Canadian model railroad community mourns passing of WMRC past president Morgan Turney

Morgan Turney, seen at the WMRC's 60th anniversary celebration in 2015, passed away on February 6.

Former WMRC president and published of Canadian Railway Modeller Morgan Turney passed away on Thursday, February 6.

Morgan was a club member for 27 years, and served a varied array of positions.  He served for two terms as president, from 1995 to 1996 and from 2005 to 2007. He was the club’s program director from 2009 to 2016, the annual contest chair from 2007 to 2016, ran the monthly model display from 2013 to 2016 and the 50/50 draw from 2013 to 2016.

Morgan was born and raised in Hamilton, Ontario. He worked for Maple Leaf Mills as a grocery store representative, and was transferred to Winnipeg in 1987. After Maple Leaf Mils closed, he decided to create a model railroading magazine for Canadians. 

He published the first issue of Canadian Railway Modeller in May of 1990 using the money he received from his severance pay as collateral after he sold 600 subscriptions at the Toronto Train Show. At the magazine’s peak, he had over 3,800 subscriptions. The magazine ran for 27 years. The last issue was published in 2017.

Morgan’s publishing company, titled North Kildonan Publications, also published Canadian railway themed Christmas cards, collector cards, the Canadian Railway Heritage Guide, art prints, lapel pins, HO scale Canadian Railway Modeller boxcars and Railfan Canada, a prototype magazine that ran for 12 issues. 

Morgan’s contributions to the hobby left an indelible mark not only on the Winnipeg Model Railroad Club, but on the entire Canadian model railroading community. He was an enthusiastic and tireless promoter of the club and of the hobby.

 

Winnipeg Model Railroad Club mourns passing of former member Murray Hammond

Former WMRC member Murray Hammond passed away in Virden, Manitoba on October 30, 2023 at the age of 62. Murray was a highly skilled 35mm photographer who had won several of the club's photography awards. He also held a presentation for the club displaying his rail fanning photography. A feature article about Murray, along with some of his photographs were published in the premiere issue of Railfan Canada. Murray moved to Virden, Manitoba several years ago. Various health problems led him to reside at the Westman Nursing home in Virden during his final days.
 

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 Member Paul Ullrich gets published again in Kalmbach's Classic Toy Trains Magazine

   WMRC blog editor Paul Ullrich has had his third article published the "Tips and Techniques" section of Kalmbach's Classic Toy Trains magazine. His article appears in the September 2015 issue.

   The article, which describes how to install a bridge rectifier onto a Lionel reversing unit, makes the fifth time he has been published in the magazine. He has also had two articles published in Trains magazine, and an article published in O Gauge Railroading, and an illustration published in Railfan Canada.

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.

A preview of a Kildonan Short Lines module premiering at the WMRC's open house

    Suzanne Lemon, WMRC Past President and Editor of Railfan Canada, displayed the module that she created for the Kildonan Short Lines modular group at our February meeting. The group will make its initial run at the WMRC open house on March 15 and 16. Suzanne did an excellent job of depicting a typical Canadian rural prairie scene, complete with an accurately weathered grain elevator!

     The No.1 Northern Division will also be displaying their modular railway at the show. There will  be displays of the submissions for the model and photo contests, and "how-to" clinics about model railroading. We'll also have a canteen serving refreshments. Of course, the man with the giraffe cars will be there with his portable Lionel layout. Kids (and adults) are always welcome to operate the dump cars on his layout!

     The WMRC open house will be held at Westworth United Church, 1750 Grosvenor Avenue. The hours are from 11:00AM to 4:00PM on Saturday, March 15, and from 1:00PM to 5:00PM on Sunday. March 16. The entrance for the show will be at the side door on the west side of the church, but access for the handicapped (including an elevator) is available through the front door.

G gauge at the Manitoba Mega Train show

All gauges were represented at the Manitoba Mega Train Show, from Z to G and the 1:8 scale train that encircled the whole show! Railfan Canada editor and Winnipeg Model Railroad Club photo contest chair Suzanne Lemon took these shots of the G scale layouts in action.

