The Akron Railroad Club is a group of more than 100 railroad enthusiasts who meet monthly in Akron, Ohio, to share their passion for railroad operations and history. On our site you will find information about our 
meetings, activities, how to join us, news and announcements, and much more. There is always something new to read so be sure to come back again and come back often. We have feature pages describing popular railfan hotspots within a couple of hours drive from Akron, stories written by our members about outings they’ve been on over the years, and trip reports. Many features are illustrated with photographs. Take a look around and enjoy yourself. Better yet, come to one of our meetings or join us on one of our railfan outings. We look forward to meeting you.
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March 2, 2009 by csanders429ARRC Members’ Night Program This Saturday to Feature Memories of Conrail Trains, Operations
November 10, 2009 by csanders429
A westbound intermodal train crosses the massive bridge over Rocky River just west of the Berea interlocking on October 10, 1998, on the Chicago Line. Akron Railroad Club members will share memories and photographs of Conrail this Saturday during the members' night program. (Photograph by Craig Sanders)
Hey Akron Railroad Club members, have you put your tribute to Conrail together yet? The annual members’ night program is this Saturday and it’s time to put together your presentation if you have not already done so.
The event will be held at the club’s usual meeting location, the New Horizons Christian Church, 290 Darrow Road, in Akron. Doors open at 6 p.m. and the shows will begin at 7. The club will provide complimentary pizza and soft drinks to those in attendance. Bring some snacks to share if you are so inclined.
If you plan to give a show, bring either slides or digital images. A slide projector and the club’s digital projector will be set up for the shows. Each presenter will be given 12 minutes to show his images. You will be buzzed when you have 2 minutes left in your show.
The parameters are pretty simple. Bring as many images as you can show in 12 minutes that have to do with Conrail. It can be any year, any location. It can even be images of Conrail rolling stock that you’ve recorded since Conrail was split by CSX and Norfolk Southern on June 1, 1999.
We’re here to celebrate Conrail as well as mark the 10th anniversary since Conrail became a fallen flag, the presence of the Conrail Shared Assets in select cities nothwithstanding.
So, bring your photographs and your stories about Conrail. It is going to be a fun evening.
The Repository Reviews Canton Area Railroads
November 10, 2009 by csanders429The Repository, a daily newspaper published in Canton, published a review on Sunday of Canton Area Railroads, which was written by Akron Railroad Club President Craig Sanders.
The review was titled “Book Takes Readers on on Train Trip Back in Canton Area’s Railroad History.” The review can be read on the newspaper’s website CantonRep.com. Click on the following link to read the review:
Canton Area Railroads was published by Arcadia Publishing and released earlier this year. It contains photographs taken by or provided by several ARRC members including John Beach, Richard Jacobs, Marty Surdyk, Paul Vernier, Richard Antibus, Peter Bowler, Michael Boss, Chris Lantz, James McMullen, Bob Redmond and Edward Ribinskas.
Grant Highlights His Speech About AC&Y
November 10, 2009 by csanders429
An Akron, Canton & Youngstown Class R 2-8-2 steam locomotive idles outside the roundhouse at Brittain Yard in East Akron in the late 1940s. Professor H. Roger Grant will discuss the development of the AC&Y in his presentation at the Akron Railroad Club banquet in December. (Photograph by Bob Redmond)
H. Roger Grant, a professor of history at Clemson University and author of several books on the history of railroads, will speak at the Akron Railroad Club banquet on December 5. Grant will address the formation and bulding of the Akron, Canton & Youngstown Railroad.
The AC&Y never served two of its namesake cities, extending only between Akron and Mogadore. It leased the Northern Ohio Railway in 1920, to give the AC&Y its final form, operating between Mogadore and Delphos. The AC&Y was acquired by the Norfolk & Western in 1964.
Grant sent the following summary of the development of the AC&Y, which is a preview of his talk during the ARRC banquet:
“One of the most successful railroads that appeared during the final years of railroad construction in the Midwest was the Akron-based Akron, Canton & Youngstown Railroad. The idea for this industrial-switching road, though, began much earlier and routing strategies varied. So, too, did a debate erupt over whether to employ steam or electricity.
