Trains and Railroads Books

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

my only criticism of this book is that 1/3 of it is of footnotes. when the book ended, there was too much reference material here. the jackson heights subway line info is interesting as it is not common to focus on an area outsideof manhattan as much. a good read. the poltical machinisms to get the work done are a worthy read.

Hood demonstrates the power of doing ones Homework . Excellent reading.

As a daily rider of the New York subway system, I find it dynamic and exciting piece of living history. This book, however, was not. It is a plodding academic treatment that focuses more on politics than the actual system. The pictures were too few. The maps were poorly realized and uninformative. As the system is still in place largely as it was decades ago, I would have liked references to the current line and station names instead of trying to guess or sit there with my own maps (something you can't do if reading while riding the subway). The subway system represents both a technological marvel and an instrument of great social change. Where is that book.

In response to other reviewers: this book is not MEANT to be a tourist guide, it IS, however, an academic study, and a very good one indeed. For those who did not enjoy the book, because of it's lack of pictures, perhaps the problems lie with the reader rather than the author?

As another reviewer mentioned, this isn't a tourist guide. There aren't that many maps, and the ones present do not show stops. Aside from the creation of new suburbs such as Jackson Heights, there isn't a whole lot of discussion of how the subways affected neighborhoods after they were built, especially after cars began to take over.

The main point this book makes is how the combination of enforced low fares and the perception of rapid transit as a business rather than a public service caused the subways' decline. The beginning of the book describes some of the engineering problems involved in building subways in New York. I would have liked to have seen more of that, especially for later, non-IRT subways; diagrams of the terrain in question would have been interesting.

Anyway, the book has to stop somewhere. For all that's left out, the discussion of people and politics, and of how things could have turned out differently, is fascinating.

This book is for everyone who always wanted a Lionel set, and never got one. The photographs accurately capture the marketing appeal of the sets and take you back to when you were eight years old and a Lionel train set was what you wanted for Christmas. The book commemorates 100 years of Lionel trains.

For those who know Lionel as a company and as a product well, this volume will probably prove to be disappointing. It is an "overview of the company's development and the way its products reflect the eras in which they were produced." Now, there's nothing wrong with that, but those who know Lionel well already have that perspective. So if you are an expert, I suggest that you avoid this book.

The strength of of this book lies in the photographs by Bill Milne. He has done a fine job of capturing the child's eye view of the cars and accessories. You can almost feel the rug pressing against your cheek as you remember lying sideways to get a closer look at ground level of someone else's new set.

Many of the pieces I had not seen before, especially from the 70s and on. If I had a place to put a set, I'd almost be tempted to make a belated start.

I was pretty familiar with Lionel over the last 50 years, so it was the early years that added to my knowledge. The founder, Joshua Lionel Cohen (later changed to Cowen), was interesting to me. He had a good technical background for toy trains, having been educated at Cooper Union and partially completing degree work in engineering at Columbia. His first job was for Acme Electric Light Company, which made many small electric appliances. He developed a way to ignite magnesium more evenly, and used that to found his own company to make fuses for the military. This led to a light for illuminating plants, a fan, and finally a battery-powered train. The rest is history.

The text comes across like something out of a fan magazine more than as a legitimate history. As an "authorized" version, undoubtedly the people at Lionel had some influence. I graded the book down one star for lack of insight into what all of this history means.

Think about how toys create aspirations and lives. What toys created what aspirations in you? Did an erector set cause you to take engineering courses? Did a microscope help establish a career in biology? If you had a toy train, how did that influence you?

What gifts should you give your children and grandchildren this holiday season to make for the best aspirations in their lives for the years ahead?

This is the best book I have ever read about Lionel trains. It is complete with pictures, history, and popularity. This is a must for all train collectors young and old. I'm a model train expert and I learned some things I didn't even know from this book! My hat is off to this auther because he did such a wonderul job.

