new design train model

 
By Dave Downie

   One of the the things that I've been amazed at has been the pace of change in our hobby. Most of us got our start in the hobby many years ago when the pace of life and changes in technology were a lot slower. Looking back just over the last 2 decades, I'm amazed at how everything has changed. Some of these changes have been improvements while other changes, have not been for the best.

   Who could have imagined the affect that technology would have on our hobby? The Internet has changed the way we communicate, conduct research and purchase supplies. This has had a serious affect on hobby shops and publishing companies to name just two examples. Another significant change has been the dramatic increase in the average age of model railroaders as the hobby fails to attract new participants.

   Not everything that has taken place over the last 20 years has been negative. Far from it. Looking at the quality and variety of new products entering the marketplace, we could say that we are in the middle of the greatest period that the hobby has ever seen. Consider Digital Command Control (DCC), locomotives with sound, manufacturers like Rapido, Fast Tracks and others that supply products that we could only dream about 20 years ago.

The question that I ask is: What is Model Railroading's Future?

   Because of the aging demographics, we may reach a point where it may not be financially feasible for retailers and manufacturers to remain in business if the market for model railroad supplies shrinks rather than grows.

   The solution of course is to attract new people into the hobby. This is easier said than done. Research has shown that the hobby attracts fewer teenagers today and that many new model railroaders are now older than 30 who are now established with careers and families. Many of these people never had a train set as a kid and were raised in a generation with computers and video games. With the decrease in the number of hobby shops, the hobby's public exposure is decreasing, not increasing. This creates more challenges for the hobby.

So what can we do?

We need to ensure that the hobby gets exposure.

   The WMRC is leading the way to promote the hobby and, as club members, we all have a role to play. The executive is committed to create a friendly and respectful environment where all people with an interest in the hobby can enjoy themselves while participating in club activities.

   Our blog site has been up for less than 2 years and has had over 53,000 visits from people all over the world. This gives an insight to the club and the hobby that wasn't possible 20 years ago. We need to build on this exposure.

   The clinics that are held at our monthly meetings need to cover all aspects of our wonderful hobby. Each member probably has a technique that they use to build models or their layout. Consider putting on a clinic. Your efforts will be appreciated.

   We have a terrific location for our meetings in the basement of the Charleswood Legion. Invite a family member or friend to attend as a guest. We are not an elitist club, we are a friendly club.

   The Gateway Western layout within the Winnipeg Railway Museum has created a great opportunity for the club because it will not only showcase the hobby and club to the museum's visitors but it allows members the opportunity to participate in the construction of the layout. What better way to contribute to the club's legacy by building something at the Gateway. Every Tuesday night the �work crew� is at the Gateway. Come on out and participate. What better way to learn than by participating. You will also make new friends. I should also tell you that the Gateway is now open for members to operate. Bring out some equipment and run some trains. Come on out on a Tuesday and learn the protocol to getting access to the layout.

   WMRC club members participate in the Manitoba Mega Train Show, Doors Open Winnipeg, Railway Days at the Winnipeg Railway Museum and host our own WMRC Open House to promote the hobby. These are great opportunities to showcase our hobby. We ask all members to help out.

   It is up to all of us to help promote our great hobby. The WMRC is 60 years old and we have a rich history. Our current members will have a tremendous impact on the club's future and the hobby's future in Winnipeg.

What can you do to help out?

   Long time WMRC member supervises the running of the trains of the No. 1 Northern Division's Free-Mo group at the WMRC's annual spring open house.

 The WMRC would like to extend a very big THANK YOU  to everyone who attended our spring open house this weekend at the Charleswood Legion! We had a lot of very happy folks who love trains drop by. A lot of them stayed for hours, but that's okay - it's even encouraged!

    There sure was plenty to see! All of the popular gauges, from Z to G were on display, and there was even a display of rolling stock from the Assiniboine Valley Railway! Two big modular railways - the No. 1 Northern Division's Free-Mo group and the Kildonan Short Lines were up and running at the show. There were also two N gauge layouts, the ever popular Lionel "giraffe car" layout, plus the displays of the WMRC model and photo contest winners. Our charity of choice, our good friends at St. Amant, were also there with a big display.

