Waterloo Region Model Railroad Club

The WRMRC is an HO scale club located near Guelph that operates an HO scale layout depicting the CP Sudbury Division circa 1975.  I have been aware of this layout, located in a quonset hut and eventually planned to include six levels, for some time but had never seen it in person.

Leo and I drove down today to check out the open house, held once a year.  Heather and Tom met us there and we spent a couple of hours looking through what will be an accurate representation of the local CP operation.  Although it is largely a work in progress, the accomplishments to-date are substantial and the vision for the future is huge.

I found the era interesting because, from 1974 to 1977, I looked after Inco's non-metallic stocks.  These were large volume/cost supplies that often arrived via rail.  Items included Bunker 'C' oil unit trains, quartz from Lawson Quarry, sand flux from Garson and petroleum coke.  In 1977, I moved to Metals Accounting and we tracked ore shipments, concentrates, iron ore to Little Current, sulphuric acid and liquid SO2 shipments and any other intermediate and final products, again many moved by rail.  The modelers were interested in any facts I could provide about operations back in the day, although they are much better versed on the local industry and operations than I am.

They was some talk about a bear and cubs one member had installed on a rock outcrop overlooking CPR Bay.  The club president thought it was out of place but we assured him that bears were not unheard of in this location, even if it was a residential area.

After the visit, we climbed back in the van and drove home.