The Lionel toy company celebrates its one hundredth year of supply the children (and adults!) of the country with toy trains, settings and accessories. Lionel trains are famous world-wide and the favored collectibles of legions of fans and collectors of all ages. In Lionel: A Century Of Classic Toy Trains, ardent and knowledgeable collector Dan Ponzol provides a wealth of detailed information on specific sets, rare models, a history of the company, wonderfully illustrated throughout with reproduced images from legendary catalogs and Lionel train ads, as well as representative models from his own expansive collection. This coffee table showcase book is a "must" for all true Lionel train fans.

I thought that this is an excellent book about the standard train company of the world called Lionel. I thought the book gave a good prospective of the company, but unbenonst to all, Lionel is not quality. If you want high quality railroading, you should look at a company called Mike's Train House and I think they should make a book about them. Overall, I would like to say, Happy 100th Birthday Lionel!

This "licensed" Lionel book has been corporately washed and shoved out the door. The photography is stylish, but hardly informative. Lionel buffs want the real story of Lionel's rise and fall, rise and fall with real people behind the pictures. For a Lionel fan, this book is a big disappointment. A better book just came out entitled "Lionel: America's Favorite Toy Trains" by MBI Publishers. It is everything this book isn't - and cheaper.

I bought this book when my daughter was not even 18 mos. old. It was the first book I could get her to sit through in a long time - and she absolutely loved it. It seemed to break the barrier in getting her to sit through a story. It is perfect toddler version - it gets the message and the story across and is just right for a toddler's short attention span. Still a favorite!

My husband loves reading this classic to our daughter and she loves reading along! A classic.

This is a book I loved as a child and my 21 month grandson enjoys it as much as I do.

my twin toddlers love this book - the train-shaped board book is interesting for them to explore with their little hands, and the story just long enough to hold thier attention

This little board book is indeed a very abridged version of the classic that you may remember from childhood. However, the length is perfect for the shorter attention spans of children aged 6 months through 24 months (the usual target audience for board book publishers).

The colors are bright and cheerful, the shape is fun for little hands to hold, and the prose is eagerly anticipated time after time -- especially with sound effects from the reader. :) And although it is abridged, the "I think I can!" message of the original story still comes through loud and clear.

For older children or those with longer attention spans, buy the full-length version. But for rollicking fun with your baby or toddler, I recommend this version.

This book is a must have for any serious railfan, foamer, FRN, gunzel or train buff. While labeled "comprehensive," it lacks information on several local yards that I've observed (including Alliance, TX, which is the main BNSF facility in DFW), but for the yards that are included it's a treasure trove of information. It's so helpful, in fact, that it could almost be considered a field guide. Many yards include track diagrams, which I find particularly interesting, in addition to excellent photos and driving directions.

I only have two problems with the book. First, it isn't exactly comprehensive. Second, many of the suggested photo locations aren't located in publicly accessible areas - a lot has changed for train watchers since 9/11, and most class I's aren't as accommodating as they once were.

Overall this is an excellent resource, although it could certainly be improved with a second edition.

A well researched and organized volume. Great to see some of the legendary locations of the steel highways.

Many terms used throughout the book were not explained. Some examples; retarder, hump or bump yard, clasification yard, etc. Sure, some assumptions can be made as to the meaning of these terms, but it would have added to my enjoyment if these and some other terms had been defined and explained. Maybe for the experienced reader this wasn't necessary but as a novice I would have greatly appreciated this addition.

This book is a nice photo collection of railyards with lots of statistics and directions on getting to the yards. Unfortunately, there is no theory of operation about how the yards actually operate. Terms like 'pullout', 'drawbacks', 'trim', 'Dowty retarders', 'transfer yard' are introduced but never explained. The maps are nice -- even fascinating -- but cry out for explanation and elaboration.

Very nice book, lots of info and pictures on the bigger yards. Would like to have seen some smaller yards. Overall VERY GOOD book.

This is one of my best books about Lionel trains. Profusely illustrated with photos of Joshua Lionel Cohen and the people that helped make Lionel a giagantic toy train builder. This is a book you're sure to read over and over.

My grand-uncle, Mario Caruso, was the co-owner and co-founder of Lionel Trains along with Joshua "Lionel" Cohen.

