WMRC's first Robert Weaver memorial award given to Paul Ullrich (but they had to find him first)

WMRC past president Larry Leavens presents WMRC social media director Paul Ullrich with the first ever Robert Weaver memorial award at Harte grain elevator, pretty much in the middle of nowhere. 

WMRC social media director Paul Ullrich won the first ever Robert Weaver memorial award for his contributions to The Lantern, the official publication of the club. The award was announced at the club's AGM and banquet in May, but he was nowhere to be found.

Paul was gallivanting around southern Ontario on a Fehr-Way motor coach tour, which included stops at the Ottawa Tulip Festival, the 1000 Islands and Niagara Falls. After he returned, he went rail fanning with Larry and long time WMRC member Gary Stepnick, who is also the president of the Winnipeg Railway Museum.   

Larry, who is no stranger to gallivanting himself, brought the trophy and the plaque along with them. He hid it in the trunk in a CN reusable shopping bag. When they arrived at Harte, Larry surprised Paul by presenting him with the award. With the grain elevator in the background and a CN freight train underneath them while they stood on the overpass, it was the perfect place for a photo op!

The Robert Weaver award was created by the WMRC to honour the late Robert Weaver, former editor of The Lantern. Robert edited the publication for 13 years, the longest tenure of any Lantern editor. This award replaces The Lantern award. The award is given to one member each year for their contributions to The Lantern. 

Paul was also very happy that he got to keep the CN reusable shopping bag. 

 

Winnipeg Model Railroad Club mourns passing of Lantern editor Robert Weaver

Robert Weaver is seen displaying one of his O scale locomotives at one of the Winnipeg Model Railroad Club’s spring open houses.

We are deeply saddened to announce that long time member and Lantern editor Robert Weaver passed away at Grace Hospital on Saturday, February 19.

Robert was born and raised in the Kitchener-Waterloo area of Southern Ontario. He moved to Winnipeg in the 70’s to study landscape architecture at the University of Manitoba, one of the few universities in the country offering that course at the time. He remained in Winnipeg and operated a successful landscape architecture business, Weaver Flowers. Some of his corporate clients included Burger King and MacDonald’s.

Robert was an avid O scale model railroader, the only one in the club who pursued that branch of the hobby. He was a frequent displayer at the WMRC spring open houses and at the Manitoba Mega Train Show.

Robert was the iron man of newsletter publications. He became editor of The Lantern in 2009, and  remained the editor for an incredible 13 years, which is a club record. Most of the past editors of The Lantern served for only a three year term. Robert tackled this task with unprecedented zeal and diligence. Under his editorship, The Lantern became a world class publication.

Robert hit his stride when The Lantern went from print to digital. Unencumbered by the restraints of a limited page count, he expanded the publication and its content, sometimes going to as much has 38 pages.

Robert had been plagued with various health problems over the years. Although he had fought his health battles for a long time with amazing determination and tenacity, he recently resigned editorship of The Lantern due to his declining health. No replacement has been found.
 

Winnipeg Model Railroad Club holds first Clinic Carnival in two years

 Come one, come all to the WMRC’s first clinic carnival in two years! The fun begins on Friday, December 10, at 7:00 PM at the Charleswood Legion, 6003 Roblin Boulevard. The starting time of our meetings has been permanently changed from 7:30 to 7:00.
   We will also be holding our Christmas Hot Dog Banquet, so bring your appetites! We have a great line up of Winnipeg’s finest model railroaders who will demonstrate their skills.
        
        Robert Weaver – Photo Editing: Robert is amassing a collection of old photos, slides and negatives. He will show how he tackles the job to improve the quality of the images. Robert will explain the software that he uses.
        Marcel Blair – Resurrecting an Alco Models Brass Diesel: Marcel will show how he gets an old brass diesel model to run again. Replacement parts for a 40 year old model need to be found and adapted to fit. Here is your opportunity to learn how you can rebuild it!
        John Bate – Fast Tracks turnouts: John is a N Scale modeller who builds his turnouts using Fast Tracks jigs. Whether you model in N, HO or O Scale, if you want to build your own turnouts, the Fast Tracks system will work for you. A demonstration of using servo motors to control the turnouts will also be done.
        Larry Leavens - Freight Car Tune Up: What do you do with that $5 prize freight car you bought at Mega Train when it will not stay on the rails? A little tune up is needed. Couplers, correct weight and new wheel sets will greatly improve the performance of any rail car. Most ready to run cars are too light and might derail on curves or while being pushed through a turnout. The NMRA has a standard weight practice that will keep them on the rails. The Kadee coupler has become the standard coupler for HO today. For most cars it’s a simple swap, but for others it may take some work. Replacing plastic wheel sets with metal ones will greatly improve the operation.    
        Neil Carleton – Weathering: Neil will show how you can weather your rolling stock and structures using pan pastels and AK pencils. He'll have some models that he's working on so you can see his technique.
        Tyler Fedoroshyn – Model Building: Tyler will show samples of custom detailed and weathered locomotives along with 3D printed detail parts that he's created with his 3D Resin Printer. Tyler will also display an early winter scene in a freelanced village.
        
