The Iowa Chapter, in conjunction with Cedar Rapids Railfans, is pleased to announce the next in our series of monthly "virtual slideshows" on YouTube.  This will be a special two-part program, beginning on Sunday, April 17th at 3PM Central and continuing on Sunday, April 24th at 3PM Central.  Our presenter this month will be Earl Short, and his program will focus on the Des Moines Streetcar Lines from the earliest days until the 1960s.  Programs are approximately one hour long and presented on the Iowa Chapter YouTube Channel monthly on Sunday afternoons.  Follow the included link to set yourself a reminder and see the show live.  These shows will also be archived for future viewing by anyone that cannot attend the live presentation. Here is the link for this month's show:

Part 1: https://youtu.be/zI-cSLZokIk
Part 2: https://youtu.be/799o7xhzGrU

As we look further down the road, we will be looking for people to submit material for future shows.  Thanks to advances in technology, no one would be required to travel to Iowa and present a show.  Shows can be pre-recorded or presented live, according to the preference of the presenter.  I would be happy to do more than one per month if there is sufficient interest.  Please send an email to iowachapternrhs@gmail.com if you are interested in presenting.  Here is the current schedule of programs:

April 16 - Darren Ferreter
May 21 - Russell Lyon
June 18 - Dave Kroeger
July 16 - Dana Grefe
August 20 - Brian Holz & Brian Sigstad

Please reach out if you have any interest in providing a future show.  Here are the ground rules for a presentation:

1 - We need to know the sources for all images.  Photos provided by the photographer, purchased or otherwise acquired legally are all fine.  Please do not submit anyone else's photos and claim them as your own.
2 - Notes are needed about the photos.  Dates taken, train IDs, locations are all great.  Anything relevant that can help fill in the backstory as I will be giving as much detail as time allows when presenting.
3 -  Full shows should be 80-150 images in length.  We are trying to fill about an hour of time, and this amount of photos with some descriptions works really well for the given time frame.  Don't worry if you have a smaller amount of material, we can pair your program with another presenter to accommodate shorter programs.
4 - We need 100% digital content for these shows.  As much as it would be great, there is no way presently to project traditional slides to a PC screen.  Ideally a show would be burned to CD or USB and mailed/delivered to my address.  I can also attempt to meet anyone that is nearby to Marion and execute a handoff if that works better.

Ultimately, we are trying to provide a meeting experience when meeting in person is not possible.  I know many railfan groups have not met in person for quite some time, and we are going to do our best to fill in that void.  Please share this email with anyone who is interested and we will hopefully make this a successful venture.