trendy train model

    A great place for rainfanning, although often overlooked, is Winnipeg's Assiniboine Park. It features a neat miniature live steam train that has just celebrated its 50th anniversary in the park. Although it's mainly for the kiddies, it's still a live steam engine, and still a wonderful sight to see when it's all fired up! Tickets are a very reasonable $2.75 each.

    While you're at the park, take a walk over to see CN's classic 6043 4-8-2 Mountain steamer. This historic engine, built in 1929, made the last scheduled run of steam power on Canadian rail on its run from The Pas to Winnipeg on April 25, 1960. The engine was placed in the park in 1983.

    Buster did all of his own stunts! Don't try this at home, folks (or anywhere else, for that matter). 

31 years ago, during the 1983 NMRA national convention in Winnipeg,  WMRC Vice President Dave Downie ran the 16mm projector in a room on the third floor of the Winnipeg Convention Centre, where he screened Buster Keaton's The General and The Railrodder on a continuous basis. The print of The General wasn't of the best quality, and there was an annoying voiceover describing every single action, but back in those pre-YouTube days (and there weren't many video stores back then either) it was a rare opportunity to see this classic railroading film. Dave kept hundreds of people amused and he enjoyed watching the reactions of the audience, especially the children.

The General cost $750,000 to make, a huge sum for 1926. (Spoiler alert: a lot of the money went into the spectacular shot of the burning bridge collapsing under a locomotive) It wasn't well received by critics or the public at the time. It's now considered one of the greatest films ever made, and was ranked #18 by the American Film Institute as one of the 100 best movies of all time.

 There are some great scenes for railfans and non-railfans alike. There are great gags, great stunts, and the humour still holds up 88 years after its initial release. Thanks to the miracle of technology, you can now watch The General in its entirety by clicking here.

This article first appeared in the Winnipeg Model Railroad Club's official publication, The Lantern.  In order to attract a broader audience, this website will occasionally post selected articles and images originally published in The Lantern.

By Morgan Turney

   There was a time - during the early 1930s - when the three prairie provinces boasted about 5,750 wooden grain elevators. Every hamlet, village, town and city had at least one grain elevator located on 'Railway Street'. A town's prosperity was measured by the number of grain elevators it had. As the years have gone by these icons of prairie life have been torn down, one at a time. Few are saved: in Manitoba, the only elevators that are safe are the five which have been preserved at Inglis.

   I caught wind that the Paterson elevator at Marquette was undergoing demolition. Railfan friend, Felix Lesiuk, had been out railfanning the Carberry subdivision between Winnipeg and Portage la Prairie on Monday, September 2nd and stopping at Marquette, noticed that the grain annex, metal holding bins and the elevator office were all torn down and the backhoe on site had broken through the centre of the elevator and pulled down most of its interior. That was an obvious clue that likely the following day would see the elevator collapse.

   I arrived at the site around 9:40 the next day and found the backhoe chewing away at the base of the elevator. I asked one of the workers nearby when he thought the structure would collapse. He looked at his watch, glanced up and looked at the backhoe's progress, then looked at his watch again and said, "Oh, in about 8 minutes." And 8 minutes later, down she came!

   I don't need to tell you how sad it is to see these structures disappearing. It's even sadder when you witness one falling. As Felix said after I showed him my photos, "The village of Marquette is now boring."