new design train model

   Every year the Winnipeg Model Railroad Club presents the awards for winners of their model contest at their annual banquet. Long time member Ron Einarson was awarded first place this year in the structures category for his model of the O.H. Wright & company supply. He was also awarded third place for his model of his HO scale Kent Farmers AG & grain supply, and also received the best in show award for his HO scale Renfro lumber rack. Ron also received gold medal awards for all three structures.

     Second place was awarded to Gino Kost for his model of a tall steel trestle bridge. Gino also received the kit award, the gold medal award and the Clark Summers award for this structure.

      Outside of the structures and the special event competition, no other models were submitted. This led WMRC President to comment in his column in the May issue of The Lantern, the official publication of the Winnipeg Model Railroad Club:

   "At our club spring open house we had only a handful of members enter models in the model contest. Even the Special Event had a small turn out with only 5 members entering models. I have to wonder, has modeling become pass� in model railroading? Should the club continue to have a model contest? We have tried to encourage members to bring out their models to meetings by having the monthly model display with a cash prize. This is awarded in a random draw. The people entering are almost always the same few. An open question to the membership - SHOULD THE CLUB CONTINUE TO HAVE A MODEL CONTEST?"

     This has been a continuing problem, not only for the club, but for model railroading in general. Many of our finest modellers have passed away, and they haven't been replaced by younger members. Model railroaders can now buy structures that are fully assembled and weathered at a very reasonable cost. Quality rolling stock is now usually cheaper than kits. This makes model railroading less labor intensive, but if this trend continues, we run the danger of having all of our model railroad looking exactly the same.

  And now a few words from Gino 

   First off, I would like to thank all of the volunteers that have participated in the construction of the Gateway Western at the Winnipeg Railway Museum. Currently there is a temporary loop that has been set up so that we can fulfill our obligation to have trains running at the museum. We are getting very close to completing another section of the layout that will greatly increase the ability to run longer trains.

   It has come to my attention that there are a few members of the Winnipeg Model Railroad Club that have been running trains on the existing portion of the layout and I�m glad to see their enthusiasm. However, I would like to take this opportunity to remind all of the members of the Winnipeg Model Railroad Club that in order to have the privilege of running trains on the Gateway Western that you must also possess a valid membership with the Winnipeg Railway Museum.

   This requirement was part of the negotiated settlement between the two organizations that allowed the WMRC to construct and to operate the Gateway Western as our home layout even though it was located within the confines of the Winnipeg Railway Museum. In order to maintain our good standing relationship with the Winnipeg Railway Museum, please comply with what was negotiated between the two clubs.
 
   If you have any questions or concerns regarding this, please contact me or one of the committee members: Larry Leavens and Gary Stempnick from the WMRC or Norm Leathers, Barrie Laycock, and Peter Lacey from the Winnipeg Railway Museum, that have been assigned to the project. Thanks in advance for your cooperation on this matter.

    What you're witnessing here is a cruel practical joke played on Morgan Turney.

    There's only one thing Morgan loves more than model railroading, and that's seafood. He never without a tin of oysters in his pocket, and once a month Ed Mulholland bakes him an eel pie. Every Tuesday when he's at the Gateway, he orders a bucket of calamari from KFC (That's Kanye's Fresh Calamari) but he never shares it! Morgan can be very shellfish when it comes to his seafood.

    Someone switched glasses on him and shouted, "The Calamari's here!" and handed him the hose. Morgan likes his calamari rubbery, so he didn't notice the difference. He was so famished that he bit right through the hose and swallowed so much compressed air that he blew up like a beach ball and floated around the room for a while. Fortunately, Dave Downey caught him and squeezed all of the air out of him before he could do any damage to the layout. It's a good thing that the roof was finished, or else he'd be floating somewhere around Kleefeld by now!

   As you might have guessed, this post is a complete fabrication. WMRC Past President and Photo Contest Chair Suzanne Lemon submitted this photo, with the challenge to come up with an equally silly caption to go with it. 

   The Gateway Western MOW crew will be meeting this Tuesday, January 28 at 7:00 PM at the Winnipeg Railway Museum, which is located on the second level of Via Rail's Union Station at 123 Main Street. There won't be any Calamari served, but if you'd like to pitch in an help put together a great model railroad, you're more than welcome to join! The structure is heated and insulated, so you'll be able to help work on the railway in comfort.

   The Gateway Western has consistently been one of this sites most popular posts! The name itself has been synonymous with the Winnipeg Model railroad club since the 60's, and it represents everything the club strives for: Model railroading, teamwork, fellowship, community outreach, and just plain fun!
Below are some more images of the building of the Gateway.