From the Dome Car: Train 6 Track 1 (March-April 1996)

 

Model railroad thieves? That’s what has Morgan’s attention in this Dome Car. Hard to believe it would happen, but it did. (And maybe still does.) And the fifth anniversary boxcar is announced, along with a CRM license plate. All ways for him to celebrate the magazine and promote the hobby. 

One nice thing about this time of year is that soon the snow will be gone and spring will be here. When I look out my window, all I see are snow-covered streets, bundled-up people and plugged-in cars! Soon, though, the roads will be wet and slushy—if your windshield washer fluid isn't full, you're doomed! 

Winter snow and cold does have its advantages though, especially if you're a railway modeller. Those cold and windy nights are spent working on models, building a layout or just enjoying the hobby. Hanging out at the local hobby shop can be fun, too. If you like to railfan, winter offers a different perspective on your subjects, along with the challenge of getting near the track—especially in remote areas. To those that live in warmer climates—eat your hearts out! Winter snows can be a nice challenge and most of us enjoy it. 

It's been brought to our attention that there has been an increase in the number of locomotives disappearing at local train meets lately. Although this type of theft is very unusual—model railroaders are known to be a pretty honest bunch—it does happen. Your best defence against this type of crime is to have each of your models identified in such a way that, if one is stolen, it can be returned by police if recovered. 

Personally, I use an engraver to etch an identifiable inscription on the underside of the underframes on all my locomotives, as well as painting the same markings inside each shell. Should one be taken and found at a later date, it's easily identified by both myself and the police. 

Of course, common sense is the best deterrent—don't leave your models displayed and unattended. If you do have to leave them for any length of time, return them to their boxes and leave them in a safe place, like under a covered layout table where hopefully they'll be safe. 

In other news, we are marking our fifth anniversary with a just-released Fifth Anniversary 50' Box Car in HO scale. The Athearn car, produced by H&D Hobby Distributing of Calgary, Alberta, is available now by sending $15.00 plus $4.75 shipping (taxes included) to the magazine. 

And since we had so many requests for a CRM licence plate, we've done them too! The plate features our CRM logo in three colours on a white, polyurethane heavy-duty plate. They are available for $12.00 each or two for $20.00, plus $4.75 shipping (taxes included). These two projects are our way of celebrating the success of Canadian Railway Modeller magazine in promoting the hobby of railway modelling in Canada. 

As for future articles, we have a very good one coming on modelling an Ontario Northland 'F' unit, as well as another Fred Shannon kitbashed CPR passenger car project. We've also got more caboose projects, flat car models, trackside structures, more industrial railroads and we've just recently received some material on kitbashing plastic steam locomotives into Canadian prototypes. All in all, there's plenty of stuff that will interest everyone. 

I must say that I was very happy to see the GO Transit articles finally in print, as I know some of us waited a long time for that one. 

And as an end note we have a very happy story for you—and for me! Our daughter recently became engaged to be married to a very fine fellow from Australia, and his father just happens to work for a tourist railway down there. Now, can you beat that! And guess where the wedding will be? Here's a clue: I won't see any snow when I look out the window in January! See you in the next issue.



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