Trains and Railroads Books

My three year old loves this book. The book is simple to read & the pictures are very eye catching.

THis is one of the BEST books for early readers. Many common words are repeated. I have many books from various early reading programs(some have too many difficult words and too many different words) and this is one of the best. The vocabulary is limited, just what a new reader needs. My 4 year old can read many of the words.

Thomas the Tank Engine books and DVD's are the best, and kids love them. At 2 1/2 years old, my grandson is a little frightened of the stories on DVD, I think it's because of the intense facial expressions (I'm sure he'll outgrow it soon), but he loves the books.

My son loves this book, and constantly brings it to me to read. It's such a simple book, I think he can understand it easily. I'm guessing before too long, he's going to be able to almost read it on his own. I think it's a great book for beginning readers. I'm not very concerned about the message that it sends, I see it as an entertaining Thomas story. I just don't see it as a negative book.

Great pictures, but did Donald Trump write the story line? The books ends with a smug Thomas exclaiming "I am first and you are last!"

This book is simply beautiful! The children love it, the illustrations are beautiful and the text just flows. The two little trains, one a toy and the other real ignite a child's imagination. Highly recommended!!

I only give books as presents when I know I've 1) read them about 20 times to kids and 2) wouldn't mind reading them another 20 times! This one has a good rhythm and the juxtaposition of the "real" train and the toy train is a great conversation starter!

I read it to my 3 year old grandaughter and she was not very responsive. I think it is hard for a 3 year old to relate to. She didn't want to read it again and frankly neither did I.
I was alittle surprised by the refernce to "a black man singing in the west" She doesn't even know there are differences between white men, black men or green men.
I will read it again when she expresses an interest and next time I'll just say " a man singing in the west"

My son loves trains and can recite back half the book already.

My children (boy and girl; 3 and 5) like the artwork in this book, and the cadence of the text -- which is good -- but it just hasn't become one of our favorites.

Part of the problem, I think, is the actual word choice which is a little odd in places. For example, in describing the effects of weather, Wise says that the rain makes the trains darker, and the snow makes them furry. Sort of abstract for a 3 year old. Still this is a minor point when compared to the reference to a
`black man singing in the West" . Surely a reference to a variety of music that is beyond most young children's comprehension.

"The moon shone down on a gleaming track,
And the two little trains going West;
And they hurried along and heard the song
Of a black man singing in the West."

Three Stars. Very nice pictures. Good cadence without having good rhyme. The small problems I've noted will probably not keep train lovers from appreciating this book, but might keep it from becoming a favorite.

Okay, first things first. This book has got some gender issues going on. All the male trains are too busy to help the broken down train and its little friends carry presents to the little children. The only train that cares is super tiny, has a very uneventful job, and is female. If you can get past this gendered message, the book does show that if you push yourself hard enough, you can accomplish your goals.

There is no Watty Piper. This, apparently, is a pseudonym used by the publishers Platt & Munk. The story has had sexist overtones since it was published in the early 20th century. It either paints men as unhelpful and selfish or women as the best assistants. Interestingly, adults polled about the gender of the star of the story typically say that it is male!

Either way, I would hope that our society is evolving beyond this now. Subtle negative messages, such as violence in the Three Little Pigs and gender typing in this book, should be discouraged. We, as consumers, can assist in this by buying other books. In this case, there is no author whose feelings will be hurt - it's just a publishing company that is trying to milk this story for all it's worth. As one reviewer suggested, the train genders really should be removed (as in the early 20th century versions) or alternated. Simple, really.

I purchased this book for my son, the youngest of my 4 children. He's a wonderful, sensitive boy who's quite attached to Mom (which is normal). We were looking for a book that portrays in a gentle way the ability we all have to try new things and broaden our world. At the time as a mid 3 year older he was a bit tentative about new play groups etc. I thought of a move like Lion King. However the death Simba's dad and the veiled level of violence for a young child probably was a bit much for a 3 year old. That's when I remembered the collage that hung on my wall as a youngster of the train that could. I searched online a found this version which is delightful. The modern rendition of the art is joyful and the story is instructive without being judgmental. Your young kids will enjoy the large size of book and the wonderful message too!

