Trains and Railroads Books

I was very dissatisfied with this book. It does have excellent illustrations, but the text is rather lacking. It doesn't have a storyline, more of a rhyming description of each picture in the book. For me, it serves a picture book.

I purchased this book for my 5 year old son who LOVES trains. He enjoyed this book so much when he borrowed it from the library, that I just had to buy it for him. The illustrations are so life-like and the rhyming of the words made it easy for him to memorize in no time at all. It is his favorite bedtime story. For any child that love trains, this book is a must have!!

My two year old son is already a train junkie. He pulled this one at random off the shelf at our local library; we read it every night before bed. Sometimes we read the text, sometimes we just describe what is going on in the pictures. The text is a pleasant rhyme about the different kinds of cars on a long freight train (B&O box car, Frisco gondola, Pennsey tanker, etc), counting the cars as they go past the railroad crossing. It is the truly breathtaking artwork that makes this book a keeper--each page a different viewpoint of the railroad crossing scene, with the steam engine, a kid dragging his toy truck, a dog sleeping in the car window, different kinds of freight cars, a group of kids making faces at each other across the track...

I was so sad to see someone describe this book as "boring"! The incredible illustrations spark the imagination. My son loves the boys who can suddenly see each other over the short gondola car, the page where the children bend down and wave to each other under the train, the woman who makes the "ohmygoodness" face at the cow leaning out of the cattle car...we love this book because there is something to talk about on every page. It's our favorite bedtime story.

My son first got this book from the library when he was 4 years old and he is now 7. He loves trains, crossings in particular, and the illustrations in this book are phenomenal. A good book for anyone who loves trains.

This is kind of the bible for repairing postwar Lionel Trains for me. This is my second copy so I can leave this one in the shop. Great book!!!!

Best book ever bought have used it continuosly since i recieved it.the Book is very informative an easy to read makes working on my train collection easy.

This book like all others for train repair doesn't have a picture(s) of everything that it should and like many others it seems to be a reproduction of Lionel service manual pages - that said I am glad I have it. jdr

If you own and/or operate postwar Lionel trains this book is a must have.
It is the postwar Lionel bible with exploded views,wiring schematics,part numbers, and repair tips. Yes, you will need reading glasses the print is extra small.

This is a conveniently sized book that anyone interested in repair, maintenance, and operation of Postwar Lionel Trains will find very useful. It has exploded diagrams listing original part numbers along with trouble shooting and repair information found in Lionel's original service station manuals. A great reference work for anyone maintaining Lionel trains.

Beautiful illustrations and colors, engaging story, rhyming verses, trains and animals -- what's not to love?!! Our three year olds (2) love it! We've given it as a gift to a child named Zach since "Driver Zach" plays prominently. He loved it.

My kids, 2-1/2 and 5 both LOVE this story and sing it all around the house. We love the beautifully colored illustrations and the light, sing-song gait of the words. We've borrowed it twice from the library and now "Santa" is going to buy it for Christmas, they love it so much!

My son and I love this book. The illustrations are wonderfully fun and colorful. If you follow the natural meter of the verse when you read it aloud, you can actually give your child a sense of rhythm. I just love reading it to the beat of the text.

I hate to go against most of the other reviews but I wasn't all that excited by this one. My daughters who like trains weren't either.

The illustrations were warm and fun and the rhyming was well done. I guess I really didn't like the story line. It was a bit of a downer. Everyone is having fun on the train and the engineer says he's got a headache and unless everyone is quiet, he'll turn the train around. So by the end the engineer is happy but everyone else looks kind of sad.

I was hoping for something to placate the train lust of my two year old. This is really about the hubbub ON a train. But it doesn't really capture my little train freak's attention.

Halfway through this book I wanted to scream stop The Train I want to get off.The book was so boring it revoles around Hannah and her friends from Parker High.They are going on a tour from chicago to San Francisco by Train(hence the name of the book).Yet while on the train in the baggage department they discover a coffin.After reading the tag on the coffin the find out that it holds the body of a classmate of theirs named Roger.None of them liked Roger they all called him Frog.Then they all begin discussing how they treated Roger badly and they start feeling guilty about it.Soon bad things start happening and people are getting hurt.Hannah starts wondering if Frog is really dead?So she and her friends set out to find out.

