From the Dome Car: Train 8, Track 4 (November-December, 1998)

 

Who remembers the President’s Choice CPR camelback steam locomotive? And who knew it had a 24-karat gold plated bell? (Not me.) If you have one, maybe you might want to see how much that bell is worth today! Of course, the CPR never had any camelbacks. But a kid waking up to a train set under the Christmas tree wouldn’t care—and that was the point Morgan was making in this Dome Car as he praised President’s Choice trainset creator Boris Polakow for his contribution to the hobby in Canada. Anyone still have that set? 

You know Christmas is just around the corner when you see the President's Choice annual train set appear in grocery supermarkets across Canada! It's like seeing next year's calendars. 

Yes indeed, Boris Polakow, Vice President of Canadian Sales Development for Loblaws Private Label has done it again—he's produced the sixth collector series of President's Choice train sets. 

This year's set is a 2-6-0 Canadian Pacific 'Camelback' locomotive with a can motor and operating headlight along with a tender car with power pick-up, a log car with real timber logs, a cattle car and a ventilation car with operating sliding doors, a tank car and a drover's caboose. They are all produced by U.S. manufacturer IHC Corporation, a leader in the model railroad manufacturing industry. 

The locomotive operates with or without real smoke and has a 24-karat gold plated bell! 









Each set includes enough track to complete an oval layout and contains a CSA approved transformer and complete operating instructions. All in a great-looking package, too. What better way to get a kid hooked on railway modelling! 

Picture this: A parent is shopping at the local supermarket, buys the President's Choice train set as a gift for one or all of the kids, sets it up around the Christmas tree and waits to see the delight on the children's faces when they see it running on the tracks on Christmas morning. Sound familiar to some of you? You bet it does! That's how it starts, isn't it? It's like planting a seed and watching it grow. And if it grows like it did for most of us reading this, we'll have more railway modellers in a few years. 

And that's what this magazine is all about, too. One of our slogans is 'Take a kid to a train show,' because that's what's really important to all of us. It's the kids with the train sets today that make the railway modellers of tomorrow. 

How many of us got our beginning in this hobby just the way it will happen to those that get a train set for Christmas this year? What Boris has done for this hobby in Canada will likely never be measurable, but one thing is certain; his train sets, along with being collector's items, are little train seeds being planted in future railway modellers heads. Way to go, Boris; our hats are off to you for another tremendous product! 

Readers may have already noticed that we have changed our post office address. It's not that we wanted to; we were forced into it. The satellite post office that we dealt with for the past eight years has closed due to an internal dispute with Canada Post. As a result, we had to find an alternative post office with only one week's notice. We have completed an address change with Canada Post that will last for 6 months, so, if you have sent something to our former address, we should still receive it. Address change notices have been sent out to all our clientele. If you haven't yet received yours, our new address is: Canadian Railway Modeller or North Kildonan Publications, Box 99, Station F, 355 Henderson Hwy., Winnipeg, MB, R2L 2A5. Our telephone numbers remain the same. 

And so, the end of another year is upon us. Where did the time go? We are looking forward to 1999 as this century comes to an end and another begins. Next year will see our 50th issue with Train 9 Track 2. Who would have thought? 

Those that have a train-related website and haven't yet put it on our Website Directory page might want to consider doing so soon. And, in the next issue, we'll make an announcement about a 'Modeller's Photo' contest that is the brainchild of one of our readers. 

So, until our next issue, our staff wishes you a very merry Christmas and a great New Year. Get out and do some railfanning in the snow--it's fun!


 

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