This is simply a great book for kids. The original illustrations weren't very good (much better in this version), the text doesn't make any sense and the story is awful. Guess what? Kids don't care. I loved this book as a kid and I've seen my own kids love it too. This is the single most requested read in my household - there were days when we read it 10 times.

As for you idiots who worry about the sex of the trains, perhaps you should also spend be concerned about whether a 'little' engine is offensive to short people, why the girls get dolls and the little boys get pen-knives, or why the little engine is blue instead of black.

Give me a break, let's not ruin a great children's story with this kind of nonsense.

great story, great pictures, great big strong book. My family and I enjoy this book a lot.

Unlike some of the people who have written bad reviews of this book, I actually BOUGHT IT and READ IT. I found the book to be chock full of stories and anecdotes. Some of the pictures are too small for my tastes, but this book doesn't look like it was intended to be a picture book. It looks like a good resource for people who want to read firsthand accounts of what it is like to be a train writer, learn a little bit about the history and origins of the freight tag, and have plenty of pictures to go with the text.

If you want to see huge photos of incredibly intricate work that took several artists days to perfect, this is not your book. If you want to learn about the scene, read stories about the hazards and risks involved, and see a broad range of tags, from small hollow ones to huge full color end-to-ends, to hobo drawings, try this book.

How many trains would a train writer write when a train writer writes on trains? It's in the book. Some books have pictures, but they don't answer this one. This book belongs in my collection, and that's where it will stay.

This book does a great job of telling the story of freight train graffiti. The authors did a great job of finding the artist that were really putting in work with amazing style. This is apparent by looking at the covers with Pre-One and Sento! These two alone say enough about this book. The stories inside are a great read and I thought the pictures were clear and detailed well. If you ever tried to paint a freight train you will really appreciate the style in this book and how the artists featured developed such technique and skill. They make it look easy! The stories and the writers perspective in this book is amazing. I especially like the chase stories! haha. I highly recommend anyone a fan of graffiti, art or trains to purchase this book. This is the 101 when it comes to graff of freights!

The subject is well researched, although rail cars are not totally unique to graffiti, which seems to be a human tradition since the first caveman scratched out the image of a beast on the wall of his cave. History buffs study graffiti along the Oregon Trail in places like Independence Rock in Wyoming. Graffiti is personification. What I find amazing is that so many "artist" have so much time, and resources to supply great quantities of paint to do this illegal form of art. Obviously several hours go into one masterpiece at some point, would expect detection by authorities. I have a little difficulty with the smallness of the writing. Otherwise, I find it interesting

look at who it was done by,that should be enuff to tell you its dope,with out the hundreds of tiop shelf photos,in this book waiting for you to drewl over,a excellent book,the only reason why i didnt give it 5 strats is gets a bit to much of the same thing towards the end,but being such a thick book,it will have you hooked for a while...

Great book, tons of color shots and information. Great reference for model railroaders looking to add a present-day feel to their trains. Beware! This book will inspire you to tag your own stuff.

Marrianne was sent to Saint Christophers and her mom said that she would be back for her. But she never came back. She was on a train with 14 orphans trying to find her mom. But she couldn't find her mom. My favorite part was the end when Marrianne met Mr and Mrs. Books and they adopted her. The story made me sad because her mom didn't want her and a little happy because she got adopted at the end of the train ride. The End.

I thought it was good and sad. Sad because she didn't find her real mom. I think people should read it because it tells a lesson and it tells a happy ending.

It was good because she found a new mother. Second, it made me feel happy because she was happy with her new family. She can visit people. You should read it because it was very nice and funny.

I think it was a good book. The kids got to choose which parents they want. Their moms drop them off so they're orphans. The end was my favorite part because she found a mom.

