Event Date:  Thursday September 17, 2026

 Speaker Presentation:

The Impossible Challenge: Baltimore Invents the American Railroad

The Impossible Challenge is a discussion about the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad’s most difficult and defining Maryland story: how Baltimore’s railroad builders tried to turn an audacious 1827 idea into a working route across some of the most demanding terrain in the eastern United States that ultimately reshaped Maryland transportation and American railroading.

Event Location:  Oakland B&O Station and Museum, 117 E. Liberty Street, Oakland, MD.  Doors open at 6:30 and speakers begin at 7:00.  All are welcome!

Co-Speakers: Sharon and Herbert Harwood.

Sharon is a renowned historian and speaker. She is a graduate of Goucher College and is retired from the Montgomery County School System. Her family’s careers cover 120 years in American railroading and provide the foundation of her interest in the industry. Sharon’s father, George M. Beischer, was Chief Mechanical Officer on the old B&O and a role model for her.

Sharon is married to Herbert H. Harwood, Jr., a retired CSX official whose grandfather was in charge of the construction of Grand Central Terminal in New York. Herb’s 30 year railroading career began in the finance department of the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway and continued until his retirement in 1986 as Director of Commercial Administration for the combined C&O-B&O railroads. Both of these railroads are predecessors of the present CSX Transportation. He has authored about 11 books on railroad and trolley history, including several on various aspects of B&O Railroad history. One of his best known books is The Impossible Challenge.