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Re: (erielack) Akron Questions
Steve is esentially correct, but there are a few corrections needed. The track between Arlington and Warwick was actually a paired track arrangement. PRR (PC) (Conrail) owned one track and B&O owned the other track. PRR (PC) (Conrail) operated the section as a double track between the two locations.
Before the PC merger, this had been PRR's through route to Columbus. So auto parts from Chrysler Twinsburg and Ford at Bedford would move via this route (informally known by its old initials of CA&C) to Columbus and points south. They would get off the C&P at Hudson and use the single track down to Arlington where the joint track started. Warwick to Orrville and Orrville to Columbus was single track and all secondary track. Orrville to Columbus was gone as a through route by my time, but I understand it had adverse grades, lots of curves, and insufficient passing sidings in terms of number and length. So very quickly PC started running the auto parts west at Orrville to Crestline and then the Big Four Route to Columbus.
Under PC and early Conrail symboling, the trains were OM-8 (Buckeye to Motor) and I think MO-7. Under Conrail, they were COMY and MYCO. So JO would still see a through train on the ex-PRR route until Conrail eliminated Hudson to Orrville as the route for the Twinsburg and Bedford traffic in the early 1980's. Akron also dispatched a Conway train that would take the M&C Secondary to Mace, Canton, and Conway. As Steve will also remember, there were 3 to 4 ex-EL route trains that used Orrville to South Akron and got on the EL there. With the beginning of Conrail, it actually brought more home road trains (in this case Conrail) to the route between Warwick and South Akron than had been there in a long time. As Steve says, the preponderance of traffic was B&O. And this was true even before PC pulled the Motor to Columbus trains off of the route. As Steve says, we would use the route Orrville to Hudson and around the wye to go east on the C&P towards Alliance for detour moves.
Regarding the main line split switch derails, I can remember the EL superintendent at Marion around 1975 or 1976 complaining about them. They seemed prone to causing derailments because the wheel would pick the switch. And the split switch derail usually increased the amount of damage done when there was a derailment there.
Before Conrail, JO was not a train order office for the E-L. The operator at JO never liked handing on anyway because he had to go down several flights to get from street level to the tracks located in the subway through town. What we would do at JO is use an E-L rule D-239 that allowed us to use manned towers to flag trains for movements against the current of traffic. In that case, we'd stop the train that was to be reversed. Qualified man off of the train would get on the phone with JO, and after the operator had placed blocking devices on all affected signals, the operator would advise the crew member that he was holding all west or all east for him at JO. Most of the times we'd be crossing an eastbound over at the only interlocked facing point crossover for miles located at Sterling. That was usally around some other eastbound that had stalled on No. 2 on the ruling grade at Wadsworth. Although JO would not hand on an order and did not have an order board, we would get most JO operators to copy a hold order. Then we'd write a right over order at Sterling and give to the eastbound to use No. 1 from Sterling to some trailing point switch (usually Silver Creek) and the eastbound would get the order on the move at Sterling without stopping. Not exactly kosher, but it worked and was safe. There were also no block lines between towers on the EL Kent Division so the Marion dispatcher would have to call the JO operator to advise when eastbounds were by Silver Creek Interlocking or when westbounds departed Kent (with divisional crews) or by SN (Interdivisional crews). When you gave JO the eastbound you had to let him know if it was going to work at Akron or not. As I recall, JO always seemed to EL the break on the traffic there. I don't remember getting too many delays from B&O trains there.
I didn't see your original question, but from Steve's email I've gathered you had some questions about clearances. I don't remember any height problems through Akron. Anything that could run on the 2nd Sub of the Mahoning Division could run through Akron. You have to remember that we just never had too many clearance problems on the EL. Now there may have been something around Akron where a particular track might have had to be used at Akron, but I don't remember anything. Any regular high cars - tri-levels and hi-cubes - had no problems. I can't tell you if there would have been a clearance problem if double stacks had been running then.
- -----Original Message-----
From: Smtimko_@_aol.com
To: doctorpb_@_bellsouth.net
Cc: erielack_@_lists.elhts.org; caltrains@cboss.com; KRinMich@aol.com
Sent: Wed, 14 Feb 2007 9:11 PM
Subject: Re: (erielack) Akron Questions
Paul and List----
First, let me remind you that I'm a Mahoning Division guy, and Akron was on the Marion Divn so my knowledge of JO is limited to my dealings with it when I was Supervisor of Operating Rules for Conrail's Youngstown (and later Pittsburgh) Division. By the time that I took that position (1984) JO was closed except for when trackwork was being done, we called an extra operator.
Second---The B&O did not own the route! The Erie crossed the PRR's Akron Branch at JO Tower. The B&O had trackage rights over the PRR from AY (Arlington--a few miles north of JO) to Warwick (about 12-15 miles south of JO). Actually, the operator at JO never saw a PRR or PC train under normal circumstances. The PRR had a yard at Akron, and the trains operated south from Akron to Warwick, over the M&C Secondary from Warwick to Mace and then to Conway via Canton, Alliance, etc. The only time a PRR train would traverse JO Tower is when there was a derailment on the M&C or P-FW-C Line and the AC-4 would operate Akron-Hudson-Alliance-Conway. That was rare.
Third--The derail on the EL had a guard rail so if the train passed the stop signal, the engine would derail toward the EL EB main and remain upright. Normally, the derail would derail the equipment to the right, but in this case, it would foul the PRR traffic (read B&O) and also the signal equipment between the two roads. By the time I hired out (1965) most all of the interlockings had the derails removed. You still had to throw the levers in the tower to make the proper locking in the locking bed, but there was no physical derail. SN Jct was that way as was Deforest, Shenango and others. There may have been a couple of locations that the derails were left in but I do not remember.
As far as the clearance is concerned. I don't know. EL frequently moved cars up to 18'6" high. Not certain what restrictions were involved at Akron. Perhaps Keith Robbins can assist or maybe Cal Banse knows. Hopefully they will respond.
SMT
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