It is July 27, 1987, in Massillon. Seaboard No. 6821 leads the Dover local southward toward Dover.
The train is crossing the Conrail Fort Wayne Line at CP Mace. Originally B&O trackage, today this track is owned by R.J. Corman. The Corman track today enters the Fort Wayne line, now owned by Norfolk Southern, at a switch and almost immediately leaves the NS tracks at a second switch.
Photograph by Robert Farkas
Conrail SD40-2 No. 6467 leads an eastbound in Massillon on May 25, 1996. To the left of the train are the remains of the right-of-way of the then recently torn out former Wheeling & Lake Erie line to Dalton which curved to the left here and crossed what is now the RJ Corman.
The W&LE line, which was operated by the Nickel Plate Road, Norfolk & Western, and Norfolk Southern, was the original path of the Wheeling before the bypass route was built via Orrville.
The Corman line was once a Baltimore & Ohio secondary mainline that ran from Warwick Tower in Clinton to Bridgeport, Ohio.
Photograph by Robert Farkas
As Conrail GP40-2 No. 3353 works in the small yard across from the old ex-Pennsylvania Railroad station in Alliance, a westbound intermodal train led by LMS C40-8W No. 710 passes on the Fort Wayne Line on Oct. 19, 1996.
The 3353 was built in March 1979 while No. 710 dates to October 1994. Locomotive Management Services was jointly owned by Conrail and General Electric and provided motive power to railroads, notably Conrail, Union Pacific and Canadian National, that needed additional locomotives to meet their service needs.
Photograph by Robert Farkas
Here is a Conrail triple play from Massillon on the Fort Wayne Line.
In the top image. Conrail 8031 has just crossed the Tuscarawas River with a westbound in Massillon in mid-1987.
In the middle image four locomotives wait on the eastbound track in order to go west to Orrville. They are at CP Mace in Massillon on May 4, 1997.
Just leaving the single track and entering the westbound track is an eastbound trailer train. This was not a common move here.
Finally, we see Conrail 6270 and a westbound RoadRailer train westbound in Massillon in July 1998.
Photographs by Robert Farkas
RoadRailers were a common sight in Crestline in the latter years of Conrail. These trains originated in the east in either Rochester, New York; Elizabethport, New Jersey, or Rutherford Yard near Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. The Rochester trains terminated in Crestline while other RoadRailers operated through to Fort Wayne, Indiana, and Sandusky.
I didn’t record the train symbols of the RoadRailer trains shown above. The top image was made from the Ohio Route 61 bridge and shows a train on the Fort Wayne Line crossing the Indianapolis Line at Crest Tower. The view is looking northeastward.
The Crestline passenger station would have once stood in the northeast quadrant of this crossing. The image was made on Sept. 12, 1998.
The bottom image was made at ground level, and shows GP40-2 No. 3277 pulling a westbound RoadRailer on the Fort Wayne Line. The unit was built in December 1973 for the Reading and would later serve CSX. The image was made on Aug. 15. 1998.
Article and Photographs by Craig Sanders
Let’s go out on the Fort Wayne Line during the Conrail era to see trains captured a decade apart. In the top image GP35 No. 2340 is in Massillon on June 24, 1978. The unit was built for the Pennsylvania Railroad in February 1965.
In the bottom image, B40-8 No. 5060 is leading an eastbound through Sebring in October 1988. This unit was built for Conrail in April 1988 and later worked for CSX.
Photographs by Robert Farkas
I only visited Alliance during the Conrail era once. That came on May 23, 1998, when I was with Dan Davidson. We spent much of our time there that day photographing the westbound signal bridge at the east end of the interlocking plant. At the time, it still had Pennsylvania Railroad position light signals. Both trains shown above are headed eastward on the Fort Wayne Line. Since then I’ve visited Alliance numerous times in the Norfolk Southern era.
Article and Photographs by Craig Sanders
R.J. Corman 9003 is awaiting Conrail’s permission to cross over at CP Mace in Massillon on Sept. 30, 1996, on the Fort Wayne Line.
Photograph by Robert Farkas
Eastbound Conrail C40-8W No. 6111 has just split the westbound Pennsylvania Railroad position light home signals at CP Mace on the Fort Wayne Line in Massillon in August 1998. Built in March 1991, this unit later was assigned to CSX as part of the Conrail split in 1999. It later would be dealt to General Electric leasing.
Photograph by Robert Farkas
A CSX train is using trackage rights eastbound on Conrail in Massillon in late 1998 or early 1999. This is the “Wooster Local” that served an orphaned piece of ex-Baltimore & Ohio trackage in Wooster. The caboose was used for a backup move from Massillon to Warwick.
Photograph by Robert Farkas
akronrrclub.wordpress.com 