Showing posts with label Robert Weaver. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Robert Weaver. Show all posts
Saturday, 4 July 2015
Two themes for Winnipeg Model Railroad club's photo contests announced
Two themes have been announced for the WMRC's photo contests in The Lantern Extra, a special summer publication of the club's official newsletter.
For the special event for the club's annual photo contest, WMRC photo contest chair Suzanne Lemon has announced that the theme will be "The sky's the limit". Even the immense size of a train can be dwarfed by the sky and seemingly endless landscape around it. Show us your best shot of a train or other railway-related subject with a big sky around it!
It could be a beautiful summer day, with a perfectly clear blue sky, or even one with a few puffy white clouds. It could also be a dark and ominous stormy sky, or a beautiful evening sunset. The possibilities are endless and the summer is the perfect time to capture images like these, so get out there and give it your best shot!
For The Lantern's photo contest, the theme for the September issue will be "green" (the interpretation of this theme is entirely up to you). The winning entry will have their image published on the cover of the September issue of The Lantern. Submissions are to be sent to Lantern Editor Robert Weaver no later then midnight Tuesday, September 2. You must supply a caption, and if possible, note the camera settings.
Monday, 25 May 2015
Robert Weaver awarded President's Shield at Winnipeg Model Railroad Club's annual banquet
Robert Weaver receives the President's shield award from WMRC President Larry Leavens.
Robert Weaver, editor of The Lantern the official publication of the WMRC, has won the club's prestigious President's Shield award for 2015.
Robert has been the editor of The Lantern since September of 2009. This fall, he will be entering his ninth season of being the editor, which is a record for our 60 year old club.
Besides his editing duties, Robert also is in charge of the club's monthly model display. He photographs each model submitted and compiles an article with the written descriptions of the submitters for The Lantern.
Robert has also initiated more reader participation by holding a monthly photo contest for the cover of The Lantern. The winner gets their image published on the cover and also receives a cash prize. Robert has also handed over the task of deciding who receives the annual Lantern award by having the membership vote for their favorite contributor. Robert distributes, collects, and counts the ballots at the April meeting. The winner is announced next month at the annual banquet.
Robert has also presided over the complete digitization of the Lantern. All members now receive a PDF version in full colour of The Lantern via email. The publication has come a long way from the mimeographed stencil version in the 50's!
Robert has also contributed countless articles to The Lantern over the years. He has announced that next season will be his last year as Editor of The Lantern. He's going to leave some mighty big shoes to fill!
Saturday, 23 May 2015
Dave Downie wins Winnipeg Model Railroad Club's Lantern Award
Lantern Editor presents WMRC Vice President Dave Downie with the 2015 Lantern Award.
Dave Downie was the recipient of the WMRC's 2015 Lantern Award, which was presented at the club's annual spring banquet. Dave contributed a series of historical articles about the WMRC for The Lantern.
Instead of the Lantern editor deciding who would win the award, this year's award was chosen by popular vote by the membership. Ballots were distributed by Lantern Editor Robert Weaver at the April meeting. Members voted for their favorite author at that meeting, and the ballots were collected and compiled by Robert.
Congratulations, Dave, for your fine work!
Thursday, 21 May 2015
Winnipeg Model Railroad Club's photo contest awards presented at their annual banquet
Paul Ullrich receives the WMRC's photo contest's Peter Abel Memorial Award - Photo Special Event for his image, titled "Spreading Ballast", from WMRC President Larry Leavens.
The winners from the WMRC's annual photo contest are as follows:
Digital Prototype:
1st: Suzanne Lemon - Autumn Glow
2nd: Paul Ullrich - CN at Portage La Prairie On A Wet Morning
3rd: Larry Leavens - CN 8961 at Quadra
Honourable Mention: Suzanne Lemon - Sky of Blue, Sea of Yellow
Special Event:
1st: (Peter Abel Memorial Award) Paul Ullrich - Spreading Ballast Near Thief River Falls
2nd: Val Lemon - Laying New Track at Redditt
3rd: Suzanne Lemon - The Ties That Used to Bind
Honourable Mention: Paul Lemon - Herzog Track Equipment at Portage La Prairie
Honourable Mention: Larry Leavens - Pot of Fire
Film or Digital Print - Model:
1st: Robert Weaver - Coal Sidings
2nd: Robert Weaver - Steel Works
Honourable Mention: Cliff Davidson - Western Pacific Revival
Best in Show:
Suzanne Lemon - Ready to Go
President's Choice Harvey and Sandy Walker Memorial Award for Best in Show:
Robert Weaver - Cocker Mouth Signal Tower
Suzanne Lemon receives her award certificate from WMRC President Larry leavens for her photo, titled "Autumn Glow".