    The good folks at the Kildonan Short Lines modular railway had lots of trains up and running!
   Frances South and her brother James were on hand to help volunteer with their mom running the canteen, and to help run the Lionel giraffe car layout!

   Mark your calendars! The WMRC will be holding its annual spring open house on Saturday, March 28, and Sunday, March 29 at their new location at the Charleswood Legion Hall, 6003 Roblin Boulevard. Hours are from 11AM to 4PM both days. The venue is handicap accessible. Please enter on the west side of the building.

    There will be lots of stuff to see, such as the entries from our annual photo and model contests, and several operating layouts, including the No. 1 Northern Division's Free-Mo Layout, the Kildonan Short Lines modular layout, and the Lionel 027 "giraffe car" layout!

   The canteen will be open as well, serving donuts, pop, chips, coffee and our famous gourmet hot dogs, served with either mustard or ketchup! Come and help us celebrate our 60th year of model railroading in Winnipeg! Admission is by donation, and a portion of proceeds will go to support St. Amant. Hope to see you all there!

    Member Godfrey South proudly displays the WMRC he just bought at December's meeting. He bought five of them - one for every member of the family!

    We do have a number of extra shirts that were ordered, and they will be available on a first come, first sold basis. These high quality shirts, with a spiffy logo designed by WMRC blog editor Paul Ullrich, are selling for just $15!

     Our next meeting is on Friday, January 9 at the Charleswood Legion, 6003 Roblin Boulevard. The meeting starts 7:30 PM. If you didn't order a T-shirt, but still want to buy one, please get there early!

   WMRC Treasurer Gary Stempnick presents a donation to St. Amant's Juliette Trudeau Mucha at the club's meeting in December at the Charleswood Legion.

   The WMRC was honoured by the presence of St. Amant's Juliette Trudeau Mucha at our last meeting. Juliette presented a short video showcasing the wonderful work of St. Amant and was given a cheque from the club.

   The donation the club gave to St. Amant represents a portion of the proceedings of the money earned from September's Manitoba Mega Train Show. The club also donates a portion of the money earned at their annual spring open house to St. Amant. In 2013, St. Amant had a large display at the spring open house. Many volunteers from St. Amant were present at the show to promote the work the organization does in the community.

   The WMRC is a not-for-profit organization and it is also a charity-minded organization. We have had St. Amant as our charity of choice for about two years, and we are delighted to have chosen such a worthwhile and hard working organization.

   The big day is almost here! Tomorrow is the WMRC's annual Klinic Karnival! We have a great group of Winnipeg's finest model railroading experts all set to share their knowledge with you, and it's absolutely free! If you were to attend a model railroad convention in the States you'd have to pay big bucks to attend any series of clinics they would hold. But we're not charging one red cent! Best of all, you don't have to be a member to attend! Guests are always welcome!

     We're also going to hold our annual "Christmas Dinner" of hot dogs, chips, and pop. And if you're not full from that. you can always join us after the meeting for pizza at Santa Lucia's on 4 St. Mary's Road!

    When we held our Klinic Karnival last year, we were in the middle of a bone chilling cold snap. It was -45C, but we still had a pretty good crowd. This year, it looks like it'll be +3C, which is excellent weather for coming out to the meeting!

     If you ordered one of our brand new, very spiffy 60th anniversary T-shirts, they'll be available for pick up at the meeting. 

      The meeting starts at 7:30 PM at the Charleswood Legion, 6003 Roblin Boulevard. There's plenty of parking available! Please enter through the western entrance.

    WMRC President Larry Leavens shows off his brand new T-shirt at the club's Gateway Western layout, which is located in the Winnipeg Railway Museum.

     The T-shirts, designed by WMRC blog editor Paul Ullrich, have been delivered and are ready to be picked up for all who have ordered them at our next meeting on Friday, December 12 at the Charleswood Legion at 6003 Roblin Boulevard.

