LwS EXTRA: William A. Steventon & the Railroad Record Club, Part 2
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.”
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.”
Like many other railfans in the United States who started taking photographs and movies of trains almost as soon as the first Kodak “Brownie” camera was introduced in the early 1900s, the one thing that couldn’t be captured were the sounds of steam engines and trains. It wouldn’t be until the mid 1940s when making portable home recordings would become a possibility. Between 1945 and 1955, the problem many obsessive railfans had to overcome was the cost of adding a recording device to their kit. For many dedicated railfans like John Prophet, their love for trains was a hobby and not a money-generating venture. Even though money wasn’t going to stop John (who never married), for others, justifying the cost of a $300 to $800 piece of recording equipment was often impossible… especially when most of the population was trying to recover from the financially strapping days of World War 2.
Like John Prophet, William Steventon was the type of guy who took a lot of pictures of his favorite railroad subjects. It was also a fact that he pretty much grew up in the cab of his father’s New York Central steam engine. Therefore, it’s safe to say that Steventon had a love and appreciation for railroads that was a bit stronger than most other railfans. Like thousands of other railfans in the United States, once the technology became available, Steventon wanted to start making recordings of steam engines before they disappeared.
For Christmas of 1952, Steventon’s wife gave him what she thought would be a perfect gift; a copy of a record entitled “Authentic Railroad Sound Effects.” Sadly, this recording turned out to be anything but authentic. Although he tried his best to hide his disappointment in the gift, Steventon knew that if he wanted authentic recordings of real trains running off a real timetable in real locations, he would have to make them himself.
So that’s exactly what he decided to do.
Above are the front and back covers of the “Authentic Railroad Sound Effects” record Steventon received for Christmas in 1953. Even though he was disappointed in the realism and quality of the recordings on this record, perhaps if Steventon had read the fine print on the cover he would have seen that this record was intended to be used with the “Star Talking Station” (made by Star Electronics) for model railroads. A Talking Station was an add-on to a model railroad and was quite popular in the 1950s since they added a touch of “realism” to an otherwise stagnant layout.
As seen in the photo above, the “station” housed a primitive phonograph with a tiny speaker to simulate real railroad activity on your layout. While I wasn’t able to find any information on a talking station made by Star Electronics, a similar models were made by Noma and Lionel.
Steventon recorded the Norfolk & Western coal-burning steam turbine engine, Number 2300, on February 2, 1955 in Christiansburg, VA. The 2300 nicknamed Jawn Henry, was built in May 1954 by the Baldwin locomotive works.
Images courtesy of:
Norfolk & Western Number 2300
Reddit user “Wisdomized”
Steventon recorded both CB&Q diesel number 156, and diesel-electric passenger car (otherwise known as a “doodle-bug”) number 9844 at Christopher, Illinois on February 12, 1955. I was unable to find a photo of engine 156, but engine 163A is shown above and was very similar to the engine Steventon recorded.
On the left is a shot of Illinois Central engine 2506, which Steventon recorded near Wickliffe, Kentucky in December of 1953. In Steventon’s recording of engine 2506, Illinois Central locomotive 1568 follows behind. Steventon doesn’t say if the engine is running light or pulling its own train, but when you listen to the recording, it’s clear that 1568 is bringing up the rear of the train as a pusher. I wasn’t able to find an image of 1568, but 1551 (seen above) is in the same class.
The above photographs and additional information can be found at:
Illinois Central Steam Locomotive Roster
Image of 1551 courtesy of: Illinois Central Steam Locomotives
William Steventon made several recordings at the Illinois Central shop in Paducah, Kentucky on December 10, 1953. According to an article found on the “Explore Kentucky” website, “by 1916, after acquiring many lines through sales and mergers, the Illinois Central Railroad was the most dominant rail company in western Kentucky. The official announcement concerning the new Illinois Central shop in Paducah came on January 15, 1925. Ground was broken on the project two months later. The project was completed within two years, opening on September 1, 1927. The opening day labor force was estimated at 436 and the final cost of the shop was around $8,000,000.
The project had four main buildings: locomotive shop, boiler shop, blacksmith, and tank shops. Thirty-three other buildings covered the 110 acres. In total, more than eight acres of glass was used in the construction of the shops.”