I enjoyed this book especially because my grandmother was a rider on an orphan train when she was around 11 years old. She is still spry at the age of 98. The story she tells me is almost identical, for she felt she was tall, plain and ugly. Her mother died in New York and her and all of her brothers and sisters (6 of them) came to Texas. I think everyone should know about this part of our history. Eve Bunting did a wonderful job of telling the story that so many orphan train riders will never have the opportunity to tell.

Americans do not back the the millions of tax payers dollars wasted on Amtrack. This book proves that a privatization plan can
work and that high speed train service should be offered in busy
corridors of the country (especially Boston-NY-DC). Long-haul service should be priced as a premium like the Candadian Rocky Mountain tourist train.

And sorry to say, unionized Amtrack workers are public employment at its worst.
They are ALWAYS complaining about their jobs
in FRONT of passengers. Professionalism and customer service does
not seem to be required. Have you ever seen a manager supervising personnel on a train? I believe they would all starve if they had to work on commission.

American passenger train service rates lower than our public education system in comparison to the rest of the world. And that
you really have to work for!

There is nothing better than traveling by train. They are far more enjoyable and comfortable than a car or a plane (especially for distances of 50-250 miles), and high speed trains are just flat out cool. I only wish that train travel in America was a viable transportation alternative - but it is not. Joseph Vranich helped build Amtrak when passanger rail was "failing" in the late 1960s. Now he is one of its most staunch enemies.

This book is not that complex, making it accessible to the casual railfan rather than a government policy wonk or rail industry insider. Vranich lays out what and why Amtrak has failed. He also explains what a post-Amtrak world would look and how a transition back to private railroads is to be accomplished in the buraucratic and political reality in which it exists today.

In retrospect, Amtrak probably never should have been created. With visionary leadership and limited government/legal intervention, the railroads probably would have rebounded along with the 80s-90s travel boom spurred on by airline deregulation. Another book worth reading is "Getting There: The Epic Struggle Between Roads and Rails in the American Century" by Stephen Goddard. In it, the author lays out why railroads declined in post-WWII America - placing Vranich's work into a more historical context. Railroads collapsed because of exessive government regulations hampering their inability to compete with the less regulated automobile.

Which leads me to my review's title. I read this book a few years ago and was compelled to revisit it when reading recently, in relationship to the 2004 presidential race, of the failure of the Amtrak Reform Council (aimed at privatizing Amtrak). I was reminded of the current debate on health care. There is a health care crisis looming and it is the result too much government regulation in the pharmacutical and health insurance industries. One needs only to look at the current flu vaccine crisis to see the hand of excessive government regulations and price controls causing shortages. Vranich's book serves as a cautionary warning to us all of what can happen when government takes over an industry its own regulations helped to destroy. Government run passenger rail service in this country is a disgrace and a disaster. The parallels between the railroad and health care industries in this regard are stunning. Vranich explores rail privatization in Europe and elsewhere; similar privatization plans existed in the failed European public health care industry.

Vranich's book is a must read for people who worry about the government-run trains, but also for those of us who worry about a government take-over of 1/7 of the US economy, the health care industry.

Maybe, I'm a bit out there in drawing the comparision, but I doubt it. After reading Vranich's book and seeing the state of American passenger train, I hope I'm wrong. The thought of a hospital run like an Amtrak train scares the crap out of me.

In the midst of renewed interst in the future of AMTRAK, Jospeh Vranich has delivered the best available work on the subject.

AMTRAK must be viewed in a multi-modal passanger an freight enviroment. Saddled with antiquated thinking, and a politically motivated route structure, the ability of AMTRAK to deliver on the promise of future profitability is indeed open to question. Vranich provides the history, politics, technical information, and marketing factors which will effect futre passenger rail operations in the United States. Although controversial, his facts are well researched and his opinions appear well founded. I found the book quite readable, and a must buy for anyone intersted in the area of passenger rail transportation.

When I first wrote this review some years ago, Amtrak was awash with hope. Everything from mixing passengers and freight to new high speed rail to a perceived openness toward new and even revolutionary ideas made Amtrak an interesting place to work. I was convinced Vranich was wrong.

