It is July 2, 1976, in Akron and thus only a few months into the Conrail era. Former Erie Lackawanna NW2 No. 410 is doing what it does best. Conrail would later renumber the switcher No. 9217. It was built for the Erie Railroad in January 1948. Note that No. 410 is switching an EL gondola.
Photograph by Robert Farkas
On Jan. 21, 1973, Erie Lackawanna E8A Nos. 820, 814 are on the point of a trailer train heading east in Akron. Today the scene would show an expressway ramp and two CSX mainlines. Missing would be the Penn Central branch track closest to the viewer and tracks four and beyond which belonged to the EL. The building and the Voris Street grade crossing are gone.
Photograph by Robert Farkas
An unidentified photographer shooting Agfachrome film and standing on the walk bridge over the Erie Lackawanna’s McCoy Street Yard in Akron is looking south toward the East Thornton Street bridge. He caught an EL switcher working in May 1971.
Collection of Robert Farkas
Maybe we should call this former Erie Lackawanna Monday. Conrail SDP45 No. 6686 is working in Akron on Aug. 3, 1976. It may be a Conrail unit, but it still wears its EL colors. Note that the unit now has Conrail initials on its nose and flanks.
Photograph by Robert Farkas
Erie Lackawanna Nos. 7091, 7092, and two more F-units are in Akron in the late 1960s/early 1970s. You won’t see this today, but it was common at one time. Fortunately, we have the wayback machine to remind us.
Photograph by Robert Farkas
It’s 1967 or 1968 in Kent and the Erie Lackawanna’s westbound morning Lake Cities is at the station. It was scheduled through Northeast Ohio in the morning hours after its overnight journey from Hoboken, New Jersey. Therefore, there are far more images of the westbound No. 5 than eastbound No. 6, which reached Akron and Kent in the evening.
Photograph by Robert Farkas
We don’t know who the photographer was who made this image with Agfachrome slide film. All we know is that it was made in October 1971 at the Erie Lackawanna engine facility. The EL line to Cleveland came out of the Youngstown area and its major claim to fame is that it hosted the last passenger operations west of the New York City commuter zone.
But the EL also had a considerable freight business in Cleveland as well. Perhaps that locomotive looking straight at us was used to pull the Cleveland-Youngstown commuter trains that lasted into the Conrail era.
Collection of Robert Farkas
Erie Lackawanna E8A No. 825 is leading the Lake Cities west in Akron in 1967-1969. By 1969, the Lake Cities was the last EL passenger train still operating in Akron. Note the numerous head end cars that the train is carrying. No. 825 was built for the Erie Railroad in February 1951, so it has made the journey over these tracks many times.
Photograph by Robert Farkas
More than a decade after the merger of the Erie Railroad and the Delaware, Lackwanna & Western that created the Erie Lackawanna, Erie Alco S2 switcher No. 520 is still wearing its original livery. It is shown working in Akron on May 14, 1974. The switcher continued to wear Erie colors until the coming of Conrail in 1976. The switcher was built in June 1949.
Photograph by Robert Farkas
Eastbound Erie Lackawanna RS3 No. 1028 is sandwiched between two more Alco RS3s in Akron in October 1972.
Photograph by Robert Farkas
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