This is a great book but you have to be ready for it. i went into it thinking that it would somr murder mystery (one of my favorite types of books) but i was totally suprised. it is a very scary, sad and emotional book. Hannah, the main character, is a very distressed and scared girl because trains scare her a lot, especially when going across country. But after her and her friend, Kerry, discover the coffin of their formeer peer whom they nicknamed Frog in the baggae car, everyone starts confessing to the horrible things that they did to him. and, it's not who you expect. that's all i'm going to say because i dont want to give away the ending. happy reading!

Hannah and her other high school friends are part of the school's field trip to San Francisco travelling by train from Chicago. Kerry who needs to put on makeup every ten minutes and change clothes every hour is enraged when the conductor takes her vastly too large carry on to the baggage car from her whipped boyfriend who was struggling getting it onto the train. When she goes to get it she finds the coffin of a recently deceased class member is also going to San Francisco. Even though she, Hannah and the rest of the gang had treated the kid they had forced the nick name of Frog onto like a social leper and made his life miserable she throws a tantrum about having to share the train with his corpse which much to her disgust gets her nowhere. When the train enters its first tunnel and the Frog's girlfriend is found nearly strangled to death the terror begins for the gang of friends. Hannah seems to be of special interest to the murderer but she won't tell her friends why. It seems that Frog is not happily staying in his coffin and she and her friends are in grave danger.

It was an enjoyable quick read and is ideal to read if you have to kill a few hours somewhere, maybe even at the train station. You do have to overlook that surely after an attempted murder the train would be stopped at the next town and all suspects removed to an interview room with the local police but obviously they have to stay on the train for the story to happen. I've caught the train from Chicago to San Francisco and it doesn't stop for a half a day in Denver either, it stops at places to refuel yes but not a whole morning and there's no way it would delay hundreds of passengers to wait for one teenager to reappear or not. Also why they would expect the corpse of Frog to be in the very same coffin they rescued Hannah from seems to defy logic. If you can overlook these things and accept the work as pure fiction then this is a very enjoyable read.

This is the only Hoh book I have read yet.When hannah goes on a trip with her friends to San Franciso they never expected the horrors that were in store for them.I would recommend this book for someone likes twists.

Hannah, Mack, Kerry, Lewis, and Jean Marie are all a group of best friends on a school trip to California by train. Soon after boarding, Hannah discovers that the coffin of Frog Drummond -- a school outcast who was killed in a car accident -- is on board. After telling her friends the news, they all confess to tormenting him; soon their lives are in danger when a deranged stalker, who they believe to be Frog himself, shatter their plans.

"The Train" by Diane Hoh was outstanding! I'm a thriller fanatic, and out of all of the books I've read so far, this is the best! From the first chapter to the last, it's suspenseful. The storyline and setting is unique, in numerous ways. For one, in most thrillers, life-threatening events occur, but there usually isn't an actual death or murder. There was in this book, which turned out to be sad, because it was one of the main characters, and after reading, you get attached and feel like you've lost a friend! Secondly, most books don't completely shock you at the end. You usually suspect everyone to a certain extent. But, the killer in "The Train" was totally unexpected! That is what I call the perfect thriller-chiller! Enjoy!

Also recommended:
a.) "Double Date" by Sinclair Smith
b.) "The Boy Next Door" by Sinclair Smith
c.) "Starstruck" by Richie Tankersley Cusick
d.) All books by Joan Lowery Nixon

My son is 18 months old, and he loves this book. The first day that we had it I must have read it 5 times in a row. It is short, but perfect for an active toddler that usually won't sit still.

My boys love dinosaurs and trains so they love this book. The pictures are super. I don't think its very educational. But its fun, and we all need that!

As other reviewers have stated, the text is very short. It does not work well as a read-aloud bedtime story because the whole point of the book is the pictures. You have to look at the pictures, spending as much time as the child wants on the pictures. It's then you can notice all the details and the pure fun of this book. My 2-year-old loves it, my 6-year-old loves it, my 5-year-old gets bored with it very quickly.

If your younger child likes trains and dinosaurs and loves to spend time just looking at books without needing a plot, then buy this book. If you're not sure, I'd recommend checking it out first to see if it's a keeper for your family.

excellent combonation about trains and dinosaurs and imagination. this is an excellent book about a little boy, jesse, who loves trains and dinosaurs so much. one night, right before bed, his imagination takes him on a train ride with dinosaurs. it's jesse's dream come true!! excellent book for a train or dinosaur lover of all ages.