     The meeting starts at 7:30, but there will be a lot more to do besides picking up your T-shirts! We're having our annual Klinic Karnival, featuring Winnipeg's top model railroaders sharing their talents with you, and our annual "Christmas Dinner" of hot dogs, pop and chips! And if you're not quite full from that, there's always pizza after the meeting at Santa Lucia's on St. Mary's Road!

   The WMRC will be holding its annual Klinic Karnival next Friday, December 12. Program director Morgan Turney (the hardest working man in show business) would like to remind everyone that the Klinic Karnival is OPEN TO ALL! You don't have to be a member to join in on the fun! There will be many clinics conducted by Winnipeg's top modellers, all under one roof at the Charleswood Legion at 6003 Roblin Boulevard!

     We'll also be having our annual "Christmas dinner" that night (meaning hot dogs, chips and pop), so be sure to bring your appetite! The fun starts at 7:30 PM. Hope to see many new faces there!

   WMRC President Larry Leavens sent in this photo of a CN rail grain hopper with the WMRC's 60th anniversary logo on it while he was out rail fanning last Saturday. Suspicions have been raised as to whether this is actually a prototype image, or one taken of a model on someone's layout. But Larry swears that it is prototype, and as we all know, chief executives never lie (except when they're not telling the truth). However, if you choose to believe him, we'd like to sell you the Chief Peguis Trail bridge. No reasonable offers will be accepted.

     All kidding aside, the WMRC is having their 60th anniversary in 2015, and one of the ways we're celebrating is with our annual model contest. This year's special event is to use our 60th anniversary decal (specially designed by blog editor Paul Ullrich) on any railroad related model. It could be an engine, a piece of rolling stock, a building, or anything else you can imagine!

   You can purchase these decals from WMRC Program Director Morgan Turney at our next meeting, which will be held on December 12 at 7:30 at the Charleswood Legion at 6003 Roblin Boulevard. A limited number of these decals have been made, so don't put it off much longer than that!

   The dapper and erudite Steve Boyko, creator of the popular rail fanning blog, "Confessions of a Train Geek" (which has had over 725,000 views), will be giving a special presentation about grain elevators at the WMRC's November meeting, which will be held on Friday, November 14.

   If you're a rail fan living in Western Canada, you know all too well about the importance of these "prairie giants" that dotted the landscape from the Whiteshell to the Rockies. Grain was king in the prairies, and the railroads served every community that had a grain elevator. Sadly, these landmarks have been disappearing at an alarming rate, as grain is now stored in massive concrete silos.


   Besides our usual business meeting ,we'll also have our monthly model display, the ever popular 50-50 draw, and the canteen will be open! After the meeting, there's always pizza at Santa Lucia's on St. Mary's Road!

   The meeting starts at 7:30 PM at the Charleswood Legion, 6003 Roblin Boulevard. You can't miss the place - it's the one with the tank in front of it! Please enter on the west side of the building.

The program for Friday's meeting features a special treat! Dennis Rietze, a long time member who is also the Superintendent of the NMRA's No. 1 Northern Division, will be presenting a program about his visit to the Palo Verde Southern Railroad in Mesa, Arizona.

This layout has to be seen to believed! It's considered to be one of the largest G scale layouts in the world (if no the largest). It's famous for running 100+ car lengths, it's beautifully landscaped and the engines have full sound! There's nothing like hearing a sound system from the big speaker of a scale G gauge train!

There's lots of videos featuring this amazing layout on You Tube, but if you come to the meeting, you'll get to see in on a big screen instead of on your computer!

We won't be having a formal second program this month, so if any members wish to put something together to show to the club, here is your chance - Free For All Night! Simply put 15 or so train-related or model related photos on a CD/DVD or USB stick and bring them with you and we'll show them. 

We'll also be having our monthly model display, with a draw for a gift certificate from a local hobby shop. Feel free to bring down whatever you've been working on, and you might win! It doesn't have to be completed - but you must include a short write-up describing the work you've done to date. If we get ten or more entries from ten different members, the gift certificate prize will be doubled to thirty dollars!

Of course, the canteen and the library will be open as well.