Frank Pettit, chief designer for Lionel Trains and my uncle, had over 100 patents for designs and innovations he created for toys, expecially trains, including the smoke tablet, cattle car, news-stand, a transformer, etc. Amazon lists his biography "It Comes From Within: The Frank Pettit Story." This is an accurate story of the Lionel Trains Corp.

My entire family; mother, father, uncles, aunts, from the Caruso/Pagano family worked at Lionel Trains, located in Irvington, New Jersey during the 1950's, which was the largest toy company in the world. During World War II, Lionel Corp. developed and manufactured instruments for the navy.

The company was bought by the lawyer, Roy Cohn, grandson of Lionel Trains founder Lionel Cowen (Cowen & Cohn are very similar names). Roy Cohn immediately fired everyone and stated that "We are out of the toy business." To this day, nobody knows where the pension fund went. All the money was taken out of the company. My mom and dad, my relatives and others never received a penny of their pension that they worked so hard for.

Read this fascinating history of what was once the largest toy manufacturing company in the world.

Simply put, Hollander has written and compiled the highest quality, most comprehensive, and most readable book about the history of the Lionel electric train company that has ever been done. I make that claim while scanning my bookcase holding 45 books on electric toy trains, the majority of them dealing with Lionel, indisputably the penultimate brand name in America, at least where toy trains are concerned.

Hollander writes of the origin and the evolution of Lionel trains from their beginning around 1900 through their status at the commencement of the 21st century, including their near death in 1969 and their miraculous resuscitation by the General Mills cereal company in 1970. Don't be alienated by the earlier statement that this is a history book. It is in no way a dry rehashing of facts, dates and dollars such as comprise boring histories. On the contrary, "All Aboard!" is more of a love story, for Hollander is truly in love with his subject, and his excitement in telling us about the Lionel legend carries the reader through the book on wings of delight.

Highly descriptive text leaves us with a wonderful acquaintanceship with Lionel's parent, Joshua Lionel Cohen (who "Americanized" his name to Cowen), shows us the birth of his baby, draws us word pictures of that baby's successes and failures, its grand leaps of inventiveness and its faltering steps of failure in the changing business and economic climate of a century of American enterprise. Along the way, we are presented with copious visual reinforcement (both in color and in black and white) of the story that the text is weaving for us. We see photographs of the movers and shakers of this great company, some of the wondrous trains that they produced, and some of the expert art work that marketed those trains to the boys and fathers (and girls and mothers, too) of 20th century America. That art work, in annual catalogs and in magazine and newspaper advertisements, forged an emotional bond between American youth and the Lionel Corporation that endures today despite changing fortunes and changing ownership. Its effect on our culture has been phenomenal and is clearly addressed in Hollander's book.

I can levy only two criticisms against "All Aboard!" The first is that I sometimes find the page layout annoying in that many sidebars and notes are included to give us insights into Lionel's executives, competitors, and plans. These are valuable and interesting, but they do interrupt the flow of the main text. The reader must either pause to read the sidebars or else ignore them at first and then return to them later. The second criticism is that the final chapter, which is the only "revised and updated" part of the book since its original release in 1981, lacks the intimate, revealing analysis that gives the rest of the book its finesse. The first eight chapters read as though Hollander had been an insider at the Lionel Corporation for its eighty-one years of birth, growth and turmoil, whereas the ninth chapter, which looks at the technological advances in toy trains from 1982 to 2000, is told by an outside observer who is no more privy to corporate thoughts than are the rest of us.

If one has already enjoyed the 1981 edition of "All Aboard!", I cannot recommend purchasing the current edition just to have the new chapter. On the other hand, if one has never seen either edition of "All Aboard!", then, no matter what other books he may have read on Lionel trains, he has missed the most definitive and enjoyable book of all, and I cannot recommend Hollander's book too highly.

All Aboard! The Story Of Joshua Lionel Cowen & His Lionel Train Company is the fascinating story of the man who made the electric toy train one of the most popular toys for boys and hobbies for grown men in the last century. Published in part to celebrate the Lionel Train Company's 100th Anniversary, All Aboard! is also a testament to how this producer of toy trains dealt with the competition of electronic games at the end of the 20th century and is experiencing a surge of popularity at the beginning of the 21st Century. Original published in 1981, this new, revised and updated celebratory edition of All Aboard! is welcome and highly recommended reading for toy train enthusiasts in general, and Lionel Train collectors in particular!

