2021 Calendar Survey Results – Traingeek

Thank you to the 43 who took the time to complete my survey about calendars for 2021. I appreciate it!

I asked three questions:

Are you interested in purchasing a calendar featuring grain elevators in Manitoba?
Are you interested in purchasing a calendar featuring Canadian trains?
If you are interested in purchasing a calendar, would you prefer a smaller 6″x 8″ calendar or a larger 11″x 17″ calendar? (the larger size is more expensive)

I also asked for general comments as a 4th question.

Grain Elevators in Manitoba

65% were not interested and 35% were interested. That makes 15 interested. I’m not too surprised as my list is more train oriented than elevator oriented.

A few people commented that they would like either a train or a grain elevator calendar but not both. Makes sense!

Trains in Manitoba

79% were interested in a train calendar and 21% weren’t.

Calendar Size

74% were interested in the 11×17 size, 20% were interested in the 6×8 size, and 6% wanted a different size (8.5×11).

Comments

Here are a few select comments:

I wouldn’t mind a calendar that had a few prairie icons, but mostly trains . Of course (and you are aware of this), a photo with both be preferable.
Scenery shots okay, but I prefer equipment up close.
I still get ’em free of charge at the credit union and Manitoba Public Insurance.
Large spaces to write notes.
A “train” calendar would hopefully include VIA, not just freights.
Local is great. I would rather support you than some multinational. Cheers!
I like calendars, and trains, and calendars showing trains. Best wishes with this project!
I already have more than I need, alas. The train calendar would appeal otherwise.
Have some writing about each picture.
I prefer spaces with the dates so I can write in meeting times, appointments and the like. Great idea.

Sourcing the Calendars

With past calendars, I’ve used Lulu.com for printing calendars. They would take care of the printing and shipping, which was great for me! However, Lulu doesn’t do that any more.

I’ve looked at a couple of sources and I’ve ordered one larger calendar to see how it looks.

Once I get the sourcing confirmed, I will get the pricing figured out and post it to the mailing list and here as well.

Just One More Thing

I just finished reading the book Railway Mileposts: British Columbia Volume II: The Southern Routes from the Crowsnest to the Coquihalla by Roger G. Burrows. Amazon links are affiliate links, meaning I earn a small commission at no extra cost to you.

This is a great book. It contains incredible detail on all of the railway lines in southern British Columbia, which include Canadian Pacific Railway’s southern main line as well as the Great Northern Railway and Kettle Valley Railway routes.

The book starts with an overview of the history of the CPR and the Great Northern/Burlington Northern, then a list of “attractions” including structures like tunnels and bridges, motive power, and operations. The bulk of the book describes every subdivision in the four main areas:

Crowsnest-Kootenay region
Central Kootenay region
Kootenay-Kettle region
Kettle-Coquihalla region

Each subdivision has a brief history, list of major features and track profile, and then every bridge and station stop along the subdivision is described. Some subdivisions and entries are more detailed than others, but they are all here, including abandoned subdivisions.

Despite being somewhat out of date, this book is a valuable reference if you are interested in exploring the current or former railways of southern British Columbia. Book I features the CPR main line from the Rockies through to the Pacific Ocean. There was no book 3.

It is long out of print, but used copies are available on Amazon or via AbeBooks. You may be able to find it at a local library as well.