National Model railroad Association holds train show this Saturday

Heads up, everybody! This is the last train show for the year, and it's going to be a great one! Not only will there be several layouts running, but there will be interactive displays! Several clinics conducted by Winnipeg's finest modellers will be held. This is a rare treat, as no other train show in town holds clinics.

You can also test your railroading skills by operating a G scale John Allen Timesaver module, conducted by the NMRA's youngest member, Michael Leader. But don't let his age fool you - he's an expert at running a timesaver module!

There will also be a contest for the younger set. Each participant will receive a paper with multiple choice questions about the displays at the show. The papers will be drawn at the end of the show, and the three youngsters whose papers have been drawn who have the correct answers will receive a gift certificate from a local hobby shop!

The fun starts at 10:00AM at Whyte Ridge Baptist Church, 201 Scurfield Boulevard. Handicap accessible, admission by silver collection. A portion of the proceeds will be donated to St. Amant.

The making of the Hudson Bay Railway

Bart Hasselfield is one of our newer members, and he has a terrific website that he wants to share with us! After reading MRC Blog Editor Paul Ullrich's posts about his recent rail trip to Churchill, he sent us these links from his website, http://www.zambonista.com, about the making of the rail line to Churchill.

Bart also has a very personal connection to the Railway. His grandfather  was Major J.G. MacLachlan, who was the manager of the Hudson Bay Railway from 1943 to 1951. He had served on the railway since 1928 in various roles, including Division Engineer, District Engineer, and Superintendent and District Engineer. Bart has posted excerpts from his grandfather's memoirs and several photographs of the rail line from 1929. Boy, was there a lot of snow that spring! You can see it all by clicking here. 

  MacLachlan is shown above right with CNR President Vaughn and CNR Vice President Devenish.

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.