new design train model: Kildonan Short Lines

Showing posts with label Kildonan Short Lines. Show all posts

Friday, 1 May 2015

A special image from the Winnipeg Model Railroad Club's special event model contest

WMRC model contest chair Morgan Turney managed to get all of the HO scale special event model contest entries in single photo during our annual spring open house by placing them all on one module of the Kildonan Short Lines display.

Thanks to the magic of Photoshop, WMRC Blog Editor Paul Ullrich replaced the background (which featured a blank wall, a bunch of boxes, jackets and two of our member's stomachs) with a very nice backdrop of a prairie sky. Enjoy!

Monday, 30 March 2015

The Winnipeg Model Railroad Club's 2015 spring open house was a success!

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!

Sunday, 18 January 2015

Winnipeg Model Railroad Club announces date and new location for their 2014 spring open house

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!

Saturday, 22 March 2014

Highlights from the Winnipeg Model Railroad Club's open house

We had a blast at our last open house, and we took oodles of photos, which we'll post until there are no more left. Pictured above is WMRC President Larry Leavens showing off the working of Winnipeg's newest HO gauge modular group, the Kildonan Short Lines. The group had their premiere showing at our open house, which took place on March 15 and 16 at Westworth United Church. Photo by Railfan Canada Editor Suzanne Lemon.

A CP freight comes out of a tunnel on the Kildonan Short Lines modular group layout. The layout depicts the Whiteshell region of the Canadian Shield as well as the prairies. Photo by Suzanne Lemon.

Saturday, 15 March 2014

The Winnipeg Model Railroad Club's open house was a resounding success!

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.

Tuesday, 11 March 2014

The making of a module (which you can see at the Winnipeg Model Railroad Club's open house)

In case you were wondering , the prairie sky was digitally added by blog editor Paul Ullrich. The original background has a beige wall with a folding chair.

By Suzanne Lemon

The module represents the rugged prairie and the ghost town of Bents, Saskatchewan. The grain elevator was scratch-built from styrene and the wood siding, air brush painted, decalled and heavily weathered with a variety of acrylic paint colours and other materials.

The scene also features an abandoned farmhouse, kit-bashed from a Branchline laser-cut kit which has also been hand painted and heavily weathered with different shades of acrylic craft paint. A floor was also scratch-built from strip wood for the structure and some weathered interior furnishings were placed inside, along with tattered blinds at the windows, made from thin strips of paper carefully cut and shredded with an X-Acto knife.

The tack shed, the horse and the rider on the hill comprise a Woodland Scenics white metal kit that was hand painted with a mix of acrylic and enamel paint. The paint was also used to simulate the rust on the tin roof.

The rails and ties of the abandoned track were painted with a mix of acrylic paint and Woodland Scenics enamel paint pens to simulate rust and heavy weathering from many years of exposure to the elements.

The scenery on the module was made using a Styrofoam board base that was cut to shape and layered to create hills. It was covered with plaster cloth and a layer of Hydrocal plaster. This was painted when dry and coated with a variety of Woodland Scenics turf and bush products to enhance the character of the prairie vegetation.

Recent additions to the project have included the long grass tufts to make the areas near the abandoned house and grain elevator appear overgrown. These items are also a Woodland Scenics product that was made from a synthetic material which has to be separated to the right thickness. Depending on your intent, each clump can be trimmed to the length that you desire. I glued them in place using Weldbond, as the thick consistency of this type of glue helps the tufts stay upright as they dry.

I will be building and adding on some small internal and external details for the elevator. In the near future you can observe the remnants of the loading door platform, the grain spout, the drive-in shed and the loading ramp. More weathered structures and vehicles will likely be added to the scene in the future as opportunities permit.

   The actual photo that I took of Bents shows a creepy place with an abandoned general store that still contains shelves full of merchandise. There are also abandoned houses that still hold the furnishings. The details on the module are not exact copies, as some creative license was used. I hope to add more structures as a contextual component to the module.

You can view this module, which will be part of the Kildonan Short Lines modular railway, at the WMRC's open house, will be held on Saturday, March 15 and Sunday, March16 at Westworth United Church, 1750 Grosvenor Avenue. Times are from 11:00AM to 4:00 PM on Saturday, and from 1:00PM to 5:00 PM on Sunday. Admission is by donation. A portion of the proceeds from the show will go to support St.Amant.

Thursday, 6 March 2014

Kildonan Short Lines modular group debuts at Winnipeg Model Railroad Club's open house

We have a brand new modular group in town, and the WMRC is pleased to announce that the Kildonan Short Lines will have its premiere run at the club's upcoming open house, which will be held March 15 and 16 at Westworth United Church, 1750 Grosvenor Avenue. The very spiffy logo for the group was designed by WMRC blog editor Paul Ullrich.

Our good friends from the No. 1 Northern Division will also have its modular layout operating at the show. When they displayed at last year's Manitoba Mega Train Show, they had the largest layout in the building!

Of course, the man with the giraffe cars (also known as blog editor Paul Ullrich) will have his portable Lionel layout up and running at the show. Paul's layout is definitely hands on! The kids (and the adults) are always welcome to come over to the layout and play with all of the operating dump cars.

There will also be displays of the club's model and photo contests, some "how to" clinics about model railroading, a canteen serving refreshments, old train magazines for sale and a few more surprises!

The hours are from 11am to 4pm on Saturday, and from 1pm to 5pm on Sunday. Please note that the entrance for the show is on the west side of the church, although the main entrance of the church and the elevator will still be accessible for our handicapped visitors.