It is the fall of 1968 in Marion. As usual, I took a photo and then moved on. As I looked at this photo today, I noticed there is an engineer in Erie Lackawanna GP35 No. 2563 looking at me. At the same time, there is a crewman standing in the open door of EL Alco PA-1 No. 853.
Since the two locomotives are coupled, I can guess 2563 moved/will move 853 and perhaps the Alco switcher and any other locomotives behind it. Whatever happened, I just realized this is perhaps my last photo of an EL PA.
Charlie Wilson and I caught Baltimore & Ohio GP30 Nos. 6912, a GP30, and 354, a GP35, in 1 in Indianapolis on Dec. 29, 1972. The B&O served Indianapolis via a line that began at Hamilton, Ohio, and ran to Springfield, Illinois. Most of that route is gone west of Indy, but is still used by CSX and Amtrak east of the city.
It is July 1972 in Alliance where Penn Central GP35 No. 2381 is eastbound on the ex-Pennsylvania Fort Wayne Line. The train is about to pass the passenger station just behind me. The old bridge with its signals adds to the scene. The train is crossing over the original Cleveland & Pittsburgh route to Bayard and beyond.
The wayback machine is set for the Erie Lackawanna era and has landed us in Akron near Voris Street on Sept. 4, 1972. EL GP35 No. 2552 is running westbound beneath Thornton Street and past McCoy Street Yard. Perhaps it will back into the yard or cut its train and then work the yard. The 2552 was built for the EL in September 1964. Adding some interest to the scene is the smoke pouring out of a trailing unit.
Today’s two for Tuesday focuses on the Baltimore & Ohio in the 1970s. In the top image, B&O GP35 No. 3559 leads an eastbound near Kent. The bottom image was made in Youngstown. Leading a train through the area is B&O GP40-2 No. 4161. The unit has already received Chessie System paint unlike its two running mates in this gritty industrial scene that captures well railroading in the Mahoning Valley when steelmaking was still king.
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.
A pair of Erie Lackawanna GP35s, Nos. 2563 and 2560, lead a westbound manifest freight in Akron in the late 1960s/early 1970s. The train is passing beneath the concourse of Akron Union Depot. Passengers would descend from here to the boarding platforms. At one time, the concourse led to the Greyhound bus station on the north side of the tracks.
Erie Lackawanna GP35 No. 2581 is westbound in early Conrail times in Akron. My notes say I made this image in June 1978, but that seems too late for these two locomotives to be operating without a CR stencil somewhere.
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