Akron & Barberton Belt GP7 No. 4201 works in what is believed to be Barberton in August 1981. Notice the A&BB emblem on the cab. This unit was leased from Precision-National and at one time worked for the Chesapeake & Ohio. It was built in October 1950.
Photograph by Robert Farkas
The wayback machine has taken us to see Akron & Barberton Belt GP7 No. 4201 switching in Barberton on Oct. 7, 1980. Today the parking lot, one of the tracks, and A&BB 4201 are gone. The railroad is now the Akron Barberton Cluster Railway, which is owned by the Wheeling & Lake Erie.
Photograph by Robert Farkas
Here are two images of Akron Barberton Cluster No. 1502, an EMD SW1500, that were made 24 years apart. The top image was made in Barberton in April 1987 when it was still the Akron & Barberton Belt. The bottom image was made in Barberton on Aug. 26, 2021, by which time the 1502 was lettered and painted for the Akron Barberton Cluster Railway.
Photographs by Robert Farkas
In 1972 the Akron & Barberton Belt leased from Precision National some rebuilt GP7s. No. 4201 is in shown in Barberton on Oct. 10, 1980. No. 4201 was one of just two A&BB locomotives to receive an emblem, which is slightly visible beneath the windows. The Geeps were brought in to replace worn out Alco and Baldwin units.
Photograph by Robert Farkas
Akron & Barberton Belt No. 28 is a Baldwin Lima Hamilton S12 switcher. It is shown at the diesel facility in Barberton in the late 1960s/early 1970s. The line of tank cars on the right is on/along the A&BB line that ran to Copley. The cars may be on a siding for the Babcock and Wilcox Company.
Precision National geep No. 1703 was on lease to the Akron & Barberton Belt when the photographer caught up with it at the engine facility in Barberton on March 19, 1977.
A leased Morrison Knudsen GP7 pulls a train on the Akron & Barberton Belt in Barberton on Aug. 11, 1981. No. 4302 was built for the Pittsburgh & Lake Erie. Not the A&BB caboose in the consist.
Baldwin Locomotive Works built S12 No. 27 new for the Akron & Barberton Belt in May 1951. The switcher would toil for the belt line railroad for two decades before being scraped in March 1972. It is shown working in Barberton in late 1967 or January 1968.
This former A&BB elevated line will become part of a trail being developed in Akron.
A rails to trail project has received a $75,000 grant from the Akron City Council to match a grant being offered by the Ohio and Erie Canalway Coalition.
The trail, to be known as the Rubber City Heritage Trail, will use a portion of abandoned Akron & Barberton Belt right of way.
The location extends from near River Street from Third Avenue to Exchange Street.
The right of way is elevated and the Erie Canalway Coalition said the trail will resemble the High Line in New York City that is also built on an abandoned elevated railroad right of way.
The Akron trail will be 10 feet in width and designed to accommodate hiking and biking.
The trail is being designed in phases and will eventually extend from the Middlebury neighborhood to the University of Akron, downtown Akron, Summit Lake and the Kenmore neighborhoods.
Work is expected to take eight to 10 years to complete with the first phase opening in 2022.
The A&BB line once served tire makers Goodyear, BF Goodrich, Firestone and General.
The city now owns the railroad right of way being developed into a trail and was last used for rail operations more than a decade ago.
Akron & Barberton Belt Alco S12 No. 28 is in Barberton in December 1966. It looks like No. 28 is switching the big PPG/Columbia Chemical yard, which today is a park.
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