One of the Pennsylvania Railroad’s legendary K4-class 4-6-2 steam locomotives leads an eastbound passenger train out of Chicago at 21st Street Tower on October 3, 1950. Photograph by Wallace W. Abbey, © 2018, Center for Railroad Photography and Art. Abbey-01-130-05

We are pleased to announce the feature presentations at our two dinner events, the Thursday evening RPM Banquet Dinner, and the Friday evening Friends of the Freight Car annual dinner.

On Thursday night, following dinner, we will retire to the Arcadia theater for a multimedia presentation by Bon French, Chairman of the Center for Railroad Photography & Art. Mr. French will explore the mission of the organization, as well as share many of the fascinating photographs from their collection. The image above is just a single sample of that mission: To preserve and protect significant images of railroading.

This year’s Friends of the Freight Car Dinner will, on the 25th anniversary of the show, salute the accomplishments of the conference’s original organizer, Martin Lofton of Sunshine Models. Martin’s wife, Tricia, will be our honored guest for dinner while Frank Hodina will lead an initial tribute to Martin’s freight car legacy. Frank was the pattern maker behind many of the Sunshine resin models, and will touch on the early days of resin and Sunshine Model’s history. Following dinner, we will retire to the Arcadia theater for the popular panel discussion format of recent years. This year’s panel will focus on the past, present, and future of resin freight car models with a panel of industry professionals, moderated once again by our favorite MC, Steve Hile.

As a reminder, these presentations are part of the dinners, and require a separate ticket when registering. Both dinners have been improved, as we’ve worked with the hotel to eliminate the chaos of the buffet serving lines and will served generous portions in a plated meal at the table. Menu will be announced soon, and we can accommodate dietary restrictions with prior notice.

We hope you’ll join us, and your fellow attendees, in what promises to be a back-to-back evening extravaganza. Registration is open now at https://www.rpmconference.com/index.php/events/2018-rpm-conference/