new design train model

NOTE: This document was created in 1999 in order to present a more comprehensive and detailed account of the Winnipeg Model Railroad Club's model contest rules. It is being published on-line for the first time to provide access to all of our members and to the general public.

Contest rules

Revised January, 1999

1. SCOPE
a. It is the intent of this publication to list, define and clarify the contests authorized by the Winnipeg
Model Railroad Club Inc. (WMRC).

b. Contest Events
(1) Model Construction Event
(2) Photo Contest Event (rules for this event have been posted previously and are not included in this document)

c. General Rules
(1) Any member of the WMRC in good standing is eligible to compete.
(2) The WMRC can assume no responsibility in the event of loss or damage to an entry and no
insurance will be carried by the WMRC. Reasonable precautions will be taken for the protection of
all entries and exhibits.
(3) Each entry must be accompanied by a properly-completed official entry form signed by the entrant or his authorized proxy.
(4) Judges for the contest events will be selected by the Contest Chairman. All decisions of the judges
will be final.
(5) The Contest Chairman shall establish the time limits for entering models and their removal after
judging.
(6) Entries will be grouped by categories.
(7) Entries which have won a Contest Award for a model in a previous WMRC contest or a First Place in a previous WMRC Photo Contest cannot be reentered. A Contest Award is considered for the
purposes of this rule to be any of the trophies listed in the Club Handbook.
(8) Any entrant winning a first in a specific category for three successive years will not be eligible to
enter that category for the following two years. This restriction shall not apply to special events.
(9) The Contest Chairman shall furnish The Lantern (the publication of the WMRC) with the list of
winners.

2. MODEL CONSTRUCTION EVENT
a. Entry Instructions
(1) There shall be no restrictions on the number of models entered by a single contestant.
(2) Complete the official entry form as accurately as possible including name, WMRC number, category and model identification.
(3) On this form, list briefly all pertinent information which will describe the model to the best
advantage.
(4) On this form, identify whether the model is scratch built or built from a kit.
b. Supplemental information to verify or identify a point may be submitted with the entry form. The
judges are, however, under no obligation to consult the supplemental information.
c. All scales will be combined within the various categories. There will be no divisions based on the scale of the models.

d. Categories
(1A) Locomotives � Steam: All types of road and yard steam locomotives.
(1B) Locomotives � Others: All types of road and yard locomotives, including diesel, electric and gas electric, excluding steam.
(2) Passenger: All passenger train and passenger carrying cars, including combines, baggage, express
(except reefers), RPO�s, streetcars, rail buses and dayliners.
(3) Freight: All revenue�earning freight cars, including express reefers.
(4) Non-Revenue: All non-revenue cars, including maintenance-of-way, cabooses, snowplows, cranes, wrecking cars, rail inspection cars and dormitory cars.
(5) Structures: All buildings, bridges, coal docks, water towers, interlocking towers, stations, tool sheds, ice platforms, freight sheds and roundhouses as long as they are not on a scenicked base.
(6) Displays: Anything with a scenicked base, usually including any of the following; buildings, track,land, trees, trucks, cars, people, weeds, junk and activity.

e. Judging
(1) The Contest Chairman shall act as Senior Judge, issue instructions to Technical Judges, clarify points of question, fill in for Technical Judges so they do not have to judge their own entries, break ties and tally up scores from the individual factors.
(2) The panel of five Technical Judges shall determine the score points, one judge for each of the five
factors, in conformance with the judging guide and point schedule patterned after National Model
Railroad Association (NMRA) rules.

f. Factors
(1) Construction: This factor deals with the apparent workmanship of the builder. Proper handling of
materials, applied labour, skill and craftsmanship as demonstrated by the construction of the model
is considered, including cutting, shaping, fitting, gluing, soldering and casting.
(2) Detail: This factor deals with the refinement of the model. The number of subordinate parts added
and the complexity of the model is considered.
(3) Conformity: This factor deals with what is commonly called prototype practice. Logical construction and application of parts is considered to be conforming to prototype practice, even though there may not actually be a prototype, Proper dimensions are considered in this factor.
(4) Finish: This factor deals with the general appearance of the model as reflected by surface treatment to achieve a specific effect, through the proper use of finishing materials, and proper application of lettering, either decals, dry transfer or hand lettered. Painting, aging, weathering and special effects are considered to be part of the finish.
(5) Scratchbuilding: This factor deals with all parts of the model which have been fabricated by the
builder. Preformed wood and metal are considered basic material for scratchbuilding. Being
scratchbuilt is no automatic assurance of extra points, but the builder is rewarded for scratchbuilt
work that is well done.

