Nostalgia & History > Sometimes... - EL

(Redo) Sometimes a photo has great meaning to me. My dad Joe Farkas took almost no railfan photos, but sometime in the mid-1960's he stood on the Wilbeth Road footbridge in Akron, Ohio and captured this set of EL ALCO FA/FB/FB/FA locomotives and their westbound EL freight. In the back right corner is a C&NW boxcar in a lumberyard that was off Akron and Barberton Belt tracks. Look at the industries in the background; these were what made Akron the "Rubber Capital of the World". The building on the right was Republic Structural but at one time it was Lehr Iron and Steel where my dad worked as a draftsman, and my mother worked in the office. The tracks from left to right are 1.) EL track to serve local industries, 2.) EL westbound main, 3.) EL eastbound main, 4.) Unknown, 5.) B&O westbound main, 6.) B&O eastbound main, and 7.) PRR line from Hudson to Warwick.
Bob
P.S. Today only the CSX (ex-B&O) main lines are here.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/08/20 09:44 by refarkas.

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Would have loved to hear this go by. Thanks for sharing.

This is a great photo, and your narrative makes it even better. Loved that Erie black and yellow scheme.

Brian N.

briancdn Wrote:
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> This is a great photo, and your narrative makes it
> even better. Loved that Erie black and yellow
> scheme.
>
> Brian N.

Second that motion! A really terrific image, beautifully composed, and a great catch on the lead engine. Thanks much!

Your dad did a masterful job on this photo !
Great location.
Akron certainly was a big time industrial city back then.
Gary  

Thanks for sharing this fantastic shot.  I only got to Akron well after the major rubber plants had closed, and always wondered what it was like in its peak days of industrial activity.  Your father may not have taken many railfan pictures, but he sure got this one right.      

Like the picture, thanks for sharing it.

The ballast line is impressive for both companies. Very precise, groomed.

Your father had a gtrat eye!  Now we know where you got your talent and skill from.

Wow ! I'll bet that sounded sweet.

For not taking many many railfan photos he certainly captured the subject perfectly. Many "railfans" can't capture a moving train on film (or digital) that well .....

RWJ

A really great photo. Very good.

ABSOLUTELY OUTSTANDING!  Your father had excellent photography skills.  That photo was not luck.
Thanks for the truly memorable photo posting.
ALLEN

That is a classic beauty !!

Wow !  Had the date been 1957, I may well have been in that cab, a guest of the engineer !  Next to Howard Fogg's painting of the NY-98 descending the Mansfield, Ohio, hill, this has to be my favorite  "Erie" photo.  Thank you so much, Mr. Farkas (Both of you !)