From the Dome Car: Train 2 Track 3 (Sept.-Oct. 1991)

This From the Dome Car begins on a sad note with the death of a friend who helped Morgan found the magazine. And a post office disruption caused headaches; for the entire time CRM was published, the post office was a source of many headaches—and one or two migraines!

It is with a heavy heart that I announce the passing of a founding member of Canadian Railway Modeller magazine. Ron Ayers, who's exceptional skill and eye for both photographic detail and business practices, passed away on September 10, 1991 after a brief battle with cancer.

Ron was instrumental in helping me from the initial planning stages of CRM and gave of his all while he had his health. I have vivid memories of the times we spent together, and the excitement we both felt during the early stages of developing the photographic aspect of the publication.

Although Ron was not a modeller or a railfanner, he displayed a never-ending interest in CRM and was always available when things needed to be done or talked about. As a professional photographer, he was one of the best. His favourite subject was prairie scenes.

I didn't know Ron for a very long time, but the man was one of those individuals that you never forget. We'll all miss him dearly.

As we head into the fall and winter season, you can almost feel the hobby coming together again after summer activities are over. Won't be long before we're all back on standard time, Halloween is over and it's dark by 5 p.m.! Notice I didn't mention anything about snow!

I've talked with several modellers who are making plans for layout extensions, kitbashing projects and winter railfanning trips. Most clubs are back in full swing by now and mall shows using modular layouts are all planned. A look through Subdivision Footnotes indicates a full slate of activities scheduled for the next few months and all of the 1992 railway calendars have been released. Sure looks like we are in for another full year of activities. We'll greet new people just getting into the hobby and renew old acquaintances. A very busy time of year, isn't it?

Naturally, the postal disruption didn't help us with our sending/receiving mail. Seems that we just get to the point where it looks like we will catch up and something else happens to put us back. Such is life, I guess.

CRM still has the goal of maintaining the quality of its product, and it does take time and talent to produce such a publication. I must thank all of those who have been so patient with us as we strive to fill the void in the marketplace. It's been an exciting and adventurous undertaking and well worth the effort required to produce it. There sure is a lot more to come.

And to those taking on modelling projects this winter, we are interested in hearing from you. Take some photographs, write up some text on what you did and send 'er in. We're sure interested in having a look at it.

I would like to hear from someone who would be interested in doing a series on building a four-foot module like the type used in modular clubs. It should start with the trip to the wood store and finish with the installation into its first 'mall run'. Any scale would be appropriate.

There are still a number of Limited Edition HO scale First Anniversary box cars available, and sweat shirts can now be ordered either through your local hobby shop or direct from CRM using the order form provided. We looked at having license plates made, but the cost was too high for the number of plates we would require. So, were still looking.

As you can see, there are plenty of things happening out there. Keep the letters and articles coming in and we'll keep publishing them. And here's hoping we'll hear from you!