Wikipedia:Featured article candidates/Baltimore Steam Packet Company

The following is an archived discussion of a featured article nomination. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the article's talk page or in Wikipedia talk:Featured article candidates. No further edits should be made to this page.

The article was promoted by User:SandyGeorgia 19:13, 4 July 2008 [1].

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Baltimore Steam Packet Company

Self-Nominator: JGHowes ^talk -

I believe this article is properly sourced, uses images appropriately, and covers the subject matter fully, and is ready for FAC. JGHowes 00:17, June 21, 2008

Comments

• The ref to Seaboard-Bay Line Company CSX transportation archival records, are those non-published sources? WP:V wants "reliable, third-party, published sources"

the new link is to what looks like an archive of a mailing list? Ealdgyth - Talk 01:04, 21 June 2008 (UTC)

Mailing lists usually are not considered reliable. Ealdgyth - Talk 13:12, 22 June 2008 (UTC)

• Is current ref 11 a newspaper article? "Norfolk Journal 2 August 1869"

What page is it quoted by Brown on? Ealdgyth - Talk 01:04, 21 June 2008 (UTC)

• Current ref 18 (USS President Warfield) is lacking a last access date
• Per WP:MOS the curly quotes are frowned on.

Otherwise sources look okay, links check out with the link checker tool. Ealdgyth - Talk 00:32, 21 June 2008 (UTC)

Reply:Have addressed the first three, don't see any curly quotes except for the {{cquote}} template - is this what you're referring to? JGHowes ^talk - 01:01, 21 June 2008 (UTC)

Yes, it is that template. Ealdgyth - Talk 01:03, 21 June 2008 (UTC)

Reply:Further citation edits made to article. Because the quotation was more than a sentence or two, and seemed to exemplify the impression a Bay Line trip on the Chesapeake made on passengers of the era, I set it off using {{cquote}} per WP:QUOTE#How to use quotations. But if the consensus frowns on it, I'd be happy to remove the template and integrate the quote in the main body of the paragraph. JGHowes ^talk - 01:34, 21 June 2008 (UTC)

I think you can use {{blockquote}} to set it off. The WP:MOS section dealing with this is Wikipedia:Manual of Style#Quotations. Ealdgyth - Talk 01:49, 21 June 2008 (UTC)

• Comment Rename "The 1940s" to "1940s" to avoid starting it with an article, and to be uniform with the other section titles. Gary King (talk) 06:22, 21 June 2008 (UTC)

Reply: Have made all changes mentioned above by Ealdgyth and Gary King (talk). Page reference added. The information from the corporate secretary of the CSX Corporation, quoting from their archives, is used as a primary source here, but in all instances it should be noted that the information is also covered by the cited reliable secondary sources.JGHowes ^talk - 12:02, 21 June 2008 (UTC)

• Support — Rlevse • Talk • 21:35, 27 June 2008 (UTC)
• Support Nice. Sumoeagle179 (talk) 22:30, 27 June 2008 (UTC)

• Support, with some comments

• I personally dislike hard-coded image sizes. I would prefer to see them specified only as "thumb" so that user's thumbnail-size preferences are respected
• I don't really see the need for a direct quote in the sentence beginning "In October 1961, the company announced…".
• The article would benefit from inclusion of information on segregation (as a talk page item mentioned), but without coverage in sources, it's not something to oppose over.
• It looks like Baltimore Steam Packet Company was a defendant in a US Supreme Court case involving the sinking of a sailing ship in 1859. Have you considered adding this to the article? (Link)

Disclaimer: I was the GA reviewer for this article, and promoted it. I have also made a few edits here and there. — Bellhalla (talk) 18:29, 1 July 2008 (UTC)

Reply: Image sizes now unforced, except for 300px Lead and detailed map, per MOS:IMAGES. I've revised the 1961 announcement quotation to make it clearer to the reader that, at the time the company made the announcement, seasonal resumption of service the following year was intended. Also now added is the U.S. Supreme Court case involving the Louisiana sinking of a sailing ship in 1858, with inline cite. JGHowes ^talk - 22:45, 1 July 2008 (UTC)

Comments Very nice article overall and obviously well researched. I did find some minor things that should be looked at:

• The color of the tables is a bit eye-watering. Dark brown and yellow with light blue and then light green is rather a turn-off at least to me anyway.
• In the See also section the mention of the Adelaide should be moved up to the section on the Civil War era and I don't see the relevancy that Baltimore riot of 1861 would have to this article unless it directly involved the company.
• The External links section carries a link to a danfs article on Adelaide but if the reader were really interested in seeing more about that ship they should be directed to the WP article which can be done by moving Adelaide as described above. You could reference danfs as you did for the President Warfield. Otherwise if there are no relevant external links for this article then the section can be eliminated along with the See also section

--Brad (talk) 03:22, 2 July 2008 (UTC)

Reply: The eye-watering colors have been eliminated from the charts and the Adelaide content integrated with the article's 1860 section, eliminating separate "See also" and "EL" sections. Thanks for these suggestions, which indeed have resulted in a tighter treatment of the Civil War's impact on the subject. JGHowes ^talk - 00:17, 4 July 2008 (UTC)

Support That had results better than I expected. --Brad (talk) 17:41, 4 July 2008 (UTC)

• Note, why is there color coding in the chart in Routes operated? I can't see any need for the color: see Wikipedia:MOS#Color coding. Ditto for the headings in the chart in Old Bay Line fleet. SandyGeorgia (Talk) 02:49, 4 July 2008 (UTC)

Reply: Sandy, personally I like a lot of color but have now rm'd color coding from chart headings JGHowes ^talk - 19:15, 4 July 2008 (UTC)

The above discussion is preserved as an archive. Please do not modify it. No further edits should be made to this page.