Autumn Leaf Railroad Slide Show

9th Annual Autumn Leaf Slide Show - Post Show Thanks!!

2011-10-24T09:53:00.001-07:00

Well this year is a wrap - what a great show this year - a big thank you goes out to the production staff of AL including Steve Eshom, Dale Skyllingstad and Paul Petersen. If it werent for their help this show wouldnt go on. Also thanks need to go out to our roadies on Saturday; Reed Skyllingstad, David Honan, Cortney Kinkead, and Gregory L Weirich.

Dale brought an amazing projector and sound system for the event that raised the bar from previous shows. Paul brought in his projector calibrator that had the shows "dialed in" for color reproduction. One attendee who is a veteran of alot of slideshows over the years stated the projection was better than he had ever seen.

I want to thank all of the presenters for bringing such powerful and fantastic shows this year - I know the time committment involved in putting together these shows and appreciate what each person has done to present their shows.

Attendance this year was right around 70 which is what we had anticipated. I also want to thank our attendees and presenters that came in from outside the Pacific Northwest. Its always great to see our Canadian brothers each year. Flying in from afar included California, New Mexico, Texas and Florida!

As for the venue, the Fox Theater is a fantastic location in which we will look forward to making home for the future shows. We are already working on some great new things for 2012 -

The 10th Annual Autumn Leaf Slide Show will be on Saturday, October 27th, 2012!

2011-10-06T15:27:00.000-07:00

2011-10-06T15:26:00.000-07:00

New Venue Announced for 9th Annual SlideShow - Saturday, October 22, 2011

2011-03-24T17:53:00.001-07:00

This year will be the 9th Annual Autumn Leaf Slideshow and Railfan Weekend - we are excited to announce our location at a new venue - The Fox Theater in Centralia, WA. A change in policy at the Olympic Club has prevented further weekend use of the theater at that site so we went looking for a new home.

The Fox Theater is located one block south of the Olympic Club site and has been a longtime member of the Centralia downtown corridor. Opening in 1930, the Fox Theater was in full swing until the late 1990's. Historic Fox Theatre Restorations, based in Centralia, Washington, is a nonprofit organization with the goal to restore the theater back to its glorious 1930 appearance. As it is a work in progress, we are looking at a long term home for the show and can be a part of this restoration. The 270 seat theater with a grand 34'x24' silver screen will be a perfect venue for our shows. We are currently working on details regarding beverage, snacks and alcohol service. The use of this venue will cost us $500 for one night and we are working on a donation at the door price for individuals and families to help cover this cost.

We are also happy to announce that Dale Skyllingstad of Tacoma will be coming on board as our Sound and Visual Engineer. He along with our Multi-media Engineer Steve Eshom will provide for a great show for everyone to enjoy. Look for an official announcement and call for shows to come out in the next couple of months.

8th Annual Autumn Leaf Show Presenters Announced

2010-10-13T06:09:00.000-07:00

I am happy to announce the show presenters and line-up for the 8th Anuual Autumn Leaf Railroad Slide Show. As far as attendance crowd, we are looking to shatter the record of attendees with over 90 people RSVP'ing for this years event. There are several who are coming in from out of State and from Canada to attend this years event.

There still may be some hotel rooms left at the Olympic Club Hotel - contact the hotel directly and ask for the "railroad slide show room block". Rooms will be at a special slide show rate. Also remember, the way that we make this show free is to ask that you order food and/or drink while at the show. Each year, we need to cover $4000 in food, beverage and hotel rooms in order to cover the one night theater rental. The reason this is so high is that during our show, they close the theater for two movie showings, so there is loss to the Olympic Club from tickets and food and beverage.

Since this is a perfect venue and logistical venue for this show, we want to continue to be able to use it so we ask that in lieu of admission prices for the show, we ask you to order some food, soda or enjoy a pint and watch some fantasic shows.

Here is the show line-up for the 8th Annual Gathering!

Brian Bundridge - Steam in the PNW
AJ Shewan - Of Railways and Waterways
Kyle Weismann-Yee - The Reverends Rides: The Reincarnations of George Lavacot's Cadillacs
Mike "Mad Dog" Sawyer - Short Stories
Robert Scott - Snowfall
Drew Mitchem - Marcelene Nights and NS OCS chase
Lee Bishop - A Year Without Trains
John Benner - Edge of Light (Featured Presenter)
Dave Honan - Go West Young Man (Featured Presenter)
Randy Nelson - Nomos Moldy Oldies, North Texas, In My Dreams (Featured Presenter)
Rob Leachman - UP Branchlines and The Gorge in the 70s (Featured Presenter)
Scott Lothes - Lessons from Hokkiado; Railroads and Life in Japans Frontier (Featured Presenter)
Scott Odell - Bringing Up The Rear
Nick and Tom Kaminski - Stampede Pass
Dale Sanders - Northern Lights (Featured Presenter)
Dan Sheets/Matt Robbins - All Good Things: The Siskiyou Semaphores
Steve Carter - Eastside Rail
Kyle and Gregg Pohll - Stevens Pass
Jason Hill - 4449 to Trainfest
Bob Harbison - PNW Steam

Remember the show starts promptly at 5pm! Doors to the theater open at 4:15, so arrive early to get the comfy seats!

8th Annual Autumn Leaf Railroad Slide Show - Announced

2010-08-17T08:14:00.000-07:00

Saturday, October 23rd 2010 is the date for the 8th Annual Autumn Leaf Railroad Slide show in Centralia, WA. This invitation only show will focus on the photography of numerous photographers from around the West and Canada. We are working on a great show this year with some new faces and some outstanding presentations.

