The Ohio County Public Library will present next week two live streams with the first on Jan. 5 at Noon as a part of the “Lunch with Books Program. The second, scheduled for Jan. 7 ay 6:30 p.m., will be a part of the People’s University Program.
Railroads in Civil War Strategy with General Ulysses S. Grant – Jan. 5, 2021 – Noon
| The successful military commander wins because he is able to adapt to changing situations. And so it was during the American Civil War with new developments in railroad technology and utility. General Grant [Ken Serfass] enjoys a reputation as a fine horseman, but it’s not just flesh and blood horses, but also the “Iron Horse” that he understands and appreciates. In this meeting with President Abraham Lincoln’s General In Chief, Grant will give some background on the development of railroads in America during his own formative years, and will describe how the nation and its railroads grew up together in those tumultuous years of the American Civil War, including here in the new state of West Virginia and in Wheeling, where railroad security was a key to victory. Through sharing stories and artifacts from the period, Gen. Grant will relate his own experiences with trains and railroading from his youth through the Union’s victory during the war. |
PU Livestream (Special Edition): #639 – The Last of the Wheeling Trolleys – 6:30 p.m.
| The Seashore Trolley Museum in Kennebunkport Maine is home to a very special car. No. 639 is a Cincinnati curved-side built in 1924 for the Wheeling Traction Company, later Co-Operative Transit Company. It is one of few survivors of hundreds of curved-side cars and is the last known Wheeling trolley in existence. The body was acquired in 1957 and a decades long restoration process followed. Now, #639 is fully restored and in operating condition at the museum. James D. Schantz and Frederick J. Maloney, editors of the book on the subject, will tell us about this unique trolley car and the amazing, epic restoration process, including the importance of the photos of Bill Gwinn, whose work is now on exhibit at the Ohio County Public Library. |
