Felix Lesiuk sweeps awards at the WMRC's 2026 banquet

Felix Lesiuk (L) is seen being presented the best in show modelling award from WMRC spring show chair Murray Brown at the club's annual banquet.

Felix Lesiuk was the big award winner at the WMRC's annual banquet, held at the Canad Inns Destination Centre Polo Park earlier this month. He won both best in show for his photo, titled "Evening Rain" featuring the Prairie Dog Central, which also graced the cover of the May issue of The Lantern, the official publication of the WMRC. 

He also won best in show for his modelling efforts for is diorama, titled "Country Road Trestle over Speeder at Signal". To top it off, he also won the photo contest special event for his photo of a train crossing a bridge in Bismarck, North Dakota. Congratulations, Felix!

Felix is seen receiving the special event award in the photo category from photo content chair Bart Hasselfield for his photo of a train crossing a bridge in Bismarck, North Dakota.

   

Felix also won the best in show award in the photo contest category or his photo of the Prairie Dog Central, title "Evening Rain".

Felix won best in show in the model category for his diorama of a speeder crossing under a country road trestle.

 

Installing powered frogs by Neil Carleton

 This article, written by Neil Carleton,  was originally published in The Lantern, the official publication of the WMRC. This is the first of many articles originally published in The Lantern that will be posted on this site.

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.
 

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

Toad Hall revamps model railroad department

If you haven't been to Toad Hall Toys lately to check out their model railroad department, then it's worth the trip! Darryl Audette has taken over the reins, and he's making some changes! Pictured above is his work in progress in the store, which promises to be a terrific display when it's finished!

As you can see from behind his layout, the place is very well stocked with all sorts of mode railroad goodies! It is very gratifying in these days of hobby shop disappearing or downsizing to see that Toad Hall is not only still in the game, but is expanding!

Toad Hall has been a supporter of the WMRC for many years, and has continued to faithfully advertise in the clubs. official publication, The Lantern. Every member in good standing receives a 10% discount on all no-sale in-store model railroad items, so be sure to bring your card the next time you go!

Darryl Audette, published miniaturist, general brilliant person and all around great guy is in charge of Toad Hall's model railroad department. 

Paul Ullrich wins Winnipeg Model Railroad Club's President's Shield award

Paul Ullrich is seen receiving the President's Shield award from outgoing President Larry leavens at the club's banquet, held on May 13 at the Canad Inns Destination Centre Windsor Park.

WMRC Social Media Executive Paul Ullrich won the President's Shield award at their annual banquet for his creation of the club's blog site and Facebook page. The blog site has received almost 100,000 views since its inception in October 2013, and the Facebook Page has over 300 likes. 

Paul has been a member of the club since 1983. He has served as the club's photo editor, and has won five Lantern awards for his contributions to The Lantern, the official newsletter of the WMRC. He is also well known as "The Giraffe Car Man". His popular portable Lionel display, which he exhibits several times a year at various train shows, features up to six giraffe cars that have giraffes ducking their heads before they enter a tunnel.

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

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

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!

    

   

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!

    

Aaron Woloshyn's pre-fab track car displayed at Winnipeg Model Railroad Club's monthly display

     Every month the WMRC holds a model display. All members are invited to bring whatever they've been working on to the meeting and put it on the table for everyone to see. This is a display, not a competition. A cash prize is awarded, but the winner is selected by random.

    The minimum cash prize is $15. If there are ten entries from ten different members, the cash award goes up to $30.
     The WMRC is very proud of our member's creations, and every model in the monthly display is featured in The Lantern (the official publication of the WMRC) and as often as possible on the WMRC blog site.
 
   Aaron Woloshyn's car started its life the same way that the prototype likely did, as a bulkhead flatcar. He stripped all of the hardware off of one end and removed the whole bulkhead. Then he moved the bulkhead about a fifth of the way into the car and cemented it to the deck. The buttresses supporting it and side structures were made from Styrene. The ladders on the flat end are the ladders that used to be on the bulkhead.

   He painted it with a red/orange colour that  is pretty close to CN colours, the decals came from various locomotive and rolling stock sets. Then he weathered it and made a load from Atlas track.
The prototype can be seen below. That's a pretty good match!

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!

Morgan Turney wins January Lantern photo contest

   Long time WMRC member Morgan Turney won the club's photo contest for January. His winning image was featured on the cover of the January issue of The Lantern, the official publication of the WMRC.

    January's theme was snow. The theme for February's contest is a railway photograph that expresses just how cold it is outside. It could be hoarfrost on a cold steel rail, ice crystals as exhaust plumes rise from diesel locomotives or wind driven sheets of snow caused by the velocity induced by train movements.

