Conrail SD40-2 No. 6479 is on the point of a westbound on the former Erie Lackawanna in Akron on May 3, 1980. Above the second unit is the light tower for the EL’s McCoy Street Yard.
At the same time an eastbound Chessie System freight with a caboose has just passed the 6479.
Note the former EL boxcar behind the motive power. The bridge in the background is Thornton Street. Today there are just two tracks at this location near Voris Street.
Photograph by Robert Farkas
Conrail caboose 21126 is in Akron on June 21, 1977. It appears to be attached to an intermodal train that is operating on the former Erie Lackawanna.
Photograph by Robert Farkas
It’s the early Conrail era and we find former Reading Lines SD45 No. 7600 in Akron on Aug.1, 1976. The 7600 is hooked up to a second EMD SD45, Erie Lackawanna No. 3609.
Photograph by Robert Farkas
Technically, this is a Conrail train. The image was made on July 2, 1976, in Akron and Conrail was a mere three months old. But NW2 No. 410 still wars its EL livery and markings and is working the former EL tracks. So we’ll call it an EL train even if it isn’t.
Photograph by Robert Farkas
To celebrate America’s 200th birthday many railroads painted or more of their locomotives in a special bicentennial livery, often featuring the colors red, white and blue.
The Erie Lackawanna was no exception. It transformed SD45 No. 3638 into a bicentennial scheme.
This image was made in Akron on June 14, 1979. The bicentennial is long over and the EL has vanished, with some of its components being folded into Conrail.
Shown leading a westbound Conrail manifest freight, the 3638 has since been renumbered 6669 and has had its EL identity either painted over or obscured. Note the “CR” initials toward the rear of the unit.
The train is on former EL track and passing a building once used by the EL and the Erie Railroad.
Photograph by Robert Farkas
How is this for an early Conrail era scene? GP9 No. 7074 still wearing Penn Central paint leads another GP9 that has received Conrail blue near Voris Street in early 1979. Note the former Pennsylvania Railroad cabin car in the consist.
Photograph by Robert Farkas
It’s two days before America’s Bicentennial celebration as well as the first year of Conrail operation. This Conrail switcher remains in full Erie Lackawanna paint as it works in Akron on July 2, 1976.
Photograph by Robert Farkas
An eastbound Conrail manifest freight passes through downtown Akron in June 1987. It is passing what used to be tracks leading to the Erie Railroad’s McCoy Street Yard as well as the Erie mainline tracks. Conrail had a hand in eliminating the former Erie’s presence in Akron by abandoning most Erie trackage west of the city.
It’s Tuesday and time to present a pair of images from the same railroad.
In the top image, we see Conrail SD60M leading an eastbound manifest freight on the Fort Wayne Line in Orrville on May 25, 1996.
The bridge it is passing beneath carries the Wheeling & Lake Erie.
The photographer wrote about the image, “while Conrail tolerated my entering their little-used yard in Orrville, Norfolk Southern would not allow this today.”
In the bottom image, Conrail SD45 No. 6130 is shown in Akron in June 1979 during the railroad’s relatively short life in the rubber city.
It may look like a Penn Central caboose but when this photograph was made this car was on the roster of Conrail.
Conrail No. 24546 is shown in Akron in July 1976. Note the Pennsylvania Railroad boxcar ahead of it.
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