Last fall, the members of the Winnipeg Model Railroad Club (WMRC) celebrated the club’s 70th anniversary with 70th anniversary T-shirts to mark the occasion. In addition, the club unveiled a new club logo to refresh its image.
I first (and last) wrote about the WMRC somewhere around 40 years ago. The article was for an inflight magazine. I found it fascinating watching these miniature recreations in operation. The idea of revisiting the WMRC again came to me about two months ago when I and my family visited Union Station to see a few club members sharing their displays with the general public over the weekend.
WMRC President John Bate reports that the club currently has about 60 members who meet on the second Friday of the month – from September through April – at the Charleswood Royal Canadian Legion in the Tank Room.
“We begin each meeting with a short business session,” Bate notes. “After that, we may have a presentation about prototype railways or a clinic given by members to show how different aspects of the hobby can be accomplished through certain techniques and skills. We encourage members to bring in models they are working on and/or a photograph for others to see. They may have items for sale. We finish the meetings with coffee and conversation.”
The December meeting is a time for modelling clinics. Members go from table to table seeing what fellow modelers are doing or seeing demonstrations of different and often quite innovative aspects of the hobby.
In April, the Club hosts its Annual WMRC Spring Show and Open House, which features model and photo contests open to members. Several model and photo categories are available to enter, and trophies and model certificates are awarded to each class.
A portion of the donations from the Open House, Bate notes, goes toward the Club’s charity – St. Amant Foundation.
In May, the WMRC holds its annual year-end banquet and general meeting. Forty club members this year gathered at the Canad Inns for the evening during which model and photo contest winners are honoured for their achievements, several different prize draws and raffles are held and, in Bate’s words, “Everyone has a good time.”
This is also the time where next year’s club officers and directors are installed for the following years’ activities.
The WMRC also publishes an informative digital newsletter, “The Lantern” from September through April, and has an extensive library where members can borrow train DVDs and literature from the many hundreds on file.
Established in 1955, the WMRC’s role is to promote the interest, knowledge, operation and enjoyment of all scale railroad modeling and related photography. John Bate is representative of the WMRC’s membership. As with most of the members, Bate is a retiree who came to model railroading after retirement.
“You need the time, the money and the space to participate in the hobby,” he points out. “We do attract a few younger participants, but high school and university aged members usually move away or move on with their lives after a while.”
One other factor making it more difficult to attract new members, Bate notes, is the ubiquitousness of the internet. “Younger people are not necessarily looking for the camaraderie that our club offers,” he suggests. “Today, they can get all the information they need online, on YouTube videos and through Chat groups.”
As with most local enthusiasts, Bate is not a former CN or CP employee. His introduction to model railroading came in 1983 when Winnipeg hosted the NMRA national convention. “There were about 1,500 people at the Convention Centre,” he recalls.
But, while he became interested in model railroading at that time, he didn’t become heavily involved until he was nearing retirement from an administrative position about 15 years ago.
Bate notes that in addition to the WMRC, there are some smaller clubs in the city. The WinNtrak Model Railway Group, for example, takes a modular approach which allows individual members to join forces to easily set up displays in shopping malls and other locations then equally easily dismantle them.
The Manitoba T-Trak Model Railway Club also concentrates on modular displays that can fit on banquet tables.
A fourth group, Bate reports, meets in the basement of the Frog and Diamond Hobbyworks which is the primary supplier in Winnipeg of model trains, accessories and used equipment.
In addition to serving as president of the WMRC, Bate is one of nine directors of the National Model Railroad Association which encompasses North American, British, Australian and New Zealand modelers and sets international standards for the hobby.
Bate’s term on the International board will soon be over and, he says, he is looking forward to being able to spend more time enjoying his own model railroad installation in an upstairs room in his home.
Readers who may be interested in learning more about the WMRC can visit the club’s website at wmrctrainclub.ca