This is a page from the Railway Jamboree '83 handbook and timetable, featuring the layouts of Marcel Blair, Jock Oliphant, MMR, Betty Jackson and Bruce Smith, and Stafford Swain, MMR.
By Dave Downie
It has been 31 years since Railway Jamboree ended. It
has been fun for me to look back but a big part of the convention is its
legacy.
Winnipeg was a “small market” and not close to any other
major population centre, yet the organizing committee had successfully marketed
the city as a magnificent city with three percent of all
MMRs at the
time (Jock Oliphant MMR#15, Stafford Swain MMR#98 and Moe Smith MMR#100). They
were smart enough to market the convention as one where you could see and do
everything. This was not something that was feasible in other cities. We were
also smart enough to market the train show to the general public as a once in a
lifetime experience. We succeeded on all counts.
At the time, the convention was the most profitable in the
history of the
NMRA. These profits were largely retained by the
TLR, which
underwrote the original bid. The WMRC did get a small disbursement to
acknowledge the support of its members. Since the Winnipeg convention, the NMRA
has rewritten the terms of its contract with host committees to reduce windfall
profits like we had in 1983.
Winnipeg's bid and organization structure became a template
for other conventions. Nick Andrusaik's Handbook and Time Table was a huge success with
everything well laid out and small enough that it fit in your pocket. This
format is still used thirty years later.
Stafford Swain had assembled an organization that was committed to
success and put petty differences aside. Throughout the convention, our guests
continued to compliment their hosts acknowledging that we were “Friendly Manitoba”. New friendships
sprouted within the committee and we saw a new influx of people into the WMRC
with some of these still members today.
Since 1983 the club's library has grown with the addition of hundreds of
videos. Our annual model contest has morphed into a annual spring show. The
club created The Great Canadian Train Show, an annual fall show and flea market, to further promote the hobby. The club no longer operates Great Canadian Train Show. As of 2013, we have partnered with the
Manitoba Mega Train Show.
More recently, the club
has has acquired a new location for a new version of the Gateway Western at the
Winnipeg Railway Museum within 50 feet of Duffy, who has been patiently waiting for us for all this time.
But the saddest and most unfortunate thing to occur since 1983 has been the
many friends who have passed away. They contributed to the convention's success
just as they contributed to the WMRC. Unfortunately, there are far too many to
mention here.
Oh......one last thing. That plant that grew from the seed planted
in 1975-1976 is still growing almost 40 years later!
