Erie Lackawanna Alco C425 No. 2454256 leads a westbound in Akron in 1967 or 1968. Today virtually everything but the two ex-Baltimore & Ohio (now CSX) tracks and the small gray building on the right are gone or replaced. Shown in the full scene below is San Hygene furniture and Mattress company. Aside from Alco locomotives being gone from mainline Class 1 railroad operations, searchlight signals such as the one visible in this scene are largely a thing of the past. The 2456 was built in October 1964 and would go on to have a life with three other railroads after the EL was folded into Conrail in April 1976.
It is 1967 or 1968 in Akron where Baltimore & Ohio E9A No. 1455 is adding or removing these head end cars to The Diplomat. I don’t remember which it was. In the top image is a short Diplomat with the two cars. In the bottom image is the switching operation. No. 1455 was built in May 1955 and would later join the Amtrak roster as No. 401.
There is a light snow on the morning of Nov. 10, 1968, as westbound Erie Lackawanna EMD E8A 825 and a rather short The Lake Cities heads through Akron near where Wilbeth Road once crossed the tracks. The 825 was built for the Erie Railroad in February 1951 so it knows this route very well.
Former Penn Central SD35 No. 6022 is northbound in Akron on May 26, 1977. Very likely, this train is heading to Hudson and then on to Motor Yard in Macedonia.
At our request the wayback machine has taken us to the 1970s in Akron. Shown is Chesapeake & Ohio GP38 No. 4825 on June 6, 1976. The unit was built in July 1970 and would later serve CSX before a career with various locomotive leasing companies.
The wayback machine has landed us in Akron in the late 1960s or early 1970s. We can’t quite tell which it is. But we can clearly see Baltimore & Ohio GP38 No. 3830 leading an eastbound at Voris Street in a classic Akron Railroading scene. The 3030 was later painted in Chessie System colors.
These photographs were taken in the era when railroads still had open air auto carriers. The location is unidentified but was most likely in or near Akron. I believe the photograph was made in 1968 or 1969 according to the Fords which look like 1969 Fords.
Remember open-air auto racks? Imagine all the damage that was done to roofs, windows and other parts.
It is between 1967 and 1969 in Akron when Pennsylvania Railroad No. 6217 heads an eastbound freight underneath the Wilbeth Road walk bridge.
The train is on joint tracks used by the Pennsy and Baltimore & Ohio between Warwick Tower in Clinton and Arlington Street Tower in Akron.
Looking down makes the superelevation of the curve at this location seem more severe than it is. The nearest track is PRR/Penn Central. The next two are the B&O-PRR mainlines.
The three tracks on the other side of the B&O-PRR mainlines are the Erie Lackawanna mainlines and a long EL track to serve industries paralleling the EL mainlines.
Today only the two ex-B&O-PRR mainline tracks are still in place here.
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