Sacramento RailFest

Subject: Sacramento RailFest
From: SeanM
Date: 30 Apr 99 - 12:15 PM

Hey there!

I was recently informed that there are a good group of 'catters up in the Northern California area, and was wondering if there are any going to the RailFest this year? I'll be performing in a music/comedy group, but there will be a lot of other bands actually playing GOOD music there, and I was hoping to find some sort of after hours sessions going on, etc., plus get the chance to meet my first real 'catter in person! Sadly, can't wear a tshirt, as we're part of a costumed bit, but I'd still love to meet some of you in person...

M

Subject: RE: Sacramento RailFest
From: Joe Offer
Date: 30 Apr 99 - 01:42 PM

Tell me more, Sean - I thought the RailFest was NEXT year. Am I wrong? If I'm in town, I'll be there for sure, but I'm going to be working in Denver until May 21.
-Joe Offer-

Subject: RE: Sacramento RailFest
From: SeanM
Date: 30 Apr 99 - 01:51 PM

Yup... this year... I believe the start date is June 18th. Due to a conflicting gig, my group won't be showing until the 22nd, but we're really looking forward to it. We don't have too many details as of yet (still waiting on the @#%&*# contracts), but we've been told that there will be several stages around the event, with pretty much continuous entertainment.

But a chance to meet the one and only Joe Offer? It's a 'catters dream!!! ;^)

M

Subject: RE: Sacramento RailFest
From: Joe Offer
Date: 30 Apr 99 - 02:26 PM

Oh, OK, Sean, I guess you must mean our annual celebration, not the bigger one that happens every 5 to 10 years. Click here and here for some information, and I'll see if I can find more. A trip to the California State Railroad Museum and Old Sacramento is a treat any time. The annual Railfest is fun, but the big festival draws steam locomotives from all over, and it's absolutely amazing. What I like best is the day after the festival, when you just might see a 4-6-6-4 steaming out of town.
Utah Phillips and others have put on a couple of railroad music shows in the last couple of years, and they have been great.
Yes, Sean, you probably WILL meet the infamous Joe Offer. You may even meet Mark Roffe, who just might be my dyslexic twin. I'll be looking forward to meeting you.
-Joe Offer-

Subject: RE: Sacramento RailFest
From: Joe Offer
Date: 30 Apr 99 - 02:39 PM

Ooops! I was wrong. I've been traveling so much that I have lost track of local news. This year is the big 10-year Railfair festival in Sacramento, and it should be fantastic. No doubt, it will be the biggest West coast rail event of the year. Click here for full information.
If any Mudcat rail buffs would like to come, be sure to get in touch with me, and maybe we can all get together with the local folkies and make music. I'm sure my dyslexic twin Mr. Roffe would like to join in.....
-Joe Offer-

Subject: RE: Sacramento RailFest
From: reggie miles
Date: 01 May 99 - 06:51 AM

Hey Sean, Is it too late to apply for a chance to perform at RailFest? I've got a few railroad songs under my belt, (or is that under my strap?) and my washboard is equiped with no less than 4 great train whistles not including my harmonica which has been in training for optimum trainslations of train-like toots, whistles and moans for better than twenty years now just waiting for one such opportuniy to present itself. You can call me railroad Reggie. I took a look at the links that Joe posted but sawed no info about bands or the hiring thereof. Thanks, Railin' Reggie

Subject: RE: Sacramento RailFest
From: SeanM
Date: 03 May 99 - 12:28 AM

Sorry, Reg... I's just a worker... We got in on an event coordinator contract, and they are one of several getting involved. You might try calling any info number they give. I haven't been able to do more than browse the link myself, but if it doesn't have one listed, the Sac Chamber of Commerce probably would...

Good luck! Sounds like you'd fit right in...

M

Subject: RE: Sacramento RailFest
From: bet
Date: 03 May 99 - 08:28 PM

Joe, I just talked to Kat, she said you might not be able to get your e-mail and to get in touch with you here. Are you entertaining in Denver in May. I'd love to have an excuse besides the Rockies to come over. Let me know and if you are I'll see if Mat and I can get there. bet

Subject: RE: Sacramento RailFest
From: Joe Offer
Date: 07 May 99 - 11:58 PM

Hi, Bet - I wish I could handle this with a personal message, but I don't have my cookie here on the library computer and can't send personal messages. I looked you up, and figured there were too many mountains, miles, and feet of snow between you and me to make a visit possible. Besides, I'm only here for three weeks and two weekends, and they want me to put in 60 hours of work a week. I don't think it will work out. If you happen to make it to Denver, I'll be at [phone] until May 21. I was hoping to hear Cuilionn sing in Scots Gaelic last night, but there was a sign at the door saying it was a private party that she was singing at, so I chickened out. I guess I won't see any Mudcatters this trip, but I'm not lonely because I have work friends and church choir friends to visit here - and I have an unbelievable amount of work to do.
-Joe Offer-

Subject: RE: Sacramento RailFest
From: Joe Offer
Date: 26 Jun 99 - 04:12 PM

I went to theRailfair Thursday, but I couldn't figure out how to find you, Sean. Sorry I didn't get a chance to meet you. Come to the Sacramento Song circle on the second Friday of any month, and you're likely to meet me and my mirror image, Mark Roffe ("Roffe" is "Offer" in Pig Latin, I think).
I didn't find any music Thursday evening, but it sure was a wonderful show. All those old guys my age, playing with their big steam toys, seemed to be in heaven. The poor photographers were a sorry lot, gathered around the big steam engines of groups of 20, hoping for a moment when there weren't people passing by to block their shot.
The smells and the sounds and the soot and the sights were all wonderful. The high point for me was when they put a Shay locomotive on the turntable and spun it around 360°. It was quite a sight. It reminded me of when I used to ride the Berlin duty train. We'd pass through Madgeburg, East Germany, at midnight, and there would always be half a dozen locomotives in the roundhouse, all steamed up and ready to go.
If you're in Northern California this afternoon or Sunday, come to Sacramento and see the show. It won't happen again for ten years.
-Joe Offer-

Subject: RE: Sacramento RailFest
From: bseed(charleskratz)
Date: 26 Jun 99 - 06:03 PM

How'd I miss this thread until now? Joe, if I'd known about it I have been there for sure, but this weekend is a tangled web indeed, now, so I'm stuck here for the duration. Oh, well, 2009 isn't that far off, is it? --seed

Subject: RE: Sacramento RailFest
From: SeanM
Date: 29 Jun 99 - 02:14 AM

Jes' got back from the event... what a rush! Sorry I missed you, Joe, but unfortunately we were in conflict with a previous engagement and didn't arrive until Tuesday. I'm glad you got to see the Shay... however, you missed one of the more harrowing events: Shay time trials racing. Seeing one of those engines barreling down at 3 times the normal operating speed, boilers swelling under pressure, was something of a fright.

Another recommended sight was the Buckingham Bar & Line Gang. They're a group of elderly gentlemen who demonstrate the art of track lining and spike driving, along with the original line shanties. They're East Coast, but if you have the chance to see them, do so. It's worth every penny.

As to the rest, I'm relocating soon and will hopefully be able to make the circle... as well as Quinn's and a few others. To everyone else in California, I strongly encourage visiting the Rail museum (as well as your local museums)... Part of folk is always going to be history, and I consider it an honour beyond any others to have been able to see (and perform in/around) this much solid history.

Keep the flame alive

M