Luca Matyas builds a Prairie Dog Central Railway caboose

Luca Maytas submitted this model of the Prairie Dog Central caboose for the model display at the WMRC’s March meeting. The caboose model was originally CPR and didn't really fit in on Luca’s CN layout, but it looked close enough to the Prairie Dog Central Railways caboose number 109.

Other than making the wire handrails, the kit was pretty easy to put together. He mixed a few different colours until he got close enough to the darker green that PDCR uses. Luca hand painted the entire model, and then printed off two PDCR logos for the sides.

Pictured below is the prototype as it appears today. What a great job Luca did on modelling it! 

 

Paul Newsome’s book on the history of the Prairie Dog Central Railway is now available

Paul Newsome, the General Manager of the Prairie Dog Central Railway, a written a book about its history, titled “Prairie Dog Central - The Story”. It is published by the Vintage Locomotive Society.

Paul has been a member of the Vintage Locomotive Society since July 12, 1970, just 11 days after the train’s historic first run, and one day after it was open to the public. He started with the group sweeping the floors and cleaning the windows. He is now responsible for the operation and maintenance of the group’s classic #3 steamer as well as the operation of the group’s commercial company, Prairie Rail Solutions.
 
The book costs $35.00, plus GST. To order a copy,  call the Vintage Locomotive Society at (204) 832-5259  or by email at info@pdcrailway.com. If you wish to have your copy mailed, a representative will let you know the cost of shipping and handling. Please leave your contact information, and they will get back to you.  

 

Winnipeg Model Railroad Club mourns passing of long time member Roger Kiendl

Roger (far left) is seen with Ron Einarson, Paul Ullrich Dennis Rietze and Sid Greenstone in from of the Prairie Dog Central’s #3 locomotive during the 2010 TLR convention in Winnipeg. 

Long time WMRC member Roger Kiendl passed away in Regina earlier this year.

Roger was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York. He had a long career in electronics and worked for companies such as Bulova, Gulf and Western, Curtis Wright and the Westinghouse Corporation. He was the designer and Project Engineer for the nuclear reactor rod control system installed on the aircraft carrier U.S.S. Enterprise.

He met his wife Beverley, a nursing student from Manitoba, while she was working at Mount Sinai Hospital in Manhattan. They were married in 1963 and moved Winnipeg in 1971. He worked as the sales manager of video systems for Servo Electronic Systems, providing television systems for Manitoba and Northwestern Ontario until he retired in 1999.

Roger was a member of the WMRC and the NMRA for close to 40 years. He attended the NMRA national convention in Winnipeg in 1983 and TLR conventions in 1996, 2003, 2006, 2008 and 2010. When the TLR’s local group, No. 1 Northern Division, was in danger of being delisted he was a driving force in helping the group’s reorganization.

Roger saved the lives of three of his fellow WMRC members Arnie Walker, Norm Leathers and Paul Ullrich in 2003 when they were travelling to the TLR convention in Thunder Bay. When it was his turn driving, a moose suddenly walked onto the Trans Canada Highway east of Dryden. He expertly swerved, braked, and honked, scaring the moose out of the way.

Roger was on the organizing committee for the 2010 TLR convention in Winnipeg. He came up with the name of the convention, “Steam on the Prairies”. He was a tireless and dedicated volunteer for this convention, assisting in securing the venue, the rental of the Prairie Dog Central Railway, choosing the restaurant for the banquet, renting the bus for the rail fan trip to Portage La Prairie and the rental of the banquet tables for the Friday night barbecue.

Roger was also a member of the Winnipeg Rotary Club, the Winnipeg Chamber of Commerce, the Winnipeg Executives Association, the Manitoba Protective Officers Association, the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers, and was a Board member for St. Amant. When the WMRC was seeking a charity to sponsor, it was Roger who recommended St. Amant.

He and former WMRC Treasurer Dennis Rietze designed the modules for the No. 1 Northern Division’s Free-Mo modular layout. Roger continued to be active in the TLR and the WMRC until Beverly’s passing in 2014. He moved to Regina in 2015 to be closer to his son, Anthony. He died peacefully in Regina at age 85.

Roger is seen taking a photo of a layout during the TLR convention in Duluth, Minnesota in 2008.

 

Prairie Dog Central cancels May and June runs

The Prairie Dog Central Railway has cancelled all runs for the months of May and June due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Vintage Locomotive Society, which owns and operated the Prairie Dog Central,  is monitoring the situation carefully, but no decision has been made as to if there will be any runs during the summer.

The railway has donated 1,000 latex gloves and 1,000 eye pieces to the Selkirk and District Regional Health Centre. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, the gloves and eye pieces were used by volunteers performing regular maintenance and restoration work.

Winnipeg Model Railroad Club mourns death of long time member Wayne Spector

   We were saddened to hear that long time WMRC member Wayne Spector passed away recently. Wayne had been a member of the group since 2007, when he joined with his life long friend Oscar Lakatos, whom he knew since they were in high school.

   Wayne was also a member for the Prairie Dog Central Railway, the Winnipeg Railway Museum and the NMRA. He attended conventions held by the NMRA's Thousand Lakes Region in 2009, 2010, and 2012. Wayne rarely missed a WMRC meeting, and he always enjoyed going for Pizza with some of the members at Santa Lucia's on St. Mary's Road.

   "I will always be grateful for the advice he gave me when I was the Convention Director for the 2010 Steam on the Prairies convention." Said WMRC Blog Editor Paul Ullrich. "I had absolutely no idea where to hold the banquet, and Wayne came up to me and suggested that the Prairie Dog Central could ride us to a place where we could hold our banquet called  the Hitch'N'Post. It was a great idea to combine the train ride with the banquet, which is what we did, and everyone loved it."

   Wayne was very devoted to his mother. After she died in April of 2013, Wayne's health began to rapidly deteriorate. He survived her by just over a year and a half. Wayne is survived by his sister Terri-Mae and her family.

Tickets still left for the Prairie Dog Central's "A Day Out With Thomas"

Thomas the Tank Engine will be at the Prairie Dog Central Railway on August 16, 17, 23 and 24. All of the rides are already sold out for this weekend,  but there are still a few tickets left, mostly for early morning and late afternoon for next weekend on both Saturday and Sunday. Out of a total of 44 separate excursions, there are still tickets available for twelve of them. These tickets must be ordered on-line through Ticket Web. You cannot order tickets for these excursions though the Prairie Dog central's ticket office. You can reach the site by clicking here. You may also purchase tickets over the phone by calling 1-888-222-6608.

On the site, a few of the trips listed say that some tickets for a few of the rides for this weekend may be available on site, but why take the risk of disappointing some youngsters when you can be guaranteed a ticket on-line for the following week?

For more information about A Day Out with Thomas, click here.