My first novel was a fictional account of a real event, so I know first hand what you're going through. In my case, it was a real race between two railroads to reach a single spot. Whoever failed was going to go bankrupt. So, as you might guess, there were plenty of underhanded (but disavowed) attempts to stop the other company from succeeding. There were also all of the things that occur in that REAL period--ranch owners shooting at the rail workers, landslides, explosions. Plenty of book fodder.
I did the following steps to make sure I kept it both historically accurate and entertaining.
1. I created several fictional characters--one in in a high enough position of authority that he could interact with all of the "movers and shakers" of the industry, one in "middle management" in a different location, and one that was a day to day working stiff. That was my creative license, and even the historians understood there was no other way to handle it--mostly because the events were scattered among several locations in a time with little communication.
2. I researched the archives of both companies, read the journals of middle managers and the pay rolls. I pulled the occasional real event into the plot. One example was a notation about a railroad worker who was being transferred to the nearest city to have an injury looked at by a company doctor. That means little today, but back then, it had to be something BIG for the company to make that effort. So, I moved to #3.
3. I looked through local newpaper accounts of the event. Just like today, they focused on the "big" happenings--deaths, explosions, injuries. It was the biggest thing to hit the area in years, so reporters swarmed the site. There were actually two full time people assigned to the event by the newspaper. I was able to backtrack a few months on the injured man and discovered that his hand had been crushed by a hammer while pounding spikes. OUCH! So, that gave me the man's name, and allowed me to create a potential crew for the man to be on. I created a fictional guy who was his team mate (so the one who wielded the hammer.) Naturally, he was being eaten alive by guilt and probably drank too much.
4. I also contacted the local historical society and discovered that there were books already written about the subject years ago, so I researched them too. I also did "side research." Since it was a railroad, I figured there might be some books about the nearby road into town and was right. There was a history of the interstate that replaced the road, and a few tidbits in there dealt with the railroad construction and how it sped up tourism and increased highway funding in the area.
5. I found in those books photographs that were taken by a very famous photographer DURING construction. A trip to the library earned me the right to publish the historic photographs in the text (after signing an agreement and paying a small fee.) They really add to the story, because you can look at the photos and imagine the events. Once I found those, I backtracked in the book to add in the photographer taking the shots. The upper management guy was annoyed by the fuss. It was just another job, after all, and the photographers were in the way.
6. The photographs led me to OTHER photographs of "stupid people tricks." Like today, the owners decided to capitalize on the novelty of construction, but in a very stupid way. They allowed TOURISTS to visit the construction site--at one point thirteen traincars full of them!
It would be like a construction site with little kids climbing on the bulldozers. So, that was a scene, too.
7. The newspaper accounts also led to scenes in the book. If someone died in the newspaper, they died in the book. I retyped the news accounts and got permission from the successor to the newspaper (which was still in business) to publish them. The originals were too fragile to copy, or I would have done that. But the typed versions worked better, actually, because I could use ellipses to remove text that wasn't necessary to know. By using the newspaper and inserting it in the book, I didn't have to focus on the events of THAT person's life, so I didn't have to worry about offending his memory. I could focus instead on the attempts to save him, or mourning his loss. Most everyone on a big job has friends. Not every friend winds up in the record books. That can all be fictionalized without impacting the truth. One was a drowning where the guy was joking around in the river, diving for rocks his buddies threw. He disappeared underwater (according to the newspaper) and never was found. It was a VERY fast river, and they looked for over a day to find him. I added a scene with my main character diving into the river to find him and nearly being swept away himself. They get him out safely and he's taken to dry and warm up while the search party starts. That sort of thing.
8. I added in a bibliography/suggested reading section at the end. That satisfied historians of the event that I used accepted accounts of the event and they gave it their blessing, including a cover quote from a leading railroad historian.
So, it can be done quite easily--using the "friend of a friend" theory. Make your character best buddies with the real movers and shakers, and you'll be fine.
Oh, and another book you might want to look at is
"Fire in the Hole" by Sybil Downing. She did a great job of introducing a fictional character into a real event--the Ludlow Massacre of 1914, where the United Mine Workers fought a bloody battle with mine owners and the Colorado Militia during a strike. Terrific story, and very gripping.
My goal was to make it a critical success, even if it never became a commercial one. And I succeeded. It won an award for best historic chronicle, has gotten rave reviews from railroad magazines and historians. But it will probably never sell through the first printing. It's just too much of a niche market. Le sigh...
But it can be done quite easily, without stepping on legal toes. And it can be entertaining to boot. So have fun!
