11/09/2025
The Living with Steam podcast features the railroad sound recordings made by John M. Prophet III, which he made from 1948 to 1955 in Buffalo, Western New York, and other locations where steam engines still operated in regular service.
John has a long-standing legacy with the Niagara Frontier Chapter National Railway Historical Society. He co-founded the organization back in 1938 along with Russel Shapley and other like-minded railfans. At that time, the group was known as the Railroad Enthusiasts and were the Western New York affiliate of a larger organization based out of Massachusetts. In the early 1940s, John, Russ, and other prominent members of the organization decided to leave the Railroad Enthusiasts and become the Buffalo Chapter National Railway Historical Society, which over time, became the NFCNRHS we know today.
Since he was a young child, John was enthralled by everything and anything to do with railroads. Growing up in Mt. Morris, NY, his family’s canning business was served by the Pennsylvania Railroad, and that proximity between the business and the railroad operations he watched on a regular basis as a young child cemented his love for the Pennsy. Throughout his life, John was considered the foremost expert on the Pennsylvania Railroad, possessing a knowledge of their equipment, structures, locations, track and branch lines more than most employees or Pennsy officials had.
Railroads were John’s life, and at an early age, John began to take what amounted to thousands of photographs and slides in addition to shooting 16mm films of various railroad subjects; amassing an incredible collection of images featuring engines and trains of the New York Central, Western Maryland, Baltimore & Ohio, the Erie, Lehigh Valley, and of course, the Pennsylvania.
Beginning in 1948, John started using a Webster Chicago 288-1 wire recorder to capture the one thing his photographs and films lacked; the sounds a steam engine and its train made.
Living with Steam presents John’s fabulous recordings, fully restored, along with historical information about each location from where he made his recordings.
The latest episode features recordings John made in Tyrone, Pennsylvania on August 28 and 29 1952. Tyrone was one of John’s favorite locations to capture Pennsy steam still in use in regular service. Steam engines began to slowly disappear from the freight and passenger trains running in regular service in the Buffalo area. John had to go into locations where he knew Pennsy would be running steam on a continuous basis. Tyrone was a sure thing… and it didn’t disappoint.
Living with Steam is available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, or wherever you get your favorite shows. More information about each episode can be found at livingwithsteam.com.
https://open.spotify.com/episode/0cC7oewm56Hig2iT6VtI5A?si=Xd7r9wg6QRKJ15EdxLM3_w
Living with Steam · Episode