Date: Saturday, October 23rd, 2010
Location: McMenamins Olympic Club Hotel and Theater, Centralia, WA
Time: 5pm - 11pm
Cost: Free

McMenamins Web site

This is also a call for presenters. If you would like to present, shows are ususally limited to 15 minutes per person. If you would like to attend contact me for more details.

This is an RSVP invitation only event with the first 75 attendees guaranteed a seat. In order to reserve your seat, contact me at robert.scott@westthurstonfire.org

As we get closer, I will announce the show line up.

7th Annual Show Line-Up Announced

2009-10-19T21:13:00.000-07:00

*Notice To Railfans Along the Seattle Sub* -

Look for possible road closure along Winlock - Vader highway - there is a posted long detour route.

Look for possible road closure on Reynolds Ave in North Centralia from Pearl St to the PSAP tracks.

Be Careful when out and around the mainline.

2009 7th Annual Autumn Leaf Railroad Slide Show - Update

2009-10-18T18:32:00.000-07:00

7th Annual Autumn Leaf Railroad Slide Show - Saturday, October 24th - 5pm-11pm - McMenamins Olympic Club Theater - Centralia, WA
As of today, the show if officially full - we are taking on no additional shows or attendees. I will be announcing the line up of presentations in the next day or so. I want to take the following opportunity to give some of the ground rules for the show.

1. If you have been invited to be one of the 25 presenters, you must have your show to the theater no later 3:30pm on Saturday so it may be loaded onto the show computer. If you have slides, please see myself or Scott O'Dell to get your trays situated for the show. You may bring you show on CD, DVD or on a thumb drive.

2. If you are an attendee - the show will start proptly at 5pm -

3. Seating will be first come - first served - unlike last year, we will no longer be setting up tables as they take up too much room - the room will stay in the theater style venue - if you want one of the comfy couches - then you probably want to be there early.

4. If you have been with us before, you will know that we roll from one show to the next with the only pause to allow presenters to briefly introduce their show - plan your breaks appropriately.

5. We plan the show to go til about 11pm - this may change with any last minute issue or change in shows. We hope that you can stay to enjoy all of the shows.

6. Remember - this is a free show - that being said, in order for us to cover the $3000 room rental for the night - we have to make that up with drink and food orders. PLEASE MAKE ALLOW US TO USE THIS VENUE AGAIN NEXT YEAR - the only way to do that is to please make your dinner and drink plans for the site - and no, I do not get any kickbacks.

7. Remember this is a night to look at the spectacular photography skills of two dozen folks, and a way for everyone to get together and visit. I appreciate everyone taking and making the time to be a part of the show. If it werent for you - we would be able to have this show.

8. We hope to have alot of last years issues resolved with the food and drinks and servers. They will be allowing for tabs to be started from your seats with a debit or credit card - Please remember your server with an appropriate tip - I have been told there will be 3 or 4 servers for our show.

9. I look forward to seeing you all - we will be railfanning along the Seattle Sub on Saturday morning - I plan to be at the theater by about 3pm on Saturday - Look for show announcements tomorrow!

Thank You For Attending 6th Annual Show

2008-11-11T20:50:00.000-08:00

Thank you to all who presented and attended the 6th Annual show on October 25, 2008 at the Olympic Club. Many of you made an entire weekend out of it as the weather cooperated with us mostly, and the train traffic was brisk at times.

As for the show, my thanks goes out to the guys who make it happen. Steve Eshom for setting up and running our AV systems, and Sheldon Perry and Scott O'Dell for making sure the slides were up and running.

I have taken alot of feedback for next years show and have already made contact with the Olympic Club staff to ensure some of the challenges we faced this year will be resolved for next time.

I will also be publishing with the help of Steve a presenters guide which for digital shows will have the parameters to set your shows up so they play properly. We did have a few shows go longer than indicated which put us about 60-70 minutes over the time that we wanted to finish up.

Some of our goals next year include;

1. Holding fast our start time of 5:00pm

2. Holding fast our stopping time of 10:00pm - We want to ensure that everyone has a chance at the end of the night to network before heading out.

3. Provide for a mixture of slides and digi's - Next year with the set up similar to what we had, we will be able to quickly transition from slide to digi, so you will see 2-3 digi's then a slide presentation.

4. More planned breaks during the show - We will strive to have at least 3 ten minute breaks during the course of the evening.

5. Additional and more attentive wait staff - I am working with the Oly Club manager to ensure we dont repeat the food and drink ordering debacle that some experienced. Enough said about that....

6. Featured presenters - We will still have some featured presenters next year (already working on a few) that will be publicized in advance.

7. Capping the audience - This last year we were about 75 attendees, and you wont see more than 100 in that room or logistically, it becomes a challenge for the site.

8. Set moving crew - Next year, we will have a better idea on how the site can be set up and we will have a designated set up crew to take care of tables and chairs.

9. Slide shows - We will ensure that the slide show presenters have a microphone that will reach them so they may be better heard during the show.

If you have any suggestions, please dont be bashful - move them forward. Remember this is YOUR show - we want to make it as enjoyable as possible for everyone.

Next years date has been set - Saturday, October 24th, 2009 - Mark it on your calendars!

Photo Links to Photographers and Previous Shows

2008-11-11T20:44:00.001-08:00

Follow this link to view photos from this weekend as well as past show weekends;

Paul Petersen - 2008

Ryan Dadgari and Brian Bundridge - 2008

Ken Storey - 2008

5th Annual Show Photos - 2007

4th Annual Show Photos - 2006

McMenamins - The Olympic Club

2008-11-11T20:32:00.000-08:00

Photos of the Olympic Club