The text of Dinosaur Train starts out promisingly enough; it is something to the effect of, "Thursday was a day much like any other for Jesse. Trains and dinosaurs. Dinosaurs and trains." But it goes downhill a bit from there, like the author created these beautiful images and then decided to add notes at the last minute. Sometimes a speaker is identified by the text, sometimes not; there's one point where some confusion could be the result. I almost think the story would stand better without any words than with the ones that are there. Jesse is the only character with any development to speak of (and I'm not sure there's even much there); removing the text would give us an opportunity to look more closely at other characters. Better text might actually add a plot (the plot, at this point, is basically that Jesse gets on a train, the train tips over, and Jesse tells the dinosaurs how to right the train).
The combination of dinosaurs and trains is irresistible, and I love the details in Jesse's toys and the way clothes somehow look perfectly natural on the dinosaurs. But the text actually makes Jesse seem too bossy to me, and it's amazing that such vibrant dinosaurs can be so submissive.
This concept is as breathtaking as that of the Polar Express, and my 2 1/2-year-old has had us read this book to him about a gazillion times, so he clearly appreciates it. It's just one of those that I don't like reading aloud again and again because the story doesn't do much for me.

The artwork is unappealing, and seems as though she is ridiculing people. The tone is too bitter for children, and the book lacks any emotional truth that might appeal to a teenager or an adult. Like most of Kalman's work, this book generally is pointless; like when a college student feels embarrassed after making some vapid comment, and so pretends that it's an "inside" joke.

Author Maira Kalman takes us on a fascinating and entertaining whirlwind tour of Grand Central Station, "the busiest, fastest, biggest place there is." Meet some of the people who work there from Lenny Maglione who's in charge of the whole building, Wanda who hears complaints, Ed, the lightbulb changer, and Marino Marino who makes oyster stew at the Oyster Bar, to Audrey in the information booth who will answer your questions, Melvin Johnson who helps you find the right train and step aboard, and Frank Chidester who runs the Lost and Found. And watch the travelers, waiting, looking up and down and all around, rushing, eating, and going to work, or play, or appointments, or visits. The action never stops at Grand Central because people need to come and go all day and all night long..... Ms Kalman's creative text is full of wordplay, puns, energy, humor, and fun that will send imaginations soaring, and is only outdone by her bold, busy and engaging artwork. Kids will love poring over all the marvelous detailed illustrations and are sure to find something new and exciting each and every time they open the book. Perfect for youngsters 5 and older, Next Stop Grand Central is an innovative smorgasbord of fast-paced action and fun that transports the reader to this very "grand" place for the adventure of a lifetime. "Trains are trips. And trips are adventures. And adventures are new ideas and romance and you can't ever know what in the world will happen which is exactly why you are going." Jump aboard and enjoy!

I read this book last week for an elementary school storytime, and it was a rousing success. Questions and riotous laughter abounded. The giant chicken on the tracks was a big hit, especially. There are lots of small visual gags for the sharp eyed, as well as marvelous wordplay. This is a book easily enjoyed by adults and children alike.

Not since Roald Dahl has a writer spoken to kids with such respect and imagination. When I read this to my 4 year old she was filled with questions and ideas and that is all I need to know. Some people have an unconventional style that fits both children and adults and Maira Kalman is certainly one of those people. This book and the Max series will be included in the lives of all the children I will ever know and they will be the happier, more imaginative and more creative for it.

This book rules. I work at Grand Central TERMINAL (not Station!) and Kalman captures the marevelous energy and wackiness of the building. I can think of few places that offer such a great opportunity for people watching, and "Next Stop Grand Central" portrays this in a bright and colorful way that adults and children alike can enjoy.

I was looking for a reference guide for the signals at the tracks near my house. This book gave me a basic idea (I guess there are too many configurations/railroad) but most of the book covered the early history of signaling. Interesting, but I wanted more of a recent 'field guide' type book. I have 7 signals to look at within a mile bike ride of my house and I still cant figure out 5 of them!

