I am standing on the Erie Lackawanna passenger station platform in Akron looking across the tracks to an eastbound Baltimore & Ohio train headed by B&O 4496 as it begins to go behind the boarding platform at Akron Union Depot. The image was made in the late 1960s/early 1970s.
Photograph by Robert Farkas
It’s Oct. 29, 1977, in Akron where Cuyahoga Valley Line 4070 is at Akron Junction on the Baltimore & Ohio waiting to pick up its train for the northbound trip later on in the day that will return its passengers to Cleveland.
Photograph by Robert Farkas
Baltimore & Ohio E8A No. 1449 is heading the westbound Diplomat near Ravenna, Ohio in the late 1960s/early 1970s.
Photograph by Robert Farkas
Although I lived near Warwick, I only photographed one or two Baltimore & Ohio passenger trains through there. It is 1966 or 1967, and here is Baltimore & Ohio 3516 westbound. I really like the image of the trainman giving a friendly wave.
Photograph by Robert Farkas
It is late 1967/early1968 in Holloway on the Baltimore & Ohio where mostly Fs and SDs can be found in the engine terminal. Look closely at this as everything, including all of the tracks, is long gone. This line was ripped out from Urichsville to Bridgeport. What remains of the northern end of this line is operated by R.J. Corman.
Photograph by Robert Farkas
Baltimore & Ohio E8A No 1444 and its train, the westbound Diplomat, is pulling into the passenger station in Kent in the late 1960s or early 1970. This train had once been named the Shenadoah and was renamed Shenandoah in 1964
Because it was one of the few B&O passenger trains to serve Northeast Ohio in daylight it was often photographed in Kent and Akron.
On Jan. 6, 1970, the Interstate Commerce Commission decided not to block B&O’s plans to discontinue the Shenandoah and its eastbound counterpart — the Gateway — between Akron and Chicago.
The surviving trains were renamed Shenandoah and operated between Akron and Washington until the coming of Amtrak on May 1, 1971.
Photograph by Robert Farkas
Baltimore & Ohio SW900 No. 9418 is between assignments in Benwood, West Virginia, on Nov. 25, 1972. The EMD product was built in 1955.
Photograph by Robert Farkas
The wayback machine is set for Aug. 18, 1968, in Akron at Union Depot.
In the top image, Baltimore & Ohio E9A No. 1455 has cut off from the westbound Diplomat in order to, most likely, add or remove a mail car.
Across the tracks the Erie Lackawanna’s westbound Lake Cities is sitting at its station.
In the middle image the Lake Cities can be seen pulling away from its station platform. It was not unusual for both passenger trains to be in Akron at the same time.
In the bottom image notice the family standing and watching trains on the EL platform.
Can you imagine joining this family and watching trains? I said “watching” because that is the dark side for morning photography.
Yet if you look carefully, the man appears to have a camera around his neck.
If you decide to use your own wayback machine and join me for taking pictures on this day, tell me seeing my photos 53 ahead in the future inspired you to join me to photograph Akron. I’ll believe you.
Article and Photographs by Robert Farkas
Baltimore & Ohio GP9 No. 6454 is westbound in Kent in the late 1960s. The Geep was built in August 1956 and would later join the roster of the Maryland Midland. The photograph was just able to get beneath the pole line.
Photography by Robert Farkas
In the top image CSX AC44CW No. 7004 leads a westbound in Akron on June 16, 2021, near Voris Street. In the bottom image Baltimore & Ohio GP30 No. 6913 leads a westbound passing an eastbound Erie Lackawanna train at nearly the same location on Jan. 14, 1973. What a difference a few years makes.
Photographs by Robert Farkas
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