EL Monday: SD45s in Marion

It is the fall of 1968 and Erie Lackawanna Nos. 3625 and 3626 sit outside the diesel shop in Marion. Both units are EMD SD45s. The scene is the same in both images but one features a wider view and other a closer look.

Photographs by Robert Farkas

Very Early in the Conrail Era in Akron

Penn Central SD45 No. in Akron on June 29, 1976. It is on the point of a westbound near Voris Street. Trailing behind it is a former Erie Lackawanna unit. This image was made during the early months of Conrail.

Photograph by Robert Farkas

EL Monday: Who Would Have Thought?

On Sept. 7, 1975, who would have thought scenes like this westbound in Akron headed by Erie Lackawanna SD45 No. 3619 and SDP45 No. 3659 would only be a memory with the EL becoming part of Conrail in less than a year’s time. Even the tracks on which these locomotives are operating would be ripped out only a few years later.

Photograph by Robert Farkas

Another Early Conrail in Akron Memory

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

A Cheese Head in Kent

The Wisconsin Central is only a memory now having been acquired by Canadian National in 2001. WC locomotives were not common visitors to Northeast Ohio, thus it was a surprise to find this SD45 trailing a CSX unit on a westbound in Kent on Aug. 5, 2005. The 7512 was built for Burlington Northern in July 1971.

Photograph by Craig Sanders

EL Monday: Running Through Akron

A pair of Erie Lackawanna SD45s, Nos. 3601 and 3603, lead a westbound in Akron most likely in late-1967 or early 1968. Note the Central of Georgia boxcar toward the front wearing a livery that you probably haven’t seen in a long time.

Photograph by Robert Farkas

EL Monday: Back to July 1972 in Kent

The wayback machine is set for 1972 in Kent. We see SD45 No. 3610 on a westbound on July 22, 1972. The unit was built for the EL in June 1967 and would later spend time on the Conrail roster.

Photograph by Robert Farkas

Climbing the Hill

Eastbound Conrail SD45 No. 6076 and its train is climbing the hill west of Massillon on the early morning of July 19, 1980. Note that the motive power consist still has some units that had yet to be repainted into Conrail blue.

Photograph by Robert Farkas

N&W at Orrville

Norfolk & Western SD45 No. 1804 leads train DJ-12 eastbound in Orrville on July 25, 1984. The originated at Oakwood Yard in Detroit and was bound for the Chessie System at Connellsville, Pennsylvania.

Note the open auto rack car second in the consist behind the motive power. Such a practice was common once but would not be done today.

The train is operating on the original Wheeling & Lake Erie, which has since reverted back to the modern version of the W&LE.

Photograph by Robert Farkas

Conrail Two for Tuesday

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.

Photographs by Robert Farkas