From the pages of Canadian Railway Modeller: Morgan Turney, in his own words

Every now and then, Morgan used the Dome Car to vent. Like this time, when he once again vented about advertisers who didn’t pay their bills on time—or at all. Non-payment of invoices was a problem because he only published an issue when the previous issue was fully paid for. Since this led to lateness for subscribers, he wanted them to know where the blame for the tardiness lay.   This policy illustrated a fact of life for Morgan: Publishing CRM never made him rich. For him, the magazine was certainly a way to make a living, but it was much more than that: It was a personal passion project and came from a sense of service to model railroaders in Canada. Since the non-payment of invoices led to tardy delivery of issues, he wanted to be up-front with readers about it. It might have also been a way to shame those who weren’t paying on time!   It has always been one of the goals of CANADIAN RAILWAY MODELLER magazine to provide Canadian model train hobby shops and some book st...

  Something Morgan wanted to include in CRM right from the beginning was reviews of books about Canadian railways. But finding reviewers wasn’t easy. The simplest solution was for Morgan to do it himself, but he didn’t want his byline appearing in the magazine too often. That’s when someone named “Russell Morgan” appeared, faithfully reviewing many books in CRM over the years. (This issue has two of his reviews.) Of course, “Russell Morgan” was Morgan himself! (I asked his wife, Carol, where he got the name from. They had a neighbour named Russell, and Morgan apparently borrowed it. Plus, Morgan’s nickname growing up was “Rusty,” due to his red hair—that might have also played into it, she said.)   This issue also featured what would become a feature over the remainder of CRM’s life: Canadian Archives, with the 0 SHO ME plans. The first was a CNR 2-8-0 Consolidation. I don’t know how many people used those plans to scratchbuild or modify an existing model, but they were a snap...

  CRM was only one of the things produced by Morgan’s parent company, North Kildonan Publications. (Named after the part of Winnipeg where he lived.) He also had a dream of publishing books, and ultimately published four of them—starting with The Guide to Canada's Railway Heritage Museums and Attractions by Lawrence Adams. The book, which might have been the first of its kind in Canada, provided information about all the places people could explore and learn more about Canadian railways. I think I still have my copy around somewhere . . .   Boy, how the year flies by! Most of us have already cut the lawn three times and burned-up our share of burgers. I know I have. It sure beats shovelling snow, though!   Our attendance at the Toronto Model Train Show was, as last year, a real treat as we had the opportunity to meet with our modelling friends, both old and new. I noticed some new exhibitors this year, one of which was next to our booth. Kirlin Scale Models produce...

    A price increase! And not the last time. Prices for everything kept going up; finding a way to balance costs and revenue was an ongoing challenge for Morgan. And we get a report about his plan to give a train set for Christmas to some neighbour boys. New collector cards are coming, and we hear the common refrain again for more articles. Journalism, it is said, is either an act of commission—going to get articles—or collection—waiting for them to come in. The latter approach is less expensive but riskier; that’s the approach Morgan took. Later, when I became involved, I would search out articles and work with authors, trying to keep the hopper full. It was always a challenge. With Groundhog Day behind us, it's only a matter of time now before the snow will be gone and I can drag the BBQ out of the shed and burn up a steak or two! We've had our share of the white stuff this year. On the plus side, the railfanning in the snow and cold was great! Our plans this year in...

  Anyone out there modelling TT scale? When I was helping clean out Morgan’s train stuff after his death (to sell for his widow), I came across a TT scale CN locomotive among his model railroad belongings. I had never seen anything like it before, and I wondered how Morgan got it. Maybe he bought it after writing this editorial where he introduced the arrival of TT scale in North America.   At the time, Morgan was enthusiastic about the entry of a new player into the model railroad market, but from what I can tell not much ever came of it—in all my years working with Morgan on the magazine, I can’t remember a single article about TT. (I may be wrong; my memory isn’t what it used to be.)   As he said, the arrival of TT on these shores heralded a change in the global political situation—one that seems so distant after the fall of the former Soviet Union. It’s hard to remember those times now, what with everything going on in the world.   With all the talk we're h...

  It’s sounding like a broken record by now: Morgan defending the tardiness of the magazine. Sure sounds like model railroaders had high expectations for getting CRM on time! Through it all, he manages to keep his cool, although I know the criticism weighed on him—he was doing his best at something he had never done before and with many things beyond his control. Like he said in the Dome Car below, it’s significant there’s any Canadian model railway magazine at all.   I've had some interesting mail lately outlining concerns regarding the type of letters we publish from our readers and about CRM publishing late.   To those few questioning our tardiness, I suggest they read some of our past editorials and letters on this matter of being 'behind'. In reality, we aren't behind. Prior to Train 1, Track 1, our Premier Issue, there wasn't a four-colour, glossy, Canadian content, model train magazine published exclusively for those that model Canadian roads! And, it...