g. Point Schedule
(1) Construction 0 to 40 points
(2) Detail 0 to 20 points
(3) Conformity* 0 to 25 points
(4) Finish 0 to 25 points
(5) Scratchbuilding 0 to 15 points
Maximum possible total 125 points
    *Without documentation, maximum conformity score is 15.

h. Scratchbuilding Point Sub-schedule

(1) Motive Power:
i. Completely scratchbuilt except motor, gears, drivers, wheels, couplers, trucks and light bulbs 10 to
15 points
ii. Mostly scratchbuilt except as above plus locomotive and tender frames, pilot, smoke box front,
main and side rods, and cylinder block.
5 to 9 points
iii. Partly scratchbuilt except as above under (i) and (ii) plus valve gear, domes, stack, marker lights,
pumps, brake rigging and other commercial parts
0 to 5 points

(2) Cars:
i. Completely scratchbuilt except trucks and couplers
0 to 15 points
ii. Partly scratchbuilt except as above plus seats, cylinder, reservoir, triple valve, ventilators, latches,
turnbuckles, hinges, ladders, diaphragms, platforms, steps, grabirons, plastic and metal window sash
and other commercial parts. All metal and plastic shapes exempted
0 to 9 points

(3) Structures:
i. Completely scratchbuilt except light bulbs and wiring
0 to 15 points
ii. Partly scratchbuilt as above plus metal and plastic doors and windows, figures and animals, interior
fittings, grass, gravel, etc. All wood and plastic sheet and shapes are exempted
0 to 9 points

i. Awards
Best-in-Show, First Place in each category, Kit Award, Initial Modelling Achievement Award and Junior Achievement Award winners will be presented with a Club Contest Certificate, a small engraved plaque to keep permanently and the appropriate Club trophy to keep until the April meeting of the following year. In addition, all Second Place and Honorable Mention Winners in the various
categories will be presented with a Club Certificate. All winners will be announced at the Contest Open House and all certificates, plaques and trophies will be awarded at the Annual General Meeting and Banquet.

(1) Best-in-Show: The model scoring the highest total points shall be declared the winner of the Best-in-Show Award, and shall be removed from further competition in its category.

(2) Category Awards: Except where there is only one entry, the entry scoring the highest points in each category shall be declared First Place winner. The entry scoring the second highest total points shall be declared the Second Place winner. At the option of the Contest Chairman, further Honorable
Mention awards may be made for the entries scoring within a few points of the second place. Ties
will be avoided if at all possible. Where there is only one entry, a First Place or Honorable Mention
may be made at the discretion of the Judges dependent upon the quality of the model.

(3) Kit Award: This shall be made to the entry scoring the highest points in the Model Construction
Event which:
(a) was built from a kit.
(b) did not score more than 5 points in the scratchbuilt factor.
(c) did not win Best-in-Show or First Place in any Category.

(4) Initial Modelling Achievement Award: This shall be made to the modeller achieving the highest
points in any category in the Model Construction Event who:
(a) has never won Best-in-Show, First Place in any category, the Kit Award or this Award in any
previous WMRC Model Construction Event.
(d) does not win Best-in-Show, First Place in any category or the Kit Award in the current WMRC
Model Construction Event.

(5) Junior Modelling Achievement Award: This shall be made to the junior modeller achieving the highest points in any category in the Model Construction Event who does not win Best-in-Show, First
Place in any category, the Kit Award or the Initial Achievement Award in the current WMRC
Model Construction Event.

    WMRC member Ian Plett took these images of a recent session at the Gateway Western Railway, located in its own structure inside the Winnipeg Railway Museum. As you can see, significant progress is being made on what is going to be the most spectacular model railway in the city!