   To make things easier, any photograph that was shot in 2015, 2014 or earlier will be allowed. The winner will have their image featured on February's cover of The Lantern. They will also receive $15 or $30, depending on how many entries are submitted.  The deadline for entries will be no later than MIDNIGHT on Tuesday, January 27.

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!

   

Cliff Davidson wins Winnipeg Model Railroad Club's first photo cover contest

   Cliff Davidson, recording secretary for the WMRC, won the very first photo cover contest held by the club. He received a  prize of $15 and got his photo on the cover of The Lantern, the official publication of the WMRC. November's theme was “Railway Faces” and the possibilities were endless!

   "This is definitely a new face in the city." Said Cliff.  It was taken as the oil train was getting ready to head east out of the CPR yard on Oct.17th, 2014 at 5:07 PM. It was taken with a Canon Power ShotSX50 @ 1/200 sec., ISO-125, at F5.6. This Kansas City Southern ES44AC, #4683 was paired with CP AC4400, #9539. They had just backed unto an oil consist which would be heading south on the Emerson Sub. KCS is my favorite US Railroad and color scheme."

   One prize will be awarded each month in the amount of $30, if the Lantern editor receives 10 entries or more. If there are fewer than 10 entries then the awarded prize will be set at $15.

    Only one entry per member will be accepted and the document must be in a vertical format, 7.5" x 10" with a minimum resolution of 130 pixels per inch. Each entry must be taken during the current club year. Please include your name, the date taken and a brief description of the entry. If possible, please include the technical camera information regarding the exposure, etc.

    All entries to be submitted to the Lantern editor on the Saturday preceding The Lantern mailing (two weekends before the next meeting). The December issue of The Lantern should be in everyone's inbox very soon. The theme for the December issue was "In the spirit of a railway Christmas." Who will the winner be this month?

View Ken Epp's Cougar River Subdivision on-line

In the November issue of The Lantern, the official publication of the WMRC, member John Longhurst authored a moving article about his late brother-in-law Ken Epp's layout, the Cougar River Subdivision. Unfortunately, this publication is only available to members of the WMRC. But you can still view Ken's layout on-line on two links!

The first link is from the Sweden Freezer website. This site was the on-line home of the WMRC until Bill Taylor's passing last year. Bill created and maintained this website for the club, starting at the time when not many of us even had computers, not to mention internet access. The site for his business still exists, but links have been created to re-direct viewers to the new websites for the WMRC and the AVR. However, the link to view Ken's layout still exists! It was last updated in 2003, with several images taken by our own Ron Einarson. View it by clicking here. 

The other site to view Ken's layout is at John Longhurst's own website, the Manitoba and Minnesota subdivision. You can view his tribute to Ken and see several images of his layout by clicking here. 

Our new meeting place - The Charleswood Legion, 6003 Roblin Boulevard

You've read about our new location several times in this blog.
It's been posted on the WMRC Facebook page.
There was an article about our new location in the September issue of The Lantern, the official publication of the WMRC, which was sent to all club members.
Our President, Larry Leavens, sent out an email to all past and present members notifying them of our move to our new location at the Charleswood Legion at 6003 Roblin Boulevard.
Just to be sure, we're telling you again:

Don't go to Westworth United Church on Friday night!

Of course, you're welcome to attend their church services on Sundays, but we're not meeting there anymore!
We meet as usual at 7:30PM, this Friday, September 12, 2014. Our meeting will be held in the tank room in the basement. Please use the parking lot on the west side of the building. There is also a parking lot available directly across Roblin on the south side of the street.
The building at 6003 Roblin Boulevard has a big tank in front of it - you can't miss it!
The building is also wheelchair accessible from the west side of the building.
The tank room has a 10' ceiling and no pillars to obstruct your view. It promises to be much warmer in the winter months, and you don't have to take off your shoes in the winter! Imagine that - no more cold, smelly feet at our meetings!
We have full use of a modern kitchen. There's a cloakroom and ample space for our library.

Hope to see you all there this Friday!

A cartoon by Paul Ullrich

   Every once in a while, WMRC blog editor Paul Ullrich contributes a cartoon to The Lantern, the official publication of the club, and to The Fusee, the official publication of the TLR. This cartoon has appeared in the February issue of The Lantern, and will also appear in the next issue of The Fusee (it's supposed to be the spring issue, but who are we kidding?).

    This is definitely a seasonal cartoon, but all you have to do is look out the window, or even (gasp) dare to go outside to know that winter is far from over (and that seems to go for the whole continent).

    There's a wind chill warning in effect in Winnipeg today. Water pipes are bursting all over the city. Everyone's yard is buried in three, four, and even five feet of snow! But it's a great time for model railroaders, so get down to the basement and get working on that model railroad project you've been putting off, because spring isn't happening yet!