Legoland at the Manitoba Mega Train Show

   One of the highlights of the Manitoba Mega Train Show was the huge Lego club display! It was truly a mind boggling sight to see all of the Lego trains, buildings and scenery. Every single thing on their display was made out of Lego! Winnipeg Model Railroad Club photo contest chair and Railfan Canada editor Suzanne Lemon took these images of their truly spectacular layout.

Highlights from the Manitoba Mega Train Show

   1700 happy people can't be wrong! The second annual Manitoba Mega Train Show was Winnipeg's best attended model railroad event since the 1983 NMRA national convention!

  This is the first in a series of images of the event, which were taken by Suzanne Lemon, the Winnipeg Model Railroad Club's photo contest chairperson. Suzanne has been the photo contest chair for seven years. She was also the club's only female president, a title which she held for three years. She's also the editor of Railfan Canada.

   Today's images will focus on the No. 1 Northern Division's free-mo layout, easily the largest display in the show. It covered a whopping 40' x 50' of floor space! The Division will be holding their third annual division meet on Saturday, November 2.  For more information on this meet, click here.

    Pictured below are No. 1 Northern superintendent Dennis Rietze and WMRC treasurer Gary Stempnick at the layout.

  

The Fall of Marquette

This article first appeared in the Winnipeg Model Railroad Club's official publication, The Lantern.  In order to attract a broader audience, this website will occasionally post selected articles and images originally published in The Lantern.

By Morgan Turney

   There was a time - during the early 1930s - when the three prairie provinces boasted about 5,750 wooden grain elevators. Every hamlet, village, town and city had at least one grain elevator located on 'Railway Street'. A town's prosperity was measured by the number of grain elevators it had. As the years have gone by these icons of prairie life have been torn down, one at a time. Few are saved: in Manitoba, the only elevators that are safe are the five which have been preserved at Inglis.

   I caught wind that the Paterson elevator at Marquette was undergoing demolition. Railfan friend, Felix Lesiuk, had been out railfanning the Carberry subdivision between Winnipeg and Portage la Prairie on Monday, September 2nd and stopping at Marquette, noticed that the grain annex, metal holding bins and the elevator office were all torn down and the backhoe on site had broken through the centre of the elevator and pulled down most of its interior. That was an obvious clue that likely the following day would see the elevator collapse.

   I arrived at the site around 9:40 the next day and found the backhoe chewing away at the base of the elevator. I asked one of the workers nearby when he thought the structure would collapse. He looked at his watch, glanced up and looked at the backhoe's progress, then looked at his watch again and said, "Oh, in about 8 minutes." And 8 minutes later, down she came!

   I don't need to tell you how sad it is to see these structures disappearing. It's even sadder when you witness one falling. As Felix said after I showed him my photos, "The village of Marquette is now boring."

Morgan Turney is a longtime member of the Winnipeg Model Railroad Club. He has served in various positions in the club, including three terms as President. he is currently the acting program director for the club. Morgan is the publisher of two magazines, Canadian Railway Modeller and Railfan Canada. 

The Manitoba Mega Train Show was a resounding success!

What a party! 1,700 people showed up at the CanLan Ice Sports Centre to see the show! And what a show it was! There were layouts of virtually every popular scale, from N to G and the 7 1/2" gauge Mega Train that went around the whole show! There was also face painting, balloon animals, and lots of vendors offering lots of deep discounted bargains!

It was very gratifying to see so many young families and children attending the show, and loving every minute of it. It was not uncommon for many families to spend several hours at the show (mostly at their kid's insistence). Everywhere you looked, you saw a happy kid with a painted face holding a Railfan Canada trading card!

There were modular layouts from WinNtrak and the NMRA #1 Northern Division's Free-Mo Group.
Commercial vendors included Warehouse Hobbies, Toad Hall Toys, Spare Time Hobbies, Vector Garden Trains, and representatives from Canadian Railway Modeller and Railfan Canada Magazines.

The Winnipeg Model Railroad Club would like to thank all of its many volunteers for helping out during set up, take down, working at the admissions desk and displaying at the Manitoba Mega Train Show.