“Yet dream became reality in 1911-1912. The construction process, however, was difficult and included major land acquisition and engineering challenges.
“The former underscores the problems that urban railroads, which appeared late in the building process, faced. The company quickly became a money maker and did much to develop the industrial corridor of East Akron. Certainly the AC&Y supports the argument that a profitable carrier could be built during the twilight era and one that had a meaningful developmental impact.”
Tour the Trains of the Rockies with Jake
November 10, 2009 by csanders429
The Durango & Silverton was just one of the many railroad attractions in Colorado that Richard Jacobs visited in September 2009.
Colorado is known for spectacular mountain passes and vistas, world-class ski resorts and mining. A number of railroad also served the state and many still operate today.
Akron Railroad Club member Richard Jacobs and his traveling companion Barbara Cormell toured the railroads of Colorado in September 2009. They rode the Denver light rail system, crossed the Devil’s Highgate bridge on the Georgetown Loop Railroad and made the trek between Durango and Silverton on the historic Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad.
You can read about Jake’s travels and view two gallerys of photographs of trains in the Rocky Mountains by clicking on the links below.
http://akronrrclub.wordpress.com/trip-reports/trains-of-the-rockies/
Roger Durfee Photo in 2010 NS Calendar
November 8, 2009 by csanders429Akron Railroad Club member Roger Durfee has a photograph in the 2010 Norfolk Southern calendar that the railroad has begun distributing. Durfee, who works for NS as a conductor based out of Motor Yard in Macedonia, has the image for December 2010.
Durfee’s photograph is of an eastbound steel coil train. The image was taken from the Egbert Road overpass in Bedford. The train was bound for Mingo Junction, Ohio.
The calendar quotes Durfee as saying that he saw in the NS computer system that this train would be coming through Cleveland during daylight hours, not long after he got off work. “It often comes by at night, so this was a rare opportunity. This ’steel snake’ really illustrates the efficiency of the railroad. It would take a lot of trucks to move those coils, because you could put only one on a truck.”
He also said that he liked the photograph because it was of a unit train carrying a commodity that many do not associate with unit trains.
Durfee’s photograph was taken during the winter months when the nearby trees were bare. He has been photographing trains and railroad operations for more than three decades.
The NS calendar features photographs taken by company employees. Durfee has had six images published in the calendar. NS employees compete to have their photographs selected.
Although the images in the calendar are from throughout the NS system, 10 of them were recorded in Pennsylvania on the former Pennsylvania Railroad mainline between Philadelphia and Pittsburgh.
Perhaps the most stunning image is that adorning October, which shows an NS train passing over a carpet of yellow leaves with rows of trees at their peak color on both sides of the tracks. The photograph was taken in Pittsburgh’s West Park.
Durfee’s photo is the only one taken in Ohio. One other Ohio-based NS employee has a photograph in the calendar, which has 17 photographs, including the cover, inside cover and a 2-year planner page.
Jake Describes WMSR Photo Freight Special
November 5, 2009 by csanders429
Western Maryland Scenic Railroad No. 734 puts on a show for the photoraphers on October 26, 2009. The locomotive was the star attraction in a fund-raising photo special on the WMSR on three Mondays on late October and early November.
Richard Jacobs wraps up his report on his weekend in Cumberland, Maryland, in late October by taking us aboard a photo freight special that operated on the Western Maryland Scenic Railroad.
There were plenty of runbys and lots of steam locomotive smoke as WMSR No. 734 put on quite a show.
To read Jake’s report and view a gallery of photographs from the photo special, click the link below.
http://akronrrclub.wordpress.com/trip-reports/cumberland-iii-the-wmsr-photo-freight/
Part 2 of Jake’s Cumberland Report Posted
November 3, 2009 by csanders429
WMSR No. 734 leads the passenger train off the Potomac River bridge into Cumberland. No. 734 was built by Baldwin Locomotive Works in 1916. (Photograph by Richard Jacobs)
In our last episode, Richard Jacobs and his traveling companion Barbara Cormell almost got stranded at Sand Patch when Jake’s Trail Blazer broke down. But the generosity of strangers enabled them to call AAA and get a ride to Cumberland.
