
Baltimore & Ohio GP35 No. 3511 is shown leading a train in Willard on Sept. 2, 1978. The unit was built in April 1964
Photograph by Robert Farkas
Today’s two for Tuesday focuses on the Baltimore & Ohio in the 1970s. In the top image, B&O GP35 No. 3559 leads an eastbound near Kent. The bottom image was made in Youngstown. Leading a train through the area is B&O GP40-2 No. 4161. The unit has already received Chessie System paint unlike its two running mates in this gritty industrial scene that captures well railroading in the Mahoning Valley when steelmaking was still king.
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
It is time for a Baltimore & Ohio two for Tuesday so let’s set the wayback machine and off we go. In the top image, made by Robert Farkas, GP30 No. 6972 is sitting on the point of a train in Clinton on Sept. 21, 1984. The unit was built in December 1962 and later was on the CSX motive power roster.
The bottom image was made by Mike Ondecker and shows F7A No. 4502 in New Castle, Pennsylvania, on Aug. 8, 1968.
We are in Nova on the former Baltimore & Ohio mainline that runs between Chicago and Pittsburgh via Akron.
Nova may be best known to some railfans for once having been the home of a tower that lasted for many years into the CSX era before being dismantled.
In the image above B&O SD40 No. 7591 leads an eastbound through town on Nov. 27, 1982. The unit was built in May 1967 and would later become CSX4620.
Photograph by Robert Farkas
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
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