From the Dome Car: Train 3 Track 5 (August-September 1993)

 

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 snapshot in time from a time when steam was king. 

The theme this summer seems to be 'Water, water, everywhere' as hundreds dig out from flooded basements and homes. Our sympathies go out to those who have experienced the power of Mother Nature in the form of water this summer. Seems the more it rains, the more it continues to rain. Our cartoon this issue pokes a little fun at a disastrous situation. Keep your chins up folks, it'll soon be good ol' snow coming down instead of rain—if you can last that long! 

During a recent visit to the Sarnia, Ontario area, I managed to see what's happening at the new CN Sarnia tunnel site and can report that construction is apparently on schedule. A new roadbed was being constructed and the footings secured for the new $17-million boring machine named 'Excalibore' which is to begin drilling operations under the St. Clair River in September. Plenty of heavy equipment on hand, all busy preparing the site. We'll keep an eye on it for you. 

It was also reported to us that we lost Richard (Dick) George this summer in his 54th year. He was an avid railfan photographer and historian, making up one half of the famous George-Paterson Collection of photographs and will be sadly missed by all those who knew him and cherished his friendship. Dick, as he was known to his many friends, was a fountain of information when it came to Canadian railroading and the book he coauthored, Steam at Oakville, will stand as a testament of his fine work. Our condolences to his family and friends. 

On a different note, we direct your attention to our New Products column this issue where again we have several new items to present. And, that's good news for our hobby as more and more model railway equipment and products are made available. We'll take this opportunity to welcome some of the new entries into the business of supplying railway modellers with their goods. We are always happy to welcome them on behalf of our readers. 

For the collector out there, we have something a little off the wall to offer. One of the local hobby shops here in Winnipeg has produced coffee cups in conjunction with us. It features their hobby shop logo and the Canadian Railway Modeller logo printed on the cup. It will make an interesting attraction to your cup collection and can be ordered for $9.00 which includes all postage and taxes. We have 45 cups left of this very limited edition. Should there be a hobby shop interested in having some cups printed with their logo affiliated with ours, let me know and we will have some printed. They are quite attractive. 

On the article scene, this issue begins our first Canadian Archives article from the 0 SHO ME people who have given us permission to reprint a number of their beautiful drawings. We would encourage modellers to support this group as their work represents hours of research and technical drawing expertise which all helps to preserve our Canadian heritage. The drawings will be reproduced in HO scale and each will include a photograph from the Carl Gay collection. Any comments regarding these drawings is welcomed from readers. 

And there's one more thing I should mention. It doesn't look like we will make it to the Vancouver meet this fall as more time must be spent here looking after the magazine. Unfortunately, attending railway meets takes up valuable production time and we have fallen a bit behind this year. I like to attend two out-of-town shows a year; the Vancouver area is definitely in our plans for 1994. See you in our next issue.


 

 

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