I have had several copies of the previous edition of this book but kept giving them away to neighbors of mine. It is a wonderful look at one of the oldest and most successful toy companies in the world: Lionel Trains. This book covers everything: humble beginnings, postwar boom, near destruction at the hands of famed veteran of the "Red Scare" Roy Cohn to it's present day owners. If you had Lionel trains as a child or have always loved them from afar I cannot tell you how much fun this book is. With stories on all of the most famous cars and the people behind the genius it's an engrossing read.

"Suddenly, Thomas' driver saw trouble ahead. `Slow down!' said the driver." -From the book

In this rhyming adventure, a huge thunderstorm hits the Island of Sodor, and hail from the storm creates a crack in the track-bringing the entire Railway to a screeching halt. Thomas was carrying many passengers, but the crack in the track forces them to get off the train. Bertie the Bus eventually comes to the rescue, but a toad in the road requires the passengers to unload. "What will happen to us?" the people ask. Percy, Gordon, and James get stuck behind Thomas, and the Troublesome Trucks refuse to back up. Will the passengers ever get to their destination?

Unlike many Thomas the Tank Engine stories, especially the ones geared to older children, there is no taunting or rudeness among the engines. Everyone cooperates and helps each other (except for the Troublesome Trucks!).

A Crack in the Track is a hardcover The Cat in the Hat Beginner Book (a division of Random House, Inc.)

I cannot believe this book was ever published. It is the worst book I have ever read. There is no flow to the book and the rhymes are a stretch. The book jumps around and doesn't have any flow to it. I believe this book was written in a matter of minutes. Perhaps it was published because it has Thomas the train in it. VERY disappointing. My son does like the toad in the road but that is about it.

This book is targetted at an older reading group than other books in the Beginner Books family. I wonder if this target group is old enough to read the book but smart enough to disregard its terrible moral.

The story starts with our favorite blue steam engine Thomas boasting about how good trains are, but almost from the beginning of the story we can see chinks in the armor. Henry, the green engine, refuses to run due to technical problems. In his stead, Sir Topham Hatt puts Thomas to work hauling passengers.

With a freak hailstorm coming out of the blue, Thomas is waylaid by two rails supplied by the lowest-bidder breaking from the hail. How both rails broke in the exact same place is worthy of investigation, but no one ever mentions that.

Thomas' driver claims that it is not prudent to go back to the originating station and dumps the passengers off right where the train stopped. Luckily, Bertie the bus just happens to be in the area and is able to rescue the passengers.

You'd think this would be the end of the passengers' plight, but apparently the Island of Sodor has tough animal protection laws because a toad in the road that would normally be squashed flat is treated as some sort of deity by the bus driver. The bus driver stops and surveys the scene and decides that the toad's welfare outweighs the passengers' need to reach their destination and he forces everyone off the bus. It's a mystery why he doesn't simply move the toad off of the road and continue on. Probably a plot device to show that a bus ISN'T as good as a train.

The passengers, tired and luggage-laden, trudge down the road to the next train station where they are presented with a sign that declares that there are no trains running. Sir Topham Hatt obviously didn't anticipate such a situation since there aren't any parallel rails to which other trains could bypass the broken rail. Does the entire rail system shut down any time construction work needs to be done?

While the people were walking to the next train station, bad rail management has screwed up the problem even more. Now instead of only Thomas stuck at the track, Percy, Gordon, and James have been routed to the track location. To make matters worse, James is hauling freight cars which can't go backwards.

"So no trains can move up and no trains can move back. They were stuck where they were at that crack in the track."

Thomas has a brilliant plan. He intends to buy some goodwill by spending a lot of money to hire a helicopter to carry the people to their destination. Harold the helicopter arrives on the scene and whisks the people away. Sir Topham Hatt is happy and sends his thanks to Thomas.

