“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, John M. Prophet III drove down to Angola to make some recordings of NKP and PRR trains.

In this episode of Living with Steam EXTRA, we continue the story of William A. Steventon and how he wanted to take sharing of 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 ad placed in a newspaper or trade magazine would introduce your offerings to the reader. Steventon wanted to take that concept to the next level; by introducing a “catalog” of recordings which he would eventually call “The Railroad Record Club.”

It was a dark and stormy night on September 22, 1949. What better time to head out to New York Central’s Tower 50 to make some recordings of the non-stop train activity taking place around the tower.

In this episode of LwS EXTRA, we begin our look at the life and legacy of William A. Steventon and the Railroad Record Club.

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.”

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.

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.

The first round of LWS EXTRA features a recording I made back in 1993 from the 10th floor of Buffalo Central Terminal.

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.

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.

Who was John Prophet and how did become be such a knowledgeable and dedicated railfan and the foremost expert on the Pennsylvania Railroad for his time?