All aboard for the Winnipeg Model Railroad Club'sr annual Christmas bash!

We're holding our annual Christmas bash and hot dog banquet! We will be continuing an ancient,  time honored tradition dating all the way back to 2006, serving hot dogs, drinks, donuts, and coffee. Come on out for some refreshments and conversation, and leave a little room for pizza at Santa Lucia's after the meeting!

We'll be collecting food for Winnipeg Harvest, so be sure to bring "a tin for the bin".

There will also be a presentation of Ian Plett's rail fanning adventures, featuring images he took all over North America as a long range trucker.

The fun starts at 7:30PM on Friday, December 8 at the Charleswood Legion, 6003 Roblin Boulevard. We'll also be holding our monthly model display and the ever popular 50-50 draw.  Hope to see you there!

Winnipeg Model Railroad Club holds their annual Klinic Karnival on Friday, December 12

   The big day is almost here! Tomorrow is the WMRC's annual Klinic Karnival! We have a great group of Winnipeg's finest model railroading experts all set to share their knowledge with you, and it's absolutely free! If you were to attend a model railroad convention in the States you'd have to pay big bucks to attend any series of clinics they would hold. But we're not charging one red cent! Best of all, you don't have to be a member to attend! Guests are always welcome!

     We're also going to hold our annual "Christmas Dinner" of hot dogs, chips, and pop. And if you're not full from that. you can always join us after the meeting for pizza at Santa Lucia's on 4 St. Mary's Road!

    When we held our Klinic Karnival last year, we were in the middle of a bone chilling cold snap. It was -45C, but we still had a pretty good crowd. This year, it looks like it'll be +3C, which is excellent weather for coming out to the meeting!

     If you ordered one of our brand new, very spiffy 60th anniversary T-shirts, they'll be available for pick up at the meeting. 

      The meeting starts at 7:30 PM at the Charleswood Legion, 6003 Roblin Boulevard. There's plenty of parking available! Please enter through the western entrance.

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.

Steve Boyko to give presentation about grain elevators at Winnipeg Model Railroad Club's November meeting

   The dapper and erudite Steve Boyko, creator of the popular rail fanning blog, "Confessions of a Train Geek" (which has had over 725,000 views), will be giving a special presentation about grain elevators at the WMRC's November meeting, which will be held on Friday, November 14.

   If you're a rail fan living in Western Canada, you know all too well about the importance of these "prairie giants" that dotted the landscape from the Whiteshell to the Rockies. Grain was king in the prairies, and the railroads served every community that had a grain elevator. Sadly, these landmarks have been disappearing at an alarming rate, as grain is now stored in massive concrete silos.


   Besides our usual business meeting ,we'll also have our monthly model display, the ever popular 50-50 draw, and the canteen will be open! After the meeting, there's always pizza at Santa Lucia's on St. Mary's Road!

   The meeting starts at 7:30 PM at the Charleswood Legion, 6003 Roblin Boulevard. You can't miss the place - it's the one with the tank in front of it! Please enter on the west side of the building.

All about the Winnipeg Model Railroad Club's new location at the Charleswood Legion

Starting in September, we will have a new place for our monthly meetings - the Charleswood Legion Hall at 6003 Roblin Boulevard. You can't miss it - it has a tank on the grounds!

We'll be meeting in the Tank Room, in the basement of the hall. The door on the west side of the building provides the best access.

This new meeting place holds many advantages over our previous location. It's on a main road, and very easy to find. It also promises to be a lot warmer location. Our past two locations have been in church gymnasiums. Although the club has been very grateful for the use of these locations, a lot of our members found them to be uncomfortably cold in the winter (The blower fans were on the ceiling, heat rises).

As an added bonus, members will no longer have to take their winter shoes off! Leave your slippers at home!

The legion hall is not in a central location (although one of our members live right across the street from it), but it's still relatively easy to get to from most parts of the city. Members living in the Kildonans or the northwest part of the city can take the Perimeter Highway. A short cut can be taken by going down Brookside Boulevard then onto Centre Point Canada Way (It is much faster).

However, it is a lot farther from our beloved Santa Lucia Pizza on St. Mary's Road, but there's another location close by at 2029 Portage Avenue, right between William Clement Parkway and Route 90!

The WMRC wishes to thank our Past President Ed Mulholland for finding this new location. Way to go, Ed!

And now a word from our sponsor: Santa Lucia Pizza

   For going on four decades, hungry members of the Winnipeg Model Railroad Club have been satisfying their appetites after the meetings at Santa Lucia Pizza at 4 St. Mary's Road in Winnipeg!

   Greg (pictured above), their genial manager, has been greeting us warmly for a good part of that time. The restaurant has been a faithful advertiser our official publication, The Lantern, for many years, taking out a full page ad which appears on page 2.

   If you haven't been to the place since it's grand re-opening, then you're in for a real treat! The old converted gas station it was housed in has been replaced by a beautiful and spacious new restaurant. 

Their pizza, always considered the very best in Winnipeg (and they have the awards to prove it) , has gotten even better with the introduction of their new ovens.

    Heading down to Santa Lucia on Friday nights after the meeting has been as much of a tradition as the Winnipeg Model Railroad Club itself! You're more than welcome to come and join us!

   Check out their menu at this link: http://www.santaluciapizza.com/stmarys%20dine%20in.html