Watch Ian Plett on Global TV

WMRC Vice president and Public Relations Director Ian Plett was interviewed on Global TV's local morning show on September 28. He was there to promote the Manitoba Mega Train Show, which was held on September 29 and 30.

Ian, who is also Superintendent of the NMRA No. 1 Northern Division and President of their Free-Mo group, set up the largest display the show ever had, combining forces with the Kildonan Short Lines modular group.

The WMRC always has a significant presence at the show, as the club is involved in set up and take-down of the event, including assembling the mega-train and manning the admissions desk.

You can see Ian's interview by going to: https://globalnews.ca/video/4496572/model-train-lovers-unite-at-manitoba-mega-train-hobby-show

Check out these videos from Calgary's South Bank Shore Lines

CNR's vintage 1392, seen here on display at Expo 86 in Vancouver.

Morgan Turney sent us these links, which were sent to him by Calgary's South Bank Shore Lines model railroad club, which Morgan describes as the "Mother club" to Winnipeg's Kildonan Short Lines HO modular group. 

Featured on these links are two videos of the Alberta Prairie Railway Excursions taking the CNR 1392 going from Stettler to Big Valley. One is long, one is short, but both are good watching! 

https://youtu.be/7OfYFvneiIY

https://youtu.be/tsc8ySij13c

Winnipeg Model Railroad Club's annual spring train show happens on April 1 & 2

The Winnipeg Model Railroad Club will he holding its annual spring train show and open house on April 1 & 2 at the Charleswood Legion, 6003 Roblin Boulevard. Hours are from 11AM to 4PM on both days.

This is the second biggest train show to be held this year in the entire province, and it's going to be jam packed with plenty of features and exhibits! The No.1 Northern Division's Free-Mo group, the Kildonan Short Lines, the Assiniboine Valley Railway and WinNtrak all will be displaying. There will also be the popular Lionel Giraffe Car portable layout, which is always a hit with the younger set.

As an extra added bonus, the club has made a limited run of some custom made buttons which they will be handing out to the kiddies! But it'll be first come, first serve! There will also be the club's annual model and photo contest displays, and the canteen will be selling hot dogs!

Admission is by donation. A portion of the proceeds will be donated to St. Amant, who will also have a display at the show.

This is a sample of the artwork which will be used on the buttons the club will be handing out.

Another mega success for the Manitoba Mega Train Show

WMRC member Ian Plett commands the controls of the mega-train at the 2016 Manitoba mega Train Show, held at the Red River Exhibition Park last weekend. Photos by Morgan Turney.

It was another mega-success for the 2016 Manitoba Mega Train Show! Celebrating it's second year at the Red River Exhibition Park, the show just keeps growing and growing! Many volunteers from the WMRC kept the show running smoothly, doing set-up, take-down, manning the admissions desk, holding displays and running the mega-train, of course!

The Red River Exhibition building was well attended throughout the entire weekend.

The Echo Valley Mainliners modular group brought their layout all the way from Regina!

The Kildonan Short Lines HO modular has added a spectacular prairie scene backdrop.

 It's Lego time! The Manitoba Lego Users Group always puts on a spectacular display!

Winnipeg Model Railroad Club elects new President

Godfrey South has been elected President of the WMRC. Godfrey is a relatively new member to the club, and to the country as well, as he and his family emigrated from England just a few years ago. Since he moved to Winnipeg, he and his family have been very enthusiastic members of the club!
His lovely wife Jean has taken over the duties of running the canteen, assisted by their wonderful children - Frances, Tommy and James. Their kids have help run the Kildonan Short Lines modular railway at our spring open house and at the Manitoba Mega Train Show. Tommy and James are enthusiastic modellers who have won prizes in the club's annual model contest competitions.

More scenes from the Winnipeg Model railroad Club's 2016 open house

 Does this scene look familiar? It's where the CP tracks cross under the CN mainline at Rennie, Manitoba. It's been modelled by Morgan Turney and his crew on the Kildonan Short Lines.

WMRC Program Director Morgan Turney sent us several images from the club's 2016 spring open house. Some of them were so unique that we just had to post them! Enjoy!

 This is a model of a model railroad on a model railroad! The mind boggles at this creation!

 

 Check out the exquisite detail of this model of a corral!

 

The show wouldn't be complete without Paul Ullrich, "The Giraffe Car Man" and his layout!

