Winnipeg Model Railroad Club to hold their annual open house and train show on April 22 and 23

Spring has finally sprung, and that means it's time for the WMRC's annual open house and train show! it's happening on Saturday, April 22 from 10AM to 5PM and on Sunday, April 23 from 10AM to 4PM in the Tank Room at the Charleswood Legion, 6003 Roblin Boulevard. There will be model and photo displays, demonstrations, several operating layouts and trains, trains and more trains! The canteen will be open, serving coffee, pop, chips, donuts and air fried hot dogs. Admission is by donation. You've got to be there!
 

Season's greetings from the Winnipeg Model Railroad Club

The Winnipeg Model Railroad Club wishes all of our members, friends and followers a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. Keep 'em on the rails for 2023!
 

Winnipeg Model Railroad Club mourns the passing of MMR Ron Einarson

Ron Einarson is seen receiving his Master Model Railroader certification from fellow MMR Moe Smith at the Winnipeg Model Railroad Club's annual general meeting and banquet in 2017.

Ron Einarson MMR died suddenly on November 18, 2022 at Grace Hospital in Winnipeg after contacting Covid and undergoing hip surgery.

Ron was born in Winnipeg on September 25, 1949. He attended Grant Park High School and graduated Grade 12 from United College. He worked 43 years for the Federal Government in Winnipeg. 

Ron was a member of the Winnipeg Model Railroad Club since 1983, and was a member of the NMRA for almost as long. He also served as superintendent of the No.1 Northern Division and as the President of NMRA Canada. He served on the board of the WMRC as recording secretary. Ron achieved a a lifelong dream when he was designated Master Model Railroader (MMR) #593 in 2017.

Before the reorganization of the #1 Northern Division in 2008, he was the President, chief cook and bottle washer and tub thumper for the NMRA. Ron single-handedly kept the NMRA alive in Manitoba when no one else wanted the job. Every month he set up the NMRA display at the Winnipeg Model Railroad Club's meetings and held clinics. One of his popular features was the "tool of the month”. 

Ron was the heart and soul of the WMRC and the No.1 Northern Division. He was front and centre at every WMRC open house and TLR regional convention held in Winnipeg, giving his time and talents to help make them a success. Ron organized the layout hop for the 2010 TLR convention held in Winnipeg.

Ron's love of life and enthusiasm for the hobby was truly infectious. He was a blood donor with  over 50 donations. He was a tireless volunteer, a highly skilled model railroader and a great friend.

Ron had been suffering from dementia for several years and was unable to attend meetings of the Winnipeg Model Railroad Club. He had been residing at the West Park Manor Personal Care Home shortly before his death.

He is survived by his wife Yvonne of 49 years, son Neal and daughter Louise, his grandchildren Amber, Eddie, Zoe and Link, his brother John, his sister-in-law Marilyn and numerous nieces and nephews. Ron was predeceased by his parents Helen and John Einarson, in-laws Elsie and Eddie Attwater, Grandmother Olivia Einarson, as well as many aunts, uncles and cousins.
 

 

The WInnipeg Railway Museum and the Gateway Western Railway are open again

Great news! You can now visit the Winnipeg Railway Museum and view the Winnipeg Model Railroad Club's Gateway Western Railway again! As of Saturday, July 17 the museum will be open seven days a week from 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM.

The Gateway Western Railway, the largest modular HO layout in the province, will be open for viewing. Only members of the WMRC and the Winnipeg Railway Museum are allowed inside the structure that houses the layout. The Gateway's Tuesday operating nights and maintenance sessions are still suspended pending on a decision from Via Rail to have the station open later. 

The museum is located on the second level of the Via Rail station at 123 Main Street. Admission to the museum is $7.00. Seniors get in for $6.00.  Students over 16 years of age with ID get in for $6.00. 

To enter the museum you must show proof that you're fully vaccinated. You also must wear a mask and practice social distancing at all times. Children under 12 years of age are not allowed in the museum at this time.

Winnipeg Model Railroad club cancels 2021 spring open house

 The Winnipeg Model Railroad Club has cancelled their 2021 spring open house due to the restrictions concerning group meetings because of the COVID-19 pandemic. This has only been the second time in 66 years that the WMRC spring open house has been cancelled.

Gateway Western Railway reopens with restrictions

 Please follow Larry's example and practice social distancing when at the Gateway Western.

The Winnipeg Model Railroad Club’s Gateway Western Railway has reopened, coinciding with the reopening of the Winnipeg Railway Museum. The Gateway will be open to people who are both members of the Winnipeg Model Railroad Club and the Winnipeg Railway Museum during museum hours only.

