In this episode of Living with Steam EXTRA, we'll conclude the story of William A. Steventon and how he came to develop the Railroad Record Club in the 1950s. It wasn't easy for Steventon to pull this venture off especially in an era where railroad sound recordings were in high demand amongst railfans yearning to relive the days of trains pulled by steam engines. Competition was out there.

Also featured in this episode is a fun and informative interview I had with Ken Gear, who was at the right place at the right time to acquire the entire Steventon estate of Railroad Record Club archives even though it was in serious danger of being destroyed and lost forever.

In this episode of Living with Steam, you’ll hear the recording John Prophet made in Cove, Pennsylvania; a small town located between Duncannon and Marysville. In John’s mind, the Cove recordings were an absolute disaster due to the ever-present truck traffic that, at times, seemed louder than the train activity. But were the Cove recordings really that bad? Listen and find out for yourself.

On July 26, 1951, John spent the entire day recording the non-stop activity of the Pennsylvania Railroad’s busy commuter line that ran through Palmyra, New Jersey. In my opinion, the recorded material John captured in Palmyra is some of his finest work.

This episode of Living with Steam features recordings John made at the Pennsylvania Railroad Passenger station while visiting friends in Trenton, NJ on July 27, 1951. As a bonus, the episode also features recordings John made during the last week Pennsylvania Railroad steam engines were used to pull passenger trains in and out of Buffalo.