     The Winnipeg Railway Museum is located on the second level of the Via Rail Station at 123 Main Street. Tuesday Nights are always Gateway nights! That's when the gang gets together around 7:00PM for some modelling, train running, and some good old camaraderie!
   Morgan Turney, completely undisturbed by the pair chatting behind him, concentrates fully on the modelling project at hand. The man is in the zone!

On October 3, 2014, the WMRC blog site passed a significant milestone. We made it to the one year mark! And what a year it has been! As of this writing, we've had over 27,000 viewers from all over the world, and we'd like to thank each and every one of them for doing so! We've had over 150 posts, and we will continue to post news not only about the WMRC, but from other groups in the city, the province, the country and around the world about what we love - model railroading and rail fanning!

This year's Manitoba Mega Train Show was a resounding success! We had more displays, vendors tables and visitors than ever before! Unfortunately, most WMRC members were so busy displaying, volunteering, buying and selling that they didn't have time to take any images of the show.

But Ken Spicer came to the rescue with a wonderful video he shot, edited and uploaded on YouTube of the event. It gives a great view of all of the layouts on display at the show. Check out the footage he shot of the G gauge modular layout in action - he shot a moving G gauge train coming at him while he was walking backwards!

Due to the crowds, lot of us who were volunteering or displaying at the show didn't even have the chance to see the rest of the displays. This video gives us all a chance to see just what we missed!

Click here to view Ken's video.

   Effective in September, the Winnipeg Model Railroad Club will have a new meeting place. The club will now be meeting at the Charleswood Legion Hall at 6003 Roblin Boulevard. The first meeting will be held on Friday, September 12, at 7:30 PM.

   The Charleswood Legion is on a main road, and it is very easy to find (it's hard to miss that big tank they have on their property). There is also plenty of parking.  The club's annual spring open house will also be held at the Legion.

   Please note that we will meet in the Tank Room, located in basement of the Legion. The door on the west side of the building provides best access because the east side parking lot tends to be more popular with the regular legion patrons on Friday nights.

    Mark your calendars, and set the date! We're looking forward to seeing you at our new location!

    Our intrepid correspondent Dave Downie (not to be confused with the infamous horse rustling Downeys) took some great photos of the visitors who viewed the Winnipeg Model Railroad Club's Gateway Western layout at the Winnipeg Railway Museum during the Doors Open Winnipeg celebration last weekend. The expressions on their faces tells it all!

    Doors Open Winnipeg is an annual event presented by Heritage Winnipeg, where some of the most unique and historic buildings in Winnipeg are opened up for public viewing. This year one of the features included is the Winnipeg Railway Museum! Feel free to explore the museum from 11:00AM to 5:00PM on Saturday, May 31 and Sunday, June 1.

    One of the things you can view there is the Winnipeg Model Railroad Club's own Gateway Western Railway, which is housed in it's own structure in the museum. It's worth the trip just to see what progress has been made on what will soon be one of the province's best model railroads!

    Of course, that's just one of the many great attractions you can see at the museum. You've got six hours each day to explore its many wonders, and that still might not be enough time to see everything!

Here it is, folks! The Gateway Western in its new structure at the Winnipeg Railway Museum! Photo by WMRC member John Longhurst, from his blog, the CP Rail Manitoba and Minnesota Subdivision.

   Coming soon to a t-shirt near you! For the WMRC's 60th anniversary next year, the executive had their friendly neighbourhood WMRC blog editor and Facebook moderator Paul Ullrich to design a special logo. After a dozen or so variations, this was the design chosen by the board.

    Both light and dark coloured shirts will be used to print this logo. A special decal set is also being planned with an updated version of the traditional WMRC logo with the lantern in the centre. This new design will be posted in the near future.

    The spelling, grammar and punctuation of these messages have not been corrected.

   There have been some truly great events since the millennium - the Queen's Diamond Jubilee, Will and Kate's wedding, and the Winter Olympics. Joining that distinguished group is the most senses staggering, earth shaking, mind blowing event of all - The Winnipeg Model Railroad Club's 2014 open house! Are we given to hyperbole? Well, perhaps. But the three other events mentioned didn't have any trains!

  And we'll have lots of trains at the show, in at least three different gauges! Not only that, there will be a gallery of entries for our model and photo contests, model railroading clinics and much more!

