Confessions of a Model Train Geek
A model train geek, learning as he goes.
steve
I decided it’s time for a change. Time for a new layout. There have been a few issues with my layout that just aren’t fixable. The two major ones are: Duck-under at the entrance to the layout room / my office Grades to second level staging yard were too steep I was really starting to … Read more
Winnipeg’s premiere model train event, Manitoba Mega Train, is happening this weekend. I attended on Saturday morning and here are some photos and observations. The show filled the Red River Exhibition building. Someone told me there were 21 layouts here and I believe it. It seems a bit larger than 2018. There were layouts along … Read more
My friend Caleb Wentzell was in Winnipeg for a few weeks, taking a course over in Transcona with his employer, CN. He had been watching my YouTube layout videos and wanted to operate my layout. To be honest, I was a little nervous, because nothing had turned a wheel on my layout since late in … Read more
Jason Shron and his wife Sidura Ludwig gave a talk one evening last week, on Rapido Trains’s efforts to save full size trains, on life with a hardcore “train nut”, and on Rapido’s latest model offerings. It was a great talk and it was well attended. Jason started by reviewing the work that he and … Read more
I held another solo operating session during the month of September 2018, and produced a 5-part series of videos documenting the session. If you want to watch the entire series, you can view this playlist. Introduction In the introductory video, I talked about the changes I made prior to this session. They included the introduction … Read more
Jason Shron, president of Rapido Trains, gave a talk in Winnipeg on August 16 on running a model railroad company. Jason has been in Winnipeg a number of times, sometimes meeting up with people at Ware House Hobbies, but it always seemed that I was out of town when he was here, or I heard … Read more
I held a solo operating session during the month of July 2018, and recorded the session for your viewing enjoyment. I operated eight trains. The session includes every scheduled non-VIA train on my layout, which includes: CN 214 – a through train CN 403 – works the CP interchange in Georgetown and the Cargill grain … Read more
I recently gathered all of my grain fleet into one place on my layout, at the Cargill elevator tracks at Helene. It turns out that I have a lot of grain cars! A grain elevator would never get this congested “in real life” but it was interesting to see all of my grain hoppers and … Read more
I had a grain car that had a coupler issue. Just a tad low. Nothing that a new Kadee coupler won’t fix! Sorry for the blurry photo. There are a few remedies for low couplers like this. Sometimes you can use a fibre washer or two on the truck bolster to raise the whole body up. … Read more
I visited the Manitoba Mega Train 2017 show today (October 1, 2017). As always it was a good show with a lot of displays, vendors, and activities for the young and the young at heart. I was impressed by this Proto:48 diorama of a prairie grain elevator. The N scale “Mainliners” travel around the … Read more