This is special. I knew a lot of the Lehigh valley railroad old timers my father would take me to the veterans meetings and I knew then I should buy a video camera and tape the stories they were telling but I never had the money. Now they are all gone. I went to the funerals to. Life as we knew it is gone and I wonder if this younger generation will even care or will there even be a USA. Times are changing fast. Take care of yourself if you are reading this you know what I mean.

THANK YOU! More history being reintroduced to a VERY INTERESTED public

I felt like I was going to cry by the end of this video.

Seeing Riley Street Station in East Aurora for twenty-one years, it is wonderful to see this footage from a bygone era. A friend of mine was born in East Aurora, and his old man, who lived in East Aurora for most of his life up to the time, remembered seeing the “Con-Trak” trains pull up at the platform until it closed in 1973. This is what I’m trying to help the WNYRHS get back into life. To relive one of these excursions by John Prophet to Arcade and beyond.

Possible fix for Horshoe curve, I wanted you both to know of something I use but no longer do the work is I am 77 and partly retired now. If you have a windows 10 system on a good PC get a sample copy of TOPAZ AI VIDEO and experiment. You caan not create w/o letters all over the screen if printed through Photoshop but can see if it can correct things. I have seen damaged or old video and also the Other programs they sell and are simply amazing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It is free to use a sample so you can experiment forever and that will save you the cost if it does not. This software is very well made and I still do work at my job with Photoshop so I have made corrections that PS 22 does not handle yet the Topaz is amazing. Also get those frames scanned or slides scanned as well. I have even worked with old Glass Slides in Topaz and it is a miracle what these products can do. I have 2 pro photographer friends that used this software on photos, slides, and PC files on stuff back from the 1950's and it work extrememy well. Ray C - Florida It is very very expensive to gat a pro doing this kind of editing so play and hope it helps. I do some rarely but you would never want to pay me for the work. I do mostly drone video now and creations for train videos from sets I produce to look like prototype for movie scenes. If you get anything hard copies from anything send me an email at gcn.cx/myray and I will see what can be done FREE! I will not charge a cent but see a challenge and that is what I enjoy. See you P.S. If you can believe it I was raised right about on top of Pompton Jct on the line in Pompton Lakes / Riverdale in NJ and 3rd home on Ringwood Avenue where the NYS&W passed by and also 1/4 mile east in the woods of actual Pompton Jct. It shared and crossed the Erie Lackawanna through a + crossing to Greenwood Lake and up to NY State. It was amazing to me. God Bless you for the great videos.

I'm watching this on the evening of April 5th 1994..........I mean 2024 😊 on the 30th anniversary.

Awesome! Many thanks for preserving these great memories!

Excellent vid, would have loved to meet John! Thank you for posting this, it's a real treat to watch

We need to have lunch sometime an talk about some pictures I have an few story’s

Interesting/informative/entertaining. Excellent photography job enabling viewers to better understand what the orator is describing. My only experiences with steam locomotives are. The scenic steam locomotives train 🚂 rides. Smoky mountains national park. Durango/Silverton Colorado excursions. Very relaxing & enjoyable -!😉. Remember the " Singing Break Men ' Jimmie Rogers -? Whom was a genuine break men till changing careers. Performing before audiences with 🎸 & singing🎶🎶. ( 1926 thru 1933 ) Most memorable song " Break Man's Blues 😭" viewing the presentation from the comfort zone of my computer room. Along the " Space Coast " 🚀 of Florida 🐊🐊. No steam locomotives in this region 😭. Wishing viewers a safe/healthy/prosperous ( 2024 )🌈🎉😉.

You have a Wonderful prize there . I wished I taped my Dad back in the Day .. He Loved the Work he did on the Trains and Taking us kid to Barnegat … He work on the Trains as an Engineer at Earle for 25 years .. miss him

👍👍👍👍👍

Just now seeing this amazing documentary! One of the best out there, I am glad that I saw this. The Buffalo area definitely was a major railroad center for sure! 👍

Being a rail fan, a steam fan in particular, and a native of Buffalo NY, this is the holy grail of train videos to me. Thank you for saving and sharing this

Never imagined GG1's worked freight, wow.

Wow, this is a treasure. Glad that you recorded your evening with him. This era was just a little before my time. When I was really little there were steam engines that I saw. Passenger service to my hometown in southwestern PA had just ended. However, the remnants still existed. There was a passenger station in my town along with a loading station. The station is still there, but it has been converted to a library.

👍👏🎖️

Really interesting! Have you used any post-processing software like one of the many noise reduction packages available? Thank you for making these recordings available for so many yo hear 🙂

Makes me wonder if John ever crossed paths with my Great Grandfather who worked for NYC for 46 years until he died in 1956 at the age of 63. 40 years as an engineer and the last 8 until his death on passenger lines. He lived in Niagara Falls until 2 years before he died when he lived in Buffalo. His brother and one of his sons were also engineers for NYC.

really enjoyed the video and really happy to own the herron rail dvd's that feature john m prophet III's railroad movies I hope the ones shown here that aren't on the herron rail dvds (like the NYC passenger train at Buffalo's church street) will be used in future herron rail videos

WOW, this is amazing. Thanks for uploading.

