Portage La Prairie Model Railway Club to hold their summer open house this weekend

The Portage Model Railway Club summer open house is taking place this Saturday, June 10, from 10 AM to 3 PM vat the CP station on 251 3rd. street in Portage La Prairie. They will have outdoor activities such as trainspotting the CP and CN lines and a small ride-on barrel train for the kids to enjoy a ride around the lot. 

Inside the renovated historic Canadian Pacific Railway heritage station they will have every layout from Z to O gauge running, with staff on hand to provide demos and interaction. Drinks and snacks will be available to purchase on site. Come enjoy a day at the Station! Admission is $5, kids under 12 free.

 

 

Retired dispatcher Gordon Smith relives his days at the Delaware and Hudson Railway at the Winnipeg Model Railroad Club's September 17 meeting

Gordon Smith as a young man is pictured on a classic Delaware and Hudson Alco unit.

The second clinic of our September 17 meeting will be held by Gordon Smith, a retired dispatcher for the Delaware & Hudson and Canadian Pacific. Gordon is a prolific rail fan with a treasure trove of material. His presentation will cover the D&H railroad operations over all four Subdivisions including some trackage rights shots, in the time period from 1969 until he was transferred to Milwaukee, Wisconsin in 1993 when CP consolidated the D&H train dispatchers with those of the SOO Line.

The meeting starts at 7:30 PM in the Tank Room at the Charleswood Legion, 6003 Roblin Boulevard on September 17. Capacity at the Tank Room at the Legion is limited to 50 persons. The Legion requires all visitors to the building to show proof of full vaccination before entry. As of this writing, the province has mandated that masks will be required in all indoor public places. If you wish to attend this meeting via Zoom, please contact us at wmrc.trainclub@gmail.com for a link. Not a member? Not a problem! Guests are always warmly welcomed.
 

Two great clinics to be presented at the Winnipeg Model Railroad Club's October meet

WMRC Treasurer John Bate will talk about his trip to the NMRA National Convention, which was recently held in Kansas City. John presented a clinic at the convention and also toured a number of layouts. He'll show you what a NMRA national convention is all about and talk about those things that caught his eye.

After that, Tyler Fedoroshyn will present a clinic about locomotive maintenance and repair in 1:1 scale. Tyler is a model railroader who works for GE (the people who make the diesels) as a service tech here in Winnipeg. Tyler has worked in both Weston (Canadian Pacific) and Symington (Canadian National) diesel shops. His presentation will include an overview of the shops and describe the various reasons why locomotives are brought into the shops. 

This will include stories about the problematic ones and stories about the particularly big  jobs like wrecks and major engine failures. He'll also talk about his HO scale CP PortCoquitlam shops with ideas on how you can model prototypical shop operations. Tyler spent 4 weeks this summer training at GE's Erie, Pennsylvania plant and may have some photos of that facility.

The meeting starts at 7:30PM on Friday, October 12, in the Tank Room at the Charleswood Legion, 6003 Roblin Boulevard. The canteen will be open, and we'll have a 50/50 draw and our monthly model display. Not a member? Not a problem! Guests are always warmly welcomed!

Winnipeg Model Railroad Club mourns passing of Bill "Tiny" Summers

We are saddened to announce that former WMRC member William "Tiny” Summers passed away last week. Tiny served as the club’s annual spring show chairman in 1994. He was also a member of the Vintage Locomotive Society. 

Tiny was proud to have fired CPR steam locomotives during the 1950s. He served his country in Korea and drove countless miles as a truck driver for Canada Safeway. Tiny hauled produce from California and Texas and visited hobby stores on the way back to Winnipeg. He was a regular at the Thursday night get togethers at Golden Spike and at Ware House Hobbies. 

Tiny also assisted the Winnipeg Police Service in the 1960's, as he was a qualified diver, recovering bodies from the Red River. He survived a serious truck accident with on the Winnipeg to Thompson run. He survived necrotising fasciitis, also known as the flesh eating disease, and was kidded that he survived was that there was so much of him. 

He’s been described as a jolly giant, although he could be pretty gruff at times. He was a huge man, standing about 6’ 6”, and weighing well over 300 pounds.  At the WMRC spring train show in 1995, he sat on a flimsy plastic chair that couldn’t hold his weight, and he and the chair went crashing down onto the floor! Ed Mulholland, who was club president at the time, salvaged a piece of the broken chair, mounted it, and presented it to Tiny at the annual banquet as the “first annual chairman award”.

Tiny is survived by his wife Barbara, daughters Debbie, Wendy, Kathy, Donna, and Maureen, his stepchildren Brenda and Ron, 14 grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren. By Bill's request there will be no service. 

Steam Whistle Brewing introduces "Last Spike" bottle opener

Steam Whistle Brewing is honouring Canada’s rail heritage with “The Last Spike”-inspired 10th anniversary in-case opener. It will be available in both six and twelve packs of Steam Whistle Pilsner  starting September 15.

“We wanted to do something special for our 10th year adding openers to our cases, so we went back to the brewery’s roots and explored the link to Canada’s rail history,” explained Greg Taylor, Co-founder of Steam Whistle Brewing. “The Last Spike is a symbol of unity and hard work and we cherish those values at Steam Whistle.”

Designed in the shape of a rail spike, the 2014 opener pays homage to “The Last Spike” of the Canadian Pacific Railway, driven at Craigellachie, B.C. on November 7, 1885.

For Steam Whistle, Canada’s rail story has special significance. The Brewery itself is located in the John Street Roundhouse just south of the CN Tower and Union Station. The Roundhouse opened in 1929 as a CP Rail repair facility.

“This is the tenth year we’ve included our retro openers in cases. Folks have shown us so much love and we look forward to rewarding them with this token of our appreciation,” said Cameron Heaps, fellow co-founder of the brewery. “We think we really hit the nail on the head with this one,” he joked.

Steam Whistle packages Premium Pilsner in non-twist bottles because of the superior seal that the bottle cap provides. While this non-twist bottle helps keep Steam Whistle Pilsner fresh, it might add some inconvenience to people who don't own a traditional bottle opener. To answer this need, Steam Whistle launched the free retro opener feature back in 2005 and has continued to release a new design each year. Learn more at: www.steamwhistle.ca/opener.

Steam Whistle won the 2012 Gold Medal winner at the Canadian Brewing Awards. To learn more about the brewery,  visit www.steamwhistle.ca

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This distinguished gentleman enjoys a can of Steam Whistle beer, which was not opened by their new Last Spike promotional bottle opener.