The largest Railroad Photography Exposition on the the West Coast is Winterail. Celebrating its 46th year, Winterail was first held in Sacramento and then moved to the Scottish Rite Temple in Stockton, CA. The founder for this popular event was Dave Stanley who produced the show from 1978 to 1992 when it was still held in Stockton. This years event was held at the Corvallis High School Theatre in Corvallis, Oregon On March 16, 2024 having moved to Corvallis in 2016. Vic and Annie Neves along with Evan Werkema acting as an associate producer were the organizers again this year.
At the invitation of Vic Neves, Daylight Productions was asked to be a presenter at this years event. DP was the opening presenter for this years show with a shortened version of Santa Fe Salute II. This specially edited (digitally enhanced) video largely from 16mm film focused on the branch line operations of the Santa Fe out of Calwa (Fresno) CA. For many years the Santa Fe operated branch-lines radiating out into the agricultural areas East and South of Fresno reaching Parlier, Reedley, Orange Cove, Cutler, Exeter, Porterville, Corcoran and many intermediate points. The 16mm film for this production was shot in 1978 just prior to the closing of many rural depots.
Up until the end of the branch-line operations the Santa Fe scheduled up to three local freights that traversed the various lines. Consisting of jointed rail the speed limit on many of the lines was 40 mph until the closing of the lines. The Santa Fe offered agricultural shippers an alternative to the Southern Pacific in The San Joaquin (San Waukeen) Valley of California.
Besides being a presenter at Winterail, Daylight Productions also had a sales table at the show offering its various DVDs for sale. Many stopped by the table to say hi and offer compliments on the presentation. Rod Robinson a long time friend of Stan McInturf and Daylight Productions also offered some railroad memorabilia at the same table. Besides collecting memorabilia, Rod has acted as a production assistant on many Daylight Productions shooting adventures over the years and on assignments for Pentrex in the early 1990’s. There were a large number of sellers at this years collectables sale which was held before and during the Photography Exposition closing at 4:30pm prior to the dinner break and the resumption of the evening presentations.
Daylight Productions would like to thank Vic and Annie Neves and the entire Winterail team for the invitation and warm welcome. We look forward to participating in next years event and seeing many of you there to share in the history of Railroading.
