From the Dome Car: Train 6 Track 2 (May-June 1996)



 










Along with publishing CRM, Morgan was active in the local Winnipeg Model Railway Club for many years, including helping organize and run train shows. That experience prompted him to find ways to promote other clubs across the country. He puts in a plug for advertisers, and adds a bit of prototype news—some years later, that would become a regular part of the magazine, with yours truly responsible for collecting and writing it. 

One aspect of our great hobby that personally appeals to me is participating in our annual Winnipeg Model Railroad Club show here in Winnipeg. Sharing the work load, entering contests and generally helping the public understand what railway modelling is all about is very pleasing. 

Naturally, putting on an annual show is not an easy task. Arrangements need to be made for space (assuming your club doesn't have a permanent residence) and members have to coordinate their efforts through an organizing committee to ensure a successful exhibition. 

Our club's annual show happens in April and preparations begin just after Christmas. We have modelling contests complete with a 'special event', and a photo contest—all with trophies and certificates for the winners. And we don't leave out the novice modeller either. There are special categories for first-time entries, novice and beginners. It's all great fun for those that participate. 

But the real satisfaction comes from seeing the look on the public's face when they view the trains running on the several modular railways that take part in our show. Or they're amazed to see what one of our members is able to do with little pieces of strip wood, making buildings. Fathers, mothers, sons and daughters are all fascinated by the exhibits. 

I watched carefully as one young fellow darted from display to display trying to take in everything he saw. We captured another future modeller! 

With this in mind, we would like to begin featuring your model railway club in the pages of CRM. We will dedicate a page in each issue for your club to be featured—something like we've done for our Canadian hobby shops in the Hobby Shop Tunnel. Just send us a general outline of about 300 words on what your club is all about: Number of members, meeting nights, your club layout if you have one, special events (annual club show etc.) and where readers can get in touch with the club if they are interested in becoming a member. As for photos, send us no more than six, 4 x 6-inch colour prints and we will select a couple for the story. 

As a regular reader, you may have noticed some small changes in this issue, especially near the end of the magazine. In order to accommodate some of our new colour advertisers, we've had to rearrange things a bit. It goes without saying that manufacturers of model railway products and items related to our great hobby need their space, too, if you as a purchaser are to know what's available. The advertising space in any model train magazine is just as important to a modeller as is its' article content; perhaps even more so since it's usually the advertiser that pays the majority of the freight in getting it to press. 

We are very fortunate with our bi-monthly effort that so many producers have seen fit to market their products to our readers through advertising. It's been mentioned before that we have seen an increase in the number of items available in Canadian road names and an increase in the number of Canadian manufacturers that are making top quality products for our industry. Letting our readers know about it through CRM is definitely a step in the right direction and helps keep our magazine strong. 

And here's a piece of news. CP Rail has renamed their operations in eastern Canada creating The St. Lawrence and Hudson Railway. The merger of most CP Rail track in southern Ontario and Quebec with the smaller Delaware and Hudson in the U.S. will be a subsidiary of CP Rail System which, along with freight traffic, operates government commuter train systems in Toronto and Montreal. Will we see a new paint scheme? Time will only tell. We'll catch you in the next issue.



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