The wayback machine has landed us in Akron on June 19, 1979. We’re just in time to catch Baltimore & Ohio SD40-2 No. 7610 is on the point of a westbound caboose hop. The 7610 was built in February 1977. The image was made near Voris Street.
Photograph by Robert Farkas
A Baltimore & Ohio Alco S2 pauses in Akron in early 1971. The image was scanned from an Agfachrome slide and we don’t know the name of the photographer who made it.
Collection of Robert Farkas
Mike Ondecker and I were in Akron on a morning in 1967 or 1968. Pennsylvania Railroad switch engine No. 9115 is eastbound on the eastbound Baltimore & Ohio main that is shared with the Pennsy between Arlington Street in Akron and Warwick Tower in Clinton.
Perhaps the crew is going to interchange cars with the B&O at Akron Junction.
On the next track is the westbound B&O Diplomat making a station stop.
Beyond the Diplomat is the Erie Lackawanna passenger station. Notice the man at the open window. What a railfan’s dream location this was.
Photograph by Robert Farkas
The wayback machine has been set to visit Akon in June 1979. Coming our way is Baltimore & Ohio SD40 No. 7592 on the point of a colorful lashup heading west. The train is approaching Voris Street.
Photograph by Robert Farkas
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.
Photographs by Robert Farkas
It was the late 1960s when Mike Ondecker and I found westbound Baltimore & Ohio E8A No. 1447 with The Diplomat at the Akron Union Depot. The train on the left is an eastbound Erie Lackawanna freight. No. 1447 was built by EMD in October 1953 as B&O 26A. It would later work for Amtrak wearing roster numbers 203 and 353.
Photograph by Robert Farkas
This is a very early scan from an old computer. Baltimore & Ohio E9A No. 1456 leads the westbound Diplomat as it is about to stop at Akron Union Depot in the late 1960s. The train to its left is an eastbound Erie Lackawanna freight.
Photograph by Robert Farkas
Let’s go back to the Chessie System era. Baltimore & Ohio GP40-2 No. 4342 is westbound in Akron on Sept. 9, 1979, with an intermodal train. Note the trailing unit is still in B&O blue paint.
Photograph by Robert Farkas
It is the summer of 1968 in Akron. The westbound Baltimore & Ohio Diplomat with E8A No. 1452 leading is at Akron Union Depot. Across the tracks the westbound Erie Lackawanna Lake Cities is sitting at the EL station, which is partly visible in the background.
Photograph by Mike Ondecker
In 1968, my friend Mike Ondecker had his aunt’s 120 roll film (2-by-1/4 inch square negatives) camera when he made this image.
It took him around four or five seconds to take a photo, wind the film manually to the next number while looking through a red window on the back of the camera to check the film’s advance, cock the shutter, and then take the next photo.
I was blessed to have a 120 roll film camera that was more modern and took about three seconds to take a photo, manually turn a crank on the side of the camera, cock the shutter, and take the next photo.
Needless to say, sometimes you had to make a choice as to what to photograph since you often got only one shot.
Mike could have taken a shot of the whole eastbound Baltimore & Ohio lash-up as it came under the bridge in Akron that day.
He would have had at least one of the trailing F units in dark shadows under the bridge. Instead, he chose this shot.
Even then, capturing an F-unit in the old paint scheme was uncommon. Finding two together was really rare.
Mike made the right decision taking the last three units this way. Here we have B&O 3818 (GP38), 5442 (F7B), and an F7A with an unreadable number.
Article by Robert Farkas, Photograph by Mike Ondecker
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