Mangold to Present at February ARRC Meeting

The Feb. 24 meeting of the Akron Railroad Club will feature a program by longtime member David Mangold.

The program is titled Everything Else and will present images made in Colorado and, well, everything else. With Dave you never quite know what you will see.

Much of the program content will be on photographs Dave made between 2019 and 2020 with some images from 2022 thrown in.

The images were made before Dave began working as a locomotive engineer for the Rocky Mountaineer excursion train.

The meeting will begin at 8 p.m. in the social hall of the New Horizons Christian Church, 290 Darrow Road in Akron.

After the business meeting the program will get underway at approximately 8:30 p.m.

If Dave is unable to present, the program will be given by Ron McElrath and show footage of his first Ohio experiences in the early 1980s with a Super 8 mm camera and then a Panasonic video camera in 1987.

Program Change Set for August ARRC Meeting

There has been a change of program for the August Akron Railroad Club meeting scheduled for this Friday (Aug. 26).

Retired railroader Rick Varga will present a slide show during the meeting featuring images of CSX, Conrail, and Pittsburgh & Lake Erie operations.

The digital images program by Richard Thompson on eastern coal railroad operations has been rescheduled for the September ARRC meeting.

This week’s meeting will begin at 8 p.m. in the social hall of the New Horizons Christian Church, 290 Darrow Road, in Akron.

ARRC to Take Magical Mystery Tour

The October meeting of the Akron Railroad Club will take attendees to various short line and regional railroads.

Chris Lantz has titled his program The Magical Mystery Tour — Part 2.

The meeting will begin on Friday, Oct. 28 at 8 p.m. in the social hall of the New Horizons Christian Church, 290 Darrow Road, in Akron.

After the business meeting the program will get underway at approximately 8:30 p.m.

Coal Trains Featured at June 24 ARRC Meeting

The Akron Railroad Club will see a program on western coal trains at its June 24 meeting.

Mark Demaline of Westlake will show photographs he made during a 1995 trip to the Powder River Basin of Wyoming.

It was a time, he said, when coal was still king and the railroads serving the region were still expanding lines and operations in anticipation of a bright future. “Just about everyone thought the boom would last for generations into the future,” Demaline said.

The program will show trains of Union Pacific, Burlington Northern, and Chicago & North Western. It also will show some of the mines that they served.

The meeting will begin at 8 p.m. in the social hall of the New Horizons Christian Church, 290 Darrow Road, in Akron.

After the business meeting the program will get underway at approximately 8:30 p.m.

ARRC May Program Features Michigan Railroads

The Akron Railroad Club will kick off the Memorial Day weekend with a program on Michigan railroads at its May meeting on Friday.

Brian Szemon will present digital images of Michigan railroads spanning an area south of Interstate 96 from Grand Rapids to Detroit.

This will include trains traveling lines formerly operated by the Chesapeake & Ohio (former Pere Marquette), and Canadian National (former Grand Trunk Western’s Flint Subdivision. Also shown will be operations on the Great Lakes Central.

Brian is an Andover resident who has been railfanning since childhood and recalls trips to Conneaut during his younger years.

The meeting will begin at 8 p.m. in the social hall of the New Horizons Christian Church, 290 Darrow Road, in Akron.

After the business meeting the program will get underway at approximately 8:30 p.m.

Bowler to Present at April ARRC Meeting

Peter Bowler will present a three-part program at the April 25 meeting of the Akron Railroad .

He will open with digital images made on the 35 miles of the east end of the BNSF Seligman Subdivision between Flagstaff and Canyon Diablo.

The second and third parts will focus on Chinese railroad operations. This will include some low- light images of Chinese standard gauge steam from Sandaoling and video of the scenic Jiayang narrow gauge and Sandaoling standard gauge railroads.

The club meeting will begin at 8 p.m. in the social hall of the New Horizons Christian Church, 290 Darrow Road, in Akron.

After the business meeting the program will get underway at approximately 8:30 p.m.