As the Via Rail Station now closes at 6:00PM, it is no longer possible to hold the Tuesday night sessions. The museum is open from 10:00 am to 4:00 pm every day.

If you do plan on going to the Gateway you MUST follow the same rules that are in place to visit Union Station and the Railway Museum. When inside the Gateway you MUST follow safe distance rules. If you are using any equipment you need to wipe it down with an appropriate sanitizing solution after use. This also applies everything you touch when inside the Gateway, such as filing cabinets, desk tops, table tops, chairs and tools.

Winnipeg Model Railroad's April meeting has been cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic

The Winnipeg Model Railroad Club's April meeting, scheduled for Friday, April 17, 2020, has been cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Normally, the club holds their elections at the April meeting. This will have to be postponed until the fall. The existing executive will continue to run the club until the next general meeting can be called.

No decision has been made as to whether the annual banquet and AGM should be held on May 8. The executive is monitoring the situation and will make a decision closer to the proposed date.

Winnipeg Model Railroad Club's April open house has been cancelled

The Winnipeg Model Railroad Club has cancelled their spring open house due to health concerns over the COVID-19 corona virus pandemic. This decision was not taken lightly, and the board's vote to cancel the event was unanimous. In the 65 years the club has been in existence, we have never cancelled our spring open house. But it is imperative that we put the health and safety of our many visitors and our members above all else.

Happy New Year from the Winnipeg Model Railroad Club

May all of our many members, readers, followers and their families have a wonderful New Year filled with trains, trains and more trains! Hope to see you all at our events in 2020! Keep 'em on the rails!

Merry Christmas from the Winnipeg Model Railroad Club

May all of our members, readers, followers and their families have a great Christmas season and a wonderful New Year filled with trains, trains and more trains! Hope to see you all at our events in 2020! Keep 'em on the rails!

Merry Christmas from the Winnipeg Model Railroad Club!

May all of our members and our many readers from all around the world have a joyous holiday season and a wonderful New Year! Keep 'em on the rails!

Winnipeg Model Railroad Club's blog reaches its fifth anniversary

Five years ago today the WMRC went online in a big way when their blog was created by their newly appointed social media director Paul Ullrich (with a lot of help from his wife Margaret, who has two very popular blogs, Winnipeg is Better than Chocolate and I'm Turning 60). The blog got 90 views on the very first day. As of today, it has had 208, 540 views and has a worldwide audience.

605 posts have been created and archived for anyone to view. Thanks to all of our club members, model railroaders and rail fans throughout the world who have made this blog such a success!

Manitoba Mega Train Show is happening on September 29 and 30

You've never seen anything like it! 40,000 square feet of trains, trains and more trains! Tons of displays and over 70 vendors! This is the event all of Manitoba's model railroaders and rail fans have been waiting for all year!

Yes, it's Manitoba Mega Train Show time, and the Winnipeg Model Railroad Club will be there in full force, doing the set-up and the take down, volunteering at the admissions table, running the mega-train and holding their own display table.

The two days of fun begins on Saturday, September 29 at 9:00AM and runs until 5:00PM at the Red River Exhibition Place, 3977 Portage Avenue, right by Assiniboia Downs. The hours are the same on Sunday, September 30. Admission is only seven bucks. Admission for youths ages 4-12 is five bucks. A family pack admission is only twenty bucks. Free admission for children 3 and under. Admission includes unlimited free rides on the mega-train. Don't miss this event!

See the Gateway Western Railway in action at Railway Days at the Winnipeg Railway Museum

Join the Winnipeg Model Railroad Club and the Winnipeg Railway Museum's annual celebration of railroading and see the Gateway Western Railway, Winnipeg's largest operating HO railway, in action! The Gateway Western Railway is open to the public just twice a year, so don't miss this rare opportunity to view it!

The volunteer crew from the Winnipeg Model Railroad Club and the Winnipeg Railway Museum have been working hard every week on making improvements to the layout, so even if you've seen it just a few months ago in May during Doors Open Winnipeg, you're bound to see something new this time!

The museum is located on the second level of the Via Rail station at 123 Main Street, and is open from 11:00AM to 5:00PM on Saturday, September 15 and Sunday, September 16. Admission by donation.

Take a ride on the Gateway Western Railway

Graham Leathers, son of our longest serving member Norm Leathers, got this neat mini cam, attached it to a flat car and ran it on the Winnipeg Model Railroad Club's Gateway Western Railway! You've to to see it to believe it! It's like taking a ride on the railway itself, and you get to see close up all the great modelling work the club has done!