Again, the weather gets bad and workmen who look suspiciously like Mario and Luigi come to replace the broken track in the rain. Despite the cold, they are not provided with jackets or raincoats by the construction company. They persevere and replace the tracks quickly.

Finally, Thomas and the other trains are able to move again. Thomas arrives to pick up the stranded passengers (it's not clear how they got stranded again after Harold had already picked them up) and they are clearly unhappy with him. Thomas then states the moral of the story: A train is only as good as its track. In other words, you can never be better than you are.

I think a moral that told children that they can be whatever they want to be would be more appropriate and mark the book down on that alone. A child old enough to read and understand this book will be taught a bad lesson about not growing beyond your limitations.

This book is just excellent. It is very well written, no name calling this time, and just an easy rhyming book. Thomas learns that he cannot do anything unless he has a good track on which to run, but his other friends like Bertie the Bus also learn that they cannot do just anything at all as well. Thomas gets stuck by a crack in the track after a hailstorm, and Bertie gets stuck by a toad in the road! However, when the passengers walk to the next train station, all the trains are gone because they've all left and become stuck behind Thomas. James is last and has those bad freight cars with him so he cannot back up and let everyone out. Guess they don't have radios in the trains! However, the road crew come by and repair the track in the pouring rain, and the trains are able to get through once more. Thomas then returns to the station after Harold takes the passengers there and Thomas takes them to their destination. It's a very well written story and I particularly appreciated the much improved illustrations in this book. They're more life-like instead of appearing like statues in the video series. My little one just loves this book and it definitely has become a favorite for bedtime. Believe me, it doesn't take long for a three-year-old to be able to recite it back too! Great job!

I would recommend this book to anyone whose child is a fan of Thomas the Train. My son just turned 4 and this is one of the first books that he has been able to read back to me. There are many passenges in the book that rhyme and this seems to really hold his attention. It is not so long that a tired parent would be unwilling to read it as a bed time story. I would have to say this book is probably my child's favorite.

Nothing sounds more lonesome, more haunting, than a train whistle heard from far away--it lingers in the mind, taking on substance in the imagination. It implies dramatic partings, joyous reunions, devastating wars and illnesses, mysterious journeys of all kinds. No wonder so much emotion has always been attached to train journeys. Now, those of us who love trains--and enjoy a little shiver running up our spines--have a wonderful treat in store: Ghost Train! Tony Reevy's evocative writing and careful research bring to life the legends of yesteryear in this well-researched an entertaining book. Great photos and maps are an added bonus. So buy your ticket and hop on board the Ghost Train! -- Lee Smith, author of Oral History and Fair and Tender Ladies

Researching ghost stories is probably not an easy thing. Primary sources (those who have encountered the ghosts) are scarce, can be difficult to find, and may be reluctant to talk. Media attention to sightings is generally scant, and the ghosts themselves are often fickle in appearance and silent on self-explanation. When the research is done, the stories still have to be presented, around a campfire if possible, in a tone that does justice to their mysterious content. It is not every man (woman) who can tell a story skillfully. Even so, Mr. Reevy could have done better. He presents his ghosts with an almost breezy, though largely understandable prose that is entirely at odds with his subject matter, and rarely even approaches the evocative work of Edgar Allen Poe or H. P. Lovecraft (see "Glowing Eyes on the Track" for a possible exception.) Another failure is a lack of depth. Mr. Reevy has done a fair bit of research for this book, which is unfortunate because it rarely shows. Over eighty ghosts are presented in this heavily illustrated 162pp book. Do the math, and that comes to less than 2pp of text per ghost. If Mr. Reevy had concentrated his research efforts on only six or twelve ghosts, and had found a talented writer to present them, this could have been a four or five star book. As it is, I got more of a chill watching Ghostbusters on broadcast TV.

An interesting book with many stories about specific railroad hauntings. This book is also divides the stories into categories and gives examples of each type. Fun and interesting reading for all ages, great photos and lovely cover.

This book is wonderful. There are photos of locations, sometimes even of the person who is said to haunt the train or structure. Lots of fascinating stories from all over the US arranged by categories. Stories are extensively researched and well written.

