2020 Schedule
Our 2020 meeting dates will be:
- January 3
- February 7
- March 6
- April 3
- May 1
- June 5
- No meeting in July and August
- September 4
- October 2
- November 6
- December 4
NOTE: All events subject to cancellation for unforeseen circumstances.
Blackhawk Railway Historical Society is not responsible for events shown here that it does not sponsor.
Blackhawk Railway Historical Society is not responsible for events shown here that it does not sponsor.
About Our Meetings
We hold regular meetings at 7:30 PM on the first Friday of the month (except July and August), at the Gladys Fox Museum on the southwest corner of 9th Street (Illinois Route 7) and Washington Street in the historic downtown district of Lockport, Illinois. Visit our Meetings page for more information.
Doors open at 7:00 PM and there is plenty of free parking on Washington Street. If there is no wake scheduled, additional parking is available in the lot of the adjacent Goodale Memorial Chapel, in the 900 block of Hamilton Street.
Admission to all meetings is FREE and open to the public. Attendees are invited to participate in our monthly raffle of rare and interesting railroad memorabilia and models. Refreshments are also available.
Meetings include a presentation on railroads, past and present, by well-known railfans, authors, photographers, historians, railroad professionals and railroad advocates.
Doors open at 7:00 PM and there is plenty of free parking on Washington Street. If there is no wake scheduled, additional parking is available in the lot of the adjacent Goodale Memorial Chapel, in the 900 block of Hamilton Street.
Admission to all meetings is FREE and open to the public. Attendees are invited to participate in our monthly raffle of rare and interesting railroad memorabilia and models. Refreshments are also available.
Meetings include a presentation on railroads, past and present, by well-known railfans, authors, photographers, historians, railroad professionals and railroad advocates.
Guidelines for Presenters
| blackhawk_presentations_how_to_guide.pdf |
How long should a program be?
60 to 90 minutes in length. There is a break at midpoint during the evening for a 20 minute raffle. This raffle helps defray the cost of renting the meeting facility.
Will I be compensated for my presentation?
No, the Blackhawk Chapter does not provide monetary compensation to presenters nor any reimbursement for expenses incurred. We will provide a one-year complimentary Chapter membership to non-members. A meal at a local restaurant may be provided to presenters who travel longer distances. This is at the discretion of the Chapter. If you are traveling from outside the Chicago area and need lodging information we will gladly assist you if you need it.
What type of presentation equipment is available?
We provide a laptop computer (Windows), a digital projector and a large projection screen. Presenters may bring their own computer, but we normally run programs from flash drives or CDs provided by the presenter. We also have a Kodak 35mm Carousel slide projector available, but presenters should bring their slides in Carousel trays. We will not load slides at the meeting. Speaker audio is provided with by two handheld wireless microphones. A computer remote control with a laser pointer is available.
How should I present my images?
Some types of presentation software, like PowerPoint, are ideal but not necessary. We can run images from your files in File Explorer, but please save all the images you wish to present in one distinct file folder.
What sort of presentations are of interest to our members?
We are a railroad history group. If you have an idea for a presentation regarding some aspect of railroad history, we are interested. We welcome authors, producers and artists promoting their work. You are welcome to offer your work for sale to our members with no charge or fee from the Chapter. We are equally interested in programs about contemporary railroading, including representatives of the industry. We welcome programs from railfan photographers interested in showcasing their work.
What do you do if you’re interested in presenting a program?
E-mail our Program Director with a short explanation of your idea. You can include sample visuals if you wish. We like to include an image in our email flyers for our programs, so sending us something helps.
Time your presentation: Run your show and time it as if you would be giving your presentation. Practice the oral part of your show at the same time. You will probably find that you have more images than the 90 minute maximum allowed presentation time. You either need to reduce your image count or talk less about each image. You certainly don’t want to fly through your presentation, so think about editing down your image count. Pick your best images and don’t over focus on multiple images of the same thing.
Write it down: Improvisation may be great for comedy, but doesn’t work well for novice presenters. Write your dialogue down, your explanation for each image. Practice it without the presentation and see how well it flows, then practice with it. A well-paced presentation will keep the audience’s attention. Your images are only half the show, your dialogue and how you present it is the other half.
60 to 90 minutes in length. There is a break at midpoint during the evening for a 20 minute raffle. This raffle helps defray the cost of renting the meeting facility.
Will I be compensated for my presentation?
No, the Blackhawk Chapter does not provide monetary compensation to presenters nor any reimbursement for expenses incurred. We will provide a one-year complimentary Chapter membership to non-members. A meal at a local restaurant may be provided to presenters who travel longer distances. This is at the discretion of the Chapter. If you are traveling from outside the Chicago area and need lodging information we will gladly assist you if you need it.
What type of presentation equipment is available?
We provide a laptop computer (Windows), a digital projector and a large projection screen. Presenters may bring their own computer, but we normally run programs from flash drives or CDs provided by the presenter. We also have a Kodak 35mm Carousel slide projector available, but presenters should bring their slides in Carousel trays. We will not load slides at the meeting. Speaker audio is provided with by two handheld wireless microphones. A computer remote control with a laser pointer is available.
How should I present my images?
Some types of presentation software, like PowerPoint, are ideal but not necessary. We can run images from your files in File Explorer, but please save all the images you wish to present in one distinct file folder.
What sort of presentations are of interest to our members?
We are a railroad history group. If you have an idea for a presentation regarding some aspect of railroad history, we are interested. We welcome authors, producers and artists promoting their work. You are welcome to offer your work for sale to our members with no charge or fee from the Chapter. We are equally interested in programs about contemporary railroading, including representatives of the industry. We welcome programs from railfan photographers interested in showcasing their work.
What do you do if you’re interested in presenting a program?
E-mail our Program Director with a short explanation of your idea. You can include sample visuals if you wish. We like to include an image in our email flyers for our programs, so sending us something helps.
Time your presentation: Run your show and time it as if you would be giving your presentation. Practice the oral part of your show at the same time. You will probably find that you have more images than the 90 minute maximum allowed presentation time. You either need to reduce your image count or talk less about each image. You certainly don’t want to fly through your presentation, so think about editing down your image count. Pick your best images and don’t over focus on multiple images of the same thing.
Write it down: Improvisation may be great for comedy, but doesn’t work well for novice presenters. Write your dialogue down, your explanation for each image. Practice it without the presentation and see how well it flows, then practice with it. A well-paced presentation will keep the audience’s attention. Your images are only half the show, your dialogue and how you present it is the other half.
Giving A Program/Programs For Your Group
We are always looking for quality programs from railfans, railroad professionals, advocates, scholars and historians. We can supply a large screen, projection equipment (slides, 16mm movies, video or computer) and an appreciative and enthusiastic audience. If you have a program you would like to present, or know of a presenter that has a program to offer, E-mail our Program Director.
The Blackhawk can present programs on local railroad history for your organization. There are many possibilities: a discussion of local railroad history, historic railroad movies and photographs, or even a visit from a 19th-century station agent! Blackhawk members have given presentations to local historical societies, civic groups, government organizations, and lectured at the Chicago History Museum.
For more information, please send us an E-mail or talk to us at one of our monthly meetings.
The Blackhawk can present programs on local railroad history for your organization. There are many possibilities: a discussion of local railroad history, historic railroad movies and photographs, or even a visit from a 19th-century station agent! Blackhawk members have given presentations to local historical societies, civic groups, government organizations, and lectured at the Chicago History Museum.
For more information, please send us an E-mail or talk to us at one of our monthly meetings.