              The Legion requires proof of full vaccination for entry. Masks will be required at the meeting. Please bring a "tin for the bin" for Winnipeg Harvest. We will have a photo display, but there will be no model display.  If you can’t make it, please email us at wmrc.trainclub@gmail.com and we’ll send you a link. Only the business portion of the meeting will be broadcast on Zoom.
 

Memories of the Winnipeg Model Railroad Club's 2018 Spring open house

WMRC Gateway Western Superintendent Gino Kost mans the popular interactive John Allen Timesaver layout at the club's 2018 spring open house and train show.

What a party! We had a great turnout at our spring open house and train show this year, and we raised twice the amount of funds that we raised in 2017! Much thanks to all of our displayers and volunteers who worked so hard to make this show a resounding success. Everyone had a great time, and we all look forward to seeing all of you next spring!

NMRA No. 1 Northern Division Superintendent Ian Plett and Neil Carlton run the division's Free-Mo layout, which was the largest operating display at the show.

Marcel Blair was kept busy running John Sinclair's collection of G gauge trolley and streetcars.

Robert Weaver ran a modelling clinic for both days during the show. 

WMRC blog editor and Social Media Executive Paul Ullrich (a.k.a "The giraffe car man") happily ran his very popular and kid-friendly Lionel O gauge portable layout all weekend.

Send your submissions for The Lantern's photo contest by Tuesday

The Lantern, the official publication of the WMRC, is looking for images of the end view of a train, which will be published on the cover of next month's edition. The photo above, taken by long time member Felix Lesiuk earlier this month, is a fine example of what we're looking for.

There a just a few days remaining until the close of The Lantern's photo contest. The Lantern is the official publication of the Winnipeg Model Railroad Club. It is published nines time a year. The winner will have their photo printed on the cover of The Lantern and will also receive a small cash prize.

The deadline is midnight, February 28. This month's contest theme is an end view profile of a train.  That may be a dome car, caboose, business car, a "pusher" locomotive, a freight car, an RDC, a wrecking crane, a speeder or some other object rolling on the rails. Please send your submissions to Lantern editor Robert Weaver at weaverflowers@gmail.com

Aaron Woloshyn presents three scratch built models for WMRC monthly model display

The WMRC’s first monthly model display of the season showcased three scratch built HO gauge MOW models by Aaron Woloshyn. He was awarded a $15 voucher from a local hobby shop. 

Aaron came up with the idea of building a CN tie exchanging gang earlier this year. There are many ready made models and kits that are available but he couldn’t find any that worked for his Canadian railroad. So he decided to do what he liked to do and made his own machines. He printed photos of each machine in HO scale using dimensions from the Nordco website. 

Once this was done he used the photographs as a reference for both shape and size to build the entire body of each machine out of Styrene. Additional detail parts were used for each machine to add to the complexity. They are all hand painted and the ballast regulator has various decals from his collection. The rest will be getting decals soon,  and they all will get a generous amount of weathering before they are considered finished. All photos by WMRC Lantern Editor Robert Weaver.

Winnipeg Model Railroad monthly photo contest deadline is drawing near

Send in a spiffy photo like this to our monthly photo contest and you may win a cash prize, and have your image published on the cover of The Lantern!

The deadline for the WMRC's monthly photo contest is only days away! You only have until midnight, March 1st to enter. This month's theme is a photograph of a model in any scale from their layout (or from anyone else's layout). 

In past contests, almost all of our submissions have been of prototypes. After all, we are the Winnipeg MODEL Railroad Club, so it's refreshing to have one of our monthly photo contests concentrate solely on the model aspect of our hobby. 

