WMRC members old and new reunite at the CPKC Final Spike steam tour event

Seen at the CPKC Final Spike steam tour stop in Winnipeg from right to left are WMRC President John Bate, his wife Karen Bate, Karen's sister, Larry Leavens, and Luca Maytas.

What a party CPKC threw in Winnipeg on July 6! And nothing brings model railroaders and rail fans together like a classic steam engine like the 2816 Hudson, which was displayed in Manitoba for the first time in 17 years. 

It was a model railroaders and rail fans homecoming day, as members old and new flocked to the CPKC rail yards to view this magnificent engine and its consist, which included and SD70 in heritage fleet colors, an F7 AA lash-up and a fleet of classic passenger cars painted in CP maroon and black livery.

It was truly the railroad lovers event of the year, or any other year, as thousands of people stopped by to view the train for the four hours it was on display.

 

 

Cliff Davidson, John Morris and Brian Schuff chat with a CPKC rail worker who was part of the staff of the final spike steam tour.

 

 

Tommy and James South, former youth members of the WMRC, are all grown up! Tommy is living the dream working as a conductor with CN Rail.

 

 

Long time members Gary Stempnick and Norm Leathers also attended the event. Norm is recovering from a hip injury, but nothing was going to stop him from seeing The Empress!

 

 

Tommy and James South win Winnipeg Model Railroad Club's junior awards

 Brothers Tommy and James South are this winners of the WMRC's junior model railroader awards. Tommy won first place for his model of a weathered Frisco boxcar, which he built from a "shake a box" kit. He also included the club's 60th anniversary logo on the car.

 James South won second place for his model of an Armour reefer, which he also built from a kit and included the WMRC 60th anniversary logo.Congratulations to both of two of our youngest members of our club for their sterling efforts in this year's modelling competitions!

Suzanne Lemon's photos of the Winnipeg Model Railroad Club's 2016 spring open house

Who says the younger set aren't interested in model railroading? Tommy, Frances and James South take over the Kildonan Short Lines modular railway while WMRC Program Director Morgan Turney takes a well deserved break.

WMRC spring open house coordinator Suzanne Lemon sent in these great candid photos of our last open house, Held on April 2 and 3 at the Charleswood Legion. Suzanne is a professionally trained, award winning photographer who was also the editor of Railfan Canada magazine. Enjoy!

Jane and Godfrey South on duty at the canteen, serving hot dogs, donuts, coffee, pop and chips to our many hungry guests. 

What are John Sinclair discussing? The meaning life? Einstein's theory of relativity? What to order at Santa Lucia's next Friday? The club was very pleased to have John display some of his marvellous collection of G gauge trains for the first time in 23 years.

Tardis spotted on the Kildonan Short Lines! This was one of two Tardises displayed on layouts by the Doctor Who fans of the club.

Winnipeg Model Railroad Club's 2016 spring open house was a great success!

The expression on James South's face says it all! Everyone had a terrific time at the WMRC's spring open house held last weekend. It was the most successful open house we've had in over 15 years, and we'd like to extend a big THANK YOU to everyone who visited and everyone who displayed!

 No. 1 Northern Division's Free-Mo Group Superintendent Ian Plett made sure everything ran smoothly on their layout this past weekend.

 The Assiniboine Valley Railway's President Len LaRue displayed three of the group's magnificent custom made cars at the show, including this woodside caboose built by the late, great Peter Abel.

WMRC Secretary Cliff Davidson displayed this nifty N gauge layout that he built on a 2" thick piece of blue styrofoam.

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!

Assiniboine Valley Railway holds public open house this weekend

    WMRC members Tommy and James South ride the rails at the AVR's Fun Run Day, which was held last month. This weekend there will be other engineers and gondolas that you can ride in!

     What better way to celebrate the start of summer than to ride the AVR? They're having their very first open house of the season this weekend, June 13 and 14. Hours are from 11:00AM to 5:00PM on Saturdays, and from 1:00PM to 5:00PM on Sundays.

