History

OUR HISTORY

1947 TO 2025

A few men formed a group of fellow railroad enthusiasts and in January of 1947 established what is now called the Brantford Model Railroad Club. Each week on Monday evenings they would get together at the home of one of the participants and discuss model building, layouts, and the newest version of some locomotive and discuss the pros and cons of such items. It was their intention to seek out a building suitable for building a layout and meet weekly to run trains. In the meantime they sought out other clubs that were meeting weekly to see how they were operating their club and get ideas for building the club’s layout once they had a building rented or purchased.

Eventually a four-car garage became available to rent for $15.00 a month behind 98 and 100 Waterloo Street on a right-of-way. The club had already obtained usage of three of the four garages and when the fourth became available they jumped at the chance to rent the whole building in May of 1954.

After visiting the London Club the Brantford Model Railroad Club started meeting on Friday evenings at 8 PM. By this time they were organized having an Executive of a President, Vice President, Treasurer, Secretary and two auditors. They even had a four-page Constitution describing full membership and junior membership positions.

In February of 1955 the club had to raise the dues to $1.50 per month. It seems the property became available for purchase shortly after this and each new member was required to pay $10.00 to join the club. In addition to this, each member was required to buy a $100.00 share in the club and the doctors had to pay $200.00. The four-car garage building was for sale for $2400.00 or $2500.00 based on the memory of George Jones a long-time treasurer of the club. All shares were paid back to each member by 1960.

In June of 1963 the Brantford Model Railroad Club officially owned the building with a copy of the deed in the possession of our lawyer.

Bill Whitehead

Charlie Barnes

Dr. Gord Judge

Gilbert Pitts

Larry Gillies & Mac Laing

An interesting note of positions held as of November of 1969 showed Doctor Tom Kidd as President, Doctor Gord Judge as Vice President, Doctor Terry West as Secretary and Vern Johnson as Treasurer. It was also decided at this time to cement the floor doing one half at a time.

As the years passed many members came and went. By 1992 the membership had a new Constitution and to accommodate the new layout (the present layout) dues were increased to $5.00 per week to help fund the materials required. The old layout was demolished so the walls could receive vapor barrier and insulation with new Gyproc installed inside, the ceiling was insulated and a duckunder was installed to accommodate the design of the new layout.

Dues for full members were $20.00 per month as of 1995 and $2.00 per week for Associate members. Membership had declined to 8 full members and 4 associate members. In 1996 associate dues were changed to 50% of full dues. To cut unnecessary spending it was also decided that members needed Executive approval for any purchases over $25.00.

The Constitution used in 2003 up to this point was referred to as the “Toothless Constitution” since it only had 4 pages directing the club’s actions. Then in 2004 we had our first logo design for use on our new club apparel.

The Digitrax DCC system (Digital Command Control) was installed on the new layout and with a major learning curve a number of members were able to understand and operate this system thankfully since others were finding it rather mind boggling on how it worked. Instructions were sketchy at first but thanks to YouTube and other social media platforms we were able to increase our knowledge and overcome some issues.

In 2006 the Brantford Model Railroad Club joined Greg Whayman and Ted Black in developing the first Brant – Haldimand – Norfolk Model Railroad Layout Tour with proceeds going to the Brant Food For Thought Children’s Breakfast Program. This would become an annual event held every spring.

By 2009 it was determined that the club’s gremlins in the Digitrax system were due to old, outdated equipment and wiring. Upgrading the system brought more enjoyable running sessions with less issues. The learning curve continued as our membership also grew. By 2010 we were adding more UP5 outlets to the layout and adding blocks with the PM42 modules. We also learned that clean track was essential to good running and that included clean wheels on all locomotives.

In the fall of 2010 the present 15-page Constitution was developed by Jake Stott and Doug Bissett with final approval by the membership on September 19th, 2010. This Constitution was a welcome necessity.

As with any club there are always different views and desires as to which direction we need to go but with a majority we moved forward in our efforts to improve the hobby, the layout and the people we see and meet. Education of young ones helps them find enjoyment in building a layout and running it.

Another aspect of the hobby is our efforts to go to different areas in the U.S.A. and Canada to see the real trains in action such as Fostoria, Ohio or Horseshoe Curve in Altoona, PA. Some members visited museums in Montreal or Ottawa. Visiting a busy line at Bay View or near a yard where there is plenty of action are also good places to take photos and enjoy the camaraderie of fellow members. Taking in layouts such as Little Canada in Toronto are interesting day trips which are enjoyed. We also visited the Halton County Radial Railway Museum seeing old and newer equipment used back in the day.