Larry Leavens presents Val Lemon her certificate for her photo,"Laying New Track at Redditt".
Paul Lemon receives his certificate from Larry Leavens for his photo, titled "Herzog Track Equipment at Portage La Prairie".Thursday, 26 February 2015
Deadline looming for Winnipeg Model Railroad Club's March photo contest
WMRC secretary Cliff Davidson sent in this beautiful photograph last month of a Via F-Unit in Portage La Prairie that he took in the 80's. Last month's theme was the cold, and it was -25C he took this picture!
The winner will get their image on the cover of The Lantern (the official publication of the WMRC). They will also receive a minimum cash prize of $15. But if we receive 10 entries or more, the prize money doubles to $30!
Friday, 30 January 2015
Lantern photo contest deadline is midnight, February 3
WMRC Lantern editor Robert Weaver would like to remind all members that this month's photo contest deadline is fast approaching! You have until midnight, February 3 (that's next Tuesday) to submit a railway scene that best expresses the cold weather. The winning entry will have their image put on the cover of the February issue of The Lantern, the official publication of the WMRC. If we get 10 entries, the prize award doubles from fifteen to thirty dollars!
Saturday, 27 December 2014
The Lantern's photo contest deadline is December 29!
December's theme was "The Spirit of Christmas". This month's theme is "snow" (but we'd like to see a train somewhere in there as well). It doesn't have to be a prototype photo - we accept images of model railroads too, as long as they've got some snow on or around them somewhere. Be sure to submit your image in a vertical format!
December's winner was the dashing and intrepid Paul Lemon, who shot this wonderful image of the CP Holiday Train. Paul is one of 10 members we have from across the pond, and we're grateful to each and every one of them for their many contributions and devotion to the club!
Friday, 16 May 2014
Dave Downie wins Winnipeg Model Railroad Club's Lantern award
Dave Downie receives the WMRC's Lantern award from editor Robert Weaver as President Larry Leavens keeps a watchful eye on the proceedings. WMRC Vice-President Dave Downie has won the WMRC's 2014 Lantern award for his contributions to the publication. The Lantern award is given annually by the editor to the most outstanding contributor to the publication. The Lantern, the official publication of the WMRC, has been published by the club since the inception of the organization in 1954.
Dave Downie has bee na member of the WMRC for most of his adult life. He has held many positions within the the club, including two separate terms as President and as the program director. He currently serves as the Vice-President of the club.
Dave has been a very prolific contributor to the Lantern this season. His most memorable contribution was a series of articles outlining the history behind the organization of the NMRA's 1983 national convention held in Winnipeg, Railway Jamboree '83. All four chapters of this series have been reprinted in the WMRC blog with the permission of the author. You can view these articles by clicking here, here, here and here.
Wednesday, 14 May 2014
Prize draws galore at the Winnipeg Model Railroad Club's annual banquet
What makes the WMRC banquets so much fun are the prize draws - and we have lots of them!
We start off with the door prizes. Every guest receives a free ticket. There are several prizes available, including some "non-rail" items. Then we have the elimination draw. This draw actually works in reverse! The very last ticket drawn wins the prize! There were lots of moans and groans to be heard as Morgan read off the names of the ticket holders who weren't called last!
Our last prize draw had lots of tickets. Guests purchased an arm's length of tickets for five bucks. Just to keep things fair (as some have arms longer than others) WMRC blog editor Paul Ullrich sold the tickets and used his own very long arms to measure the tickets!
The "arms length" is measured as such: The person holds the end of the ticket roll by their fingertips, then turns their head away and pulls out the ticket roll until it touches the tip of their nose. Then the tickets are torn off at that point.
It should be pointed out that Paul doesn't have the longest reach in the club. That honour belongs to Robert Weaver. But Paul does have a larger nose.
There were tons of prizes, and most people walked away with something. There were even gift certificates from Home Depot and Canadian Tire, good places to buy all the wood, screws, nails and glue you need to build your layout!
