trendy train model

Showing posts with label Chevy Chase. Show all posts

Sunday, November 23, 2014

There will be no Christmas lights at the Assiniboine Valley Railway this year

   This image, taken by our good friend and WMRC member John Longhurst, now only serves as a sad reminder of what was a wonderful part of Winnipeg's Christmas season that is no more.

   For the second year in a row, the AVR will not be having their Christmas light display. This is because of a lack of resources, manpower, and most significantly, the absence of AVR founder Bill Taylor.

     Bill was the Christmas light master of the AVR. There were 100,000 lights on display, which was TEN TIMES the amount Chevy Chase had on his house in the classic movie, "National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation". As the AVR was on his property, he had more time than others to string these lights. He was also the only one who knew the proper electrical schematics for wiring them all together (It's safe to assume that you don't just plug in 100,000 light into an ordinary 110 volt socket, even when they're LEDs).

It's been a tough year for the AVR, but they managed to hold their usual monthly open houses in 2014. But they weren't able to hold their annual "Dinner Train". Hopefully, the lights will be up again for Christmas in 2015.

Monday, December 16, 2013

Christmas won't be the same without Bill Taylor

Bill Taylor loved trains and Christmas more than anybody else.

While most of us built model railroads in our house, Bill built his around his house!

We might spend a few hundred dollars at the most for a quality locomotive. Bill's locomotives cost as much as a new car! At Christmas, most of us manage to string a few lights outside of our houses. Bill strung up over a hundred thousand lights, putting Chevy Chase's achievement in "National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation" to shame! While most of us would invite a few friend and family members over for the holidays, Bill invited the whole city of Winnipeg over to celebrate Christmas with the Taylors, and it was a month long event!

Sadly, Bill passed away this summer. His place is dark for the first time in over 15 years.

No trains will run at the Taylors this Christmas.

But wait! There's hope for the future!

Winnipeg Model Railroad Club Vice President Dave Downie has contacted Assiniboine Valley Railway President Len LaRue about the possibility of the WMRC pitching in to help put up the lights in 2014. But first, matters of Bill's estate have to be settled. After that, a whole news system of lights has to be re-designed. Bill's light system design as his and his alone, and when he died all the information about it died with him.

So we have to start all over again. It's almost like when Chevy Chase handed young Johnny Galecki (who now plays Leonard in "The Big Bang Theory") that ball of Christmas lights in "National Lampoon's Vacation". But it can be done, and we can do it if we all pitch in!

Kudos to Dave Downie for contacting the AVR! In the past few years we've reached out to the Winnipeg Railway Museum and set up the Gateway Western in it's own structure inside the museum. We also reached out to the organizers of the Manitoba Mega Train Show and partnered with them to put on the most successful train show the province has ever seen!

If the model railroad and rail fanning communities of Winnipeg are going to survive, we need to all work together, and that's what our club is doing!

Saturday, October 26, 2013

The Assiniboine Valley Railway's Christmas light display has been cancelled

The Assiniboine Valley Railway's Christmas light display has been cancelled this year. The group is seeking volunteers to help set up their annual Christmas light display for 2014.

The AVR has always had a small but dedicated number of members who always assisted Bill Taylor in putting up his truly spectacular Christmas Light display, which had over 100,000 lights. It was no exaggeration that his display put Chevy Chase's work in National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation to shame!

But Bill's untimely passing in August has left a nearly irreplaceable gap in the group. Although his team of volunteers worked tirelessly along side of him, Bill did the Lion's share of the work, mostly because he lived there. Every spare minute he had before the holidays were spent stringing lights, replacing bulbs, and chasing away the squirrels who mistook the knobby LED bulbs for acorns!

This is not just a rail fan or a model railroad thing. This Christmas display was cherished by all Winnipeggers of all faiths. Thousands of people came every year to see the lights. The possible demise of this annual event even made CBC, CTV and Global news!

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/winnipeg-christmas-train-ride-light-display-cancelled-1.2251848?cmp=rss

http://winnipeg.ctvnews.ca/winnipeg-holiday-tradition-put-on-hold-for-one-year-1.1514942

http://globalnews.ca/news/924609/popular-charleswood-christmas-display-cancelled/

If you can help out for next year, please contact the Assiniboine Valley Railway by going to their website at: http://www.swedenfreezer.com/avr/