   The WMRC's open house will be held on Saturday, March 15 and Sunday, March 16 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.

WMRC treasurer Gary Stempnick and Secretary Cliff Davidson run Gary's superbly detailed N gauge portable layout at the WMRC's 2013 open house. Photo by Suzanne Lemon.

   At the WMRC, we're not just about HO Gauge! We have members who model everything from G to Z! At this year's open house you'll see at least three different gauges operating: O, HO and N! There will also be displays of our model and photo contests and model railroading clinics, so come on down this weekend and join in on the fun!

   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.

  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.

   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!

Our good friends at WinNtrak will be displaying their spectacular modular layout at Kildonan Place Shopping Centre. 1555 Regent Avenue West in scenic Transcona on Saturday, January 11 and Sunday, January 12. They'll be there from 9:30AM to 6:00 PM on Saturday and from 11:00AM to 6:00PM on Sunday. If you're a fan of N scale and have only seen their layout at the Winnipeg Model Railroad Club's annual open houses, the Great Canadian Train Show or at the Manitoba Mega Train Show, here's your chance to see them again, and perhaps do some shopping as well. it's a win-win situation!

It's official - the Winnipeg Model Railroad Club has joined the 21st century! Not only do we have this nifty blog site, but we're now also on Facebook for all the world to see! If you wish to "like" us on FB (And why not? Everybody likes the Winnipeg Model Railroad Club!) please go to this link:

https://www.facebook.com/WinnipegModelRailroadClub

   One the Winnipeg Model Railroad Club's most talented and skilled modellers is Ron Einarson. Is there anything he can't do? Give him some steel wool and he'll knit you a Volkswagen. He'll even make the seats out of scrap pieces of sheet styrene and ground foam! If there's any steel wool left over from that project, he'll use it to make some wood stain!
 
   Holding just one clinic at the club's annual Klinic Karnival wasn't enough for Ron. He held four at the same time: Working with wood, weathering wood, building wood On30 freight cars, and making telephone poles from bamboo skewers! He must've gotten some mighty good grade in woodworking shop in high school!

    Ron is the holder of a plethora of awards from the Winnipeg Model Railroad Club and the NMRA which are too numerous to mention. But the one he's proudest of was the WMRC President's shield, which was awarded to him for his tireless volunteer service. He's served on the board, was the editor of The Lantern, held a staggering number of clinics and had his hand in every model railroad convention that came to town for many decades!

     Ron is also a loyal and steadfast member of the NMRA. He served as President of NMRA Canada,  and he will always be remembered for keeping the No. 1 Northern Division alive for so many years until it was reorganized in 2008.

    Ron never fails to greet you with a smile and a handshake, and dispensing good advice about the hobby that he loves is part of his nature.  Now that he's retired, this grandfather-to-be has a bit more spare time to earn his MMR!

 
 The Winnipeg Model Railroad Club's December Klinic Karnival was graced by the presence of one of Winnipeg's all time great modellers, big John Morris himself!  Mister "life on the edge" presented an excellent clinic on applying decals. John is the Fred Astaire of decal application. He makes it look so easy. There isn't a single member of the club who hasn't ruined a perfectly good model at least once by messing up the crucial final touch of applying the decals. Watching the master himself doing it so effortlessly (while hobnobbing with all sorts of visitors to his table) was a real treat!

    Interestingly enough, John only uses one of the half dozen or so Micro Scale products - Micro Sol! After loosening the decal in a tray of lukewarm water (he doesn't even time how long it needs to soak), he takes it out, slips it onto the model with a brush, eyeballs it into place, and dabs a bit of micro-sol on top of it while it's still wet. He produced a perfect model every time!

    John's reputation as a model railroader goes well past Winnipeg's city limits. When the TLR's 2010 "Steam on the Prairies" convention clinics were being organized, Railroad Model Craftsman Contributing Editor Ken Goslett asked specifically that his clinic not be placed at the same time as John's! Perhaps he didn't want the competition, or perhaps he just wanted to go to John's clinic. All the same, the message was clear - when John speaks, everyone listens!

   Except for perhaps his wife.

   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.