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.

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.