The Gateway Western Railway is housed in the Winnipeg Railway Museum on the second level of Winnipeg's Via Rail Station and owned and operated jointly by the two organizations. To see this great video, just click here.

Presenting the Winnipeg Model Railroad Club's revised logo

Coming to a T-shirt near you: WMRC blog editor and Social media Executive Paul Ullrich was asked by the club's executive to revamp his original design of the Winnipeg Model Railroad Club's 60th anniversary (which was two years ago) by creating another logo for the club's HO layout, the Gateway Western Railway, and incorporating it into the existing logo.

The revised logo will be printed on T-shirts, which will be available for sale to members and non-members alike.

Russians invade the Winnipeg Model Railroad Club!

Some very suspicious characters have been spotted at the Gateway Western Railway recently. 

Last month, the  WMRC blog had a surprising and very suspicious increase in the number of hits it received from Russia. On July 21, we had 1,030 views, mostly from Russia. On July 26, we had 807, also mostly from Russia. Our average daily number of views is usually around 130. There couldn’t be that many model railroaders in Russia who are interested in our club, which led us to suspect that Russian “bots” (which is a slang term for “robots”, which are actually programmed computers) were cruising the site for personal information.

Please note that the WMRC blog has never posted any personal information other than the names of some of our members, and the location of our meeting places and open houses. So the robots aren’t going find anything, but that won’t stop them from trying. 

 So we beefed up the security of the blog site. You might notice that the site's web address  now has an HTTPS in front of it, which means that it’s an encrypted site, just like the websites of the banks and any places of business that exchange money on-line. This will prevent the robots from investigating the site, but it will also mean that the number of hits we receive will be discernibly less.

Last month we got 7,202 hits, which is a record breaker, but it doesn’t mean very much outhouse hits were created by Russian robots. Last week we got all of two hits from Russia. 

Let’s see how many hits we get in August. Regardless of the amount, at least they'll be honest ones!

Winnipeg Model Railroad Club blog surpasses 100,000 views

Last week the WMRC blog hit the 100,00 views mark, and kept on going! As of this writing, we've reached 100,373! This is quite a remarkable achievement, considering that the blog had only started in October 2013. On-line interest in the WMRC has exceeded all expectations, and it's had a very positive effect on the club. Membership is up, and the blog (along with our very popular Facebook page) has become the major source for model railroading news and events in the province!

The WMRC blog is not just about club activities. It's for all model railroaders and rail fans. We will continue to post all events concerning the model railroading community in this province, regardless of whatever organization it may come from, and we hope you'll continue reading this blog!

Kids just love the Gateway Western Railway!

The absolute best thing about running trains on the Gateway Western is watching the kid's reactions! Just look at this youngster in the image -  every model railroader knows how he feels, and all of us remember being that age when we were watching and dreaming about trains! If there was anything that made all of the efforts to build the Gateway (not to mention the building that houses it) is the look on this kid's face!

The Gateway Western Railway is house is a joint effort between the Winnipeg Model Railroad Club and the Winnipeg Railway Museum. The museum is located on the second level of the Via Rail station on 123 Main Street. For a complete schedule of their hours of operation, please click here.  

 Here's another wonderful shot of a youngster watching the trains run on the Gateway, courtesy of our crack photographer, Morgan Turney. Looks like our own Cliff Davidson is in the reflection!

 Here's a great scene of the rail action on the Gateway taken during Railway Days in September.

 

WinNtrack drives "last spike" at their grand opening ceremonies

WinNtrak, led by their president, Felix Lesiuk, celebrated their Grand Opening and Last Spike Ceremonies at their new club house located at the Prairie Dog Central station grounds north west of Winnipeg.

Ceremonies included a run-through ribbon-cutting event followed by the driving of the Last Spike into their club's switch stand located just outside the entrance door. The event, held on Saturday, October 3rd, was attended by over 75 people. Congratulations to the WinNtrak Model Railway Group from the Winnipeg Model Railroad Club!

What a beautiful day for the grand opening ceremonies! WinNtrak President and long time WMRC member Felix Lesiuk warmly welcomed all visitors to their new clubhouse on the Prairie Dog central grounds.
 

 Ribbon cutting ceremonies were performed by two N scale locomotives on the WinNtrak layout.

 Success! The locomotives plowed right through the ribbon! All photos by Morgan Turney.