I purchased the book in my capacity primarily as a railroad union officer (BLE&T), and secondarily as an amateur rail historian (former Vice-President, Pacific Region, NRHS). I was hoping to find the book to provide a bit more technical detail than what it contains. Having been involved in several signal related accident investigations, I have found my techicnal expertise to be somewhat lacking when the time comes to interview those railroad employees whose responsibility it is to maintain and repair railroad signalling systems. I don't know that Brian Solomon's book will go a long way towards helping me increase that knowledge; but it does provide a comprehensive bibliography which I am sure I can put to use in reaching my goals in that regard. From a historical perspective, the book is a helpful primer to those who wish to understand the basics of train control methods.

This is a basic overview of all types of railroad signals. It covers the history and development of visual and electrical signaling systems. To get an understanding of how signals work this is an excellent book. Unfortunately no book could cover all signals that you may encounter trackside. Because each railroad has its own signal system, you will have to refer to their timetable to decode local signal aspects and indications.

An easy read with excellent graphics, "Railroad Signaling" is a must for anyone interested in railroads and the technology that goes with them.

I worked as the BN Roadmaster's Clerk at Northtown for five years and had an excellent working relationship with the Signal Department. By reading this book, I now understand the complexity of signal installations.

This book is written in a way that a lay person can appreciate how the different types of signals operate in relationship to each other. Brian Soloman speaks about the signal systems in various part of the country work (and are different from the BN's) and has pictures of same.

This book is a must for railfans.

Ed Burns of Anoka, Minnesota

Brian Solomon's Railroad Signaling book is one that has been missing from the ranks of books about railroads for many years. There has not been a general publication about the sometimes perplexing and interesting world of railroad signaling aside from GRS's book of many years ago and an article in Trains magazine from 1957. Anyone who really wanted to understand these things, had to either befriend a railroad signaling engineer or maintainer, or become one!

So, while the need was great, and this book could have been a welcome addition to a serious railfan's or modeler's library, there are enough troubling points about this book that make me want to caution you about it.

Mr. Solomon decided to take a historical approach to the development of the art and science of signaling. While that is as good an approach as any, the unfortunate result was that about two thirds of the book discusses things that are seen only occasionaly in museums. Also, he is obviously fascinated by the old semaphore signals as the vast majority of the pictures in the book are of those rather than the newer types that are in use today. He also spends a lot of time developing the history from the 1870's to the 1970's and then has a very brief chapter about the advances that the computer age has brought to bear since then. The is one small subsection on such an important topic as PTC and none on CBTC which are the two main technological deployment of the early 21st century.

Another irritating problem is the frequency of typos throughout the book. At one point I was totally confused as to whether the signal protecting a grade crossing of old was called a wigwaG or wigwaM since both appeared interchangeably in the same paragraph.

The layout of the text was also rather confusing with some concepts being given after descriptions of how they were used. I had to look in advance of my reading for the technical diagrams to try and figure out what he was writing about. Unfortunately, some of his diagrams are incorrect as well.

On the good side, he does cover both American and British practices which therefore explain over 90% of what is used around the world today. Being an American author it is no surprise that he focuses most of his attention on American practice. It would have been nice though, to have more of an explanation of the differnces in, for instance, the use of divergent routes vs American speed routes.

The author does provide many of the rules that are in use in various locations and points out that these are examples as each railroad and transit property essentially following their own preferences.

So my conclusion is that while this was an excellent first effort, it needs to be thoroughly revised and recast to be the premier book explaining the arcane art of railroad signaling.

The late O. Winston Link was truly an innovative photographer. He did much night photography because he was able to control the lighting. In addition, he loved the old steam locomotive. In the late 1950's he made several forays from his New York City office to the Norfolk and Western Railroad to photograph the last of these steam giants in operation.

The result of these sojourns is this book, and what a book it is! An ancient adage has it that a picture is worth a thousand words. These pictures may be worth a few more! They portray an era that is unfortunately long gone. The steam locomotives are placed in the context of those times. The world is richer for Link's work.

Of particular interest to the student of the technical aspect of photography are photographs and explanation of what Link had to do in order to obtain these photographs. There is a lot to learn from this master of the art.

This book is destined to become a classic in the annals of photography if indeed it is not already one. A copy of it belongs in the library of anyone with an interest in either railroads or photography. What's more, at a price of $[money], this book is a steal. If you do not yet own a copy of this book,you should purchase one as soon as possible.