Wednesday, 5 February 2014
Remembering the NMRA's 1983 national convention in Winnipeg
2013 marked the 30th anniversary of the greatest achievement of Winnipeg's model railroading community, when the NMRA held their national convention in the city. WMRC Vice-President Dave Downie has written a four part history of the making of this convention. This series of articles was originally published in The Lantern, the official publication of the WMRC. All four parts of this series will be reprinted in this blog, courtesy of Dave Downie and Lantern Editor Robert Weaver.
Railway Jamboree 30 Years Later - Part One
By Dave Downey
By Dave Downey
In July of 1983, Winnipeg was the site of the NMRA's National Convention. People travelled from all over the World to see everything that Winnipeg had to offer. This story is a tribute to a small group of WMRC members led by Stafford Swain, Nick Andrusiak, Hilt Friesen and Wolfgang von Thuelen who staged one of the most successful and profitable conventions in NMRA history.
The WMRC and many of its members has had a long association with the NMRA and the TLR (Thousand Lakes Region) and the city had hosted many successful regional conventions. When word was received that Calgary had been awarded the 1979 NMRA National Convention the seed was planted! The logic was: �Winnipeg is Canada's Railway Capital and is home of many of the country's finest layouts. Why can't we host a National?� The seed needed to germinate.
In reality, it wasn't easy. NMRA National Conventions are awarded 4 years in advance and putting together a bid to host a convention typically takes at least a year. You are looking at forming a committee that will work together for 5 years. When the idea was first mentioned at the WMRC during the 1975-76 season, there were a lot of objections with many members asking if Winnipeg was too small. Undaunted, Stafford secured the 1978 TLR regional convention for Winnipeg. His logic was simple. If Winnipeg could host a regional convention with 120 delegates over 3 days, why couldn't it host a national convention with a few more (like 12 to 15 times that) in a week? Needless to say, the 1978 convention was a great success and Stafford had his template and his organizing committee. The seed was germinating!
At the 1979 Calgary convention, Stafford presented the bid laid out as a solid business plan with a budget and answers to every possible question or contingency. Winnipeg was competing against Indianapolis, Indiana and we had one big advantage.....Indy had hosted a National in 1963 whereas Winnipeg was looking to host its first. By the end of the meeting, Stafford and his team had secured the 1983 National (the NMRA's 48th National is better known as Railway Jamboree '83) and the real work was to begin. It was time to water and fertilize the plant!
In part two, Dave Downie will cover the work that the Railway Jamboree'83 committee and countless volunteers performed before Winnipeg could welcome the World.
Wednesday, 29 January 2014
Klinic Karnival silly business
Investigative photographer Suzanne Lemon (working undercover, disguised as a container of ground foam) caught this shocking scene of Larry beating Lantern Editor Robert Weaver at December's Klinic Karnival over a spelling mistake that he made in the last issue! Suzanne also provided a transcript of the incident:
Larry: "It's I before E, except after C, you dolt!"
Robert: "AIEEEEEEE!"
Larry: "And how do you spell AIEEEEEEE?"
Robert: "A-I-E-E-E-E-E-E-E!" (followed by muffled sobs)
Larry: "That's correct! You put the I before the E! Now go forth and sin no more!"
Robert: "Yes, Master!" (more muffled sobs)
Of course, this was all in fun. This was the second in a series of silly images that WMRC photo contest chair sent, with the challenge to create an equally silly caption. This post serves as a reminder to all our readers that we like to have fun at our meetings, and at everything else we do as a club!
Sunday, 3 November 2013
More Manitoba Mega Train memories
Winnipeg Model Railroad Club photo contest chair Suzanne Lemon took this overhead view of the entire event. The mesh is there because we're in an indoor soccer pitch!
Stalwart WMRC volunteers Rober Weaver and Fred Eldridge man the admissions desk in a rare moment when they weren't busy admitting some of our 1,700 guests.
WMRC webmaster Paul Ullrich watches his O gauge Lionel train layout in a rare moment when he wasn't surrounded by dozens of kids watching the giraffe cars or operating the dump cars.
Suzanne Lemon's Z gauge layout was the smallest model railroad display in the entire show.
Our good friends at WinNtrak had their magnificent N gauge layout displayed at the show.
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