Does anyone have any leads whatsoever to the status or whereabouts of any contact information or archive info for Semaphore Records. They seem to have fallen off of the earth in the last 10-15 years and I am trying to track some information down.

Doesn't really help, but I swear I've seen them at trainshows in the Mid-Atlantic within that time period but can't remember where/when last and do not have contact info.

Joshua

You are looking for Antony Alan Botto. Last I knew he was living in Alexandria, Virginia and I last saw him and what inventory he still had (CD reissues of his past recordings) at the Great Scale Model Train Show at Timonium, Md. about ten or so years ago. Understand that he would be 86 years old now, and I'm doing searches for death/estate notices and coming up empty........

Apparently he may be in Connecticut now from the snooping I have done in the last hour. It's a lead, for sure.

Contact possibly made through voicemail....now just waiting for a call back, but yeah, Botto seems to be still with us for sure.

Best of luck. I would see him at shows and talk for a good while. He would give me his card and i could never get ahold of him.

I have been apprised by a reputable source that Allan Botto still resides in Alexandria, VA but has dementia. It is not known what has become of his audio archives.

K.R. Bell

Yeah, I found a phone number, called it, and got a voicemail which indeed was telling me it was the right number. Left a voicemail a few weeks ago.

I'm still waiting. Sad to read about the possible dementia....

The possibility of Alan Botto having dementia is a concern to me. However, there has been another possible contact for information on the Semaphore records recently. I learned that Pete Lerro of Lerro Productions collaborated with Semaphore Records to release several records and tapes on CD, including two CDs of Sounds of Pennsylvania Steam recorded by John Prophet. I picked up these CDs years ago but haven’t visited the Semaphore Records site since 2016. I have accepted that the website is no longer available. However, I’m not interested in exploring or purchasing these products. Instead, I’m trying to request permission to use sounds from the CDs, LPs, and tapes produced by Semaphore for my podcast, “Revival Steam." Maybe Mr. Lerro could give us some information about the company.

You'll want to talk to Pete Lerro, Jr. the painter and artist that usually sells prints at trainshows on the east coast, not Pete Lerro, III his son that is the photographer and one organizing photo charters across the country.

Mr. Lerro is the one who informed me via Steve Gilbert that Mr. Botto has dementia. He also said they had not talked "in a long time." SteamAlec 10, you might want to resort to "Plan B" to obtain your steam audio at this juncture.

K.R. Bell