First Research Forays...

Well, I've actually had some time to start poking around the existing work on the B&O. So for the first time in over two months, this is where I am.

My first stops are:

Sand Patch by Roberts-Nice picture book, fair captions but the author doesn't follow proper citation practice for a scholarly work. No footnotes or endnotes and a short bibliography. This book gives a good visual overview of the area from Cumberland, MD to Connellsville, PA but doesn't do much outside of that.

The History of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad by Stover-A rather dry economic history of the entire road. It is properly referenced so I can get some good footnotes mined. However it's coverage of Pittsburgh is limited as it is an overview of the entire company.

Centennial History of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad-Hungerford (2 vols.)-Produced as part of the PR blitz for the 1927 Centennial of the B&O railroad this is an interesting read. However I have to be aware that there is as much folklore as fact in these books. No documentation and it was written by the company so a lot of the seemy details got left out.

The Sentinel-The Quarterly Publication of the B&O Railroad Historical Society. They did a two volume spread on Pittsburgh so I've purchased those from the Society Company store. As I'm the society archivist I have access to most of these primary source documents.

Next I'm going to use my Drexel Library access to mine some databases for articles and hit the various and sundry special collections around Iron City.