Winnipeg Model Railroad Club member’s design gets national attention

Paul Ullrich's design for the NMRA's LCC system has been used in full page ads in NMRA Magazine.

WMRC blog editor Paul Ullrich designed a logo for the National Model Railroad Association that has been subject to a national campaign by the NMRA. The logo was for a microchip for the organization’s new Layout Command Control System (LCC). The logo has been used in full page ads in NMRA Magazine and displayed prominently at the NMRA’s national convention in Portland, Oregon last year. 

“I thought that the logo was going to be embedded onto a tiny microchip inside a locomotive, and no one would ever see it.” Says Paul, “Imagine my surprise to see full page ads and huge posters showcasing the design.

Paul has also designed the 60th anniversary logo for the WMRC, and the logo for the Kildonan Short Lines modular railway. He also draws a cartoon for  NMRA Magazine every month. 

Paul's design was showcased prominently at the NMRA nation convention in Portland, Oregon last year. Photo by Gerry Leone. 

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!

A special image from the Winnipeg Model Railroad Club's special event model contest

   WMRC model contest chair Morgan Turney managed to get all of the HO scale special event model contest entries in single photo during our annual spring open house by placing them all on one module of the Kildonan Short Lines display.

    Thanks to the magic of Photoshop, WMRC Blog Editor Paul Ullrich replaced the background (which featured a blank wall, a bunch of boxes, jackets and two of our member's stomachs) with a very nice backdrop of a prairie sky. Enjoy!

The Winnipeg Model Railroad Club's 2015 spring open house was a success!

   Long time WMRC member supervises the running of the trains of the No. 1 Northern Division's Free-Mo group at the WMRC's annual spring open house.

 The WMRC would like to extend a very big THANK YOU  to everyone who attended our spring open house this weekend at the Charleswood Legion! We had a lot of very happy folks who love trains drop by. A lot of them stayed for hours, but that's okay - it's even encouraged!

    There sure was plenty to see! All of the popular gauges, from Z to G were on display, and there was even a display of rolling stock from the Assiniboine Valley Railway! Two big modular railways - the No. 1 Northern Division's Free-Mo group and the Kildonan Short Lines were up and running at the show. There were also two N gauge layouts, the ever popular Lionel "giraffe car" layout, plus the displays of the WMRC model and photo contest winners. Our charity of choice, our good friends at St. Amant, were also there with a big display.

    The good folks at the Kildonan Short Lines modular railway had lots of trains up and running!

   Frances South and her brother James were on hand to help volunteer with their mom running the canteen, and to help run the Lionel giraffe car layout!

Winnipeg Model Railroad Club announces date and new location for their 2014 spring open house

   Mark your calendars! The WMRC will be holding its annual spring open house on Saturday, March 28, and Sunday, March 29 at their new location at the Charleswood Legion Hall, 6003 Roblin Boulevard. Hours are from 11AM to 4PM both days. The venue is handicap accessible. Please enter on the west side of the building.

    There will be lots of stuff to see, such as the entries from our annual photo and model contests, and several operating layouts, including the No. 1 Northern Division's Free-Mo Layout, the Kildonan Short Lines modular layout, and the Lionel 027 "giraffe car" layout!

   The canteen will be open as well, serving donuts, pop, chips, coffee and our famous gourmet hot dogs, served with either mustard or ketchup! Come and help us celebrate our 60th year of model railroading in Winnipeg! Admission is by donation, and a portion of proceeds will go to support St. Amant. Hope to see you all there!

Highlights from the Winnipeg Model Railroad Club's open house

We had a blast at our last open house, and we took oodles of photos, which we'll post until there are no more left. Pictured above is WMRC President Larry Leavens showing off the working of Winnipeg's newest HO gauge modular group, the Kildonan Short Lines. The group had their premiere showing at our open house, which took place on March 15 and 16 at Westworth United Church. Photo by Railfan Canada Editor Suzanne Lemon.

A CP freight comes out of a tunnel on the Kildonan Short Lines modular group layout. The layout depicts the Whiteshell region of the Canadian Shield as well as the prairies. Photo by Suzanne Lemon.

The Winnipeg Model Railroad Club's open house was a resounding success!

   Wow, what a party! We all had a great time at our open house! We had tons of visitors, we sold a record number of hot dogs, and the canteen made a profit! CBWFT and the Winnipeg Free Press were there! There were also a few surprises to be had, such as Godfrey South's miniature live steam display, Jim Spiers multi - layered O gauge Lionel "1960's" display and Suzanne Lemon's Z scale layout - placed right in the middle of the Kildonan Short Lines modular railway's returning loop!