The winner will receive a cash prize and have their photo published on the cover of the March issue of The Lantern, the official publication of the WMRC. It would help the editor out a lot of the photo you submit is in a vertical format (NOT like the image used in this post). Send all entries to Robert Weaver at weaverflowers@gmail.com.

Suzanne Lemon wins Winnipeg Model Railroad Club's February photo contest

Former WMRC President Suzanne Lemon was the winner of the club's February photo contest. The theme was "Prairie Sentinels". Nine entries were submitted.

Suzanne received a cash prize and her image was posted on the cover of The Lantern, the official publication of the WMRC. Next month's theme is a photograph of a model in any scale from their layout (or from anyone else's layout). Entry deadline is midnight March 1, 2016. Send all entries to Robert Weaver at weaverflowers@gmail.com.

Felix Lesiuk wins Winnipeg Model railroad Club's monthly photo contest for January

Long time WMRC member Felix Lesiuk was the winner of the club's monthly photo contest this January for this photo he took of a former Milwaukee Road station. The theme for January's photo contest was "a railway item that needs a fresh coat of paint". There were six entries for this month's contest. The winner of the club's monthly photo contest receives a cash prize and has their winning image published on the cover of The Lantern, the official publication of the WMRC, for that month.

Felix Lesiuk is a long time member of the WMRC. He is also President of WinNtrak, one of Western Canada's largest N scale modular group. He has won many awards for his photography over the years.

The theme for February's contest is "Prairie Sentinels (or parts there of)". The deadline for this contest is midnight, February 2. Send all entires to Lantern Editor Robert Weaver at weaverflowers@gmail.com.

Felix Lesiuk wins Winnipeg Model Railroad Club's monthly photo contest

Long time WMRC member Felix Lesiuk has won the club's monthly photo contest. He was awarded a cash prize, and his winning entry was published on the cover of the November issue of The Lantern, the official publication of the WMRC.

The theme for November's competition was "Evidence that Jack Frost was seen working on one of the railways". Despite the unusually warm weather, our members dug into their image files and submitted six entries from previous winters. Felix took this image on February 9th, 2015 at the Norfolk Siding.

Next month's contest theme is "Railway graffiti nightmare", and there sure is enough of that going around to guarantee a good number of entries, cold weather notwithstanding! All submissions are due by December 1st at midnight.  Only the first photo received from each participant will be accepted as an entry, so make it a good one! Others that you choose to submit may be displayed in The Lantern but not  judged.

Please submit all entries to Lantern editor Robert Weaver at weaverflowers@gmail.com

Winnipeg Model Railroad Club members show off their talents at the NMRA train show in Winnipeg

Long time WMRC member Ron Einarson displayed many of his award winning models at the show.

Many WMRC members were front and centre at the NMRA's annual train show held on Saturday, November 7, at Whyte Ridge Baptist Church in Winnipeg.  Among those displaying and demonstrating were Ron Einarson, Larry Leavens, Paul Ullrich, Robert Weaver, Michael Leader and Ian Plett. WMRC Vice President Dave Downie was also on hand manning the admissions table and greeting all the visitors.  One of the attendees came all the way from Minot, North Dakota to see the show!

WMRC President Larry Leavens held a modelling clinic while running a Z scale train all day.

Michael Leader shows Randy Midzain how to operate a G gauge John Allen timesaver module.

Ian Plett adjusts his camera to take a picture of the No. 1 Northern Free-Mo group's CN freight entering a tunnel. Ian is also the superintendent of the Free-Mo group.   

Paul Ullrich's O gauge giraffe car layout is always a popular attraction with the kiddies! 

Robert Weaver's O scale display was also a popular attraction.

Two themes for Winnipeg Model Railroad club's photo contests announced

    Felix Lesiuk contributed this image of CN freight 8829, an SD70M-2 hauling a container freight, for the cover of The Lantern Extra, a special summer edition of the WMRC's official publication.

     Two themes have been announced for the WMRC's photo contests in The Lantern Extra, a special summer publication of the club's official newsletter.

     For the special event for the club's annual photo contest, WMRC photo contest chair Suzanne Lemon has announced that the theme will be "The sky's the limit". Even the immense size of a train can be dwarfed by the sky and seemingly endless landscape around it. Show us your best shot of a train or other railway-related subject with a big sky around it!
   