Four years and one return to the true private sector later, I kind of owe Joe Vranich an apology. Yes, his book is a gripe session, see below, but he was one of the few publications at the time that saw Amtrak as hopeless. Sad to say, my inside view suggests Vranich is right.

Amtrak consistently finds ways to kill new ideas and to stop vision before it gathers light. Managers fear the status quo because they've never operated in an environment where they're rewarded for creativity and forced to manage for specific results, with specific consequences for not meeting their results. Even Amtrak's new CEO is managing for the status quo and not leading the charge for a new vision of passenger rail.

Perhaps Congress has realized this, which is why Amtrak has had so much trouble getting more than minimal appropriation. The lack of vision on Amtrak is a constant problem, both in Vranich's book and in the halls of government.

Vranich dances around much of this, instead focusing on the antiquity of the long distance rail system. He's right there, but as I said in 2000, that's been obvious long before Vranich put a pen to paper. Unfortunately, Amtrak's inconsistent service and too often bad attitudes make one wonder whether trains exist for people or whether people exist for trains.

Yes Mr. Vranich, you're right about one thing. This organization can't manage change and it certainly won't give America a 21st Century passenger rail system.

My earlier review, with some apology to Mr. Vranich, is as follows:

Joe Vranich's book read like an airing of dirty laundry. He repeats long-known facts about Amtrak; echos his own feelings through quotes from the mouth of a long-established friend at the National Association of Railroad Passengers; and, does little to add fresh evidence to the three-decade old debate on the future of passenger rail service in America.

Indeed, Vranich is a good complainer. But his advocacy of a break-up of Amtrak neglects the will of the people -- that the American public repeatedly has supported Amtrak -- albeit in less than ideal form. Perhaps what he needs to do is flush out a mission and a means by which Amtrak can obtain the capital support it needs to ensure its success.

There are many creative and financially viable meams by which Amtrak can be saved and allowed to florish. But you won't find them in this book. That's because the book is mired in gripes about the last century rather than focusing on a case for this one.

The value of this book continues to grow with the passage of time. In "Derailed" the author predicts that Amtrak is destined to repeate the mistakes of the past. Events are proving him right.

Vranich decried Amtrak's operation of useless "pork barrel" trains but Amtrak went ahead and added a new Wisconsin train that carries an average of five passengers per day. He warned that Amtrak's financial plight will worsen, and it has according to a report by the US Department of Transportation Inspector General issued in late 2000. The writer said that Amtrak would continue to offer deficient service, which is true in the Midwest where in 2001 Amtrak suspended the majority of its Chicago-Detroit service for an entire month due to "poor weather". Mr. Vranich argued for a change in Amtrak leadership. Now the Heritage Foundation, a think tank close to the Republician Party, has called for a clean sweep of Amtrak's board of directors including the resignation Tommy Thompson (President Bush's HHS Secretary and former Wiscon Governor) from the chairmanship of Amtrak's board.

The book is rich in not-easily found research about how foreign nations are replacing their versions of Amtrak with innovative public and private ventures. This work deserves all the praise is has received and, as Amtrak continues to blunder along, is a book that offers important lessons for the twenty-first century.

I bought this book for my boyfriend's son. He loves Thomas the Train and thinks this lift-and-peek book is the best thing since sliced bread. He wants it read to him every night.

My little one loves Thomas (who doesn't?) so we decided to give this a shot. It's ok. THere isn't much of a story, and he really likes Thomas stories. Pop up books are fun till the kids rip them apart. So a good chocie for die hard Thomas fans, but not really all that exciting overall.

My son loves the lift and peek part of this book. There is not much to read in the book though which was dissapointed.

This is our 10 month old grandson's first Thomas book and his favorite. The book is just the right size for his fingers to open up the book and the flaps. No concern for storyline as he spends most of the time opening the flaps. Good introduction to books for sitting and crawling babies. One word can describe the hidden object. Will buy more of this type of book for him as well as the touch and feel books.

My son loved it, of course, as he loves anything Thomas but it's a little boring. We have a full-sized lift-the-flaps book about Thomas which has many trains and lines up perfectly with the pictures under the flaps. That's not the case with this book. The story is short and the pictures in this book just aren't very interesting.

