May 11: The B. & O. Railroad in Wheeling

Former Huntington reporter and railroad enthusiast Bob Withers, the author of The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad in West Virginia among other books, will be at Lunch With Books at the Ohio County Public Library on Tuesday, May 11 at noon to discuss the history of the B.& O. in the region, and in Wheeling in particular. The location of the program is appropriate as the power plant for the B & O Terminal Station (now West Virginia Northern Community College) once sat on the Ohio County Public Library's site (note the smokestack in the photo above). Photographic prints from the J.J. Young Railroad collection will be on display for the program courtesy of the WVNCC Alumni Association, and association member Joan Weiskircher has offered to conduct a free tour of the B. & O. Terminal Station building for interested Lunch With Books attendees following the program.

From the book description: In 1827, a group of Baltimore capitalists feared their city would be left out of the lucrative East Coast-to-Midwest trade that other eastern cities were developing; thus, the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad was chartered. Political pressure kept the B&O out of Pennsylvania at first, and so track crews headed for what is now West Virginia, building mountainous routes with torturous grades to Wheeling and Parkersburg. Eventually the B&O financed and acquired a spiderweb of branch lines that covered much of the northern and central parts of the Mountain State. The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad in West Virginia takes a close look at the line’s locomotives, passenger and freight trains, structures, and, most importantly, its people who endeared their company to generations of travelers, shippers, and small Appalachian communities.The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad in West Virginia, offers many old photos of steam locomotives and several B&O employees throughout West Virginia, including some who worked in the Wheeling area. J.J. Young Jr. took several of the photos. Mr. Withers will have copies of the book for sale and signing. Softback, 128 pages, $22 plus tax. Author Bob Withers is a retired reporter and copy editor for the Herald-Dispatch in Huntington, West Virginia, and a bi-vocational Baptist pastor. He and his wife, Sue Ann, have three daughters and three grandchildren. He is the author of several books and magazine articles on railroading.

The President Travels by Train is the story of presidential whistle-stop campaign trains, funeral trains, and secret White House trips covering every president from John Quincy Adams through Barack Obama. The book includes the story of General Dwight Eisenhower's visit to Wheeling in 1952, which provided a dramatic climax to a weeks-long controversy about whether Richard Nixon would remain as Ike's running mate on the Republican ticket.

Baltimore & Ohio's Magnificent 2-8-8-4 EM-1 Articulated Locomotive (TLC Publishing Inc., 2007, co-written with Thomas W. Dixon Jr.) is a memoir of the grandest steam locomotive ever operated by the B&O. Many of the photos include men and machines that worked in the Wheeling area. Softback, 72 pages, $24 plus tax.

Baltimore and Ohio's Cincinnatian (TLC Publishing Inc., 2008, by Thomas W. Dixon Jr., but researched and edited by Bob Withers) tells the story of B&O's luxurious steam-powered streamliner which was launched after World War II between Baltimore, Washington and Cincinnati. Later it was switched to a Cincinnati-Detroit route and lasted until Amtrak began in 1971. Wheeling passengers connected with its first incarnation at Parkersburg. Softback, 80 pages, loads of photos, $21 plus tax.

West Virginia Railroads: Railroading in the Mountain State (TLC Publishing Inc., 2009, by Thomas W. Dixon Jr., and featuring a B&O section researched and edited by Bob Withers) tells about the operations of B&O, C&O, N&W, Virginian, New York Central and several short lines in West Virginia. Several photos taken in the Wheeling area are included. Softback, 128 pages, $26 plus tax.

Lunch With Books programs are free and open to the public. Patrons are invited to bring a bag lunch and free beverages are provided. Please call the library at 304-232-0244 for more information.
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