2/1/2005
By Paula Stuart-Warren
Q. My uncle was a B&O Railroad engineer from the 1930s to the '50s. Family legend has it that he “drove” one of President Eisenhower's victory trains. B&O says its records are gone, and the Eisenhower Presidential Library says train engineers weren't recorded. How can I prove this story?
A. Although some wonderful railroad records do exist, the Baltimore & Ohio (B&O) Railroad is one of the sad stories. According to the B&O Railroad Historical Society <www.borhs.org>, many late-1800s and early-1900s records were lost due to moves and file purging as the company changed ownership.