ARRC’s Annual Pizza Party is Saturday

The Akron Railroad Club will hold its annual member’s night and pizza party on Saturday (March 26) in the social hall of the New Horizons Christian Church, 290 Darrow Road, in Akron.

Doors will open at 5:45 p.m. and pizza will be served starting at 6:30 p.m. Presentations will get underway at approximately 7 p.m.

There will be no business meeting this month. Attendees will be asked to pay a $5 cover charge to defray the cost of the pizza.

Attendees are also encouraged to bring their favorite non-alcoholic beverages and pretzels or potato chips. A limited supply of soft drinks and water will be provided.

Those presenting are asked to limit their presentations to 35 to 45 images or about a 10 to 12 minute presentation.

Digital images should be contained on a USB device while slides should be contained in a Kodak carousel tray.

Presenters should RSVP to indicate they are presenting by contacting David Kachinko at 440-537-6487, or dkachinko@aol.com; or Bill Kubus at 330-858-2685 or bkuboose@gmail.com.

ARRC Program to Feature Amtrak Tribute

Ron McElrath will pay tribute to 50 years of Amtrak operations during the February Akron Railroad Club meeting.

The club will meet at 8 p.m. Friday, Feb. 26 at the New Horizons Christian Church, 290 Darrow Road, in Akron.

The video program titled Amtrak at 50 will present in chronological order a timeline of events from Amtrak’s inception to the near present.

Ron will also feature footage made aboard Amtrak trains from the 1970s to the 2000s emphasizing system improvements across all regions of the United States and especially in Ohio. There will be interviews of various Amtrak officials included in the program.

Club members are also reminded that 2022 dues are due and can be paid at the February meeting. Dues are $16 per for the calendar year.

ARRC Sets Early 2022 Program Slate

The Akron Railroad Club has announced its program slate for the first three months of 2022.

The Jan. 28 meeting will feature a program by David Mangold, a long-time railroader and ARRC member who recently worked as a locomotive engineer on the Rocky Mountaineer in Colorado.

Mangold also has worked for Amtrak, Conrail, Norfolk Southern and Canadian National among other companies.

The Feb. 25 meeting will feature video from Ron McElrath reviewing Amtrak operations over the past 50 years.

McElrath operates a video company known as Revelation Video and has released a two-hour program titled Amtrak 50.

He was to have presented his program at the November ARRC meeting but that fell through due to a schedule conflict.

In March, the ARRC will hold its annual member’s night and pizza party on Saturday, March 26. The event is normally held in March but moved to October in 2021 due to meeting cancellations prompted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

All meetings are held at the New Horizons Christian Church in Akron at 290 Darrow Road.

The January and February meetings will begin at 8 p.m. while the March meeting will start at 5:30 p.m.

There will be a $5 cover charge for the member’s night event to defray the cost of pizzas and beverages.

Program Changed for ARRC Meeting

The program for the November Akron Railroad Club meeting has been changed.

The program at the Nov. 26 meeting will now be presented by Todd Dillon who plans to show digital images of Amtrak operations, Nickel Plate Road 765 on the Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad, Chicago Metra commuter trains and other rail images.

Ron McElrath had been scheduled to present a program titled Amtrak at 50, but it will now be shown at the February 2022 meeting.

The ARRC meeting will begin at 8 p.m. at the New Horizons Christian Church in Akron.

Officers for 2022 will also be elected during the business portion of the meeting with nominations being made from the floor.

Further details have also been released about the ARRC’s Dec. 4 end of year dinner.

The event is limited to 40 attendees and reservations are required. The dinner will begin at 5 p.m. at the New Era Restaurant at 10 Massillon Road in Akron.

The program is being presented by Jerry Jordak and is titled  My Life Trackside Behind The Camera.

Jordak is a member of the Pennsylvania Railroad, Conrail, and Anthracite Historical Societies and serves as a trustee and was a founding member of the Penn Central Historical Society.

He has photographed extensively the railroad operations of Northeast Ohio and in the eastern United States, particularly in Pennsylvania.