Baltimore & Ohio's Capitol Limited and National Limited (Great Passenger Trains) Summary and Reviews

Baltimore & Ohio's Capitol Limited and National Limited (Great Passenger Trains)
by Joe Welsh

Baltimore & Ohio's Capitol Limited and National Limited (Great Passenger Trains)
List Price: $36.95
Our Price: $20.99
You Save: $15.96 (43%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $18.88 (click here)
Category: Book
See more book details and other editions


or

Book Summary Information

Author: Joe Welsh
Edition: Hardcover
Audio: English (Original Language); English (Unknown); English (Published)
Published: 2007-12-15
ISBN: 0760325332
Number of pages: 160
Publisher: Voyageur Press

Book Reviews of Baltimore & Ohio's Capitol Limited and National Limited (Great Passenger Trains)

Book Review: Nice Book, Needs a Good Editor
Summary: 4 Stars

Joe Welsh is one of the best passenger train writers in the U.S. and there is lots to admire in his "Baltimore and Ohio's Capital Limited and National Limited". The book condenses the stories about these two Chicago/St. Louis trains (and uses some of the same photos) that appear in separate volumes by Harry Stegmaier originally published 15 years ago, in 1993.

Certainly the five-page photo spread (pp. 52-56) of the Capital Limited pulling out of Chicago after a late February 1935 snowstorm are stunning and there are other great photos I hadn't previously seen, including the evocative depiction of the Capital Limited whizzing past a boat along the C&O Canal.

The photos of the African-American porters and dining car waiters are a haunting (and repugnant) reminder of how racial servitude continued well into the 20th century, partly because because of social attitudes and because African-American men had far fewer career choices. I was also struck by the photo of the two doves being released into the frigid Chicago air during a christening of the Capital Limited in November 1938. I wonder how long those doves survived during the rigorous Chicago winter.

What's lacking in Welsh's book is an attentive editor. Silver Spring, Maryland is twice identified as Silver Springs in photo captions. The latter place is in Florida, far south of the route traversed by the B&O. Curiously, Silver Spring is spelled correctly in the text and in the too-frugal index.

I also wish some of the captions were more specific. The two-page spread on pp. 94-95 depicts the Capital Limited chugging across a bridge at what appears to be Harper's Ferry, WV. Couldn't the photo caption specify the locale? And since the book contains lots of images, why didn't the publisher squeeze a B&O route map into the contents?

I like Welsh's short chapter about the B&O's competition, the Pennsylvania Railroad, which also ran trains between New York/Baltimore/Washington and Chicago and St. Louis.
While I don't think Welsh's book supplants Mr. Stegmaier's earlier, more detailed accounts of these great passenger trains, many railroad fans -- especially B&O partisans -- will welcome Welsh's newer, scaled back account.

History Books

Book Subjects
Most talked about in History Books
The Forever War ImageThe Forever War
by Dexter Filkins
Knopf; Published: 2008-09-16; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $14.49
Price in other shops: $25.00
The Post-American World ImageThe Post-American World
by Fareed Zakaria
W. W. Norton; Published: 2008-05-05; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $14.48
Price in other shops: $25.95
Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, Fourth Edition ImagePublication Manual of the American Psychological Association, Fourth Edition
by American Psychological Association
Amer Psychological Assn; Published: 1994-07; Paperback; Book
Best price: $2.64
Price in other shops: $21.95
The War Within: A Secret White House History 2006-2008 ImageThe War Within: A Secret White House History 2006-2008
by Bob Woodward
Simon & Schuster; Published: 2008-09-08; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $10.00
Price in other shops: $32.00
Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance ImageDreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance
by Barack Obama
Crown; Published: 2007-01-09; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $15.53
Price in other shops: $25.95
The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism ImageThe Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism
by Naomi Klein
Picador; Published: 2008-06-24; Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.77
Price in other shops: $16.00
The Wordy Shipmates ImageThe Wordy Shipmates
by Sarah Vowell
Riverhead Hardcover; Published: 2008-10-07; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $14.97
Price in other shops: $25.95
Kill Bin Laden: A Delta Force Commander's Account of the Hunt for the World's Most Wanted Man ImageKill Bin Laden: A Delta Force Commander's Account of the Hunt for the World's Most Wanted Man
by Dalton Fury
St. Martin's Press; Published: 2008-10-06; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $15.19
Price in other shops: $25.95
The Forgotten Man: A New History of the Great Depression ImageThe Forgotten Man: A New History of the Great Depression
by Amity Shlaes
Harper Perennial; Published: 2008-06-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $9.03
Price in other shops: $15.95
Three Cups of Tea: One Man's Mission to Promote Peace . . . One School at a Time ImageThree Cups of Tea: One Man's Mission to Promote Peace . . . One School at a Time
by Greg Mortenson, David Oliver Relin
Penguin (Non-Classics); Published: 2007-01-30; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.25
Price in other shops: $15.00
Similar books summaries and other product reviews
The Hiawatha Story (Fesler-Lampert Minnesota Heritage) ImageThe Hiawatha Story (Fesler-Lampert Minnesota Heritage)
by Jim Scribbins
Univ Of Minnesota Press; Published: 2007-05-21; Paperback; Book
Best price: $18.78
Price in other shops: $29.95
Baltimore & Ohio Railroad (MBI Railroad Color History) ImageBaltimore & Ohio Railroad (MBI Railroad Color History)
by Kirk Reynolds, Dave Oroszi
Voyageur Press; Published: 2008-11-12; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $24.42
Price in other shops: $37.00
North American Railroad Bridges ImageNorth American Railroad Bridges
by Brian Solomon
Voyageur Press; Published: 2008-01-15; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $23.07
Price in other shops: $36.95
Baltimore and Ohio Railroad In West Virginia (WV) (Images of Rail) ImageBaltimore and Ohio Railroad In West Virginia (WV) (Images of Rail)
by Carl & Smith, Barbara Briggs
Arcadia Publishing; Published: 2007-09-26; Paperback; Book
Best price: $12.40
Price in other shops: $19.99
Chicago & North Western Railway (MBI Railroad Color History) ImageChicago & North Western Railway (MBI Railroad Color History)
by Tom Murray
Voyageur Press; Published: 2008-06-15; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $23.17
Price in other shops: $36.95
The Milwaukee Road's Hiawathas (Great Passenger Trains) ImageThe Milwaukee Road's Hiawathas (Great Passenger Trains)
Voyageur Press; Published: 2006-11-15; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $22.18
Price in other shops: $34.95
Chicago Stations & Trains Photo Archive ImageChicago Stations & Trains Photo Archive
by John Kelly
Iconografix; Published: 2008-05-15; Paperback; Book
Best price: $19.76
Price in other shops: $29.95
Union Pacific's Streamliners (Great Passenger Trains) ImageUnion Pacific's Streamliners (Great Passenger Trains)
by Joe Welsh
Voyageur Press; Published: 2008-10-14; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $23.20
Price in other shops: $37.00
Pennsylvania Railroad's Broadway Limited (Great Passenger Trains) ImagePennsylvania Railroad's Broadway Limited (Great Passenger Trains)
by Joe Welsh
Voyageur Press; Published: 2006-09-15; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $20.50
Price in other shops: $34.95
Southern Railway (MBI Railroad Color History) ImageSouthern Railway (MBI Railroad Color History)
by Tom Murray
Voyageur Press; Published: 2007-12-15; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $23.77
Price in other shops: $36.95