See the Gateway Western Railway today!

These kids really enjoyed watching the trains run at the Gateway Western Railway last year!

The Winnipeg Railway Museum is again participating in Doors Open Winnipeg. The WMRC's Gateway Western Railway, which is housed in the museum, will be open to the public today from 11AM to 5:00PM. The Gateway is Manitoba's largest model railroad display, and it's open to the public only twice a year, so don't miss this opportunity to view it! The Winnipeg Railway Museum is located on the second floor of the Via Rail station at 123 Main Street!

CP to run special train to celebrate Canada's 150th birthday.

CP has announced that they will be running a train across Canada to celebrate Canada’s 150th birthday. The train will be in Winnipeg on Friday, August 4th, from 5:00PM to 8:00PM at the Southdale Community Centre, 254 Lakewood Boulevard. 

The CP F-unit 1401 will lead the train, hauling over 10 CP heritage cars. A highlight at each stop is the opportunity to take part in decorating a special car named the Spirit of Tomorrow. Children can write their hopes for the Canada of tomorrow on a commemorative card. The cards will be attached to the car. This car will be included in CP's 2017 Holiday Train.

Also included in the train is CP's  stage car where Dallas Arcand, champion Aboriginal hoop dancer and Juno award-winning country music singer Dean Brody will be performing.

For more information about the CP Canada 150 train, click here. 

CP has also updated its website to provide a history of the company, which can be accessed by clicking http://cpconnectingcanada.ca/#building-the-railway

Winnipeg's Rugby Tower dismantled by CP Rail

CP's Rugby tower, a rail fanning favourite for decades, is no more. 

By Morgan Turney

Many fans of this site will know and recognize CPR's Rugby Tower, located at mile 1.9 on CP's Carberry subdivision, just at the west end of CPR's yards off of McPhillips Street, and behind the McPhillips Street Station casino.

Built in 1947 to replace the original wooden structure, Rugby Tower was decommissioned as a control structure for CP trains in and out of Winnipeg on June 1, 2013 and remained standing, but empty. It was a two-story brick building with its' prominent "Rugby" name engraved into the brick and featured a distinctive windsock on a pole that indicated wind direction in case of a hazardous chemical spill in the yards.

On a recent railfanning visit one evening last week to Stanley Knowles Park, which overlooks CP's Weston yards and shops, I noticed that something didn't seem right with the view. That's when I noticed that Rugby Tower was no more! It's gone. Not a brick in sight - only a square of stones where the foundation used to be. Yet another piece of rail history gone forever.

Here's a recent image taken by Morgan Turney of where the Rugby Tower used to stand, taken at almost the same angle as the image above the article. It's ver sad to see that it's not there anymore!