Outstanding book for the railfan and the photographer. Very good prices. I paid $40 when it was new for hardback and don't regret a cent of it. I can't tell you how many times I have looked at it.

Steinheimer and Winston Link are among the TOP rail photographers. I haven't seen anybody else do so many night flash scenes and it is fascinating to see how he did it.

The printing on slick paper is unsurpassed for clarity and awesome photos.

Every railfan of N&W at the end of steam should have this book. I have bought 3, 2 given as gifts.

Fantastic photography of steam locomotives. Link makes these machines appear to be massive beasts running through the nightime streets of small-town America.

What can I tell more about this famous book from the well known photographer? If you like perfect sharp B&W pictures taken at night with steam locomotives, but also from people working with trains or at stations, this is the book you should have.

I bought this book years ago when it was first released and was disappointed to see that many pictures are printed over 2 pages which means the fold is cutting the beautiful pictures in two. Also, these pictures look so much better when presented on a white background, why on earth did they use black?
The pictures themselves are of course the best railroad pictures ever taken and print quality is superb!

Tin Lizard Tales: Reflections from a Train
Tin Lizard Tales is a book about a journey. It's not a travelogue, one of those handy pocket guides (a Baedeker) for vacationers, honeymooners or the retired, those seeking travel to wile away their stress and woes, ramp up their libidos or add another bumper sticker to their travelal ("I visited Yosemite" or "I climbed the Eiffel Tower"). No, this book is travel literature, the kind of book that takes you to places that provide theatre for exemplifying moral or aesthetic values. Tin Lizard Tales is more akin to Homer's Odyssey or Dante's Inferno or Bunyan's A Pilgrim's Progress or Swift's Gulliver's Travels than to Pausanias' Description of Greece or Johnson's A Journey to the Western Isles of Scotland or Steve's Europe Through the Back Door.

That is not to say that Tin Lizard Tales won't help ease your way if you're intent on riding the rails to the destinations Mr. Wallace describes, places such as Chicago, Buffalo, New York City and Washington, D.C., both big and slope shouldered cities. It is just that its real value lies elsewhere--it's a tale of virtues, a morality tale of the consequences of good and bad behavior. It recounts a visit to that most adventuresome place, the human zoo in situ, and then, after all that gawking there, it recounts the Odyessean joy of safely returning home to those who truly care about you, to your Penelope.

This is an honest book, the kind of book you would expect from a virtuous, plain speaking man. Mr. Wallace is that man, a retired fireman from Bakersfield, California, the sort of man who gives Californian's a good name--a life long, hardworking public servant who loves his wife and family and his country, a man secure enough in what he is and what he believes to dare speak truth to the powers of socio-political sappiness (which seem to oppress us from the seaboard states these days) without off-putting self righteousness but with an ingratiating sense of humor. "Man is his own star; and the soul that can render an honest and a perfect man, commands all light, all influence, all fate."

This is a book about the aesthetics of association, with a slant reminiscent of the ancient Greek reverence for the virtue of hospitality. In this book, you will meet both Polyphemus (the rude and inhospitable) and Nausicaa (the gracious and hospitable). Mr. Wallace sees hospitality and solidarity as twinned and intertwined values: You cannot feel a sense of solidarity with rude, ill-mannered people, those who delight in abrasion or in using others to met their needs, whether those people are poor or rich or somewhere in between. Here, what is inculcated is that virtuous behavior is not matter of social class. It is a matter of family and culture, of micro and macro influences in how people mature. But fair warning: There is no balm in this book either for lip service Leftists ("blighters ... living in luxury and talking about socialism" whose inauthenticity betrays a lack of virtue) or for rapacious free marketeers (greed is not good). Unvirtuous ill-mannered behavior is not excused here on the grounds that it's impelled either by some social disadvantage or by the needs of personal freedom. Behaving in a way that allows humans to associate tolerably does not require an aristocratic pedigree or a pilgrim ancestor; it does not require wealth or membership in any particular class; it does not require athletic prowess; it does not require any particular ethnicity or racial heritage or sexual orientation. It is something learned usually from well mannered parents and peers; it's self control; a desire to restrain the narcissistic impulse. Simply, the play of virtue or its absence is not a prerogative of either the working class or the bourgeoisie; it embraces everyone.

