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
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
Baltimore & Ohio GP40-2 No. 4325 is westbound in Akron in July 1981 with a load of auto racks and boxcars among other things. The image was made near Voris Street. The 4325 was built in February 1979.
Photograph by Robert Farkas
It is a summer morning in the late 1960s in Akron. Baltimore & Ohio’s Diplomat has stopped at the Akron Union Depot, which is out of sight to the right.
The train stretches under the station’s concourse, which also connected to the Greyhound Bus depot.
The Erie Lackawanna passenger station is to the left of the B&O E9A locomotive.
The EL’s westbound Lake Cities is barely visible at the station. Soon the Diplomat will be headed west to Chicago.
Photograph by Robert Farkas
Here are two images of locomotives carrying roster number 7598 taken at different times in Akron. In the top image Baltimore & Ohio SD40 No. 7598 is eastbound on May 5, 1979. In the bottom image CSX C40-8 is westbound on Aug. 2, 2010.
Photographs by Robert Farkas
Still wearing its Chesapeake & Ohio livery, Chessie System GP35 No. 3524 is working in Akron on June 22, 1980, in the top image. In the bottom image, C&O SD40 No. 7515 is in Warwick on Oct. 18, 1984.
Photographs by Robert Farkas
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