Hi Everyone,

I was cataloging my old 45's from when I was a kid, and ran across a 7" Strasburg 33rpm "150th Anniversary" record from 1982. Since I was nary 4 or 5 at the time, I don't remember anything about its provenance.

One side has a history monologue from William Moedinger, along with some great sounds from 1223. The other side includes a folkish type song, with some other locomotive recording, presumably from 1223 as well.

From a cursory search on Google, I can't seem to find any other info on this record.

Is/was this record rare, or one that was relatively well-known in '82? Any other info anyone would want to share?

Thanks very much,
Joe

Have you played the record? I can't imagine it having "a good beat, and easy to dance to" like a good American Bandstand record would. But it might be interesting to hear. I checked YouTube, which seems to have every sound recording available, but this came up dry.

Ha! Yes, I've listened to it multiple times yesterday. Nothing I would classify as a good beat, unless you mean the beat of 1223's exhaust. :)

The folkish type song on the other side is not bad. 4 part harmony over a guitar with appropriate "railroady" lyrics. There was a group/band listed, but I can't remember the name.

I don't think that was their first recording effort. I was there as a kid in '63 or '64, and we came home with a souvenir record, IIRC, long since lost.

I like the licensing "Semaphore Dynagroove Trust Fund Ltd."

Dynagroove. Wow man, that's funky...

Semaphore Records (a niche producer of railroad audio recordings for fans and souvenir shops, amazingly STILL in business in 2017!) produced at least two 7" 33 1/3 RPM records of Strasburg sounds besides this one, the first dating back to #4's operation (and including a now-impossibly-rare cut of a #4/#31 doubleheader!) around 1964-65, and a second one issued in the 1970s which included 90, 1223, and 31.

I vaguely recall this one and possibly another Strasburg mini-33 released without dust jackets, sold only with paper sleeves. I'm a pack-rat-like collector of old railroad vinyl, and even I have never laid eyes or mitts on this specific disc before. 1982 is about the time vinyl was finally losing out to cassettes even in the rail audio market, and then of course digital audio and the CD revolution (started in part by Brad Miller of Mobile Fidelity, another railfan who mixed railroad audio in with his high-end vinyl and pioneering digital recording works) came along a scant few years later and eventually rendered vinyl to the history/geekophile bins.

Semaphore had one other Strasburg-related recording, a full-sized LP covering "7002" and 1223, NRHS National Convention trip from Strasburg to Lancaster, Columbia, Rockville Bridge, and back to Strasburg via Harrisburg and Mount Joy.

I expect Strasburg's own staff, or their unofficial "company historian" Kurt Bell, to come along with more specific details, if any are warranted.

Did either of those companies also make more mainstream audio? It seems like there would have been a rather significant "barrier to entry" back in the days. Today, you can record something on your phone and "publish" it to Youtube 15 minutes later. Back then, it wasn't so simple. You had to have a relationship with a record company, distribution channels and the like, as well as what I presume would be large, clunky and challenging to operate recording devices, most likely reel to reel tape I'm guessing. (Not sure there were any other options back then.)

Seems like an awful lot of work and investment. Maybe less so for somebody who was already producing audio for bands or musicians and the like, and thus had the gear and contacts in place. That's why I'm wondering if they did other gigs.

1 Palmer Square, Princeton NJ 08540 is a rather fancy address!

Strasburg # 4?

Does anyone know the best way to contact Mr. Botto at Semaphore Records these days? The website no longer seems available. Also I was curious whether the Reading Rambles cds which were advertised a few years ago were ever actually released?

Thanks
John

I'd put money that he shows up at the Great Scale Model Train Show in Timonium, Md. this upcoming Super Bowl weekend, as he has for a couple years now, sharing space with Lerro Productions in the past. Last I knew he was still in the suburban DC area, working what I would discretely/vaguely call a "diplomatic" career, though he should have hit retirement by now.

I'll see if I can find out anything, directly or indirectly.

I'd suggest starting with Peter Lerro, but oddly the Semaphore items no longer seem to be anywhere on his website, at least not that Google can find. Seems to have vanished, and various online postings indicate he's always been tricky at best to contact.

The infamous Reading camelback that they have there.

FYI I also have that record - and transferred those audio tracks to CD - and have said specific track with #4 and #31 starting up leaving Groff's Grove, now as an MP3 on my computer (and on my iPod). #4's whistle on that track is truly something to hear...

Mr Botto and Semaphore Records are also going to be set up alongside Lerro Productions at the B&O Railroad Museum for an event in the roundhouse on February 25th-26th.

Would love to know what Semaphore items would be up for sale there!