Many more photographs and information about the Illinois Central’s Paducah Shops can be found at the following websites:
Southern Illinois Railroads
Paducah’s Boneyard and the Fate of the IC’s last E-Units
Towns & Nature; Paducah, Kentucky
Katherine Emery: Building the Engine that Could - 2016
The Smoky Mountain Railroad was a standard gauge class-III shortline that operated from Knoxville, Tennessee, to Sevierville, Tennessee, from 1909 until 1961. Engine #110 was made by the Baldwin Locomotive works and was originally owned by the Little River Railroad #110. The engine is the smallest Pacific ever built in the world. It was sold to the Smoky Mountain Railroad in 1940 and was the last steam locomotive to run on the SMRR in December 1954. The line was abandoned in 1966 and sold to the Little River Railroad in Michigan in 1975... where the engine is currently operating.
More information at the following websites:
Locomotive Fandom, Little River Number 110
Smoky Mountain Railroad on Wikipedia
Smoky Mountain Railroad on Hawkins Rails
On December 31, 1954, William Steventon climbed into a car on New York City’s 3rd Avenue Elevated to take a ride. Unlike the other passengers who may have been along for the same ride, Steventon had his Magnecord PT-6 with him and made several recordings of the normal operation of the train; shortly before the line would shut down.
According to Wikipedia, “The IRT Third Avenue Line, commonly known as the Third Avenue Elevated, Third Avenue El, or Bronx El, was an elevated railway in Manhattan and the Bronx, New York City. Originally operated by the New York Elevated Railway, an independent railway company, it was acquired by the Interborough Rapid Transit Company (IRT) and eventually became part of the New York City Subway system.”
“:The first segment of the line, with service at most stations, opened from South Ferry to Grand Central Depot on August 26, 1878. Service was extended to Harlem in Manhattan on December 30. In 1881 this line already began the 24/7 service. Service in Manhattan was phased out in the early 1950s and closed completely on May 12, 1955. The remaining service in the Bronx was designated as part of the 8 route until it was discontinued on April 29, 1973.”
“The Third Avenue El was the last elevated line to operate in Manhattan, other than the 1 train on the IRT Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line (which has elevated sections between 122nd and 135th Streets and north of Dyckman Street), and was a frequent backdrop for movies. Service on the Second, Sixth and Ninth Avenue elevated lines were terminated in 1942, 1938, and 1940, respectively.”
More information at the following websites:
Remembering the Third Avenue El
IRT Third Avenue Line
New York City’s Last Elevated Train
When William Steventon set out to purchase a “professional quality” magnetic tape recorder, he had two choices in mind as far as manufacturers; Ampex and Magnecord. He ultimately went with the Magnecord PT-6, shown in the pictures above.
The Magnecord historical information featured in the episode came from the following sources:
Preservation Sound: Magnecord History, The Book, Circa 1950
Magnecord - Magnecorder PT6-A Tape Machine
Reel to Reel Texas
The National Model Railroad Association’s journal for its members, “N.M.R.A. Bulletin”, was a source many railfans used if they were looking for photographs, movies, and eventually sound recordings. The upper-left images of the Bulletin from June of 1957 featured an ad placed by Al Shade. The upper-right show the Bulletin from January of 1957 where Elwin Purington placed an ad. Both gents were advertising the recordings they had made and were looking to trade with other like-minded railfans who were looking for authentic railroad sound recordings.
The issue of Trains Magazine, from October of 1954, featured a review of four of Steventon’s recordings prior to the introduction of the Railroad Record Club. Notice how the article says “The newest dimension in railroadiana is sound…” In my opinion, the fact that William Steventon had a favorable review of his work in his early days of making recordings meant that he was pretty much guaranteed success once the Railroad Record Club was off and running.
The N.M.R.A Bulletin in the lower-right is from October of 1957 and contains an article reviewing the earliest discs made available by the Railroad Record Club.
One thing I need to point out is that even though Steventon had seen the ads Shade and Purington placed in the N.M.R.A Bulletin in 1957, Steventon was well aware of other similar ads that ran in earlier issues of the journal, Trains Magazine, and other publications. He had been putting “feelers” out to test the waters well before 1957; as the article in Trains will attest to. Since Shade and Purington were so well known in railfan circles, Steventon knew he had done the right thing in the way he created, organized and sold his Railroad Record Club selections. He also knew that he stood a good chance to have Shade and Purington contribute recordings of their own to the RRC catalog in order to expand it beyond his own offerings.
Once again, this second part on the life and legacy of William A. Steventon and the Railroad Record Club was made possible through the assistance of Kenneth Gear, who wrote the book on William Steventon and was very fortunate to locate and preserve Steventon’s entire estate and the Railroad Record Club recordings.
To learn more about Ken’s work in the preservation of Steventon’s material, please visit the following:
The Railroad Record Club on Facebook
The Railroad Record Club Discography (courtesy of The Trolley Dodger)
You can purchase CDs containing William Steventon’s recordings along with much more by visiting The Trolley Dodger Store
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