AVR LOOKING FOR A NEW HOME – ALL ASSETS IN STORAGE
As noted in the opening page, we are no longer open to the public, are no longer located at 3001 Roblin Blvd., and have put all our assets into storage. We hope that we can relocate close enough to the city so that we & our loyal riders will, in the future, be able to ride again on the AVR
To rebuild, we would need ~6 – 10 acres, hopefully within the perimeter highway, with parking, hydro & water. The AVR was started in 1995 with a lot of seed money by property owner & model railway enthusiast, Bill Taylor, who died in 2013. As we slowly expanded over many years, and had more & more riders, especially over the Christmas seasons, we used the ticket sales to finance the expansions, doing all of the labour ourselves. This allowed us to add the 2nd loop, build &/or buy more locos & rolling stock, and to construct all of our buildings. Any future rebuild will take time! We will need an infusion of new members, hopefully many younger members, and a large infusion of money!
The following is what we have offered, planned to offer in 2021, and hope to be able to offer again sometime…
Summer Open House Weekends
These were held the 2nd full weekend of each month, from June through October.
Saturdays: 11:00 – 4:OO Sundays: 1:00 – 4:00
Tickets
1 ride – $3, 2 rides for $5
10 ride pass – $20 (good for any AVR Public Event – older passes were honoured)
2 & under ride free
(All minors had to be accompanied by an adult)
AVR Dinner Train Weekend
3rd weekend in September
Cost was $15 for adults & $12 for kids 12 & under.
DINNER TIMES
Saturday: 12:00, 1:30, 3:00 & 4:30
Sunday: 1:00, 2:30 & 4:00
How it worked: Participants ate on the train, 2 people to a car, up to 16 people per train. The meal started with refreshments (soft drink, coffee, tea, or water), nibblies & a fresh tossed salad with choice of dressing, for the first loop around the track. The main course was a deluxe hamburger platter (or a hot dog platter), consumed over 2 loops. Dessert was pie with ice cream or whipped cream, or a dish of ice cream, for the 4th loop. Each meal lasted about an hour.
Reservations had to be paid for ahead of time, starting on the June Open House Weekend, with cash or by credit card, for specific times on a “first come first served basis”. You could phone Len at 204-832-3448 to reserve your seats & pay by credit card, or see Len or Gordon at an Open House to pay with cash or by credit card. Reservations needed to be made early to get the best time for you. Last chance was the Tuesday before the weekend, so enough, but not too much, food could be purchased!
Hallowe’en Weekend Evening Rides
6:00 pm to 8:00 pm
For the 3 years before the 2019 weekend was cancelled due to the October storm damage, and the 2020 weekend was cancelled dur to COVID, the AVR offered Hallowe’en themed rides on the weekend before Hallowe’en. There were lights, pumpkins, skeletons, bone piles & lots of ghosts. Occasionally someone jumped from behind a tree to scare the passengers, but not too much!
Tickets
1 ride – $3, 2 rides for $5
10 ride pass – $20 (good for any AVR Public Event – older passes will be honoured)
2 & under ride free
(All minors had to be accompanied by an adult)
Christmas Weekends Afternoon Rides
3 weekends around Christmas/New Years
HOT CHOCOLATE – 50 cents!
Tickets
1 ride – $3 2 rides for $5
10 ride pass – $20 (good for any AVR Public Event)
2 & under ride free
(All minors had to be accompanied by an adult)
After Bill Taylor’s death in August, 2013, the Family & the AVR have simply not been able to do the massive amount of work that Bill did in maintaining the 100,000+ lights! We had started to rebuild, & install around the station, some of the light frames with LED lights. This was slow work, but was appreciated by riders. We accepted donations of LED lights & extension cords, both short & long, indoor or outdoor, to use as we slowly rebuilt the light display.
Meets
We have run Operating Sessions/Fun Run Days for Members & invited guests. This involved setting out rolling stock around the railway, setting up trains in the station area, then operating the railway using the Card Sort Method. We usually had a hot dog lunch and charged a small fee to cover costs.
Work Days
Generally, some of the active club members got together to work, chat, share a beverage, etc on Saturdays, usually from around lunch time to mid or late afternoon, year-round. However, nobody was required to come unless they wanted to, so there were potentially days when nobody was there due to chance and circumstance!
