BRANCHVILLE -- The kickoff of Branchville's week-long 41st annual Raylrode Daze Festivul will begin at 2 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 20, with an afternoon of entertainment by local talent and performances by the Branch Junction Can-Can Girls and the Branch Junction Gunfighters.

The Cal Smoak Special train will also crank up, offering visitors rides around the historic town.

The afternoon's activities will close with a 5 p.m. community church service led by the Rev. Grady Corder of Branchville United Methodist Church.

One of the main highlights of this year's festival will come late in the week -- a shoot-out on Sunday, Sept. 27, between the modern Branch Junction Gunfighters and a group of the original gang from 1969-70.

Some people have complained that they miss the old-time showdowns, said Boone Walters, one of the original gunfighters.

"So we're having a reunion," he said. "Our performance will be what people saw in previous years. It's a gunfight with some of the retired gunfighters. ... There'll be a lot of action and suspense building up to the gunfight."

The "undertaker," J. S. Sidestep, who is played by Orangeburg County Treasurer J.C. Summers, will also be back, Walters said.

"He always played the part when he was younger. He was in charge of getting them (the bad guys) buried when they got shot," he said. "People need to come out and see how they did it in the old days."

Walters, who is in charge of the shoot-out, urges any of the original gunfighters to meet in the Old Red Dog Saloon at 7 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 24.

Friday, Sept. 25, will mark the official opening of the Raylrode Daze Festivul, which celebrates its past as a center of railroad activity and its position as the world's first railroad junction. Beginning at noon, Branchville Mayor Tim Cooner, Grand Marshall Becky White and Honorary Conductor Henry Wimberly, who is chairman of the Orangeburg County Council, will give welcoming speeches.

The first festival was held in 1968 after the passenger trains stopped coming through the town, Raylrode Daze Festivul President Tom Jennings said. For years Branchville's economy had revolved around the railroads as residents ran motels and restaurants to accommodate passengers, he said. The trains came through around the clock, seven days a week, Jennings said.

With the end of the passenger trains in the 1960s, the town was about to dry up, he said. That was when some residents got together and came up with the idea of holding a Raylrode Festivul, he noted.

It was one of the first festivals in this part of the state, which may be one reason it has been so successful from the beginning, Jennings said. That first year was an experiment, he said, but the festival was so successful that the town decided to do it every year.

Unlike many towns that later began holding yearly celebrations, Branchville didn't have to look for a focal point for a festival, Jennings said.

"We didn't have to go out and find a reason for a festival," he said. "The railroad was here, and the town grew up around it."

In good years, the town has had as many as 40,000 visitors, Jennings said. Attendance at last year's Raylrode Daze, the first since a tornado wiped out a good portion of Branchville's main street, was down, with only an estimated 10,000 to 12,000 visitors. That was probably because of high prices and bad weather, Jennings said.

He said he is optimistic about attendance at this year's event. Based on vender applications for arts and crafts and concessions, it looks as if this will be a good year, Jennings said.

T&D Correspondent Dale Linder-Altman can be reached by e-mail at jerryanddale@lowcountry.com. Discuss this and other stories online at TheTandD.com.

Raylrode Daze Festivul schedule of events

Sunday, Sept. 20

2 p.m. -- Welcome Center opens, Cal Smoak Special Rides

2 p.m.-4 p.m. -- Entertainment by local talent, Can-Can Girls

4:30 p.m. -- Gunfight

5 p.m. -- Community Church Service

Monday, Sept. 21

6 p.m. -- Registration for Pet Show

6:30 p.m. -- Pet Show

Tuesday, Sept. 22

6 p.m. -- Registration for Talent Show

6:30 p.m. -- Talent Show

Wednesday, Sept. 23

7 p.m. -- Bingo in Branch Junction

Thursday, Sept. 24

6:30 p.m. -- Wild Game Supper

7 p.m. -- Family Night at Carnival, Cal Smoak special rides

7:30 p.m. -- Judging of merchants' store windows

Friday, Sept. 25

Noon -- Opening ceremonies

2 p.m.-midnight -- Carnival, arts and crafts, Cal Smoak Special Rides

3:30-4:45 P.M. -- Entertainment in Branch Junction

5 p.m. -- Can-Can Girls

5:15 p.m. -- Kangaroo Court

5:30 p.m. -- Gunfight

6 p.m. -- Entertainment in Branch Junction

7 p.m. -- Can-Can Girls

7:15 p.m. -- Kangaroo Court

7:30 p.m. -- Gunfight

8 p.m.-midnight -- Street Dances, Bands

Saturday, Sept. 26

11 a.m. -- Parade begins

12:30 p.m. -- Parade awards, Branch Junction

1 p.m.-midnight -- Events around town

1 p.m. -- Sweet Water Cloggers

1:30 p.m. -- Carolina Dancers

2 p.m. -- Can-Can Girls

2:15 p.m. -- Kangaroo court

2:30 p.m. -- Gunfight

3 p.m. -- Costume Contest

3:30 p.m. -- Spike Driving Contest, kids

4 p.m. -- Spike Driving Contest, adults

4:30 p.m. -- Womanless Beauty Pageant

5 p.m. -- Can-Can Girls

5:15 p.m. -- Kangaroo Court

5:30 p.m. -- Gunfight

6 p.m. -- Wrangler Round Up Line Dancers

7 p.m. -- Can-Can Girls

7:15 p.m. -- Kangaroo Court

7:30 p.m. -- Gunfight

9:30 p.m. -- Fireworks Show

8 p.m.-midnight -- Street dances, bands

Sunday, Sept. 27

11 a.m. -- Area churches welcome visitors

2 p.m. -- Common Call

4 p.m. --Can-Can Girls

4:30 p.m. -- Gunfight

5 p.m. -- Closing ceremonies

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