new design train model

   Tuesday nights are Gateway nights, and the WMRC's layout over at the Winnipeg Railway Museum is coming along just great! We're getting into some might fine landscaping which is making the layout really come alive! Dave Downie, our Vice-President, sent along these images to us to show the remarkable progress they're making on the layout!

    The gang meets tonight at 7:00 PM at the Winnipeg Railway Museum, located on the second level of the Via Rail Station at 123 Main Street. It's really cold outside, but the Gateway is housed in it's own heated building within the museum!

     Former WMRC President Suzanne Lemon modeled this lovely lake for the Gateway Western.

    Robert Weaver, the stalwart editor of The Lantern (the official publication of the WMRC) , would like to remind all members that the deadline for January's photo contest is fast approaching! The deadline is on Monday, December 29 at midnight. Up to $30 is available in prize money, and you'll get you photo on the cover of The Lantern if you win!

   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!

   

   We at the WMRC all hope that you're having as good a Christmas as this little tyke pictured here, who got his very first Marx electric train set on Christmas day - exactly 60 years ago today! We understand that he still has this train, and has picked up a few others in the past six decades. No one knows what happened to the spiffy race car in the foreground!

    Here's to having a Merry Christmas full of trains, trains and more trains, plus a New Year with more of the same!

   We are very pleased to announce that the Assiniboine Valley Railway is having their next open house this weekend. The trains will be running from 1PM to 4PM on both Saturday and Sunday at 3001 Roblin Boulevard.

    Last weekend, they held their first winter open house since the passing of their founder, the late great Bill Taylor, in August of 2013. Outside of former WMRC President Ed Mulholland's announcement of the AVR's forthcoming open houses at the WMRC's December meeting, there was virtually no publicity for the event (not even a mention on their own website).

    The day after the WMRC's December meeting,  the news was posted on this blog site and on the WMRC's Facebook page. The FB notice got 500 views in just a few hours! Watching the numbers come in was like watching the gas gauge at the pump turn while you're filling up your car! This shows not only the power of social media, but of the interest in the AVR itself!

    We sent our top investigative reporter out to the AVR open house to cover the event last Sunday. As you can see by the photographic evidence, it was business as usual at the AVR! They had steady and respectable crowds on both days, and they're hoping for the same this coming weekend.

    And they'll certainly get that! Another FB post about the AVR on the WMRC's Facebook page has garnered over 4000 views and 50 shares! AVR President Len LaRue was on CBC Radio One's noon program on Wednesday, They gave him a full ten minutes to promote the event! He was also on the CBC 24 Hours supper time news show that night, and the evenwas also promoted on the noon hour radio news on boxing day.

    Riding the AVR at Christmas has become an important Winnipeg traditions for many Winnipeg families. Although the lights aren't up and there are no evening runs, people still want to ride the trains through the forest! And there's still plenty of deers to see while you're enjoying the ride!

   Morgan Turney, WMRC Program Director and organizer of our annual Klinic Karnival, also found the time to run his own clinic on how to model trees out of weeds and ordinary garden cuttings. Watching him employ his impressive skills are Bob Shawcross, our head librarian, and long time WMRC member Brent Tingey.

    Morgan is not only a talented and highly skilled modeller. He's served as president of the WMRC many times and has been our program director for several years. He's also has been the organizer of our annual spring open house. He is also the publisher of Canada's foremost model railroad magazine, Canadian Railway Modeller, now celebrating its 25th year of publication! There's nothing Morgan can't do when he puts his mind to it!

   Except when it comes to putting ketchup on a hot dog (he has some very strong opinions about that).

    All kidding aside, if there's anyone who has been proven absolutely indispensable to the club, it's Morgan! Thanks for all of your help throughout the years!

    Pictured from left to right are Jean South, Andrea Leader and Frances South, who worked so hard at our December meeting making hot dogs and serving donuts, chip, pop and coffee for our annual "Christmas Dinner".

    The unsung heroes of our club have to be the volunteers we had had working at our canteen at every meeting. It's often a thankless job which not only involves serving the food, it also involves purchasing and delivering the food, as well as making the coffee and cleaning and storing the coffee maker.

     The canteen was started in 1999 when we moved to Christ Anglican Church. At our previous venues, there was always a soda machine, and after the business meeting we'd have a "Coke break". Seeing there was no vending machines in the church, Chuck Huard, our enterprising former President, started a canteen in the kitchen of the church's basement. This was an ingenious move on Chuck's part, as it also provided a revenue source for the club.

   Chuck and his wife Lise were the first proprietors of the canteen. They were joined by their friends, Ken and Roberta Anderson, who later took over for the Huards. These canteen volunteers also provided snacks at our annual spring open houses and the WMRC's Great Canadian Train Shows. Chuck and Ken would always be barbecuing hot dogs and burgers outside of the Mennonite Brethren Collegiate Institute, sometime in some rather inclement weather!

   LuElla Rietze took over from the Andersons, and she served us faithfully for several years. Then Andrea Leader took over the job. She was joined this year by Jean South. Jean's daughter Frances often helps her mom and Andrea in the kitchen.

     The WMRC wishes to thank Jean, Andrea, Frances and all of the past volunteers we've had in the canteen over the past 15 years. We deeply appreciate all of the time and the effort you've all put intomaking the canteen a success!

   WMRC Treasurer Gary Stempnick presents a donation to St. Amant's Juliette Trudeau Mucha at the club's meeting in December at the Charleswood Legion.

   The WMRC was honoured by the presence of St. Amant's Juliette Trudeau Mucha at our last meeting. Juliette presented a short video showcasing the wonderful work of St. Amant and was given a cheque from the club.

   The donation the club gave to St. Amant represents a portion of the proceedings of the money earned from September's Manitoba Mega Train Show. The club also donates a portion of the money earned at their annual spring open house to St. Amant. In 2013, St. Amant had a large display at the spring open house. Many volunteers from St. Amant were present at the show to promote the work the organization does in the community.

   The WMRC is a not-for-profit organization and it is also a charity-minded organization. We have had St. Amant as our charity of choice for about two years, and we are delighted to have chosen such a worthwhile and hard working organization.