintage photos of first and second generation diesel motive power to be seen!

   The meeting starts at 7:30 P.M. at Westworth United Church, 1750 Grosvenor Avenue. Not a member? No problem! Visitors are always welcome!

The CP Rail Holiday Train is coming to town!

    The CP Rail Holiday Train, a wonderful Christmas tradition for rail fans and non-rail fans alike, will be returning to Winnipeg on December 2. It will be at Molson Street between Panet Road and Monroe at 9:15 PM (that's 21:15 in railroad time). The jolly old gent himself will be making an appearance! Now there's a luck guy - he gets to ride a sleigh AND the CP Holiday Train at Christmas time! Doc Walker, Melanie Doane and Crystal Shawanda will also be performing.

     If you want to catch it earlier than that, then you can drive over to Whitemouth, where it will make a stop at 7:00 PM (19:00 railroad time). Along with jolly old Saint Nick, Melanie Doan and Crystal Shawanda will be performing there. Then you can chase the train back to Winnipeg! But please drive carefully!

     The train will also be making at stop at Portage La Prairie, opposite the Centennial Arena, 390 1st street NW,  on December 3 at 4:00 PM (16:00 railroad time). Melanie Doane and Doc Walker will perform there. Santa will be there too - maybe he'll do some rail fanning at the diamond!

      If you really feel like chasing that train, it will also be in Minnedosa on December 3 at 7:45 PM
(19:45 in railroad time) west of the rail station, north side of the yard, at 30 2nd Avenue NW. It will be at Shoal Lake on December 4 at 9:00 AM (9:00 railroad time, of course) at the gravel lot adjacent to the grain elevator on North Railway Avenue. Melanie Doane, Doc Walker and a certain Mr. Kris Kringle will be appearing at both locations. If you manage to make it to all of these places, you'll probably be BFFs with all of them!

      Since its inception in 1999, the train has raised more than $7.4 million dollars and over 3 million pounds of food in Canada and the U.S. Everyone who attends is encouraged to donate food and money, which will stay in the community.

     For more information, go to:
     http://www.cpr.ca/en/in-your-community/holiday-train/Pages/default.aspx

     You can even like them on Facebook:
     https://www.facebook.com/HolidayTrain

Morse code at the Winnipeg Model Railroad Club

Suzanne Lemon watches Dan Kollesavich demonstrating how to telegraph a message. 

   CP veteran Dan Kollesavich gave an excellent presentation on the history and usage of the telegraph at the Winnipeg Model Railroad club's meeting on November 8. Dan started working for the railroad in the 50's, when the telegraph was still in use. Both CN and CP Rail finally stopped using the telegraph in 1970. By then, it was only used for communication with rural stations. Dan also gave a demonstration on how it worked by clicking out "Winnipeg Model Railroad Club" in lightning speed!

   Before Dan's presentation, Suzanne Lemon demonstrated how to dry brush a laser cut wooden kit.

    There were also some very fine models shown for our monthly display run by the NMRA's No. 1 Northern Division. WMRC members Ron Einarson, Ron Lundy, Morgan Turney, Larry Leavens and Suzanne Lemon all exhibited their latest creations.

Suzanne Lemon dry brushes a laser cut wooden kit.

Larry Leaven's model of a tank car.

 Morgan Turney's working model of an oil rig.

 Ron Einarson's structure entry.

 Ron Einarson also entered some trucks that he was modelling.

 Ron Lundy's unique engine model was displayed.

Suzanne Lemon displayed a finished laser cut wood kit.