The virtues extolled in Tin Lizard Tales have a stoic cast, the values that would be second nature to a Scot's Presbyterian, the cultural heir to the likes of John Calvin or John Knox. "Joy for humans, said M. Aurelius, lies in human actions: kindness to others, contempt for the senses, the interrogation of appearances, observation of nature and of events in nature." Virtuous are those who are brave, hard working, well mannered, courteous, efficient, family oriented, honest, loyal, clean, frugal, humble, thankful for life's simple pleasures, and able to suffer with quiet dignity. In this book, you will meet those who have the right stuff--for instance, the generous cab driver; Eleanor and George; the Langfields; the Thomas's; Priscilla; and the courageous fireman and policeman of New York City during 9/11.

Unvirtuous are those who are dishonest, envious, greedy, ill-mannered, discourteous, rude, slothful, gluttonous, irresponsible, disloyal, unclean, revengeful, and all those matriculating in the School of Tricksters. Unforgettable are the rude and vulgar characters that emerge from the baseboards during this journey: The "Balkan Bitch;" "Pizza Boy;" the perpetrators of the Chicago Black Sox scandal; the Cab Hustler and the outlaw cab driver--"Jesse James;" the ill-mannered doughboy nitwits; Mr. Bootstraps; and the ill-mannered ragamuffins on the Ferry.

In Tin Lizard Tales, we also receive a dose of the omnipresent, vulgar, ill-mannered celebrities, shilled in the media, such as Rosie O'Donnell--the vulgar victim of ambiguous gender discrimination--and Howard Stern--the vulgar exhibiter of exhibitionists, to whom virtue is pornography--and Donald Trump--the bloated huckster, cousin to Gordon Gekko but with a publicist (said Robert Hughes, "one of America's chief vulgarisms")--all role models for strident rudeness. These buffoons are worthy of their forbears in great literature--for example, those morally wayward travelers in that donkey train parodied in Chaucer's Canterbury Tales--such as the narcissistic Wife of Bath and the hypocritical Pardoner. "I preach for nothing but for greed of gain and use the same old text, as bold as brass, radix malorum est cupiditas... ."

There is a wisp of nostalgia in Tin Lizard Tales, a quiet longing for a vanishing America--that rugged untamed land of the hardworking pioneer, people such as the Tryon's hacking a life from the backwoods of Pennsylvania in the early 1800s. "Virtues are," said Emerson, "in the popular estimate, rather the exception than the rule."

In Tin Lizard Tales, we realize that we are in the midst of a revision of American values. The virtues of striving, and rugged individualism--the ethic of self reliance (laggards are unwelcome) expressed in Emerson's Self Reliance--are waning. Nudged they are, slowly but inexorably, from their pride of place by that juggernaut of collectivist virtues, that ethic of self promotional positioning for government deals and identity privileges, that scheme virtues the purpose of which is to promote accidents of birth: gender or race or sexual orientation--"virtues" that appear now to trump the virtues of acquired skills and sentiments: manners, modesty, courtesy, and personal responsibility.

That is not to suggest that Mr. Wallace is not insensitive to the abuses of the past, the absence of virtue of some of our forbears. Quite the contrary. No one could fail to feel the misery of so many struggling immigrants working, so vividly described in this book, in hellish places such as the Andersonville-like Chicago stock yards in the late 19th century. After reading his chapter entitled "Life Around the Stockyards," who could not decry the base exploitation of the significantly disadvantaged? What manner of man could so callously use his fellow man? The unvirtuous of course.

Tin Lizard Tales also has a vein of American Romanticism, particularly in the chapter entitled "Culture on the Hudson." This is perhaps the thematic core of this interesting book. There we are reacquainted with the likes of Washington Irving, John Burroughs, William Cullen Bryant, the Hudson River School of painters, and James Fenimore Cooper and his famous Natty Bumppo--"the rugged individualist, self-reliant, and morally upright." Tin Lizard Tales reminds us of William Cullen Bryant's, Letters of a Traveler. And reading this chapter stirs images from the likes of Frederic Edwin Church, in his painting Twilight in the Wilderness. Here we appreciate the longstanding American love of nature, to be contrasted with the images of the city as a place of moral corruption, poverty and death. Here we have a romantic journey to the countryside, where "American nature," said Robert Hughes, "was one vast church." We have all prayed in that church. The short description of Mr. Wallace's canoe trip as a young boy with his brother up Soquel Creek in a chapter entitled "Land of the Hudson's Bay Company" stirred the same sense of awe that I had in reading for the first time Twain's description of Lake Tahoe in Roughing It or Hemingway's description of the trout streams in Northern Michigan in The Big Two Hearted River.

