On the evening of July 24, 1951, John M Prophet III drove his car into Cove, Pennsylvania; a small “don’t blink or you’ll miss it” town located north of Harrisburg, and right on the Pennsylvania Railroad's Middle Division mainline between Duncannon and Marysville. John wanted to make a special stop in Cove because he hoped to record Pennsy steam and diesel engines pulling trains at full speed. Cove was John’s first stop on the three day road trip he made back in July of 1951 where his intent was to capture as much Pennsy stream action as he could. However, John wound up hating the recordings he made at Cove. But in listening to them now, does the spool of wire still deserve the final resting spot John had intended for it; the garbage can?

This is the second of a three part series documenting a road trip John M. Prophet III made back in July of 1951. In the last episode of Living with Steam, you heard the railroad sound recordings John made in Trenton, NJ; his last stop on the trip. Now, you'll hear the incredible recordings of many Pennsylvania Railroad trains John captured in Palmyra, NJ. In my opinion, these are some of his best work. Whether he liked it or not, John captured a slice of small-town America while he was in Palmyra. His goal may have been to only record PRR trains, but he also caught all the activity taking place in Palmyra's business district from early in the morning to the early evening. The Pennsy trains that ran through Palmyra every few minutes were part of the everyday life in 1951.

This episode of Living with Steam features recordings John Prophet made at the Pennsylvania Railroad Passenger station 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, NY.