Traffic was routed through an interlocking in accordance with the timetable most of the time. The operator would be expecting a specific train at the time specified in the timetable, but where I worked (the New Haven mainline) towers to either side of you would announce the passing of the train from them to you by a bell code. Intervention by the dispatcher wasn't necessary unless he wanted to change something; most of the time he simply listened and acknowledged reports, recording the progress of all trains in his district or division. In addition, you could follow the progress of trains by listening to other operators reporting the passage of trains on the speaker line, a kind of party line. This was a phone line dedicated to the dispatching district, on which all operators and the dispatcher could overhear each other continuously. Each tower had a speaker on the desk for this purpose. The speaker was on continuously, but not your mic. You would press a foot pedal under the desk to open your microphone in to the line and everyone from New Haven to Boston could hear you report the passage of trains to the dispatcher or whatever else you had to report. In earlier times the telegraph was used in exactly the same way, with open communication using Morse code between all points in the district. The dispatcher would dictate train orders to whomever he wished using this channel, for delivery to a train(s) by the operator at the location addressed in the order.

This is fantastic

This is an astonishing film and a wonderful oral history, you should never need to excuse the clear enthusiasm you exhibit in the recording and i have to applaud your foresight in recording the whole evening with John. This kind of artifact is priceless, thankyou so much!

Listening to John talk makes me realize how blessed I am. As a railfan, having a dad who was a locomotive engineer for 40 years is something. The stories I get to hear are mostly amazing.

The scene at 1:18:40, with the J1 and then the T1 coming out alongside into view, is phenomenal!!!

I absolutely love the J1 & M1 views, Rockville bridge plus The Big Engine, rolling away on the treadmill display!

Wow, amazing stuff. Thanks for sharing!

The 1930s was the greatest decade for the Pennsy. I absolutely adore the footage of Pennsy operations in NY and Horseshoe Cure.

My family grow up in altoona pa my love for trains, thanks to my grandfather walter radwonski work Pennsylvania railroad for a little bit of time. My grandfather George radwonski, his youngest son, Frank radwonski work 40 years 😊😢

In the time since you put these videos out, did John's original copy ever get returned? Especially seeing how it was brought to attention.

This is awesome in so many ways. I'm a fourth generation railroader from western Pa. I'm an engineer/train buff/hillbilly historian. This my woman's account. Thank you so much for sharing this man with us. And I rode Amtrak recently from Pa to Texas. At least 80 Or so Amish the whole way. They were on a family vacation just riding the train....

Wow! You had me right from 'the git-go! I was born in Buffalo, NY 9 December 1949. From about 6 years old my dad, to relax and escape the pressure of his work day, would take me about 6 miles from where we lived in the western edge of the Village of Hamburg, New York, down towards Lake Erie, and his favorite spot to view the trains going south out of Buffalo, to cities and towns along the lake and typically to end in Chicago. What a different world back then! This brings back so many memories. Gracias por tu video. RT sends, envía, Colonia Centro Histórico, Puebla, México...

Could you offer a color corrected copy in addition to the original films? otherwise a great document of his work.

The Tyrone Public Library had a copy of the Don Ball book discussed. I know because I checked it out! This must have been in 1999, while teaching at the Greer School in Birmingham (just east of Tyrone). Favorite spot to railfan was Iron Furnace, farther east. This video compilation is stupendous!

Incredible video and story. Thanks.

Incredible!!!!!!

At 1:19:00....Q2 my favourite! Thanks Sirs

He has a great memory

Wicked good!

Outstanding.

Very well done!

Wow!! all I can say

Yep wende rd right down the street nice work 👍👍love the up to grade shot on Union rd .right before they dig it out !..

May I say I have watched this maybe 100 times over, I am in my late 20s, and volunteer as a railroad archivist preserving 8mm, Super 8mm, and 16mm movies of railroads, and am making videos now in hopes of being part of the next generation of vintage railroad video. The encapsulates the thrill that we all who are into it have had. Talking to the guys who actually shot the footage giving you all the info needed that no one else could, seeing something spectacular you know not many others have seen, and knowing that film was actually there when what you are seeing was all actually happening, it truly feels like going back in time. Funny thing is, Herron was actually a huge inspiration for doing what Im doing now. As someone who is doing the exact same work that you are doing, and a listener of your podcast, all this material is excellent, and I appreciate you putting this out there!

This is absolutely fantastic! One of the things aside from the motive power that really impresses me is the quality of the roadbed and the lack of rocking back and forth. Our mainlines today would barely qualify for industry sidings in this era!

The NY Barge Canal ends at the Niagara River at the Tonawanda's. The swing bridge crosses the Black Rock Channel which parallels the Niagara River. Wonderful film memories!

hi from the UK! watching this on a decent size screen... fantastic footage, very good quality upload too. due to our 'toytown' loading gauge we have nothing comparable to the rolling Art Deco mountains (for starters!) in this film. many, many thanks for posting - this is history that deserves being kept alive. thank you sir!

I cant wait for someone to restore this footage. The quality's already impeccable

The Duplex S1 was in particular my favorite part of this with it being on display. Incredible. This footage is and should be archived to avoid any further deterioration. We are lucky that you managed to get narration from the man himself while discussing his videos. These rare snapshots into the daily operations of the PRR are priceless. Rather than looking at old papers, and time tables, we get to physically see how these operations coexisted. Even the fact that horseshoe curve was scaled by an L1, M1, and a T1 which I never knew that the T1's would end up in a triple header, much less a double header. Now looking on at it, seems a funny choice because of their wheel slip problem. I guess if you had it available use it! Thank you for the production and information. This was truly enriching.