     Thanks to everyone who showed up, and thanks to all of the volunteers who helped make this event  at Westworth United Church  great success! Thanks to the volunteers at St.Amant, who displayed all weekend. A portion of the proceeds from our show will go to support  St.Amant.

The making of a module (which you can see at the Winnipeg Model Railroad Club's open house)

In case you were wondering , the prairie sky was digitally added by blog editor Paul Ullrich. The original background  has a beige wall with a folding chair.

 By Suzanne Lemon  

   The module represents the rugged prairie and the ghost town of Bents, Saskatchewan. The grain elevator was scratch-built from styrene and the wood siding, air brush painted, decalled and heavily weathered with a variety of acrylic paint colours and other materials.  
  
    The scene also features an abandoned farmhouse, kit-bashed from a Branchline laser-cut kit which has also been hand painted and heavily weathered with different shades of acrylic craft paint. A floor was also scratch-built from strip wood for the structure and some weathered interior furnishings were placed inside, along with tattered blinds at the windows, made from thin strips of paper carefully cut and shredded with an X-Acto knife.   
  
    The tack shed, the horse and the rider on the hill comprise a Woodland Scenics white metal kit that was hand painted with a mix of acrylic and enamel paint. The paint was also used to simulate the rust on the tin roof.   
   
   The rails and ties of the abandoned track were painted with a mix of acrylic paint and Woodland Scenics enamel paint pens to simulate rust and heavy weathering from many years of exposure to the elements.  
   
   The scenery on the module was made using a Styrofoam board base that was cut to shape and layered to create hills. It was covered with plaster cloth and a layer of Hydrocal plaster. This was painted when dry and coated with a variety of Woodland Scenics turf and bush products to enhance the character of the prairie vegetation.   
   
   Recent additions to the project have included the long grass tufts to make the areas near the abandoned house and grain elevator appear overgrown. These items are also a Woodland Scenics product that was made from a synthetic material which has to be separated to the right thickness. Depending on your intent, each clump can be trimmed to the length that you desire. I glued them in place using Weldbond, as the thick consistency of this type of glue helps the tufts stay upright as they dry.  
  
    I will be building and adding on some small internal and external details for the elevator. In the near future you can observe the remnants of the loading door platform, the grain spout, the drive-in shed and the loading ramp. More weathered structures and vehicles will likely be added to the scene in the future as opportunities permit.

   The actual photo that I took of Bents shows a creepy place with an abandoned general store that still contains shelves full of merchandise. There are also abandoned houses that still hold the furnishings. The details on the module are not exact copies, as some creative license was used. I hope to add more structures as a contextual component to the module.

   You can view this module, which will be part of the Kildonan Short Lines modular railway, at the WMRC's open house, will be held on Saturday, March 15 and Sunday, March16 at Westworth United Church, 1750 Grosvenor Avenue.  Times are from 11:00AM to 4:00 PM on Saturday, and from 1:00PM to 5:00 PM on Sunday. Admission is by donation. A portion of the proceeds from the show will go to support  St.Amant.

Kildonan Short Lines modular group debuts at Winnipeg Model Railroad Club's open house

    We have a brand new modular group in town, and the WMRC is pleased to announce that the Kildonan Short Lines will have its premiere run at the club's upcoming open house, which will be held March 15 and 16 at Westworth United Church, 1750 Grosvenor Avenue.  The very spiffy logo for the group was designed by WMRC blog editor Paul Ullrich.

    Our good friends from the No. 1 Northern Division will also have its modular layout operating at the show. When they displayed at last year's Manitoba Mega Train Show, they had the largest layout in the building!

    Of course, the man with the giraffe cars (also known as blog editor Paul Ullrich) will have his portable Lionel layout up and running at the show. Paul's layout is definitely hands on! The kids (and the adults) are always welcome to come over to the layout and play with all of the operating dump cars.

   There will also be displays of the club's model and photo contests, some "how to" clinics about model railroading, a canteen serving refreshments, old train magazines for sale and a few more surprises!

    The hours are from 11am to 4pm on Saturday, and from 1pm to 5pm on Sunday. Please note that the entrance for the show is on the west side of the church, although the main entrance of the church and the elevator will still be accessible for our handicapped visitors.