LwS S3, E6 - “Tyrone, Huntingdon, Cresson, & The Curve, Part 1”
This episode (the first of two) features recordings John M. Prophet III made during a road trip to Tyrone, PA… with additional stops in Huntingdon, Cresson, and finally, Horseshoe Curve in Altoona. You might initially think Tyrone was another of those small, out-of-the-way towns in Pennsylvania but nothing could be further from the truth. At one point in its history, Tyrone was known as the “Hub of the Highways” due the number of individual railroads that made Tyrone a major terminus, and the number of interstate highways that converged in Tyrone. Of course, those independent railroads were all merged in the Pennsylvania Railroad by the early 1900s, but that did nothing but strengthen Tyrone’s standing as a major contributor to the colossal amount of railroad traffic handled by the Pennsy.
In addition to the movement of coal and iron ore, rail traffic included paper products coming out of the Tyrone Westvaco Paper Mill and other industries in the area. Both passenger and freight trains were non-stop. Local freight trains pulled by Pennsy H9s and B6s were running constantly. Light engines were turned on the wye surrounding the Tyrone passenger station continuously… heading either to pick up a loaded freight or making a delivery, or returning to Altoona for servicing. As far as John was concerned, there was no better place to capture Pennsy steam engines on a continuous basis than at Tyrone.
John arrived at Tyrone on the evening of August 28, 1952… probably after spending an entire day at work for the New York Central at Buffalo Central Terminal where he served as a freight clerk. By the time he got to Tyrone, it was getting dark and the sky was overcast and threatening rain. In fact, by the time John got his wire recorder setup and running, it had indeed begun to rain. Nevertheless, John made many incredible recordings in Tyrone… ALL in real time as the trains passed his location on the Pennsy’s Tyrone passenger station platform.
Enjoy!
The above image courtesy of “Jerry Britton’s The Pennsy Modeler.”
The Tyrone station was a very impressive 2 and a half story brick structure built in 1888. It was adorned with fancy gables and wooden fretwork typical of the popular Queen Style of architecture at the time. The first Pennsy station in Tyrone was built in 1851, but after a disastrous fire, it was replaced by the brick station that served Tyrone until IT’S demolition in 1968. This later station is the one seen in these photographs.
Although hard to picture in any of the photos, the Tyrone station was located in the middle of a wye… with the Pennsy’s Bald Eagle Branch on one side and the four-track Middle Division out in front. The wye was used to turn engines (or short local freights) to either serve the many industries in Tyrone, or to move light engines back to Altoona for servicing.
The first image in the top row is a perfect example of where John would have positioned himself on either of the Tyrone Station’s passenger platforms to make some of the recordings you’ll hear. As you can see in the photo second row, middle… the platforms are covered. Perfect for getting out of the rain. The gentleman in the photo is NOT John, but just imagine that it IS John and he sees the approaching train pulled by a diesel engine. His hands are on his waist in apparent disgust over the absurdity of it all!
Click an image to see a larger version.
Top row images 1-3 and bottom row image 1 courtesy of “Jerry Britton’s The Pennsy Modeler”.
Bottom row, image 2 courtesy of the Tyrone Historical Society Facebook page.
Bottom row, image 3 courtesy of RailPictures.net, Dave Burroughs
Above are Pennsylvania Railroad track diagrams showing the layout at Tyrone, PA. The Pennsy’s Middle Division tracks were to the south of Tyrone Station, as they appear in the diagrams. The beginning of the Pennsy’s Bald Eagle Branch was to the east of the station. On the Middle Division, tracks 1 and 4 (outer tracks) were the east/west passenger tracks, while 2 and 3 (inner tracks) were the east/west freight tracks.
Clicking on any of the maps will open them in a larger window. Refer to image 3 for a more detailed look at the Pennsy’s tracks within the immediate vicinity of Tyrone Station. The “wye” is drawn in red.
Diagrams courtesy of The Pennsylvania Railroad Technical & Historical Society
The above two views, courtesy of the Tyrone-Snyder Public Library, show the Pennsy’s Tyrone passenger station prior to and shortly after its demolition in 1968. The first image will give you a better understanding of how John set up his wire recorder to make these recordings. Since the weather was overcast and rainy on August 28th and 29th, John’s primary location was under the passenger platform connected directly to the station’s main building. He’d certainly have access to a power outlet, but if the rain got really bad, he could simply head inside the station and connect power to the wire recorder in a room where he could open a window facing the tracks.
Click an image for a larger view.
Above are various views of Tyrone Station as it appeared on postcards. If you took a train to Tyrone, you could enter the station, purchase a postcard, and immediately send it out to a family or friend back home saying you arrived safely.
Click an image for a larger view.
Above are examples of the PRR engines types John would have seen while at Tyrone on August 28th and 29th, 1952.
Top row
1 - M1b engine 6761 is pictured at Tyrone. At one time, the Pennsy’s Middle Division was home to roughly half of the Pennsy’s fleet of M1, M1a, and M1b 4-8-2s.
2 - H9s engine 1303 is pictured in Enola, PA. The H9s, along with the B6 engines, were used for hauling local freight.
3 - I-1sa engine 4584 at Tyrone.
4 - B6sb engine 6465. The B6 was used primarily for switching duties, but on the Pennsy’s Middle Division, there were sidings that could not accommodate larger engines like an I-1. The B6 were able to handle these duties perfectly since they were smaller and lighter.
Bottom row
1 - Another example of a Pennsy H9; engine 303 (Courtesy of Thomas C Ayers)
2 - M1 engine 6779 at Tyrone (John M. Prophet III photo)
3 - M1 engine 6762, which John recorded at Tyrone on August 28, 1952.
4 - Another view of M1 engine 6762 pulling a freight.
Click an image for a larger view.
The above images show Antis, Gray, and Bell interlocking towers. Gray was located just outside the Tyrone limits and helped to control the movement of trains in and out of Tyrone. Antis and Bell were a little further up the Middle Division tracks and were considered “on the outskirts” of Altoona.
Click an image for a larger view.
Top row, images 1-3, and bottom row, images 1-2 courtesy of https://northamericaninterlockings.com/pennsylvania_12.html. Bottom row image 3 courtesy of the PRRTHS.
Finally, the Tyrone Area Historical Society provides a live webcam feed on YouTube with two cameras mounted on the current Tyrone Station facing east and west. The tracks are now operated by Norfolk Southern, and at the time I tuned in, I was able to see a freight come to a stop for a crew change. Unfortunately, it seems the camera feed has technical issues quite often as evidenced by the comments. In fact, while I was tuned in, it had begun to rain with heavy winds driving the rain right into the cameras. The audio continued streaming but the video cut out. Hopefully this is something the TAHS will address soon because the view of the trains should be spectacular.
NOTE! As of 7:30pm EST on November 6, 2025, the webcam was still dark but the stream was passing audio. I’ve reached out to the TAHS asking if they’d be so kind as to address the issue with their webcam since the views the two cameras have is very close to what John would have seen back in 1952
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