Trains and Railroads Books

You never read this book once, at least 3 times in one sitting. I have a 3-year-old boy and he loves this simple story about the "Boot Family". The family helps the Old Steam Train and the Station to work again.

The pictures are on a white background, which make them easy to look at. They are wonderful, bright and very descriptive drawings. This all assists the child to start reading books and they don't want to stop. They learn to read the short simple text located on top of the page (about 5 easy words). Then the book has longer text on the bottom of the page, which you read to the child. You build up the child's confidence and then they start to read the whole book with you. It's great when my child joins in and gets all excited. I couldn't ask for more from a book.

The book also has maps of Apple Tree Farm. In which you can do your own stories and see where the story you have just read. Also a little yellow duck is on every page for the child to find.

Growing up in a town on the Omaha mainline in the 50's, I was quickly taught that the tracks going thru town were not "The Northwestern", but still "The Omaha". It was a proud line and this is a fine telling of its wild and interesting history, from loggers and lumber to cowboys and cattle. My only complaint at all (not a serious one) is in the text on the dust jacket stating how The 400 traveled through Black River Falls. In fact, by the time The 400 flashed through on The Omaha enroute from Chicago to Minneapolis in world record setting speed, the mainline did not even pass through Black River Falls, and the folks there had to go to my hometown, Merrillan, to get on the slick green and yellow cars. A great book, highly recommended!

For anyone interested in this fascinating area of Americana, Cliff "Oats" Williams book is a must-read. The testimonials of real-life hoboes and train-tramps are poignant and illuminating. "Oats" is an insider to this engaging subculture -- and an insider with a finely-tuned ear and well-earned sensitivity. It is the best compilation of its sort currently in print.

Highly entertaining book about the history of the Orient Express! An iconic train that is largely forgotten by most, with the exception of Agatha Christie fans, reading this book brings the railway to life! Chock full of ancedotes and history tidbits, including stories about its famous passengers, this book is a must have for anyone interested in the history of the Orient Express.

I found this book as well as Falconer's other corvette reference books well stocked with great looking original corvettes. You don't just get pictures though. He accompanies the photos with lots of information and data associated with each production year. What I like most of all is it appears most of the corvettes are tagged and street driven, not pampered show cars. I will keep this book around for a long time.

Hello,
Received the book to-day. Excellent source of detail information for modelers. I'm building a series of model Corvettes to represent the 'First 25 years of Corvette'. Thank you for the quick shipping.
Regards.....Charles

A fascinating book, rich in innovative analysis and historical detail on rail and bus management strategies and tactics. It's essential for students of both railroad history and California history. The detail will interest railfans, and the analysis would let them escape from conspiricay theories about the decline of rail passenger service.

Being born much too late to witness the glory years of the railroad, I love books which show what the good old days looked like. Some of the scenes in the book are familar to me, and that also adds to the book's appeal. This book shows both the machines and the people affiliated with the railraod. Highly recommended.

The Pennsylvania Railroad was one of the largest and most successful corporations in the United States for many decades. At its best, it provided some of the most extensive and superlative freight and passenger service in the world. Passenger service entered a brief but brilliant renaissance (and equally speedy demise) after World War II. To those of us who grew up in the 1950's and 1960's in the Northeast, this well-researched and finely illustrated book brings those times and trains vividly back into view, with a clear reminder of the last halcyon days of American passenger train service. For those of us who had the pleasure of riding the likes of "The Broadway Limited", "The Congressional" "The Spirit of Saint Louis" and many other fine Pennsy trains, this book is a vivid and beautiful reminder of what we had and what we have lost. There will never be another time in transportation history when travel was as exciting, elegant and luxurious as the days of the Blue Ribbon Fleet. To those readers too young to have been there, this book will provide, if nothing else, a tantalizing portrait of an era lost, but not forgotten. Highly recommended to any serious student of American rail travel.

The professional reviews did not prepare me for the poignancy and beauty of this story. The story is of a young boy, forced to leave behind his home, loved-ones, comfort, and security for the unknown adventure of the new world. His link to the known and familiar was a small wooden boat carved by his grandfather. Just as he was beginning to embrace the wonder and awe of his beautiful adventure the boat slips from his hands and is lost forever in the prairie grass. Despite the attempts of parents to comfort him in his loss, the longing for home and things as they were envelope his thoughts and he will not be comforted.

That night his grandfather comes to him in a dream and counsels him, as only a grandfather can, to leave behind the sadness and look forward to the beauty awaiting at the journey's end. In that brief heart-to-heart talk with his grandfather the boy is lifted and the new day dawns with a fresh resolve to cheerfully move forward.

The story will resonate with anyone who has had to face the unknown or has had to journey to a new world leaving a comfortable world behind. Did I forget to mention there are boats and a train sailing over the ocean and prairie to hold the imagination of a young child? For the young child the loss of the toy boat is a signal that the story is about to take off to new adventures. While my little one understands the loss of a treasured toy he doesn't have the experience to let more subtle concerns interfere with a good story and great pictures.

As for me, it is satisfying to find a book with an underlying message on par with The Little Engine that Could and "I think I can." But this story touches deeper than what the happy little girls and boys on the other side of the mountain can appreciate. Parents and Grandparents will find this a satisfying reading experience with their young explorer. This book gives both the reader and the listener a wonderful feeling, that is, in the words of the inside cover flap, "deeply satisfying."

The artwork is beautiful. The inside covers have a beautiful stylistic map of the journey from Connemara Ireland to San Francisco.