Don't forget that we have a new meeting place - The Charleswood Legion at 6003 Roblin Boulevard! We meet at 7:30PM in the Tank Room located in the basement of the hall. Please use the entrance on the west side of the building (which is wheelchair accessible). You can't miss the building - it's got a big tank in front of it!

Hope to see you all there! Be sure to bring your membership renewal forms! If you don't have one, we'll supply you with one!

You've read about our new location several times in this blog.
It's been posted on the WMRC Facebook page.
There was an article about our new location in the September issue of The Lantern, the official publication of the WMRC, which was sent to all club members.
Our President, Larry Leavens, sent out an email to all past and present members notifying them of our move to our new location at the Charleswood Legion at 6003 Roblin Boulevard.
Just to be sure, we're telling you again:

Don't go to Westworth United Church on Friday night!

Of course, you're welcome to attend their church services on Sundays, but we're not meeting there anymore!
We meet as usual at 7:30PM, this Friday, September 12, 2014. Our meeting will be held in the tank room in the basement. Please use the parking lot on the west side of the building. There is also a parking lot available directly across Roblin on the south side of the street.
The building at 6003 Roblin Boulevard has a big tank in front of it - you can't miss it!
The building is also wheelchair accessible from the west side of the building.
The tank room has a 10' ceiling and no pillars to obstruct your view. It promises to be much warmer in the winter months, and you don't have to take off your shoes in the winter! Imagine that - no more cold, smelly feet at our meetings!
We have full use of a modern kitchen. There's a cloakroom and ample space for our library.

Hope to see you all there this Friday!

The model railroading season really starts to heat up in September! We start off first with the Winnipeg Model Railroad Club's first meeting in our new location at the Charleswood Legion, located at 6003 Roblin Boulevard. The meeting will be held in the tank room in the basement of the hall on September 12, and starts at 7:30. The door on the west side of the building provides the best access. Hope to see you all there! You can't miss the building - it's got a tank in front of it!

The next day the Assiniboine Valley Railway holds its monthly open house on September 13 and also on September 14. The hours are from 11 to 5 on Saturday, and from 1 to 5 on Sunday. Rides are $2 per person. Kids under 3 ride for free!

The weekend after that is the Winnipeg Railway Museum's Railway days! The hours are from 10 to 5 on September 20 and 21. Admission is by donation. The Winnipeg Model Railroad Club will be out there in full force, operating the Gateway Western Railway in its own separate structure within the museum. That itself would be worth the price of admission, but there's so much more to see!

Following that is the Manitoba Mega Train Show on September 27 and 28 at the CanLan Ice Sports Complex on 1871 Ellice Avenue. The WMRC is partnered with this event. We'll have members all over the place setting up the 7.5" scale train, working the admissions desk, displaying and selling all sorts of neat model railroading stuff at the vendor's tables! Admission is $5, Children ages 3-12 $3, and kids 2 and under get in for free! Hours are from 9 to 5 on both days.

Starting in September, we will have a new place for our monthly meetings - the Charleswood Legion Hall at 6003 Roblin Boulevard. You can't miss it - it has a tank on the grounds!

We'll be meeting in the Tank Room, in the basement of the hall. The door on the west side of the building provides the best access.

This new meeting place holds many advantages over our previous location. It's on a main road, and very easy to find. It also promises to be a lot warmer location. Our past two locations have been in church gymnasiums. Although the club has been very grateful for the use of these locations, a lot of our members found them to be uncomfortably cold in the winter (The blower fans were on the ceiling, heat rises).

As an added bonus, members will no longer have to take their winter shoes off! Leave your slippers at home!

The legion hall is not in a central location (although one of our members live right across the street from it), but it's still relatively easy to get to from most parts of the city. Members living in the Kildonans or the northwest part of the city can take the Perimeter Highway. A short cut can be taken by going down Brookside Boulevard then onto Centre Point Canada Way (It is much faster).

However, it is a lot farther from our beloved Santa Lucia Pizza on St. Mary's Road, but there's another location close by at 2029 Portage Avenue, right between William Clement Parkway and Route 90!

The WMRC wishes to thank our Past President Ed Mulholland for finding this new location. Way to go, Ed!