new design train model

WMRC member Godfrey South and his entire family enjoy a ride on the AVR at their last open house.

   All aboard for another open house at the Assiniboine Valley Railway! The fun starts at 11:00 AM on Saturday, August 8 and goes on until 5:00 PM! On Sunday, August 9, the hours are from 1:00 PM to 5:00 PM. It's just two bucks a ride, and you can get a 12 ride pass for only $20! Join in on all the fun at 3001 Roblin Boulevard, just past Assiniboine Park!

    Pictured from left to right are Frances South, Jean South, Tommy South, Godfrey South and James South. The entire South family have been keeping our canteen going for the past year, and their efforts are deeply appreciated!

    The WMRC has been blessed with many volunteers, and it's time to honour the hard working crew that keeps our canteen going at our monthly meeting and at our open house.

    The canteen is a relatively new enterprise in our long history. It was started when the club moved its meeting place to Christ Anglican Church on Corydon Avenue in 1999. Former President Chuck Huard saw that there was a kitchen, and he suggested that we start a canteen to sell pop, coffee and chips. Chuck and his wife Lise, along with Ken and Roberta Anderson, ran the canteen for many years. Chuck and Ken also cooked hot dogs and burgers for us at the the club's Great Canadian Train Shows, which were held every fall at the Mennonite Brethren Collegiate Institute.

    Running the canteen is often a thankless job. The crew not only has to operate the concession stand, but they have to purchase all of the goods, deliver all of the supplies to the meeting, make the coffee, and store the coffee maker and any unsold items at their own own place. They also have to clean up the kitchen after the meeting.

   In 2006, the club started their "annual hot dog dinner" for their December meeting, which wouldn't have been able to have existed at all without the canteen staff.

    After many years of service, the canteen duties were then taken over by Dennis and LuElla Rietze, followed by Andrea leader, and then by the South family.

    The South family are recent arrival from the United Kingdom. They have been very dedicated and enthusiastic volunteers since they joined the club, and we are all very thankful for all of their efforts!



  

    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!

   Tommy South receives the WMRC 2014 Junior Photographer award from President Larry Leavens.

Tommy South, sone of WMRC member Godfrey South, is the recipient of the WMRC 2014 Junior Photographer award. He won the award at the WMRC's annual open house in March, and received his certificate and the plaque at the WMRC's annual banquet, which was held on Friday, May 9, at Aalto's Garden Cafe in Canad Inns Windsor Park.

   Tommy, along with Michael Leader, is one of the club's most promising "next generation" of model railroaders. Way to go, Tommy! Keep up the good work! We're sure that you'll be winning many more awards in the future!

 One of the big surprises we had at our 2014 open house was from one of our newest and most active members, Godfrey South, who displayed his collection of miniature live steam engines. A lot of model railroaders weren't aware that this genre even existed, and it was quite a thrill to see a live steam locomotive race around Godfrey's track with no electricity, no wires, and no power pack! Photo by Suzanne Lemon.

Morgan Turney, inspecting Godfrey's live miniature steam engine, looks like he's thinking, "How the heck does this thing work?" Photo by Paul Ullrich.

   Wow, what a party! We all had a great time at our open house! We had tons of visitors, we sold a record number of hot dogs, and the canteen made a profit! CBWFT and the Winnipeg Free Press were there! There were also a few surprises to be had, such as Godfrey South's miniature live steam display, Jim Spiers multi - layered O gauge Lionel "1960's" display and Suzanne Lemon's Z scale layout - placed right in the middle of the Kildonan Short Lines modular railway's returning loop!

     Thanks to everyone who showed up, and thanks to all of the volunteers who helped make this event  at Westworth United Church  great success! Thanks to the volunteers at St.Amant, who displayed all weekend. A portion of the proceeds from our show will go to support  St.Amant.

   Godfrey South, one of our newest but most active members, delivered a remarkable presentation at the Winnipeg Model Railroad Club's meeting, which was held On January 10, 2013 at Westworth United Church.

   Godfrey showed how he and a group of dedicated rail fans resurrected a two foot narrow gauge industrial rail line in his native Britain. The group rebuilt a beautiful steam engine from what was literally a pile of rusty scrap metal. Godfrey, who is a blacksmith by trade, was heavily involved in re-tooling many missing parts.

   The presentation not only included many images documenting the rebuilding of the engine from start to finish, but also included a video of the engine all fired up and rolling down the track!

   The second presentation was by WMRC Secretary Cliff Davidson, titled "Cliff's Western Canadian Adventures", which documented his trip to Calgary last year. Cliff, who knows rural Saskatchewan like the back of his hand, took us way off the Trans Canada Highway and into a rarely seen land where grain elevators still exist.

    There are quite a few of these prairie giants around. Some are abandoned, but many still serving their communities. Some are standing next to former rail lines that were torn up long ago. Cliff took several images of trains passing them by that were hauling nothing but oil tankers, a sure sign of the times.

   Below are several images from Godfrey's excellent presentation. Good work, Godfrey!