Living With Steam

“About half-past three o'clock yesterday afternoon, the telegraph flashed the news to this city that an accident had occurred near the Village of Angola, to the New York Express train, on the Lake Shore Road, due at Buffalo at 1:30 pm, and that there was a fearful loss of life.” 84 years later, on Sunday, July 22, 1951, John got in his car and drove down to the Village of Angola, NY to make some recordings of NKP and PRR trains. The NKP Angola station wasn't being used at that point, but freight and passenger trains of both railroads raced by the station on a continuous basis and John captured roughly 10 minutes of great material. When we listened to his Angola recordings in 1993, he made sure I was well aware of the events that made "Angola" a household name in the late 19th century. Angola wasn't just a great place to watch and record trains. It was also the location of one of the worst railroad disasters that had occurred up to that time. In many ways, "The Angola Horror" remains one of the worst railroad disasters EVER. PLEASE NOTE that listener discretion is advised for this episode. What happened at Angola isn't pretty and there's no way to sugarcoat it in the story. This episode may be a little rough on the ears of younger listeners.

In this episode of Living with Steam EXTRA, we continue the story of William A. Steventon and how he took the practice of sharing railroad sound recordings with like-minded railfans to a whole new level. As strange as it may sound to us now, back when the railroad industry dominated the American landscape, railfans were sharing photographs, movies, and eventually, sound recordings of trains with each other. A simple “letter” or advertisement placed in a newspaper or trade magazine would serve to present a person's offerings to the reader. “I have an incredible collection of New York Central” steam recordings in the Buffalo, NY area,” a typical ad may have read. “Am interested in trading sounds of steam of the Sante Fe in Los Angeles.” As simple as this may sound, trading archival material was carried out with railfans from all over the world. Steventon wanted to take this practice one step further by introducing a “catalog” of his recordings (and others in the future) which he would eventually call “The Railroad Record Club.” And this all began when he received a Christmas gift from his wife in 1952.

On September 22, 1949, John M. Prophet III brought his Webster-Chicago wire recorder to New York Central's Tower 50; a very busy interlocking tower located right in the heart of Downtown Buffalo, and perhaps one of the best locations for capturing non-stop train activity. Unfortunately for John, he arrived at the tower just as Buffalo was about to experience one of the worst weather events of 1949. It was unseasonably cold, with heavy thunderstorms, wind, and hail all occurring throughout the time he was there. John recorded from Tower 50 a total of four times. However, he had told me that, in his opinion, the recordings he made there were "boring." Well, you be the judge as you listen to perhaps two of the greatest sounds combined into one incredible soundscape; thunderstorms and trains in the heart of one of the most cluttered and busiest railroad areas of Buffalo.

In this episode of LwS EXTRA, we begin our look at the life and legacy of William A. Steventon and the Railroad Record Club. The RRC was a brilliant and very innovative way for Steventon to share the many sound recordings he made in addition to those from other railfans who also started making recordings of trains from the mid 1950s onward. The introduction of the “consumer model” portable tape recorder made it possible for dozens of “Railroad Sounds Audio Recording Engineers” to hit the road and set up their gear near railroad tracks all over the country. Compared to many of his contemporaries (like O. Winston Link, Brad Miller, or even John Prophet), Steventon may have been more prolific in his recorded output. However, he is not as widely known as others who were also out in the field making authentic recordings of trains.

This episode of Living with Steam features recordings John M. Prophet III made in the late evening (and early morning) of September 18 (19), 1948 at BV Tower in Blasdell, NY. John made a total of 19 recordings at this interlocking tower and this is one he labeled “#6.” While the recordings contained on this spool of wire are not spectacular by any means… in fact, the quality of the audio is pretty lousy compared to his other recordings… they're included here as part of John's total output simply for the fact that the difficulty he sometimes had using the wire recorder helps one to further appreciate his work.

On Memorial Day weekend in 1973, Ross Rowland Jr.'s High Iron Company organized an excursion train to commemorate the 150th Anniversary of the Delaware & Hudson Railroad. The train would be pulled by ex-Reading #2102 dressed up to look like D&H #302. Jim Van Brocklin, who along with John Prophet was a prominent member of the Niagara Frontier Chapter of the NRHS, packed his family into the car and chased the train from just outside Hoboken, NJ to Binghamton, NY. Prior to this event, however, Jim did a "trial run" of sorts by recording a similar excursion that ran on the D&H tracks from Colonie, NY to Montreal, Canada in late April of 1973; likewise pulled by "D&H #302." Jim caught this train just outside of Mechanicville, NY using a portable stereo reel-to-reel tape recorder and two microphones. The results are spectacular.

In May of 1951, John Prophet took his wire recorder to Interlocking Tower XC in Erie, PA. XC sat at the junction of the New York Central's 6-track east/west main line, and the north/south P&E Branch of the PRR. This was perhaps the busiest location John ever recorded from as ore and freight trains on the Pennsy ran on a continuous basis as they made their way from two nearby freight yards to the very busy "Anchor Line Docks" that sat right on the shores of Lake Erie. Iron ore and coal were the two primary commodities being moved. In addition to regular trains, John also caught dozens of steam engines running "light" between the yards and the docks; all passing his vantage point at Tower XC... all taking shipments to the steel producing cities of Pittsburgh and elsewhere. These are some of the most spectacular recordings John made.

