Marc, it's worth attending at least once for the inspiration of seeing images combined with music and/or narration. Plus the opportunity to meet some of the "heroes" we've all grown up admiring (as well as some of the young folks who are cutting their own new edge). I've only been there four or five times since 1986. After that initial visit, for those of us who live hundreds of miles away, it seems like a long way to travel just for a weekend of slides, pizza, etc., unless you can tie in some good photo opportunities along the way. If you fly in, the aforementioned Sierra and other local attractions like Franklin Canyon, Altamont Pass, etc., are usually in beautiful springtime green by then. The Donner and Shasta routes may still have snow. But don't be surprised if the whole trip ends up being a rain-fest. Driving in from faraway, the possibilities are endless. Wish I could visit some old friends down there this year, but like Mike Huggins said, I'll probably be one of those lone figures out trackside that weekend, not sitting in my car, but hopefully hiking in to some spot where I won't have to worry about a gang of out-of-state railfans getting in my way because they'll all be down south in Stockton instead. For my money, a small group renting one of those new riverside cabins at Quinns, Montana, with photos to blast onto the screen and MRL trains rumbling out of the tunnel just across the Clark Fork would be perfect.