Living with Steam

Author: Aaron Heverin

This unique podcast features the sounds of railroad operations in Buffalo, Western New York, and elsewhere. Steam engines, early diesel engines, freight and passenger trains; they're all heard exactly as they sounded from 1948 to 1955. The recordings were made on a Webster-Chicago wire recorder by John M. Prophet III, noted Pennsylvania Railroad historian and dedicated railfan for his entire life. Visit livingwithsteam.com for more information about each episode.
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Language: en

Genres: History

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LwS EXTRA: "Train Sounds for the Model Railroad"
Episode 7
Thursday, 1 January, 2026

This episode of Living with Steam EXTRA is a bit different in that I’m featuring several of the railroad sound recordings from my collection that were made specifically for adding a bit of realism to a model railroad; specifically that of an O-gauge model railroad. While the post-war period in America saw a boom in the demand and popularity of O-gauge model trains manufactured by Lionel, American Flyer, and Marx, the fact remained that regardless of how authentic these trains looked… they were “toys.” They were INCREDIBLE toys for sure… but still toys. They needed that little something extra... and that's what these records tried to fulfill.But you be the judge. Perhaps these recordings really do lend some much needed authenticity to those classic model trains of the 1940s and 1950s.