This book is worth reading--it has humor, moral instruction, fascinating characters in both beautiful and dangerous places, tossed with some rewarding lessons on anthropology, geography and history. Overall, it brims with personality.

Reviewed by Wendy Cleveland for Reader Views (5/08)

Schuyler Wallace and his wife, Carol (to whom he dedicates the book and describes her as a fantastic traveling companion) take a 30-day trip by train through the United States and Canada from Bakersfield, California in "Tin Lizard Tales." (Tin Lizard was the name applied to streamliners by old-time railroaders which I did not know.) This 30-day trip encompasses stops in various cities from Sacramento, Chicago, New York City, Washington, DC, Niagara Falls, Toronto, Winnipeg, Vancouver, Portland, and back home to Bakersfield. Along the way Mr. Wallace shares his experiences (some opinionated, some not) as well as the history of some of the cities. While they were traveling through Chicago there were essays on the Great Fire; Erie Pennsylvania on the fishing industry; New York City on the World Trade Center and Harlem, Washington, DC on Gettysburg, and Niagara Falls on Sing Sing Prison. Each section of the book was broken down by areas they visited. He describes the scenery and monuments like you were there. Their reaction to seeing the World Trade Center site and the Statue of Liberty was particularly heart-wrenching.

Mr. Wallace was very vocal when it came to the environment (some of the places they passed in their travels were littered and dirty with graffiti), homelessness, poverty, and animal cruelty (he describes slaughterhouses of yesterday and today) which I found very hard to read. However, I did enjoy his comical side especially when he talked about his fellow passengers (the Balkan Bitch Chapter was hilarious) and the descriptions of the sleeping quarters as being smaller than an average casket. (That's probably why they chose to make a few stops to stay in a hotel along the way. I know I would have.)

"Tin Lizard Tales" was well-researched, particularly the historical events and the evolution of trains and the Amtrack system. This book would fare well with both men and women who enjoy travel essays. As I've never taken a trip on a train before, I salute Schuyler and Carol Wallace for being able to travel and sleep on one for 30 days. He humbly sums it up at the end of the book "It was fun while it lasted, as they say, but I wouldn't want to live there."

This book, categorized in the travel/essays genre, was written while author Schuyler Wallace was taking a month-long train trip through the United States and Canada with his wife. I was attracted to the book because I have always wanted to travel by train myself, and so I thought it would be interesting to read tales of train travel. To my surprise, however, very little of this book was about train travel itself. Rather, the book's subtitle, "Reflections from a Train," more accurately captures its essence, as author Wallace offers his commentary on the places and people he and and his wife encounter during their travels.

For the most part, I enjoyed Wallace's reflections on places. He does a nice job of providing historical information on the many areas of the country they visit, from reviewing the Lincoln vs. Douglas debate while traveling through Illinois to providing to statistics on Niagara Falls and even my own city, Rochester NY. But in addition to his interesting educational commentary on various American locales, Wallace takes more of a lecturing stance about certain people and companies, and that's where I wanted to get off the train. For example, what starts off as "Beef with the Excel Corporation" turns into a three-chapter rant about how beef and chicken are processed and how the group PETA just makes everything worse. Wallace, a retired fire chief, also comments about how the World Trade Center situation was handled when visiting NYC, and throughout the book, he makes frequent jabs at things/people he does not like, from graffiti to Howard Stern. I didn't necessarily disagree with Wallace's opinions, I just found them to be glaringly out of place in what was supposed to be a "travel" book. However, I definitely did enjoy parts of this book, especially those that focused more on the experience of train travel itself; Wallace talks more about the onboard experience when he and his wife are traveling on Canada's VIA Rail, which he compares very favorably to Amtrack.

The book's back cover describes the author as "an opinionated man who has been around," and I think that's a fairly apt description. Given this, I think this book would be best enjoyed by those who are older (Wallace is in his 70s), and just as opinionated, especially if they share Wallace's take on things. Finally, note that this is a self-published book; I did find errors in the text throughout.

