I've received news today that Marvin "Marv" Cohen has passed away. Marv was the editor of the yearly published Steam Passenger Directory, along with Steve Bogen for the Empire State Railway Museum. Clear track and green signals Marv.

Obit link:

https://www.legacy.com/obituaries/recor ... 7&f=portal

One of the founding fathers of heritage railroading in the Northeast. A very knowledgeable and soft-spoken man who accomplished a lot. Marv visited RMNE in Thomaston in summer 2019, his son brought him over to see the station and some of our line.

50 years ago, Marv put on a slideshow of his NYO&W images, all Kodachrome made with a high-quality camera and a lot of skill. Everything looked as if it was shot the week before; amazing images that were already 15 years old.

One of the last old-timers, who helped get all this started in the late 1950s-early 1960s. The "Steam Directory" is just part of his legacy.

Howard P.

.

You weren't the only one, Kelly. I too planned many an imagined family trip around that book as a kid, including visiting Strasburg. Kind of like the Sears "wish book" for budding young fans.

Wow.

The embarrassing part for me is that I saved a lot of them, going back all the way into the 70's, and they are still on my bookshelf.

It's a real credit to have assembled that information pre-internet, and current generations can't appreciate it today. You'd just google it or check Facebook.

But when you're trying to establish what locomotives were where, and running, and under what flag, it's still a valuable historical resource. I think my oldest one is like 1970.

(And if you really want a shock, look at the ticket prices in the early eras. That was before liability insurance skyrocketed and the price of a 1472 blew a hole in a lot of budgets.)

Steam directories: I still have my old editions and I also picked up the brochures/flyers for many of the operations and keep them in the old copies. Unfortunately several of these museums are no longer around.

Speaking of museums, wasn't Marvin one of the folks that helped get the collection together in Middletown which later went to the Valley Railroad?

Short answer to your question is yes. Marv was involved with the Empire State Railway Museum along with others. He and Royce Towner were part of the those early train crews serving as Conductors. I have many fond memories of that operation as it was my first introduction to a steam operated railroad museum.