A Busy Akron Engine House in June 1973

Sometimes we forget how busy the Chessie System (Ex-B&O) engine facility in Akron was in the early 1970s.

It is June 1973 and this image looks down from the embankment that has the Chessie System mainline tracks.

This is not a railfan photo as much as a piece of Akron history. Not one locomotive is unobstructed, yet the image captures this busy facility in an original way.

There are ALCO switchers, B&O geeps, etc. without a trace of Chessie System yellow.

The yellow would come soon, but for one moment in 1973, this still looks like the B&O of the 1960s.

Without images such as this, Akron’s railroad history would be lost.

Article and Photograph by Robert Farkas

Tags: Akron, Alco locomotives, Alco motive power, B&O in Akron, B&O locomotives, Baltimore & Ohio, Chessie System, EMD geeps, Geeps, Robert Farkas photography