B&O Alco Switcher in New Castle

 Baltimore & Ohio Alco S2 No. 9145 is in New Castle, Pennsylvania in February 1973.

Photograph by Robert Farkas

One Morning at Akron Union Depot

It is the late 1960s in Akron. After the arrival of Baltimore & Ohio’s Diplomat, B&O Alco S2 switcher No. 9074  is removing a mail car taken from it. The train has stopped east out of sight beyond the bridge, and the E units have cut off and pulled west of the train.

The 9074 has coupled onto the mail car and getting in the clear. Then the B&O E-units will back up, recouple, and the train will head west to Chicago.

B&O 9074 will cross a couple of tracks and put the mail car on a siding next to Akron Union Depot where the mail car will be unloaded.  

Under the East Exchange Street bridge on the left is Erie Lackawanna No. 501, another Alco S2 switcher.

Photograph by Robert Farkas

EL Monday: Part Alco, Part Baldwin

We don’t know the name of the photographer who made this photograph. We do know it was created on July 22, 1973, and shows Erie Lackawanna 521, an Alco S2 with a Baldwin cab, working in Akron.

Collection of Robert Farkas

EL Monday: Alco Switcher With a Noted History

Erie Lackawanna Alco S2 No. 518 works in Marion on July 29, 1972. The former Erie switcher was built in November 1948. It would later work for Cleveland Electric Illuminating Company where it was given a U.S. bicentennial livery. It would then later join the motive roster of short line Ashtbula, Carson & Jefferson.

Photograph by Robert Farkas

Shuffling a C&O Business Car

In an unusual move, Baltimore & Ohio S2 switcher No. 9062 is removing Chesapeake & Ohio business car No. 2 from or adding it to the westbound Diplomat in Akron in the late 1960s. The business car would have been kept as long as it was in town on a set out track next to the platform at Akron Union Depot.

Photograph by Robert Farkas

Acquisition of Historic Locomotive Completed

The Railroad & Industrial Preservation Society has completed its acquisition of the sole surviving former Lehigh & New England diesel locomotive.

The Society plans to restore the Alco S2 to operating condition. It carries roster number 611.

The unit last operated for an Indiana grain elevator and was moved to Pennsylvania in 2016.

It is now on the Allentown & Auburn Railroad. The Lehigh Valley Chapter of the National Railway Historical Society also assisted with the move of the 611.

The L&NE operated in eastern Pennsylvania and was abandoned 60 years ago. It once

coal, slate and cement producers.

The R&IPS said it is seeking to raise $150,000 to fund restoration of No. 611. More information is available at riptrack.org. 

EL Monday: Double Dip of Switcher 507

These two photos of the Alco S2 switcher No. 507 were taken only a few years apart. In the top image, No. 507 is shown in Akron 1967 or 1968 still wearing its Erie markings. The bottom image shows the unit in Marion on July 29 1972.

Photographs by Robert Farkas

Alco S2s Around Every Corner

Marty Surdyk and I had a few more adventures before and after our ride and lunch stop last Sunday as we ventured to Titusville, Pennsylvania, to ride the Oil Creek & Titusville.

On a siding in Titusville were two Alco S2’s. For many years No. 75 was the passenger power for the OC&T.

Back in the 1980s we rode behind and photographed it on the New York & Lake Erie out of Gowanda, New York. It was formerly South Buffalo Railroad. No. 85 was used by the OC&T as standby power.

Erie  S2 No. 518 was donated to the French Creek Valley Railroad Historical Society by the Ashtabula,  Carson & Jefferson.

Prior to being on the AC&J roster it was owned by the Cleveland Electric Illuminating Company for use at its Ashtabula facility.

Before that it was used by Erie Lackawanna and the Erie. It is now on display in Meadville, Pennsylvania.

Article and Photographs by Edward Ribinskas

The Best I Could Do With It

The original slide from which this was taken was non-Kodak processed, underexposed, and had a strong purple color to it. Still, this may be of interest to some. Norfolk & Western Alco S2 switcher No. 105 (ex-Akron, Canton & Youngsrtown) is still in full AC&Y paint in Akron in December 1966 or January 1967.

Photograph by Robert Farkas

Alco Switcher Donated to W.Va. Roundhouse

A former Baltimore & Ohio Alco S-2 switcher has been donated to the Berkeley County Roundhouse Authority in Martinsburg, West Virginia.

The authority is now seeking to raise money to pay to transport the engine from its current location in West Chester, Pennsylvania.

The switcher must be moved by truck rather than by rail at an estimated cost of $700,000.

Once it arrives in Martinsburg, the switcher will be displayed at the former B&O roundhouse there.

Built in 1949 as B&O 9115, the roundhouse authority plans to restore the unit to its as-built appearance.

The Martinsburg shops complex, which includes the roundhouse, has one of the last fully-enclosed roundhouses in existence, as well as the adjacent bridge and machine shop, frog and switch shop and blacksmith shop.

It was built between 1866 and 1872 and once included a second enclosed roundhouse that was destroyed by fire in 1990.

Contributions may be sent to the Berkeley County Roundhouse Authority, c/o Jeff Hollis, 56 Corning Way, Martinbsurg, WV 25405.