The slide-out pages are a HUGE hit with my two-year-old and they work perfectly with the freight train theme. Personally, I've never seen another book quite like it. The colors are bright, the text is simple, and almost every page holds something exciting to be found.

Like I've read in other reviews, my over-zealous toddler managed to break his book as well. However we just used clear packing tape to tape it back together as good as new.

If you're looking to buy a gift for a toddler that loves trains do not hesitate to buy this book - it will definitely be a big hit!

My boys (2 1/2 & 4) love Freight Train. I ordered this book and I am a little bit disappointed.

I thought it was a lift-a-flap book before I ordered it and it's a slide-out book. I don't think there are that many toddlers who can handle slide-out books. It's even hard for me to pull the page out and put it back. I don't think this book will survive any more than a month or two.

Another thing is, not every car shows what's inside. It shows inside of the Freight depot, the engine, box car, cattle car, refrigerator car (which was not in the Freight train book), stock car (new in this book as well), and the caboose. It doesn't show the inside of covered hopper car, gondolar car (I guess since this is a open one, it's okay), tank car, and open hopper car (which is not identified in the book as one).

Just like the other reviewer said, 'calves' were spelled wrong, so I just printed the word on a sticky label (using Arial Bold, font size 16, letter color white, and background black) and put the label over the wrong spelling. It doesn't look perfect, but the book's not perfect, either.

I guess 'higher the expectation, bigger the disappointment' is a true statement with this book.

My son just turned two and has had a love of trains for quite some time.

We got the "Freight Train Board Book" from the library and he absolutely loved it. It was a book he carried around the house and looked at every moment he took time to sit down.

We had the book out for 6 weeks, the maximum allow time for a title to be out, and I knew he'd have a hard time parting with it.

I bought that book and noticed "Inside Freight Train" :)

It looked, and turned out to be, a very nice accompaniment to the first book.

Chase would keep both books with us a night time to read one and reference the other;-)

The only reason I marked 4/5 stars was due to the fact that the sliding pages started to fall apart after about a week of what I considered falrly regular, monitored, use:(

Still trying to figure out which glue will work best to affect a repair.

My son became fascinated with this book around 10 months, and 14 months later, still loves reading it. Over that time, he has used the book to learn colors (the freight cars are different colors) and things like the items that freight trains carry. He now loves watching trains from our back porch and knows more than steam engines than a lot of adults.
But alas, the book has not held up well due to repeated abuse at the hands of a toddler. Several patch-up jobs with clear packing tape have given the book a stay of execution.

It is $10 wasted for me because my younger son tore the cover into 3 pieces the first time he got his hands on it, and before I had a chance to look through all the pages. Yes, it was that durable! This book went to the bin a week ago when my older son started sounding out words and we didn't want him to get the wrong start. Can't someone spellcheck a book before it is published? I'm surprised that noone has caught that mistake in the 4 years since it was published. Shame on the author and the publisher!

Having recently become serious about model railroading in the diesel era, this book is exactly what I needed. Going to toy train shows and seeing row upon row of locomotives for sale can be rather daunting, but this little book is the perfect companion for just such a trip. It's concise, well illustrated and easily fits in my pocket. Perhaps one of the best purchases I've made in this hobby.

Any bird watcher who is also an HO layout builder will appreciate a good field guide for trains rather than birds. I was attracted by the title of the book and found the online views to confirm my hope that the book would be useful. It is a good reference for trains, included some older diesel units which are not too common. The book is a good reference but is not a total review of ALL rolling stock ever produced. After receiving the book I am satisfied with the purchase

The book is easy to use and is well organized. Drawings, not pictures, so the identifying features are visible, instead of the logo's and paint schemes. The descriptions are concise but thorough. I find it to be helpful and informative

This was misrepresented as a guide similar to those in the Peterson's Field Guide series. I expected at least a comparable quality to this so-called field guide, only to find a thin volume, with s singlr line drawing, no photos, and very limited descriptions and over priced. One would be better served doing an internet search for better info and representation.

