CONCISION
This in class activity is designed to provide you with practice writing concisely. I’ll give you the necessary information; Actually, I’ll give you more info than you need. Part of this activity is making decisions. The other portion of this exercise is to force you to eliminate unnecessary language. My publisher requires that most captions be limited to a 50-70 word range. That’s your challenge also.
Here is some context for you. Remember, not everything may be necessary for your caption. You’ll need to decide what the image is “about,” what the central focus should be, and what information is most essential.
• Bellaire is a region of East Ohio, located across the river from Wheeling, West Virginia. This image was included in the book, Images of America: Bellaire.
• Bellaire was an industrial hub. In its heyday, the city contained glass factories, coal mines, enamel works, brick makers, and other industries. The presence of the Baltimore &Ohio (B&O) Railroad made such industrial prosperity possible.
• Photo - In the B&O yards of the Bellaire Roundhouse.
• With Shovel – John Krebs, engineer. This particular photo was donated by his great grandson, also named John Krebs.
• The other gentleman was recently identified. He was a fireman named Ernest Rufer.
• This picture was taken in 1878.
• In the background is the Stone Viaduct, an important feature of the town that was erected to connect the B&O line to the Central Ohio Railroad. It also crossed the Ohio River, making rail travel between Ohio and West Virginia more convenient. Prior to 1870, train ferries were used.
• The engine in this photo is a Camel Locomotive. Camels were known for carrying heavy freight across rugged terrain. The problem was that they had a tendency to derail. The engine seen here was an improved model called a Davis Ten Wheeler. What made this model unique was the wheel configuration. Most Camels had wheels arranged in a 0-8-0 pattern. This meant that the engine had eight driving wheels and nothing else. The Davis Ten Wheeler had a configuration of 4-6-0. This means that four leading wheels preceded six driving wheels. This new arrangement helped reduce the number of derailments.
• Although I don’t have a copy of the book with me, I can give you a sense of how the contents were divided into chapters. Yikes. Let’s see how well my memory is. I believe the chapters, in order, are: 1.) Industry 2.) Railroads 3.) The River 4.) Downtown 5.) Community 6.) Faith 7.) Civil Servants 8.) Education and Sports 9.) Local Notables and Visitors.