LwS S1, E11: Port Jervis & Saratoga Springs, NY
In this episode, we'll follow John Prophet on a trip he made to Eastern New York in 1951. He was able to capture an Erie steam engine in the town of Port Jervis, NY; his one and only Erie recording. After that, John set up his wire recorder in Saratoga Springs, NY to catch several freight and passenger trains on the Delaware & Hudson.
This episode also features two incredible recordings made in Saratoga Springs by famed railroad photographer J.J. Young. Thanks to John and J.J., you'll get a first hand account of what it was like to have an active rail line running through the center of town.
The photograph above shows D&H engine #314 pulling "The Laurentian." The engine is featured in this episode.
Below are views of the Erie Station in Port Jervis, NY. courtesy of the Library of Congress.
Port Jervis has an incredible history; especially in it's connections to the Erie Railroad and the transportation industry.
Visit the Minisink Valley Historical Society for more historical info: http://minisink.org/histpj.html
Below are recent images of the Port Jervis Erie Passenger station. Google Earth will take you on a bit of an adventure if you want to explore around the town.
Below is a view of the Erie Railroad's yard facilities in Port Jervis, NY. While the engine servicing facilities and the roundhouse are gone, the turntable is still there.
Below is a "3D" map of the city of Saratoga Springs, NY from 1888. I've indicated where the D&H passenger station is on the map since it's a bit hard to locate.
More information about J.J. Young can be found by visiting the "Archiving Wheeling" website at:
J.J Young's incredible collection of railroad photographs can be found at:
A very special thanks to Jay Winn, from Vintage Railroad Audio, for the use of the J.J. Young recordings featured in Episode 11. In speaking with Jay, he informed me that he's been archiving these incredible railroad sounds for quite a long time and he's thinking about shutting his website down and taking it easy. Head over there and check out what he has to offer before the opportunity is lost.
Below is a link to an online map of the city of Saratoga Springs, NY when the D&H ran through the center of town. Not a trace of the D&H mainline or the passenger depot exist on Railroad Place any longer.
Thanks to Google Maps, we can get a fairly good "before and after" representation of what Saratoga Springs looked like when the D&H passenger station was still in use.
Below are Google Earth images of the area where the Saratoga Springs D&H passenger depot once stood and what the area looks like today. Also included is a view a little further south-west to show where John Prophet may have been set-up with his wire recorder to make his D&H recordings.
Dozens of photographs of D&H steam engines can be found on the Bridge Line Historical Society's web site. If you scroll to the middle of the page, you'll find pictures of many of the D&H engines featured in this episode of Living With Steam.
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