Research Notes

Here are a few E-mails received about the Eire Railroad Shop Bands:
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From Bill & Mary Richey:

Scott, Greetings from Huntington, Indiana where the Erie Railroad Bandstill lives! Bands were formed in 1914 at division points and
shops. In 1919 bandsmen participated in strikes everywhere along thelines except at Huntington. Railroad officials dissolved all of the offendingbands and shipped company instruments to Huntington. J.L. Swihart was thefirst director of the Huntington band. He left Huntington to become thedirector of bands a Northwestern U. Elmer Rahn, an Erie employee, tookover the band and led it until his death in 1976. Since 1976 the band hasbeen directed by various local school teachers [including myself]. ThaineCampbell is the current director. The band is [now] sponsored by the HuntingtonParks Department.
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From Larry DeYoung:

Scott,

Actually the Erie had several bands, at various division point yardsand shops. So far we know there were bands at Susquehanna, PA, Buffalo,NY, Olean, NY, Salamanca, NY, and Kent, Ohio. The only photos we have arein the Erie Magazine, which the company published for employees, and asfar as I know, no one has actually researched the bands or written an articleon them.

I have a (playable) melophone which has the same inscription your cornethas.
 


Photo Courtesy Larry DeYoung

Supposedly, it came from Olean. It has a glossy silver finish, bothinside the bell and on the outside of the bell and pipes. Is that whatyour cornet looks like? In the ELHS for several years we had a group ofbrass players who would do railroad theme music at our conventions. LenAllman and I on trumpet/cornet, Joe Lofland and Marty Obed on trombone.Joe was our leader and arranger, and with new responsibilities as a highschool music director he has been unable to attend the conventions, sowe have not played for the last few years.
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From David Goessling:

Don't have it in front of me, but I think there's a photo of an Erieband in Erie Lackawanna: The Death of an American Railroad, 1938-1992 byH. Roger Grant. He has a little discussion about the bands in the contextof the Erie "family" approach to labor relations... Wonder if there's anymention in "One Track" by Beatrice O'Brien?
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From Paul Stumpff, Geneva, Ohio:

There was a picture of Meadville band in a shop apprentice yearbookof my grandfather's. It is stored now. I think all the division points,and/or shops had their own bands. A lot had to do with the Erie's employeeassociation which operated as a fraternal benefit society. Remember modernfraternal benefit societies were started by a shop worker in Meadvillein 1869.
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From Schuyler G Larrabee:

There were quite a few "Erie Bands," I think that there were bands inMarion, Meadville, Salamanca, Susquehanna, and I'm sure others as well.
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From Michael Dye:

There was also an Erie Band in Huntington, Indiana.
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From: Timothy O. Stuy:

Scott, I don't remember where I saw the photo - I believe it may havebeen in the Walter Lucas book "History of the New York, Susquehanna &Western Railroad".
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From: John E. Redden

Scott, I saw your request for info on Erie RR Shop bands. I have a vaguerecollection that the RR museum in North East, Pennsylvania (near Erie)has a banner from on Erie RR shop band (Meadville shop, perhaps?) I cannotsay this with any degree of certainty, however (please don't make a specialtrip based on this note!) Perhaps a phone call to them could verify this.
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From: Steve Zuiderveen

I missed this subject the first time through, but the former CMO ofMARC Train Service, George Payne, is an avid Brass Band participant andfor a significant birthday a few years back his wife got him an originalbaritone tuba from the Meadville Shops band, complete with full engravedErie diamond in the bell.
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Hello Scott,

Larry DeYoung has done some work towards writing an article about this.I did see a picture of the Honesdale Shop (?) Band for sale on eBay a whileback. Also, Martin Obed, ELHS Passenger Equipment Technical Adviser, recallsseeing an ERIE trombone and company band uniform for sale. You can contacthim at: meobed@juno.com Larry and I are trumpeters; Marty is a trombonistas is Joe Lofland. I would be interesting in learning about your research,as would Marty.

Best regards, Len Allman ELHS #2205
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There are some of those nice long photos of the Susquehanna, PA shopband hanging in the Susquehanna, PA station. If you go in the middle ofthe day they let you wander around in there as it is now a place that doeswedding receptions and parties.

Blake D. Tatar