In his next installment, Jake describes how he and Barbara rode the Western Maryland Scenic Railroad trip on October 25 and then photograhed a photographer’s special the next day. And, yes, Jake got his vehicle fixed and was able to drive back to Ohio without incident.
To read his report and view a gallery of photographs, click on the link below.
http://akronrrclub.wordpress.com/trip-reports/cumberland-weekend-ii-western-maryland-scenic/
What Did Big Blue Mean to You?
October 31, 2009 by csanders429
Well into the Conrail era, there were still many signs of Conrail's predecessor, the troubled Penn Central. A former PC covered hopper shows its split personality as it rolls through Berea in the middle 1990s. (Photograph by Craig Sanders)
Every railroad enthusiast who lived during the Conrail era of 1976 to 1999 no doubt has his or her own stories to tell about Big Blue, as some called the Consolidated Rail Corporation.
Congress created Conrail to take over the bankrupt railroads of the northeast, which it did with quite a degree of success. Yet in the process of transforming the railroad scene in the eastern United States, Conrail abandoned thousands of miles of track, closed dozens of shops and yards, and slashed thousands from a railroad payroll.
There no doubt are many people who remain bitter about those developments.
But for those who look at Conrail with a more dispassionate eye, they may see something quite different. ARRC President Craig Sanders knows what it is like to have mixed feelings about Conrail. It did, after all, rip out the former New York Central line that passed through his hometown in Illinois.
But Conrail was also the first railroad that he ever spent time observing. He shares what Big Blue meant to him in a President’s Corner column that you can read by clicking on the link below.
http://akronrrclub.wordpress.com/about/presidents-corner/what-did-big-blue-mean-to-you/
ARRC to Recall Conrail During Members’ Night
October 31, 2009 by csanders429
The engineer of an eastbound Conrail train waiting in the siding at Berea gives another passing train a friendly wave. Akron Railroad Club members will share their memories of Conrail during the members' night program of November 14. (Photograph by Craig Sanders)
It’s been 10 years since Conrail was divided by Norfolk Southern and CSX, ending its less than a quarter-century existence. Those who lived in Northeast Ohio during the Conrail era (April 1, 1976, to May 31, 1999) had the best seat in the country to watch Conrail operations.
The center of the famed Conrail X was in Cleveland, and trains linking Boston with St. Louis, and Chicago with Philadelphia/New York all passed through here. Conrail headquarters may have been in Philly and Pittsburgh had a larger yard, but Cleveland was the place to be if you wanted to see Conrail in all of its glory. More tonnage moved over the Chicago line between Berea and Elkhart, Indiana, than any other segment of the railroad.
Akron Railroad Club members will have a chance to remember Conrail and share stories about it during the member’s night program on November 14. The event will take place at the New Horizons Christian Church, 290 Darrow Road, in Akron. This is the club’s regular meeting location. Doors will open at 6 p.m. and the shows will get underway at 7. The club will provide pizza and soft drinks for those in attendance.
Bring digital images or slides. We will be looking at both. Each presenter will have 10 minutes to show his images plus two minutes to wrap up his presentation. Any images having to do with Conrail, past or present are welcome.
Jake Reports on His Visit to Sand Patch
October 31, 2009 by csanders429
An eastbound CSX manifest freight train glides along the Casselman River near MP 217 on October 24, 2009. (Photograph by Richard Jacobs)
Richard Jacobs headed east in late October en route to Cumberland, Maryland, and a ride on a steam special on the Western Maryland Scenic Railroad. But on the way he stopped to visit and photograph CSX trains on the fabled Sand Patch grade.
He captured a few trains along with fall colors and experienced something else he didn’t expect. Car problems. Read all about it and view a gallery of photographs by clicking on the link below. And yes, he did make it to Cumberland in time to catch his train.
http://akronrrclub.wordpress.com/trackside-tales/cumberland-weekend-i-sand-patch/