    It could be a beautiful summer day, with a perfectly clear blue sky, or even one with a few puffy white clouds. It could also be a dark and ominous stormy sky, or a beautiful evening sunset. The possibilities are endless and the summer is the perfect time to capture images like these, so get out there and give it your best shot!

    For The Lantern's photo contest, the theme for the September issue will be "green" (the interpretation of this theme is entirely up to you). The winning entry will have their image published on the cover of the September issue of The Lantern. Submissions are to be sent to Lantern Editor Robert Weaver no later then midnight Tuesday, September 2. You must supply a caption, and if possible, note the camera settings.

   

Robert Weaver awarded President's Shield at Winnipeg Model Railroad Club's annual banquet

Robert Weaver receives the President's shield award from WMRC President Larry Leavens.

   Robert Weaver, editor of The Lantern the official publication of the WMRC, has won the club's prestigious President's Shield award for 2015.

    Robert has been the editor of The Lantern since September of 2009. This fall, he will be entering his ninth season of being the editor, which is a record for our 60 year old club.

    Besides his editing duties, Robert also is in charge of the club's monthly model display. He photographs each model submitted and compiles an article with the written descriptions of the submitters for The Lantern.

     Robert has also initiated more reader participation by holding a monthly photo contest for the cover of The Lantern. The winner gets their image published on the cover and also receives a cash prize. Robert has also handed over the task of deciding who receives the annual Lantern award by having the membership vote for their favorite contributor. Robert distributes, collects, and counts the ballots at the April meeting. The winner is announced next month at the annual banquet.

    Robert has also presided over the complete digitization of the Lantern. All members now receive a PDF version in full colour of The Lantern via email. The publication has come a long way from the mimeographed stencil version in the 50's!

    Robert has also contributed countless articles to The Lantern over the years. He has announced that next season will be his last year as Editor of The Lantern. He's going to leave some mighty big shoes to fill!

    

   

Dave Downie wins Winnipeg Model Railroad Club's Lantern Award

Lantern Editor presents WMRC Vice President Dave Downie with the 2015 Lantern Award.

    Dave Downie was the recipient of the WMRC's 2015 Lantern Award, which was presented at the club's annual spring banquet. Dave contributed a series of historical articles about the WMRC for The Lantern.

     Instead of the Lantern editor deciding who would win the award, this year's award was chosen by popular vote by the membership. Ballots were distributed by Lantern Editor Robert Weaver at the April meeting. Members voted for their favorite author at that meeting, and the ballots were collected and compiled by Robert.

     Congratulations, Dave, for your fine work!

 

Winnipeg Model Railroad Club's photo contest awards presented at their annual banquet

Paul Ullrich receives the WMRC's photo contest's Peter Abel Memorial Award - Photo Special Event  for his image, titled "Spreading Ballast", from WMRC President Larry Leavens.

The winners from the WMRC's annual photo contest are as follows:

Digital Prototype: 
1st: Suzanne Lemon - Autumn Glow
2nd: Paul Ullrich - CN at Portage La Prairie On A Wet Morning
3rd: Larry Leavens - CN 8961 at Quadra
Honourable Mention: Suzanne Lemon - Sky of Blue, Sea of Yellow

Special Event: 
1st: (Peter Abel Memorial Award) Paul Ullrich - Spreading Ballast Near Thief River Falls
2nd: Val Lemon - Laying New Track at Redditt
3rd: Suzanne Lemon - The Ties That Used to Bind
Honourable Mention: Paul Lemon - Herzog Track Equipment at Portage La Prairie
Honourable Mention: Larry Leavens - Pot of Fire

Film or Digital Print - Model: 
1st: Robert Weaver - Coal Sidings
2nd: Robert Weaver - Steel Works
Honourable Mention: Cliff Davidson - Western Pacific Revival

Best in Show:
Suzanne Lemon - Ready to Go

President's Choice Harvey and Sandy Walker Memorial Award for Best in Show:
Robert Weaver - Cocker Mouth Signal Tower

 Suzanne Lemon receives her award certificate from WMRC President Larry leavens for her photo, titled "Autumn Glow".

 Larry Leavens presents Val Lemon her certificate for her photo,"Laying New Track at Redditt".

Paul Lemon receives his certificate from Larry Leavens for his photo, titled "Herzog Track Equipment at Portage La Prairie".