Railroad ghosts show up all across America probably because of the strong attachment railroad men felt toward their trains. Add in a bunch of sudden and often gruesome deaths and you have the perfect recipe for a haunting. These railroading ghosts show up in numerous ghost books but this is the first treatment I have ever run across that deals solely with this subject and it is a subject ripe for exploration.

Tony Reevy has obviously done a lot of research in coming up with eighty plus paranormal stories that involve trains. There are haunted tunnels, depots, locomotives, and rail cars and of course ghost trains that roar along their old routes, routes that haven't been run in years and years. Most frequently spotted however are the ghost lights that often move slowly along the track and are usually associated with a specter who is hunting his long lost head. The author seems to have left no stone unturned in looking for these stories and the variety of stories presented is very impressive.

There are two very troubling things about this book however. First of all it is obvious that the author does not take his subject all that seriously and skeptics just do not write good ghost books. The needed passion for the subject is just simply missing when the author is simply relating old tales and makes no effort to talk to recent eyewitnesses to the activity described. The other area where I found this book to be lacking was its depth or rather its lack thereof. Many of the stories related only take up a paragraph or two and hardly any of the stories rate a full two pages. With a little legwork I'm sure that Mr. Reevy could have found numerous old railroaders who would have been glad to relate their personal experiences which would have added greatly to the depth and credibility of this book.

On the positive side there are numerous excellent photos although sometimes the photos have little in common with the stories that they represent. The writing style is pretty good and while there are some well worn stories in this book there are also many stories that I don't imagine have ever appeared in print. I even ran across a tunnel that I have visited but I never knew that it was supposed to be haunted until I read this book.

Overall this is only a fair book as far as the ghost stories go and although no aficionado of ghost stories will want to pass this work up, they shouldn't expect much in the way of details. Train buffs on the other hand will I think find this to be an excellent collection of railroad lore. I grew up in a railroad town and I must admit that the train lover in me found this book to be very appealing.

A clever mystery onboard the greatest train of all - the Orient Express. Woven in the mystery are unique details of high class train travel in another time. as well as real historical characters intertwined throughout. Sam McCarver's second novel surpasses his first. A delightful read!

THE CASE OF COMPARTMENT 7 is a fun book. John Darnell, the world's first paranormal detective, boards the legendary Orient Express and journeys acorss Europe with a colorful collection of fictionalized historical personalities including Mata Hari, an Eastern European crown prince, and Agatha Christie. Sam McCarver does a great job weaving fact with fiction, and he tells an excellent detective story. There are murders. There's intrigue. There's danger. There's heroics. Here's a book you should read.

i admit i didn't read the whole thing, but i believe i am not overly critical, and i couldn't stick it out. first, the writing is very awkward; as i was reading i kept thinking, this writing is intrusively amateurish enough to interfere with the story. In addition, the author uses way too many actual historical figures, which i think highlights the awkward writing, because i found myself thinking, "that person wouldn't talk like that, or think like that. also, the plot was, well, trite. not recommended

Although I am hard-pressed to find any mystery book better than his first book ("The Case of Cabin 13"), I must say that "The Case of Compartment 7", Sam McCarver's second book, may be better than the first. His characters were not only creditable, but believable, likable, and well-formed. I have discovered that some characters were not fictional at all, but rather "real" people from the past integrated with new and interesting characters in a fictional, yet historically-accurate story. The mystery remains for us all until the end of the book; that is, unless someone possibly brighter than myself can figure it out beforehand. I would give this book "three" thumbs-up, if possible, and look forward to Sam McCarver's next book, which I understand is going to be entitled "The Case of the 2nd Seance". Here is hoping that Sam never runs out of "numbers" for the entire series of John Darnell Mysteries.

Psychic detective John Darnell prefers to find human answers to even supernatural incidents. His first famous case involved the maiden voyage of the Titanic. On the ship, John met Penny, the woman he later marries. Two years later, John and Penny are riding on the Orient Express where a week earlier a passenger claimed to have seen an apparition of a bleeding woman. The train's Board of Directors wants to know what is the truth behind the ghost.