This is the first episode of Living with Steam EXTRA, where between episodes of the main podcast, I'll share railroad recordings made by folks other than John Prophet. On a cold, early evening in February 1993, I was inside Central Terminal in Buffalo, NY having a "look-around" with several friends. While everyone was off exploring the tower section, I wandered up to the 10th floor because I wanted to attempt to make a recording of what the outside of the facility sounded like. The mainline of the NYC (then Conrail) was obviously several hundred feet in front, and the tracks coming off the Belt Line (heading east) were right below the window I was looking out from. I lowered microphones out from two windows facing the tracks and connected them to a portable cassette deck I had brought with me. For 16 minutes, I sat in the window watching everything unfold outside the Terminal while the tape recorder captured it all... including some of my friends walking around the floor. Quiet, please! This may not be a recording of steam engines, but the recording might give you a good representation of what it may have sounded like to work at Central Terminal with the continuous and often very busy rail activity going on outside.

On Tuesday, May 1, 1951, John M. Prophet III brought his wire recorder to New York Central's Interlocking Tower 47; located on the Central's mainline about a mile east of Buffalo Central Terminal. At first glance, the tower seemed like it was built in a spot where it wasn't needed. But when you dig deeper, Tower 47 played a very important role in keeping New York Central's steam engines (and later diesel locomotives) operating in perfect working order. The tower also controlled freight train movements in and out of various New York Central freight yards in the vicinity, including their colossal Frontier Yard, which sadly, is no longer in operation. This is an episode that includes a lot of history along with some great recordings of typical engine and train movements at what was once a very busy location for the New York Central.

After spending Christmas of 1948 with his family, John M. Prophet III drove to Westfield, NY to visit some friends on the 26th. While there, he stopped at the Westfield passenger station in order to set up the wire recorder and capture whatever train happened by. If the town name "Westfield, NY" sounds familiar to you American History aficionados, then you'd be correct in saying that Westfield has a definite page in the book of American History.

Welcome to Season Two of Living With Steam. In this episode, we'll learn about the life of John M. Prophet and how he came to be such a knowledgeable and dedicated railfan; eventually becoming the foremost expert on the Pennsylvania Railroad for his time. John was born in 1915, and from a very early age, he was constantly exposed to railroad activity that serviced his family's business in Mt. Morris, NY. It was inevitable that trains would become the primary focus of his life... eventually leading to a job as a clerk in the freight offices of the New York Central. We'll also hear the very first recordings John made at Bayview (BV) Tower on April 10, 1948; a mix of NYC, PRR, and NKP steam and diesel engines which John recorded in the very early morning hours.

In June of 1953, John Prophet packed up his car and drove out of Buffalo to begin an excursion by heading east/south-east. He visited Altoona, Tyrone, and Cresson, PA, and he also went as far as Cumberland, MD... always trying to stay within sight of railroad tracks... always on the lookout for active steam engines on ANY railroad. On June 28, John found himself in Shawsville, VA. His intentions may have been to photograph and record trains of the Norfolk & Western in Roanoke, but instead, he visited several smaller towns outside of Roanoke and was able to make some incredible recordings of very active N&W Y6 engines, J-Class engines, and more. It was 1953, and the N&W was still holding on to their steam engine fleet to haul coal and passengers. They wouldn't announce their intentions to eliminate steam for two more years. John was very fortunate, and we'll listen to his N&W recordings and much more in this season finale of Living With Steam.

The Pennsylvania Railroad's Rochester Branch ran through some of the most picturesque scenery in New York State, including Letchworth State Park, as wound its way between Rochester, NY and Olean, NY. Built on the abandoned towpath of the old Genesee Valley Canal, the Rochester Branch served dozens of small communities in this part of New York until regular passenger service was stopped in 1941. Freight service continued until the line was completely abandoned in 1963. The Niagara Frontier Chapter of the National Railway Historical Society chartered a special excursion on the Pennsy's Rochester Branch in October of 1952. John Prophet recorded a portion of the trip between Mount Morris, NY, and Letchworth State Park and we'll ride along with him in this episode of Living With Steam.  

By the early 1950s, John Prophet was discovering all too well that steam engines were being dropped from mainline railroads all over the country. Even at Buffalo in 1951, John was seeing more diesel engines on the tracks of the New York Central than he had noticed only a year earlier. In order to try and capture steam engines still in use, John began to venture out of the Western New York area and into localities where railroads like the Erie and Delaware & Hudson were still running steam. This episode features the only recording John made of an Erie steam engine; in Port Jervis, NY. After that, he went to Saratoga Springs, NY to catch several freight and passenger trains still being pulled by steam on the D&H.