   A ticket for one ride is two bucks. A twelve ride pass is only $20! Kids two years old and under can ride for free (All minors must be accompanied by an adult). They're at 3001 Roblin Boulevard, just past Assiniboine Park!

   For more information, please go to their blog site at: http://assiniboinevalleyrailway.org/blog/

A big THANK YOU to all of the Winnipeg Model Railroad Club's canteen volunteers

    Pictured from left to right are Frances South, Jean South, Tommy South, Godfrey South and James South. The entire South family have been keeping our canteen going for the past year, and their efforts are deeply appreciated!

    The WMRC has been blessed with many volunteers, and it's time to honour the hard working crew that keeps our canteen going at our monthly meeting and at our open house.

    The canteen is a relatively new enterprise in our long history. It was started when the club moved its meeting place to Christ Anglican Church on Corydon Avenue in 1999. Former President Chuck Huard saw that there was a kitchen, and he suggested that we start a canteen to sell pop, coffee and chips. Chuck and his wife Lise, along with Ken and Roberta Anderson, ran the canteen for many years. Chuck and Ken also cooked hot dogs and burgers for us at the the club's Great Canadian Train Shows, which were held every fall at the Mennonite Brethren Collegiate Institute.

    Running the canteen is often a thankless job. The crew not only has to operate the concession stand, but they have to purchase all of the goods, deliver all of the supplies to the meeting, make the coffee, and store the coffee maker and any unsold items at their own own place. They also have to clean up the kitchen after the meeting.

   In 2006, the club started their "annual hot dog dinner" for their December meeting, which wouldn't have been able to have existed at all without the canteen staff.

    After many years of service, the canteen duties were then taken over by Dennis and LuElla Rietze, followed by Andrea leader, and then by the South family.

    The South family are recent arrival from the United Kingdom. They have been very dedicated and enthusiastic volunteers since they joined the club, and we are all very thankful for all of their efforts!

James South is always on hand to put all the ketchup you want on your hot dog!

  

Winnipeg Model Railroad Club celebrates their 60th anniversary with a group shot

 The gang's all here! WMRC President Emeritus Suzanne Lemon took this great group shot of all of our members who showed up for the club's 60th. anniversary bash, which was held on Friday, April 10 at the Charleswood Legion.  It was truly a night to remember, and everyone had a great time reminiscing, eating anniversary cake, and viewing photo images of the WMRC's past!

   (Above) WMRC Vice President Dave Downie serves out the Anniversary cake to all of the members.

(Below) James South can't wait to dig in and enjoy that big piece of cake!

The Winnipeg Model Railroad Club celebrates 60 years with a birthday bash

                         Suzanne Lemon, Morgan Turney, Frances South and James South all take turns posing with "Duffy" the WMRC's mascot from the 1983 NMRA Railway Jamboree Convention. Duffy has been residing in a fire engine at the Winnipeg Railway Museum, but he was able to make it out to the Charleswood Legion to help us celebrate our 60th anniversary.

 From left to right: Our three most senior members, Moe Smith, Norm leathers, and Roger Kendl have the honour of cutting the club's special 60th. anniversary cake while WMRC Vice President Dave Downie watches.

WMRC Junior member James South hams it up in front of the cake, while WMRC Treasurer Gary Stempnick enjoys one of the first slices. It was a Jeannie's cake, from Winnipeg's famous Jeannie's Bakery. It had that special Jeannie's cookie base, of course! 

Wasn't that a party! Everyone had a great time celebrating the WMRC's 60's Anniversary at our last meeting. Besides the wonderful cake and the special guest appearance of our old mascot Duffy, we also were treated to a trip down memory lane with a presentation featuring vintage images from the club's rich history. It was great to see so many old faces again (which weren't so old when the photos were taken) and have the chance to relive some of the club's greatest moments of the past six decades! Here's to 60 more years of great model railroading and fellowship!