The Brantford Model Railroad Club continues to grow and up to now we continue to upgrade our equipment, build on the layout we use now and participate in shows and tours alike. We promote the hobby and invite young and old to visit us and maybe even stir up some buried dreams that might become reality. We participate in barbecues and train watching and even invigor our ideas for our home layouts.

With a compliment of members eager to work we have built our tiny empire to include a detection system which shows a train’s position on the layout visible on a large screen TV. To add to the realism we now have automated signals that go green with dispatch approval and turn red after the train passes the lights just like the real trains.

The upper level has begun to take shape with scenery and tunnels, people and animals found in the scenes and this will hopefully be completed in 2025. Thanks in a big way to the efforts of our membership.

Updating our club clothing and our logo last year was a morale booster too. If you would like to support our efforts contact us and we will gladly sell you a hat or a T-shirt.

The black and white photos at the beginning of this article show some of the founding members of the club, but the list is much larger. Many members have supported, organized and helped the club to grow over the years. Find below the names of a lot of former and present members and below that are pictures of those who were not camera shy.

Past and Present Members of

The Brantford Model Railroad Club

Charles Barnes, George Jones, Gilbert Pitts, E. Browne, R. Gunther, Edward Rimmer, B. Maynard, D. Sayle, K. Grist, John Elcomb, P. White, R. Johnson, Brian Nisbett, Earl Pitts, Bill Whitehead, John Eddy, Norman Johnson, Ken Shipper, Gerald Pussey, Peter Marshall, Robert Lawton, Martin Fowler, Larry Waterhouse, Terry Sayle, Tom MacMillan, Bernard Ferris, Stan Wheeler, Ronald Wood, Harry Lewis, Ben Farrell, Milton Stewart, Walter Dixon, Roy Burger, Albert Bell, Eddie Cripps, A. Wadsworth, Vern F. Johnson, Larry Gillies, Walter M. Jacobi, Earl and Brian Armstrong, John Laing, Carl Russ, Dr. Nick G. Lathouras, Ron Hewitt, Robert Martin, Sid Copeland, Ken Teakle, M. Ray Howells, Gary Blenkinsop, Bev Woods, Fred Crowley, Kevin Wagner, Dr. W. Terry West, Jim Telfer, Heinz Weber, J. M. (Mac) Laing, Don Munn, Dr. Tom W. Kidd, Jack Whitehead, Dr. Gord A. Judge, Al Newell, Dr. A.E. (Ted) Croal, Don Laing, David Gresser, John H. S. Norris, Geoffrey Gregson, L. F. Thorpe, Aleks Stefanovic, Gerry Fairchild, Duncan Gregson, Mark Freeman, Doug Wheaton, Pat Lawless, Lloyd Candlish, Al Wilson, Karl Bury, , Don Kew, Keith Lee, Steve Couch, Brian LaRush, Barry Silverthorn, Ed Dean, William Luciani, Jeff Mann, Doug Bissett, Bob Inksater, Ben Van Veldhuizen, Eddie Valcourt, Marc Johnson, Mike Carey, Norman Blenkinsop, Stephen Jurkus, Ed Smith, Jeff Neeb, Brian Barrett, Greg Whayman, K. C. Kovacs, Mark Westwater, Chris Giles, Dick Belcher, Jim House, Rick Sywyk, David Elliott, Jake Stott, Nathan Henderson, Vern Johansson, Kyle Stefanovic, Brian Drury, Eric Crow, Ken Hunt, Cory Gibson, Steven Sault, Stephen Crandell, Glenn Patterson, John Dixon, Hans Wissman, Norman Blenkinsop Sr., Anton Dyak, Michael Iezzi, Dakota Lee, Jason Lindsay, Keldon Ledward, Logan Martin, Wade Ryan, Stephen Nicol, Frans VanGerwen, Doug Fearon, Michael Goncz, Chris Weileder, Gerrit Smits, Jason Gordy, Taylor Gaines, Jules Mirza, Ron Feth, Paul Giannico, Zakary Mirza-Couture, Doug Godard, Sarah Elliott, Rick Kuta, Kirk Andrews, Mark Mannavan, Daryl Dankwardt, Richard Keyser, Peter Ka Yin Tam, Chris Hickmott,

If I have missed anyone, my apologies, these are the only names noted in club files.

Our Present Executive

Daryl Dankwardt

President

Richard Keyser

Vice President

Peter Tam

Secretary

Doug Bissett

Treasurer

Hope to see you soon!