We return to NYC's Tower 49-A in Buffalo, NY on a warm evening on October 21, 1951. John Prophet is in the tower with his best friend, Sam Herrington for what amounts to a very busy remainder of Sam's shift. We'll also hear about Sam's hobby; building miniature steam trains, and how one was used in a Western New York amusement park.

Interlocking Tower 49-A was a New York Central signal/switching tower located a mile west of Buffalo Central Terminal. John Prophet made some of his best recordings of New York Central, Pennsylvania, and Toronto, Hamilton & Buffalo trains from here. John's best friend, Sam Herrington, was an operator in the tower and he was able to get John inside to make recordings dozens of times when working the evening shift. It was a very warm evening this Sunday, October 24 in 1951, and the neighborhood surrounding Tower 49-A was alive with activity. John captured every bit of it.

The Baltimore & Ohio Railroad entered Buffalo, NY after it had acquired the Buffalo, Rochester & Pittsburgh in 1932. Regardless, it used the trackage and stations the B R &P had been using since 1881. John Prophet visited the Buffalo Division of the B & O, which ran between Buffalo and Pittsburgh, and made dozens of recordings featuring steam-powered trains as they were either approaching or leaving passenger stations. He also took several cab rides in B & O engines. These recordings were made in 1950 and 1953; the last years of B & O steam on the Buffalo Division. This episode of Living With Steam features some of the many recordings of the B & O John made during this period of time.

Thunderstorms and trains together create a fantastic audio experience. When the "train" is pulled by a steam engine, the experience is even more thrilling. In this episode, we'll travel with John Prophet to Big Moose, a small town in the Adirondack Region of New York State. It's here, during a strong thunderstorm, that John captured two New York Central trains on the Central's Adirondack Division which ran between Utica, New York, and Montreal, Canada. Big Moose was also the scene for a well-known murder that put the small Upstate New York town on the popular-culture map. Thunderstorms, trains, and murder... all in this episode of Living With Steam.

Episode 6 of Living With Steam takes us to Niagara Falls, NY, and New York Central's Tower 65. This area was known as "Suspension Bridge" on all NYC timetables due to the history of this area where the very first railroad suspension bridge was built back in 1855. We'll learn more about the original Suspension Bridge, built by Charles Roebling, and how a visit from a special Pere Marquette train brought John Prophet out to Tower 65 in December of 1948. Be sure to visit Facebook.com/LivingWithSteam for maps and other visuals that will help better describe this complicated area of Niagara Falls.

In this episode, we learn about Buffalo's streetcar system and hear IRC recordings made in North Buffalo in June of 1950. Then, we visit the Erie Railroad's Tower FW and learn how interlocking towers work. Finally, we take a ride with John Prophet on TH&B train #380, pulled by Hudson engine #502, as it makes its run from Hamilton, Ontario to Buffalo, NY.

In this episode, we visit New York Central's Tower 50 in Buffalo. NY on November 26, 1949. While perhaps not as "glamorous" a location as some others that John visited because there were no grade crossings where an engine could show off its whistle, Tower 50 was nonetheless an incredible location if you wanted to hear "train movements" since the tower was surrounded by tracks coming from several busy NYC lines in addition to freight yard trackage. We'll also hear the story of how John Prophet came into my life and why it's important to make it a point to record conversations you have with people who are able to preserve history; regardless of what that history may be.

If portable tape recorders weren't available until around 1955, how did John Prophet capture his railroad sounds beginning in 1948? We'll learn all about the Webster-Chicago wire recorder in this episode and how John was able to work around its limitations in order to make the recordings featured on Living With Steam. This is portable "home recording" in its infancy and we'll explore how it was done.

Before 1948, when portable sound recording devices came on the market, the only way for a Railroad Enthusiast like John Prophet to capture and preserve their love of trains was to use a still camera or a movie camera. What types of cameras were used and how difficult was it to capture a moving train using an old-fashioned 8mm movie camera? Featured in this episode are recordings from Bay View Tower in Blasdell, NY.

In this episode, we'll take a look at why archival preservation on film or audio recording device is such a necessity. Since we're interested in the railroad industry of Buffalo, why was it so important to take pictures or make sound recordings of trains? Why did people find the need to preserve anything especially if what they were interested in was so common and thought to never go away? If the railroad industry was such an important part of American lives, why did most of it seem to disappear so quickly?

Welcome to Living With Steam. This bi-weekly podcast features the sounds of railroading in Buffalo and Western New York from 1948 to 1955. The recordings featured in this program were captured in the field by John Prophet using a portable wire-recorder; a technology that many people have never heard of. Regardless of how "lo-fi" they may be, these recordings capture an element of industrial history that has long since vanished from Buffalo, NY. Each episode contains stories about how the recordings were made in addition to how my involvement with the archiving of the wires came to be. Some historical information about Buffalo's railroad history is woven in as well. Please note that although these recordings center around Buffalo and other locations in Western New York, if you are a lover of authentic steam engine and railroad sounds will thoroughly enjoy what you'll hear.