Woohhhh! Wwoohhh!: Annual Display of Model Trains

The Beaufort Railroaders are ready to open their wonderful scaled train display on Tuesday, December 16th at 10 am. Do drop by the Beaufort Branch Library between  December 16th and December 20th at the times below. Please note that the schedule changes over the five days:

·         Tuesday, December 16: 10 am - 6 pm

·         Wednesday, December 17: 10 am - 6 pm

·         Thursday, December 18: 10 am - 6 pm

·         Friday, December 19: 1 pm - 5 pm

                                            ·         Saturday, December 20: 10 am - 4 pm

For those you want to learn more about railroad transportation in Beaufort County, we suggest that you come to the Beaufort District Collection to see these items:

SC 333.7313 SOU Prospectus: South Carolina Land and Improvement Company of Port Royal; Acts incorporating the South Carolina Land and Improvement Co., and South Atlantic Railroad Company, South Carolina Land and Improvement Company, 1877.
SC 385 DER Centennial history of South Carolina Railroad by Samuel Melanchthon Derrick, 1975, c1930.
SC 385.54 FER Argent: last of the swamp rats by Mallory Hope Ferrell, 1994.
SC 385 FET Logging railroads of South Carolina by Thomas Fetters, c1990. (BDC, BEA, HHI)
SC 385 SOU South Carolina rail plan, 1980 prepared for the Federal Railroad Administration; pursuant to 49 CFR part 266.15; submitted by the South Carolina Public Service Commission; prepared by Wilbur Smith and Associates, 1980.
SC 975.7 WIL Railroads and sawmills: Varnville, S.C., 1872-1997: the making of a Low Country town in the new South, compiled and edited by Rose-Marie Eltzroth Williams, 1998 (BDC, HHI)
SC 975.799 PET Petition of members of the Constitutional Convention of South Carolina, praying aid to the Port Royal Railroad Company in completing its road from Port Royal to Augusta, Georgia [Pamphlet article], 1868.
SC 975.799 WHI A brief history of Beaufort, S.C. and vicinity, [Pamphlet]: its advantages as a winter and summer resort by Joseph W. White, c1879.

While you're in the Library system's special local history collection and archives, plan on reviewing  the contents of our vertical files on Railroads and on the Port Royal Railroad Company.

See more photographs of the "Atlantic Coast Line Railroad Company,” “Railroad Stations,” and “Trestle” in our digital “Phosphate, Farms, and Family: The Donner Collection.” Images contained therein are copyrighted by Beaufort County Library.

If you're particularly interested in the history of the Charleston & Savannah railroad during the Civil War, we suggest:

973.7757 STO Vital rails: the Charleston & Savannah Railroad and the Civil War in Coastal South Carolina by H. David Stone, Jr. (ALL)
SC PRINT #27 Firing into a train on the South Carolina railroad: narrow escape of the passengers: Frank Leslie’s Illustrated Newspaper, March 12, 1859 from a sketch by our special artist taken on the spot.
SC PRINT #28 The Federal troops, under Generals Brannan ad Terry, driving the Confederates, under General Walker, across the Pocotaligo Bridge, near the Charleston and Savannah Railroad, October 22d, 1862 from a sketch by W.T. Crane.

SC MAP #154 Map of the seat of war in South Carolina, and Georgia by Evans & Cogswell, [1861].

We have a number of maps in the special collections department that indicate railroad tracks and stations. We'll be happy to show them to you during our regular hours of operation, Mondays through Fridays, 10 am to 5 pm except as otherwise noted. 

SC MAP #118 Port Royal Railroad, National Archives, inaccurately dated as [186-?]. Copy of a hand-drawn map, showing the Port Royal Railroad as it bypasses Battery Creek, Cedar Grove Plantation, Battery Plantation, and School Farm (sold to S. C. Millett) and ending at the wharf. "This series consists of township plats for St. Helena's Parish, South Carolina, showing certificate numbers and names of landowners. Also, there are land survey and ownership maps."--NARA Web site.
SC MAP #615 Map of the Okeetee Club lands, Hampton & Beaufort Counties, South Carolina, 1900. 
SC MAP #659 The Geographical Publishing Company's Premier Map of South Carolina, 1931?.
SC MAP #664 South Carolina railroads. Rand McNally and Company, 1898, c1895.
SC MAP #674-A The Rand McNally new commercial atlas map of South Carolina: 1914.
SC MAP #674-B The Rand McNally new commercial atlas map of South Carolina: [1916].
SC MAP #690 Rand McNally Black and White Mileage Map South Carolina: 1921.
SC MAP #771 Rand McNally standard map of South Carolina, 1949?
SC MAP #732 South Carolina History Series: SC 8, Physical [map], 1989.

And don't forget to use our SCLENDS catalog to find many other railroad related materials here in Beaufort County Library.  A quick search on the term "Railroads" as a subject got almost 500 hits! If I extend the search on "Railroads" to the Consortium, I got over 2000 hits. In other words, there are loads of factual railroad books for adults and children and there are loads of railroad and train stories for all ages at the Library.