It is more like a teck manual but has all the train's that are running the rail's today.If you love train's this is one book you need in your hand's when looking to Identifing the Locomotives of today's rail's

Some people complain about the overly simplistic plot, but it is about the right level of complexity for a young child.

Thomas the Tank Engine has a daily routine that involves passing through towns, seeing the waives from a little boy, and letting the passengers get on and off of the train. One day he decides to go real fast and not stop for the passengers. This results in a bad day. The people are not satisfied, and Thomas doesn't get a chance to see the cows mowing and the little boys waving.

Yeah, its not the most captivating of plots, but it shows a simple form of "cause and effect," which is something that young children must learn in order to understand more complicated concepts. It goes beyong the simple "cause and effect" of pressing a button and seeing a light go on, it shows that more complex actions might have a larger effect as well.

You child will probably love the pictures. Thomas the Tank Engine is a very popular train with a huge smile. Little kids love trains and they'll like the bright and colorful illustrations in this book.

It is a durable book that you can leave on the floor and let your infant or toddler play with; and the cover and pages will remain intact. With young children, durability is important and often overlooked in non-board books for infants and toddlers.

It's a nice book to add to your child's library.

Loved this book. My grandchildren loved and we read it over and over again.

This book uses simple language and a simple plot that is just right for very young children. I bought this book for my son when he was about six monthes old and he loved it even then. Now he is two and it is still his favorite. It has also proved to be fairly durable. I do agree with another reviewer that it is not the most facinating book for adults to read, but...This is a great "starter" book to help your young child learn to love to read.

I can't think of anything better for a two year old obsessed with trains! Dr. Seuss meets Thomas is an incredible combination. Both this book and "Go Train Go" have become my son's favorite bedtime books. They finally got him excited to sit down and read/listen to books.

"Stop, Train, Stop" is an odd little book. For one thing, it purports to be a "beginning" reader, and for another thing, Thomas not only has Annie and Clarabelle but dining, sleeping, and luggage cars!

Now as most people know [;-)], Thomas' branch line is not long enough to warrant either a sleeping or dining car. (Sometimes its frightening how much this mom knows about Sodor-but I know I'm not alone.) Still, the plot is interesting enough that most fans won't be too worried about this discrepancy. And Owen Bell does a nice job in illustrating this little story.

The story takes place one day when Thomas decides not to stop at any of his assigned stations. Instead he rushes head-long and willy-nilly to the end of the line, only to find that this rushing about didn't make him as happy as he thought it would. Turns out Thomas missed his friends along the way. He missed seeing the cows that `moo' hello to him, and he missed the children that wave as he goes by.

In it's own way, "Stop, Train, Stop!" is a stop and smell the roses allegory. It explains to children how `bad' things can happen if you rush about your business. [Certainly the cook on the dining car and the passengers weren't happy!]

Which brings us to the other oddity about this book, that Random House considers it to be a "beginning" reader. Now, I'm no expert, but I do have a beginning reader --kindergartener-and she certainly can't even begin to read this as there are frequently 20 or more words per page and a heavy use of past tense.

But judge for yourself from the text below. The first page has more text than most pages.

Every day Thomas the Tank Engine
chugged from the start of his line
to the end of his line
and back again.
"All aboard!"
called the little blue engine's conductor.

Three and a Half Stars. Okay story that young Thomas fans will no doubt like. A sort of stop and smell the roses tale.

Addendum:

Well time has passed and I've discovered all sorts of things like the Accelerated Reading (AR) scale. And I was mostly correct. While "Stop, Train, Stop" is an early reader, it isn't a true beginning primer as it is listed as a 1.5 on the Accelerated Reading scale. To the newly initiated this means that the book is suitable for First Graders in the fifth month of school.

And just so you know, the AR description is a general "guide" that rates books on a relative scale of difficulty. Children can certainly read at levels above or below their group range, so that this number should only be used as a aid to help choose books that are appropriate and not frustrating.

~Pam T 2007