Rapid transit proposal puts Winnipeg Railway Museum and Gateway Western in jeopardy

By Paul Ullrich,
WMRC Social Media Executive

Winnipeg city council is in the throes of rapid transit fever, and the Winnipeg Railway Museum and the Gateway Western Railway might be their victims.

According to an article written by Bartley Kives, posted on the CBC Online News Digest on June 10, Winnipeg Transit has an agreement in place with CN Rail that will allow the city make use of tracks One and Two, where the museum is currently located. Winnipeg Transit engineer David Patman is quoted as stating that the museum would be relocated to somewhere else in the station or in the Forks. 

The most difficult task any non-profit model railroad or rail fan organization has to deal with is a location, and the more stuff you have, the harder it is to find a place. And the Winnipeg Railway Museum has the most stuff of all. However, this is not going to happen overnight. A study will be made of this proposal, which is expected to be completed in 2018.

We just lost the Selkirk Model Railroad Association because the new owners of the building they were occupying raised their rent so high that they couldn't afford to stay there anymore. The Winnipeg Railway Museum was originally the Midwest Rail Society, and they were the caretakers of the Countess of Dufferin, and other pieces of equipment that you now see in the museum. The main goal of the society was to establish a museum for this equipment, and they succeeded in finding a home at Union Station.

But they're there only by the good graces of Via Rail, and that may end soon. Relocation plans sound vague, at the very least. That's a lot of equipment to move! Who's going pay for it? Where is it all going to go? And what about the Gateway Western, which is housed in its own structure inside the museum itself?

This week, Winnipeggers watched in shock as the money grubbing Ganeffs at Manitoba Hydro more than quadrupled the price of a parcel of land they owned that was earmarked for a rapid transit corridor. Winnipeggers then watched in horror as city council caved into Hydro's demands and paid that grossly inflated price with hardly a protest.

Union Station is certainly under utilized. Only Via Rail's Canadian and the Churchill train operate out of the station. The museum, which is now housed in an unheated stall on tracks one and two, would certainly benefit from a new location. If there's enough taxpayer money around to pay a publicly owned utility an outrageous price for land, there certainly should be enough left over to assist the Winnipeg Railway Museum when they're forced to move.

Winnipeg's model railroad and rail fan community mourns passing of David Harris

We are saddened to announce the passing of one of the founding members of the Winnipeg Railway Museum, David Harris, who passed away on Nov. 20.

"Dave was one of the first railroad-types I met when I moved here in 1987." Said Morgan Turney, WMRC Program Director. "I remember going up to his apartment where he had the Winnipeg Railway Museum stuffed into a spare room! His dream was to find a place to display what was then a fair amount of stuff he had collected, and to rescue The Countess of Dufferin out of the Weston Shops! His dream was fulfilled when Via Rail  gave the museum some space on tracks one and two."

There will be a celebration of his life and works on the main floor of the south tower of Armadale Hollows at 1750 Pembina Highway on Friday, November 27, from 7:00 to 8:30 PM. Coffee and tea will be provided. If you plan to attend, contact Dave McDowell at 204-489-6512 or email him at: clio1@mymts.net

More memories of the Manitoba Mega Train Show

James South hams it up for the camera at the Kildonan Short Lines HO scale modular group display.

We still have a ton of images from last month's Manitoba Mega Train Show to share with you! These images were taken by our Program Director, Morgan Turney, who covered as much of the huge show as he could, in between helping run the Kildonan Short Lines HO scale modular group. Enjoy!

 Seated is Dan Kollesavich, Winnipeg's own "Morse code guy", with his Morse code display. 

A miniature model of the Countess of Dufferin was also on display at the show.

What's this? Boats at a model train show? Well, why not? A model is a model, and these guys are definitely superb model builders!

WinNtrak President Felix Lesiuk, who is also a WMRC member, commands the raffle table for his club. WinNtrak has raffled off many of these painstakingly hand-built N gauge layouts.

Val Lemon volunteers at the WMRC table at the show. We sold a lot of train magazines that weekend!

Railway Days at the Winnipeg Railway Museum this weekend

It's another great weekend for Winnipeg rail fans and model railroaders as the Winnipeg Railway Museum kicks off another exciting weekend with their annual Railway Days celebration! The hours are from 10AM to 4PM on both Saturday, September 20 and Sunday, September 21.

The Winnipeg Model Railroad Club will be there in full force, operating the Gateway Western Railway, a spectacular HO model railroad that is housed in its own all weather, four seasons structure inside the museum. The WMRC has partnered with the museum to create this project, and it has to be seen to be believed!

Of course, there as many other marvelous things to see at the museum. The jewel in the crown has to be the famous Countess of Dufferin, the very first locomotive to run in Manitoba, which has been lovingly preserved by the dedicated volunteers of the museum.

The museum is located on the second level at the Via Rail station, located at 123 Main Street. If you enter through the main street entrance, just walk right through the atrium. There will be a sign leading you to the platform upstairs where the museum is located. If you are entering through the back entrance near The Forks,  keep walking through the corridor until you've almost reached the atrium. You can't miss the sign leading to the museum!

It's going to be a big weekend at The Forks, as the Canadian Museum for Human Rights is having their grand opening. Please be advised that parking spaces might be hard to find in the area.

The Canadian Museum for Human Rights has been subject to a lot of controversy. The Manitoba Metis Federation has protested that Ray St. Germain wasn't allowed to sing at their opening ceremonies. But we'd let Ray St. Germain sing at the Winnipeg Railway Museum, or any event held by the Winnipeg Model Railroad Club as many times as he wants to.

As long as he sings a couple of songs about trains, of course!