Warehouse Hobbies has closed

Warehouse Hobbies, one of Winnipeg’s oldest model railroad hobby shops, has shuttered its doors. It was founded by Ken Martin in 1983, after he closed his Ye Old Hobby Shop stores, which had locations in Polo Park, Garden City Shopping Centre, and at 365 Portage Avenue.  

Warehouse Hobbies first location was actually in a warehouse on Kensington St. in the block immediately east of the Winnipeg Transit garage on Route 90, near Polo Park. He later moved to a smaller location on Portage Avenue at Woodlands Crescent just west of Sturgeon Road. 

 

In 1995 Ken retired to Nanaimo and sold Warehouse Hobbies to Jim and Beverly Iredale. Jim was an accountant by profession and an avid model railroader who had always dreamed about owning his own hobby shop. Tragically, his dream was cut short when he suffered a fatal heart attack in at the age of 39 on July 31, 1997.

 

Bev continued to run the shop for 30 years. The store had two other locations. It first moved to the intersection of Ferry Road and Portage Avenue. When the rent was increased at that location, she moved the shop to its present location 265 Rouge Road. 

 

Bev has had three model railroaders assist her in running the shop through the years, the most significant being MMR Fred Headon. Fred joined Warehouse Hobbies in August 1997 shortly after retiring from a long career as a high school teacher. Fred worked there for 27 ½ years, and was there on the last weekend that the store was open. 

 

Warehouse Hobbies was a cherished institution in Winnipeg’s vibrant and thriving model railroad community. If offered personal service in these days of faceless on-line U.S. based mail order hobby shops, and it will be sorely missed. 

Buy Canadian! Buy from Canadian hobby shops and model railroad equipment manufacturers!

Our good friend Jason Schron of Canadian based Rapido Trains manufactures excellent model railroad equipment such as this Via Rail E-Unit.

In these troubled political times we urge you to BUY CANADIAN when it comes to model railroad equipment. Support our local hobby shops. Amazon and Train World doesn't need your money, but Warehouse Hobbies and the Frog and Diamond do. Bachmann and Atlas doesn't need your support, but our good friend Jason Schron of Rapido, who has made several presentations for the WMRC, does!

Warehouse Hobbies is open on Thursday nights again!

Warehouse Hobbies is pleased to announce a pilot project to initiate opening on Thursday nights again! Traditionally, they have offered the WMRC a 10% discount for the club's use. However, they are offering this discount to WMRC individual members for the spring modelling season on the evenings of Thursday, March 16, Thursday, April 20, and Thursday, May 18 between 6PM and 8PM.  The discount doesn't apply to magazines or previously marked down items. 

Warehouse Hobbies is located at 265 Rouge Road. Their regular hours are from 10AM to 4PM on Saturdays, from 11AM to 4PM on Tuesday, 11AM to 3PM on Wednesday, 11AM to 4PM on Thursdays and Fridays. You can reach them at 204-837-7887.
 

Our readers respond with sugggestions of many other places to buy model railroad supplies

Kelly's Kaboose in Savona, B.C. is one of the many stores where you can order model railroad equipment.

Since our last posting about the closing of Cellar Dweller Hobbies, we’ve received from our readers several other places in Winnipeg and Canada that either carry model railroad equipment, or can order it in for you.

Presently, Warehouse Hobbies at 265 Rouge Road is only place in town that deals exclusively in model railroad equipment. They have a small stock, but they can order anything you want in any gauge, and their service is excellent. They don’t have a web site, but you can contact them by phoning 204-837-7887.

Prairie Shadows Model Railway Co. is an online model railroad shop operating out of Winnipeg. They carry HO and N gauge. Their web site is https://www.prairieshadows.com/

Eliminator RC specializes in R/C cars and planes, but they do carry some train sets and Woodland Scenic items, and they can also order in for you. Check out their web site at https://eliminator-rc.com/.

Hobby Sense is a Brick and Mortar store located near the St. Vital Centre. They carry plastic model kits, puzzles, paints, tools and supplies, but they can order in Bachmann and Atlas.

If you’re into European trains you can mail order from Eurorail Hobbies in British Columbia at https://www.eurorailhobbies.com/. Kelly’s Kaboose in Savona, B.C. carries all gauges from G to N. You can contact them at https://kellyskaboose.ca/

 

Cellar Dweller Hobby Supply will be closing soon

It is with great regret that we announce that Cellar Dweller Hobby Supply will be closing soon, due to the untimely death of Kerry Fingler, the son of the owner, Jerry Fingler.