This book is categorized as Travel/Essays. I never buy books on travel or essays.I've never been interested in hearing about someone else's trip or opinions. However, I have been interested in taking a train trip since we lived in Arvada, Colorado in the eighties and Amtrak went practically through our backyard. I thought this book might give me some insight to train travel. It did exactly that, and so much more. Mr. Wallace's book was a delightful surprise. It has everything. If he had taught my history classes way back when, I would have learned a lot more,and definitely would have enjoyed them more. The most pleasant surprise was his humor. It is my favorite type from a writer--low-key and natural;I didn't see it coming. I smiled, I chuckled, and sometimes I laughed out loud.

I talked to myself, out loud,throughout the book: "Well, I'll be darned." "Wow!" "I didn't know that." There were even tears--especially in the chapter about the World Trade Center and the events of 9/11.

I recommend this book as a fun, interesting, informational and educational read. I will be looking forward to more books by this author.

I am both a traveler and a lover of traveler's tales. I read John Steinbeck's Travels with Charley several times with I was a girl and as a teenager I poured over William Least Heat-Moon's Blue Highways. Oh the places they talked about. How badly I wanted to go. I was born with the road in my gens and my jeans. I wanted to follow the setting sun and be there when it came up.

So I could hardly wait to dive into Mr. Wallace's book. I'm not a little girl anymore, not a teenage anymore either. I've traveled the world wide and plan to keep right on a travelin' till I die, but I can't get everywhere, so sometimes I have to read the accounts of others to see and understand those places I'll never get to. I've ridden trains all over Europe and Asia, but have never set foot on one in the States, except for that steam locomotive that goes from Williams, Arizona to the Grand Canyon, but that's a touristy thing and doesn't really count.

From the first paragraph in the prologue I knew that I was giving myself over to a gifted writer and by the time I finished the first chapter on train safety, I knew I'd be spending the whole day with the book. Mr. Wallace spins many little, often humorous stories in his punchy short chapters, each one begging you to read just one more and before I knew it I was halfway thought the book and hungry.

I made a cheese sandwich, then got on with the book, reading well into the night. I loved the book, the stories, Mr. Wallace's wit, his descriptions and his bits of history. At first, I must admit, I was a bit put off, because sometimes Mr. Wallace isn't always politically correct, but who is. However, at first reading, when he said he saw a smiling little brown boy outside the train window, I gripped the book hard, then I remembered Mr. Wallace is a couple generations older than me and he's not being disrespectful. That little bit aside, I've gotta say, this is one heck of a travel book and it inspired me to go online the day after I read it and check out getting my own North America Rail Pass.

Review submitted by Captain Katie Osborne

PS. I didn't know Tin Lizard was Rail Road Jargon for a Streamliner. Now, after reading this book, I'll forever be calling passenger trains, the Tin Lizard Express.

This is one of my favorite books to read to my 3 year old son. I enjoy the rhyming text and the illustrations are very good. We've read this one so many times, my son is able to finish my sentences when reading aloud! Here's an exerpt: "head conductor dressed in black, peering up and down the track, checks his watch, now hear him shout: ALL ABOARD, she's pulling out!"

This is a great book! My 2-1/2 year old toddler loves it and so do I! Its fun to read - the book flows nicely with fun rhyming lyrics. The illustrations are also nice too. Great for the train lover or anyone! Truck Song, by Siebert is also a family favorite. If you like Truck Song, you will love this book too!

In the story there were different kinds of trains.There were strong trains and big trains. There were coaches, clubcars and dining room cars, too! They go to different kinds of places. If you like trains,you should read this book.

This is one of my all-time favorite children's books. The rhythmic text evokes the rhythm of a train, and the illustrations are almost eerie to me in their ability to transport me to a different place and time. I can almost hear the screen door creak, smell the smells and feel the heat as the train travels its cross country route. I also recommend "All the Places to Love", also illustrated by Mr. Wimmer. To me he has that rare ability to pull you into his paintings.

My 2 year old loves hearing this story and I love staring and the rich illustrations. This is, by far, the most beautifully illustrated book I've encountered so far. ...shopping for other Mike Wimmer-illustrated books so I can buy them all.