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.
Photograph by Robert Farkas
Movement of the former Baltimore & Ohio passenger station in Hamilton was expected to be completed today (Jan. 17, 2023).
The depot, which dates to the 1850s is being moved in two movements because the structure is two separate buildings.
The first of those building was moved last month more than 1,000 feet north along Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard to a city-owned lot.
The remaining building is to make the same journey today to be joined with the two-story structure already on site.
The depot was owned by CSX, which donated it to the city with the proviso that it be moved off railroad property.
There has been discussion about making the depot a community center, but no specific use has been agreed upon by city officials.
The depot will be restored to “white box condition,” meaning it will be ready for conversion to suit a business occupant.
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
Finding an old negative/slide/digital image you have forgotten you had taken can bring back many wonderful memories.
It is one of the purest forms of photographic time travel.
The image above was made some time between 1967-1970 in Clinton. Chesapeake & Ohio F7A No. 7057 and its Baltimore & Ohio coal train are northbound near Warwick Tower where the train can head west to go to Lorain (diverging at Sterling) or continue west to Willard.
On the other hand, it could go east to Akron and beyond to Lake Erie.
The double track is out of the ordinary since one track belongs to the Pennsylvania Railroad/Penn Central and the other to the B&O. But they share trackage with one line for all southbound trains of both lines and the other track for all northbound trains of both lines. This sharing runs from Warwick Tower south to Massillon.
It’s likely this coal train originated in the B&O yard in Holloway, Ohio.
If you look toward the back of the train, you see it is crossing Chippewa Creek on one of two bridges. The pole lines are still in place, and back-to-back F units make this scene even better.
Today one of the lines has been ripped out while the other is used by RJ Corman.
There is only one bridge, no pole lines, and usually no more than one train north and south a day instead of having so many long trains that Canal Fulton, Ohio (A few miles south) needed a firehouse on each side of the tracks.
Article and Photograph by Robert Farkas
A signal, a boxcar and a building. Each of them contributes to the history in this photo. We are in Clinton somewhere between 1967 and 1972.
The eastbound signal guards the unseen (now-removed) Pennsylvania Railroad/Penn Central line that diverged just east (photo right) of here from the eastbound main
The train is heading west and the boxcar is not the usual boxcar red B&O boxcar.
Most likely it has special paint because of its insulated cushion underframe.
The building behind the train seems to have been around since long before I started railfanning. Today it houses a restaurant/bar and apartments.
Boxcars such as this are still in use. They have about a foot of cork insulation inside all around, and are used to keep things such as beer and wine cool, but not ice cold, which would account for the cushion underframe if hauling glass bottles.
It looks like the plug door may have come from a different car, since the color doesn’t match.
Today CSX has only a single track instead of an eastbound and westbound track. The ex-PRR track diverged here and went west past Warwick Tower toward Orrville is gone.
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.
Here is a higher quality redo from an old scan. It is June 1983 in Clinton where Baltimore & Ohio No. 6933 is heading to Massillon. The now-removed track curving to the left was the connecting track to the long-gone ex-Pennsylvania Railroad line that ran from Warwick Tower to Orrville and then down to Columbus. This line often was called the Cleveland, Akron & Columbus, after the name of a predecessor railroad company.
Photograph by Robert Farkas
A portion of the former Baltimore & Ohio passenger station in Hamilton was moved to its new home on Tuesday.
The station, which was built in the 19th century is two structures and each must be moved individually.
Tuesday move involved a two-story structure. The remaining one-story structure is expected to be moved next month.
The station is being moved more than 1,000 feet northward on Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard to a city-owned site.
For decades it sat at the junction of B&O lines to Indianapolis and Toledo.
The station was donated to the city by CSX. City officials are still determining what use will be made of the depot once it is in place at its new home.
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
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