trendy train model

    Long time WMRC member John Longhurst has had his very first article published in the August 2014 issue of Model Railroader. John, who as been a member since the 90's, is well known in the model railroading community as the former Associate Editor for Canadian Railway Modeller, published by our own Morgan Turney.

    John has also had his byline twice in Railroad Model Craftsman, and has been a frequent contributor to the WMRC's official publication, The Lantern, and the Canadian Association of Railway Modeller's publication, The Canadian. He also has an excellent blog, titled the CP Rail Manitoba and Minnesota Subdivision. The blog is named after his own world class model railroad, but it covers a wide range of topics concerning model railroading and rail fanning in general.

    John's article is about his use of tree bark as a cheap and effective way of making realistic rock faces, which is his own unique discovery and has been used in many layout across Winnipeg since he introduced it.

     "When I was a kid, I read both Model Railroader and Railroad Model Craftsman." Said John, "I told myself: One day I want to make a model railroad good enough to be in those magazines. My dream has been fulfilled!"

    John has always been an active volunteer for the WMRC. He will always be remembered for bringing the WMRC's Great Canadian train Show over to the Mennonite Brethren Collegiate Institute (along with former WMRC member Ken Epp, who also happens to be John's brother-in-law) and serving as Convention Director for CARM's 2005 convention in Winnipeg, which had the largest attendance of any model railroad convention in the city since the 1983 NMRA national convention, Railway Jamboree '83.

    Besides his editing gig for CMR, John also writes a regular faith column for the Winnipeg Free Press. He also holds down a full time job as Director of Communications and Marketing for the Canadian Foodgrains Bank. Where does he find the time?

    As an extra bonus, John's article is even listed on the cover! MR bought the article from John four years ago, which comes close to, but doesn't beat the seven years WMRC Blog Editor Paul Ullrich had to wait for his own article to appear in the September 2013 issue of Trains. Please keep in mind that when submitting to these publications that they have a substantial backlog of articles to publish, and that these wait times are not all that unusual.

     WMRC members have been published all over the place recently. Along with John, Dennis Rietze has had an article about his model railroad published in Canadian Railway Modeller, and WMRC Blog Editor Paul Ullrich has had two articles published in Kalmbach's Classic Toy Trains.

     Congratulations, John! Keep up the good work!

   

By Paul Ullrich
WMRC Blog Editor

   Stafford Swain was the main reason why I joined the Winnipeg Model Railroad Club.

   When I started getting back into the hobby, I bought copies of Model Railroader and Railroad Model Craftsman to hone up my skills. In 1981, I purchased a copy of RMC that had a cover story about modelling a prairie town, authored by Stafford. I never heard of him before, but when I read it, I realized that this guy was not only living in Manitoba, but he was modelling it as well! I was astonished at the painstakingly accurate scenes of the Whiteshell that he created.

    More articles by Stafford were published, and I collected them. Then I heard about the 1983 NMRA national convention that was being held in Winnipeg. I promptly registered, hoping to see Stafford's layout in person.

    When I saw his layout, I was surprised on how small it was. It was a rather simple perimeter style layout in one room of his basement. But it was deceptively simple. The modelling detail was near photographic, and the transition from Canadian Shield to the prairies in such a small space was absolutely seamless, and very believable.
 
    Above the layout were framed covers from a few of the model railroad magazines that published his stories. He couldn't have hung them all, as he had over 80 published!

     I was actually quite nervous about meeting him. At the time, I worked in the newsroom of the Winnipeg Free Press. I've met two Prime Ministers. Bobby Hull and Gordie Howe were once in my office. That didn't phase me at all. But I was star struck about meeting Stafford!

     But I needn't have worried, for Stafford is a humble and unassuming man who loves nothing more than to share the love of his hobby with others. Over 20 years after that convention, I told him that I went to the convention and joined the WMRC because I wanted to meet him. He let out a hearty laugh and said, "And you've been disappointed ever since!"

    Actually, I wasn't. And I never will be.


 

   Here's a blast from the past! It's a CN Rail ad from the Winnipeg Free Press from way back in 1954 - 60 years ago! That was way before VIA was created, when we actually had two passenger railway systems spanning from coast to coast, serving almost every community in Canada.

    Sadly, those days are gone forever, but it's still fun to view the ad, and remember a simpler time when rail travel was more popular and accessible to all. This ad was posted earlier this year by the popular Winnipeg blog, West End Dumplings.

   Wow, what a party! We all had a great time at our open house! We had tons of visitors, we sold a record number of hot dogs, and the canteen made a profit! CBWFT and the Winnipeg Free Press were there! There were also a few surprises to be had, such as Godfrey South's miniature live steam display, Jim Spiers multi - layered O gauge Lionel "1960's" display and Suzanne Lemon's Z scale layout - placed right in the middle of the Kildonan Short Lines modular railway's returning loop!

     Thanks to everyone who showed up, and thanks to all of the volunteers who helped make this event  at Westworth United Church  great success! Thanks to the volunteers at St.Amant, who displayed all weekend. A portion of the proceeds from our show will go to support  St.Amant.

    Make no mistake - this the official site, sanctioned by the board.

    Our website used to be at the Sweden Freezer website, which was operated by long term member Bill Taylor. Due to his untimely and unfortunate death, the club needed a new web presence. Our space on the Sweden Freezer website hadn't been updated since the spring of 2013.

    At our request,  Phil Mendelshon, the AVR's present webmaster,  has taken all information pertaining to the WMRC off the website and provided a link to our new website.

   Now when you Google the "Winnipeg Model Railroad Club" with quote marks, this website shows up first, followed by WMRC webmaster's wife Margaret Ullrich's popular events, blog, Winnipeg is Better than Chocolate.   The CP Rail Manitoba and Minnesota Subdivision, a blog operated by long time WMRC member and Winnipeg Free Press faith columnist John Longhurst, shows up as fifth on the list.