In 1914, Europe is a powder keg about to explode into war. Riding the Orient Express is two English couriers, a German General, Mata Hari, an industrial spy, the heir to the Romanian monarchy, and Agatha Christie. Two people are murdered and it remains up to John to insure that no one else die and the guilty party is caught.

THE CASE OF COMPARTMENT 7 is an entertaining mystery that has the bonus of having Agatha Christie riding the rails. The real persona maintains their known personalities even as they are fully blended into the story line. The action plays against a volatile continent on the verge of World War I. Though somewhat tongue in cheek, Sam McCarver provides an exciting who-done-it that will give much enjoyment to historical mystery fans.

Cudahy has done a good job of outlining the hisstory of New York subway syastems. Good reading!

Cudahy does a great job detailing the development and progression of the New York City subway system, but his focus is much more on providing the necessary details almost in reference book form than in trying to construct any sort of compelling narrative. Conspiculously absent is any portrait of the key figures involved, or the social forces at work as the subway system was born and then rapidly expanded. The entire history of the New York system, in fact, is covered in the first seventy pages. While keeping the critical details about subway car specifications and the like, it would have done Cudahy well to provide much more gloss to these facts rather than occupying so many pages with discussions of the rail systems in London, Boston, and the New York suburbs. Other books on the specific subject in Cudahy's title do a much better job of painting the complete picture and might be better suited for the casual reader interested in a focused but complete history of the New York City subway system.

New York's subway system has been written about, painted, painted on, talked about, griped about, even sung about. (Don't sleep on the subway, darling...) There are a fair number of books about it, most of them are technical. And the technical achievements of the subways system are amazing.

But only Brian Cudahy can write with the excitement and enthusiasm for this complex transit system to bring its history and experience to life. The word "Celebrating" in the subtitle is more indicative of his attitude than the bland "A Century of Subways." He starts with the asphyxiating conditions of Manhattan's streets immediately before 1900, and the need of developers, businessmen, and employers alike to expand into the other boroughs. This system, once built, would ease the overcrowding of Manhattan's slums, provide capital for real estate and housing barons in Brooklyn, Queens, The Bronx, and northernmost Manhattan, and turn places like Coney Island into true party spots.

Of course, skeptics did abound: "New Yorkers will never go into a hole in the ground." And this is where Brian Cudahy then delivers to us the fanfare, thrills and--efficiency (!)--of the first subway ride, as bystanders cheered from clean, beautiful (!!) subway stations. At the center of it all is August Belmont, and the admiration Cudahy has for him is evident. Yet he doesn't resort to worshipping the tycoon/developer.

A CENTURY OF SUBWAYS is a fun and educational book. Its tone is miles away from his sober, but equally fascinating book, THE MALBONE STREET WRECK. While this disaster was waiting to happen in 1918, Cudahy, in A CENTURY OF SUBWAYS, savors the joyful moments of 1904.

Rocco Dormarunno, author of THE FIVE POINTS CONCLUDED

An impressively informative work by transportation historian Brian J. Cudahy, A Century Of Subways: Celebrating 100 Years Of New York's Underground Railways tells of the amazing and critically important history of subway systems as a remarkable technological achievement in mass transportation which legendary for its practicality. A grand presentation that takes the reader and subway enthusiast on a vivid trip through time as an aptly and extensively researched tribute to the visionaries and power brokers behind the creation of New York's famous subways, A Century Of Subways would grace the American History and Transportation History collections of any academic or community library system.

Don't be misled by the title into thinking that this book is mainly about the history of the NYC subway system. While the genesis of the NYC subway is covered, particularly the first IRT line, it forms only a modest part of the book, which also describes the start of the Boston, London, Glasgow and other subways, and the development of the commuter rail network into New York City. The book also dwells a lot on the physical, mechanical and electrical attributes of rolling stock, electricity supply, line construction methods, etc., for the various systems. While this does put the NYC subway system into context, it doesn't make for a particularly "light" read or give the reader an overall perspective on how the entire NYC subway system developed during the past 100 years and its impact on the city.