No, this is not Erie Lackawanna No. 3. It looks like EL GP7 No. 1238 had problems in the paint shop or just after painting. The location is Hornell, New York, on July 25, 1973. The 1238 was built for the Erie in September 1952.
Photograph by Robert Farkas
You’ve probably never seen a motive consist quite like this before and you probably won’t again.
It is April 10, 1998, in Massillon and a southbound Ohio Central train operating on the R.J. Corman has quite an ecletic collection of motive power including SPCX No. 705, OHCR No. 7573, and Connecticut Department of Transportation No. 471.
The lead unit is a GP10 that at the time was in the motive fleet of Qwest, which is best known as being a telecommunications company and not a railroad.
But it had a fleet of locomotives, including the 705, which was built for the Illinois Central as a GP9 in January 1955.
By this date it had joined the Ohio Central motive power roster although it continued to carry the Qwest herald on the flanks.
It was not unusual for Ohio Central to operate motive power still in the livery of a previous owner or operator.
CDOT 471 is a former Maine Central GP7 built in July 1950. During its time on the CDOT roster it received a livery paying tribute to the New York, New Haven & Hartford.
You probably know this locomotive fairly well because it pulled excursion trains for several years for the Orrville Railroad Heritage Society.
Photograph by Robert Farkas
Here are two photos of Youngstown & Austintown GP7 No. 1501, formerly a Pittsburgh & Lake Erie unit, on the Ohio Central in July 1998. The top image shows the 1501 sitting in Sugarcreek,. The bottom image was made of it pulling a southbound train approaching Baltic.
Photographs by Robert Farkas
Akron & Barberton Belt GP7 No. 4201 works in what is believed to be Barberton in August 1981. Notice the A&BB emblem on the cab. This unit was leased from Precision-National and at one time worked for the Chesapeake & Ohio. It was built in October 1950.
Photograph by Robert Farkas
Penn Central GP7 No. 5673 is sitting just geographically northeast of the former Pennsylvania Railroad yard in Akron on Jan. 14, 1973. The long-removed walk bridge installed to make it easy for Firestone Tire employees to get to the streetcars and buses on the other side of the tracks is visible in this photo.
Photograph by Robert Farkas
In 1972 the Akron & Barberton Belt leased from Precision National some rebuilt GP7s. No. 4201 is in shown in Barberton on Oct. 10, 1980. No. 4201 was one of just two A&BB locomotives to receive an emblem, which is slightly visible beneath the windows. The Geeps were brought in to replace worn out Alco and Baldwin units.
Photograph by Robert Farkas
We’re visiting Brewster during the days when the Norfolk & Western operated the former Wheeling & Lake Erie. In the top image is Alco RS11 No. 2568 in October 1979.
Below it is GP7 No. 3459 on April 21, 1980. Neither locomotive was built for the N&W. No. 2568 was a Nickel Plate Road unit while No. 3459 was built for the Wabash Railroad.
A leased Morrison Knudsen GP7 pulls a train on the Akron & Barberton Belt in Barberton on Aug. 11, 1981. No. 4302 was built for the Pittsburgh & Lake Erie. Not the A&BB caboose in the consist.
A pair of Penn Central GP38-2 locomotives, Nos. 8015 and 8010 are in line at the Collinwood engine facility in Cleveland on May 13, 1973. Also visible is a switcher, a high-nose GP7 and the nose of an F unit at the far right. It’s the heart of the Penn Central era, but it will only last another three years before Conrail comes on the scene to take over the bankrupt PC.
The photographer said this image is one of his favorites. It is easy to see why.
Aside from it being a very good photograph there is much to see here that you can’t see anymore.
Norfolk & Western GP7 No. 2410 is sitting with its train in Massillon on Sept. 6, 1980.
This former Nickel Plate Road unit is on tracks that were once the original Wheeling & Erie line to Toledo via Dalton.
Until the Orrville cutoff opened in 1909, this was the W&LE’s mainline from Brewster to Toledo.
The track to Dalton has since been ripped out and N&W long ago became part of Norfolk Southern.
Note the Northern Pacific boxcar back in the consist.
The track to the left is Conrail’s Fort Wayne Line. Also visible is the Tuscarawas River and the fabled curved bridge over the river built decades earlier by the Pennsylvania Railroad.
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