Deadline looming for Winnipeg Model Railroad Club's March photo contest

 

   WMRC secretary Cliff Davidson sent in this beautiful photograph last month of a Via F-Unit in Portage La Prairie that he took in the 80's. Last month's theme was the cold, and it was -25C he took this picture!

    Heads up, WMRC members! You only have a couple of days to meet the deadline for the March photo contest! Because of the short month of February, the deadline is midnight on Tuesday, March 3, so if you have a railroad photo that captures Lantern Editor Robert Weaver's theme of "Essence of Velocity" (think speed - zoom, zoom, zoom!) Send it to him by then!

   The winner will get their image on the cover of The Lantern (the official publication of the WMRC). They will also receive a minimum cash prize of $15. But if we receive 10 entries or more, the prize money doubles to $30!

    

Lantern photo contest deadline is midnight, February 3

WMRC Lantern editor Robert Weaver would like to remind all members that this month's photo contest deadline is fast approaching! You have until midnight, February 3 (that's next Tuesday) to submit a railway scene that best expresses the cold weather. The winning entry will have their image put on the cover of the February issue of The Lantern, the official publication of the WMRC. If we get 10 entries, the prize award doubles from fifteen to thirty dollars!

The Lantern's photo contest deadline is December 29!

    Robert Weaver, the stalwart editor of The Lantern (the official publication of the WMRC) , would like to remind all members that the deadline for January's photo contest is fast approaching! The deadline is on Monday, December 29 at midnight. Up to $30 is available in prize money, and you'll get you photo on the cover of The Lantern if you win!

   December's theme was "The Spirit of Christmas". This month's theme is "snow" (but we'd like to see a train somewhere in there as well). It doesn't have to be a prototype photo - we accept images of model railroads too, as long as they've got some snow on or around them somewhere.  Be sure to submit your image in a vertical format!

   December's winner was the dashing and intrepid Paul Lemon, who shot this wonderful image of the CP Holiday Train. Paul is one of 10 members we have from across the pond, and we're grateful to each and every one of them for their many contributions and devotion to the club!

   

Dave Downie wins Winnipeg Model Railroad Club's Lantern award

 Dave Downie receives the WMRC's Lantern award from editor Robert Weaver as President Larry Leavens keeps a watchful eye on the proceedings.

   WMRC Vice-President Dave Downie has won the WMRC's 2014 Lantern award for his contributions to the publication. The Lantern award is given annually by the editor to the most outstanding contributor to the publication. The Lantern, the official publication of the WMRC,  has been published by the club since the inception of the organization in 1954.

    Dave Downie has bee na member of the WMRC for most of his adult life. He has held many positions within the the club, including two separate terms as President and as the program director. He currently serves as the Vice-President of the club. 

    Dave has been a very prolific contributor to the Lantern this season. His most memorable contribution was a series of articles outlining the history behind the organization of the NMRA's 1983 national convention held in Winnipeg, Railway Jamboree '83. All four chapters of this series have been reprinted in the WMRC blog with the permission of the author. You can view these articles by clicking here, here, here and here.

Prize draws galore at the Winnipeg Model Railroad Club's annual banquet

    Ron Einarson reaches deep into the bucket held by Morgan Turney to select a winning ticket.

   What makes the WMRC banquets so much fun are the prize draws - and we have lots of them!

    We start off with the door prizes. Every guest receives a free ticket. There are several prizes available, including some "non-rail" items. Then we have the elimination draw. This draw actually works in reverse! The very last ticket drawn wins the prize! There were lots of moans and groans to be heard as Morgan read off the names of the ticket holders who weren't called last!

    Our last prize draw had lots of tickets. Guests purchased an arm's length of tickets for five bucks. Just to keep things fair (as some have arms longer than others) WMRC blog editor Paul Ullrich sold the tickets and used his own very long arms to measure the tickets!

    The "arms length" is measured as such: The person holds the end of the ticket roll by their fingertips, then turns their head away and pulls out the ticket roll until it touches the tip of their nose. Then the tickets are torn off at that point.

   It should be pointed out that Paul doesn't have the longest reach in the club. That honour belongs to Robert Weaver. But Paul does have a larger nose.

    There were tons of prizes, and most people walked away with something. There were even gift certificates from Home Depot and Canadian Tire, good places to buy all the wood, screws, nails and glue you need to build your layout!