Neil Young at the Manitoba Mega Train Show

Neil Young, the famous Manitoba-born rocker and model railroader, made an appearance at the 2018 Manitoba Mega Train show.

Well, not personally. But an O gauge locomotive he once owned was there. 

It was on a table at the Dauphin Railway Museum display, hosted by the Museum’s genial President, Derm English.

The pre-production Lionel 6-38150 Clear Shell F-3 A unit was one of 230 items put up for auction by Young last November.

According to Julien’s Auctions, which sold the item, it was one of two non-powered clear shell F-3 A units that were used as samples to determine the best plastic to use for the production run.

One shell was made from ABS plastic without U.V. stabilizers. The other shell was made from polycarbonate plastic.

Included with the items was a copy of a letter dated May 7, 1999, from Director of Engineering Robert A. Grubba to a Lionel consultant, with a CC to Neil Young. 

But how did the unit end up at the Dauphin Railway Museum?

According to Derm, someone from the Dauphin area bought the unit at the auction and donated it to the museum.

So if Neil Young ever returns home to his birthplace in Winnipeg, he could always take a side trip north and west to Dauphin to see something he once owned.

Or wait until the next Mega Train show in 2019, and come and see it there.

Bonus information: The second out-of-town gig that one of Neil Young's early groups, the Squires, had was in Dauphin, on Dec. 13, 1963.

The band made the trip to Dauphin, 300 kilometers from Winnipeg, by bus. They were paid $125.

From Neil Young: The Sugar Mountain Years.