Conrail GP8 No. 5724 works in Massillon on May 1, 1978. The unit began life as an Erie Railroad GP7. Conrail initially assigned it roster number 5404. It later become one of nine GP7s that were rebuilt by the Illinois Central Gulf shop in Paducah, Kentucky, into GP8s. At Paducah the 1950s built locomotives had their short hood chopped, were given new prime movers, and their control stands were revamped for short hood operation. This work was performed in 1976.
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
The sun has recently come up on the morning of June 22, 1978, and is glinting from the sides of Amtrak F40PH No. 282 and E units 473, 412 and their late-running westbound Broadway Limited passing through Massillon on Conrail’s Fort Wayne Line.
Ongoing track work east of Massillon has slowed the progress of No. 41.
Today there is no Broadway Limited passing through Massillon or anywhere else. This area is so treed in that taking this shot is impossible.
The Eaton Corporation plant is still there but not easily photographed from this bridge. Between the Conrail tracks and the Eaton facility runs the ex-Baltimore & Ohio/Chessie System line that ran from Bridgeport to Warwick, Ohio. R.J. Corman now owns this line.
Photograph by Robert Farkas
Here are three photographs of trains in Northeast Ohio on Sept. 30, 2022.
We see RJ Corman 3001 southbound south of Canal Fulton. The same train is later shown entering Massillon.
Finally, Norfolk Southern 5321 and its train are sitting in Orrville. This local works Smucker’s and an industrial park.
Photographs 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
The wayback machine has landed us in Massillon in the early 1980s. In the top image Western Maryland 5972, albeit in Chessie System colors, is with caboose C2851 in front of the ex-Baltimore & Ohio freight house on July 1, 1981. This was not originally a WM Geep but was transferred to the WM from the B&O or Chesapeake & Ohio.
In the bottom image a B&O geep, No. 6651, is in front of the freight house on Oct. 11, 1980.
Photographs by Robert Farkas
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
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 