Nostalgia & History > Forty Plus Years Ago (141) - B&O 3836

B&O 3836 in Chessie System paint is westbound in Akron, Ohio in August 1979. Noyice the bad shape of the eastbound Chessie System mainline one track closer than the track 3836 is on. The closest track belonged to Conrail.
Bob



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 11/15/20 19:55 by refarkas.

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Love these old shots with lots more than the train to see.
JB

Neat shot.  I have the feeling that back then Conrail's track wasn't considered all that bad.  I know from looking at my old slides from the 70's and even the 80's right of ways have come a long way, lol.

Very nice Chessie action scene.  Excellent location choice.
Thanks for the extra nice photo posting.
ALLEN

I loved downtown Akron back in those days. The bridges were layed out so you could work different angles all day long. Funny, that I didn't do many ground shots though, so I really enjoy seeing yours. Nice job!!

Bill Rettberg
Bel Air, MD

I was just the opposite. I did not do many bridge shots.
Bob

Nice photo. The train is considered a southbound at this location- this line was operated under Conrail (PC/PRR) rules at that time. The line between AY and Warwick (Clinton) was a joint operation and considered a north/south railroad until Conrail turned it all over to CSX in the 90s. As for conditions of the tracks, the closest track is the 104 track, basically a long yard lead from JO to the ex PRR South Akron yard, so it only got minimal attention. The northbound (#1) and southbound (#2, the one the train is on), were maintained one each by PC/CR and B&O. IIRC #1 was a PC/CR maintained track and #2 was the B&O maintained track. As far as track conditions are concerned, things got better after a few years of getting even worse than what you see above. Today the two former joint CR/B&O mains are still used by CSX (with rights for the Akron Barberton Cluster) and are in top notch condition- but with a fraction of the trains that passed back in the days of Bob's photo. As for bridges, I've photographed from every bridge in town- you can't beat elevation in a train photo ! Thornton St bridge remains a favorite with the Akron skyline in the distance.

Roger Durfee
Akron, OH