Cellar Dweller has been serving the hobby for 49 years. Its closing leaves only two other shops, Toad Hall Toys and Warehouse Hobbies that still cater to model railroaders. No date has been set for the stores closing.

Jason Shron of Rapido Trains will be at Warehouse Hobbies this week

Jason Shron of Rapido Trains will be at Warehouse Hobbies on Thursday, February 15 at 6PM. He will have with him his model of the N gauge Turbo, an HO SW1200RS and an RDC. He may also bring the first pilot model of the CPR Royal Hudson. There also will be an opportunity to place orders for his upcoming items. Warehouse Hobbies is located at 265 Rouge Road.

Come see Santa at the NMRA Christmas train show this Saturday!

The National Model Railroad Association presents their first annual Christmas Train Show! Bring the kids to meet Santa Claus, and stay for all the layouts and displays in a Christmas setting!

Santa Claus is going to have some very good company at the show! Joining jolly St. Nick will be the No. 1 Northern Division’s Free-Mo HO gauge modular layout, WinNtak’s N gauge modular layout and the Lionel train O gauge “Giraffe Car” layout. 

Multiple award winning modeller Ron Einarson will be holding a modelling workshop. Fred Headon of Warehouse Hobbies will be on hand to offer all sorts of model railroading and modelling advice. Fred is the Canadian Director of the National Model Railroad Association and is a certified Master Model Railroader (MMR). 

There will also be a model railroad flea market, featuring a variety of model railroad equipment in various gauges for sale.

This is the last train show of the year, and it looks like it's going to be a good one! The show is being held on Saturday, November 12 at Whyte Ridge Baptist Church, 201 Scurfield Boulevard. Hours are from 10:00AM to 4:00PM. Handicap accessible. Admission by silver collection. A portion of the proceeds will be donated to St. Amant.

Ken Martin, founder of Warehouse Hobbies, passes away at age 81

If there ever was a true pioneer in the retail field of model railroading, it would be Ken Martin. He served the needs of Model Railroaders in Winnipeg and later in Nanaimo for over five decades.

Ken was born and raised in Winnipeg. His grandfather worked on the railway, and his dad worked on the electric railway. He had his own Lionel layout by age 5.

In 1956, and he started the first of Ken Martin Enterprises in his basement with his wife Bernice as shipper/receiver for Midwest Hobbies. As the wholesale business moved into its own warehouse, Ken branched out into retail and the first Ye Olde Hobby Mart opened at 365 Portage Ave, with four other locations following in the 70’s and 80’s, including Polo Park and Grant Park shopping centres. 

Ken also owned the Cricklewood gift shop in Polo Park, which he opened in 1979, and was run by Bernice. Cricklewood was a tribute to his marketing savvy, as while hobbyists were going to Ye Olde Hobby Mart in Polo Park, their wives were going to Cricklewood and buying out the store!

Warehouse Hobbies was Ken’s last retail enterprise. Its first location was in a warehouse near Polo Park, in between St. James Street and Route 90. He later moved to a smaller location on Portage Avenue. 

In 1993 he sold Warehouse Hobbies to Jim and Bev Iredale and retired to Nanaimo. But he didn’t stop working for very long, and found a job at Leisure Time Hobbies. After that, he worked on his layout full-time. His reputation often preceded him, as he was often asked to evaluate model railroader’s collections, and was frequently sought out as a vendor at train shows on Vancouver Island. 

Ken died peacefully on June 9, 2016.

Soldering clinic to be held at Warehouse Hobbies on February 29

Warehouse Hobbies will be holding a soldering clinic on Monday, February 29 from 7:30PM to 9:30PM. They'll be covering a wide range of topics, such as safety, tools, and several techniques for connecting wire to wire, feeder wire to bus wire, feeder wire to trail, and wire to decoder.

This will be an excellent clinic for beginners and experienced hobbyists alike. If you're all thumbs when it comes to soldering, of if you don't know one end of a soldering iron from another, then this clinic is for you! If you're a veteran solderer but need help with more sophisticated techniques such as soldering wiring to decoders, then this clinic will be a great asset for you as well.

The cost of the clinic is $10.00, and that includes a $5.00 voucher for any product sold at Warehouse Hobbies. You can register at Warehouse Hobbies, 265 Rouge Road in Winnipeg, phone them at 204-837-7887, or send an email to fheadon@shaw.ca

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.