Trains and Railroads Books

Anyone interested in the causes and evolution of British train wrecks through the 1950's had better read this book. The history of disasters, especially man-made ones, shows a consistent pattern: people play with safety until enough are killed that it becomes favorable to make reforms. New technologies, of course, also assist us. Rolt examines the many British wrecks of history with an eye to their causes. It is amazing how the simplest of factors, such as a tired signalman, can lead to disaster. The reader is bound to be moved by the plight of individuals whose exhaustion or carelesness caused the deaths of (sometimes hundreds)innocents.

Aside from being over fifty years out of date, I was troubled by two features of this work. First of all, the human element is not given much coverage. Rolt says in the introduction that he did not intend to shock the reader with gruesome death and injury stories, and he need not have done so, but as is the book comes off a bit too mechanical. Also, while the famous Tay Bridge and Quintenshill disasters are given the most text, they are still not given enough in my mind.

For me this book works on more than one level - as a historical review of how railway safety evolved, prompting some uneasy comparisons with aviation i.e. little gets done until the body count gets high; as an insight into the world of the Victorian and Edwardian railways; and not least as an often chilling account of disaster.

Rolt does seem to have the knack of adding the detail that brings a story to life. It is hard not to feel for the signalman who solemnly tells his assistant "Go tell Mr Bence I am afraid that I have wrecked the Scotch Express".

This should be a favorite book. It has nice artwork and features many of our favorite friends: Cranky, Thomas (of course), Gordon, Harold the Helicopter, Toby, Percy, James, troublesome trucks (quantity = 2), Sir Topham Hatt, and Bulstrode (shown in the background)...

... BUT for some reason, it is not that popular with us. We liked "Thomas Goes Fishing" and "Thomas and the School Trip" better.

Three Stars. [C+] Good artwork. Nice Read-aloud. But something is lacking. Perhaps it is that the tone is not as sweet as the other aforementioned books.

"Cranky was unloading a box for Sir Topham Hatt. The box was marked URGENT. `Humpf', creaked Cranky. `What's so urgent about this package?' Thomas heard Cranky's question. "If it says urgent, we should get it to Sir Topham Hatt as fast as we can!' he said. `I'll take it!'" -From the book

An urgent package has arrived at the docks, and the engines want to get it to Sir Topham Hatt as soon as possible! Gordon thinks that an urgent package needs a speedy train, so he takes the package. He hurries down the track, but some rocks had fallen across his path. He was stuck! Toby comes by, and Gordon passes on the package to Toby. Toby passes it along to Percy, who passes it along to the Troublesome Trucks. But then James and the Troublesome Trucks happen upon a broken track! Who will deliver the urgent package to Sir Topham Hatt? What is this mysterious package that has arrived on the Island of Sodor?

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 (including the Troublesome Trucks!).

The author concentrates on steam streamline trains rather than the modern and efficient diesels that eventually replaced the great steamers of the Thirties and Forties. Streamline steam was an engine with a shroud to cover all the bits and pieces that made these huge units look rather ugly.

The railroads needed something to encourage passengers back onto trains, amazingly, between 1921 and 1933, passenger journeys declined by fifty-eight per cent. No doubt car ownership increased during this period though. Fortunately, for the railroads, a small group of industrial designers came to the rescue and designed not only the engine but the whole train and passengers were convinced. The author covers the work of Raymond Loewy, Otto Kuhler, Norman Bel Geddes, Henry Dreyfuss, Walter Dorwin Teague and others responsible for the stunning looking trains of the period. He has definitely put in a lot of research and the result is a very comprehensive study.

Unfortunately, though, I found the book extremely dull to look at. There is no design to the pages, no creative use of photos of these great looking trains. Except for eight pages of color at the back all the photos are in black and white and most annoying, plenty of repetition. For example, pages 112-113 have six photos of the Pennsylvania Railroad's Loewy designed T-1, page 79 has three of the Chicago & Northwestern's E4, one photo of each of these engines would have been enough. What makes it worse is that so many of the duplicate photos are only slightly different from each other. Perhaps someone thought why use one photo when three, four or five of the same engine can be used on the same spread! The small color section at the back has five rather mediocre paintings and two washed out color photos, a rather pointless section in my view. For a book that is full of detail and information why is there no index?

Most books about streamline trains tend to concentrate on diesels but have a look out for `The Streamline Era' by Robert Reed, very comprehensive on steamliners and it covers other streamlined transport.

***FOR AN INSIDE LOOK click 'customer images' under the cover.

Quite possibly the definitive work on streamlined steam locomotives in North America, with a thorough text and scores of photographs, many never before published.

The early 1930s marked the beginning of the transition of America's railroads from steam to diesel propulsion. At the same time, the Depression-weary American public was embracing the clean, futuristic lines of Art Deco and Moderne design, thanks in large part to the efforts of industrial designers like Henry Dreyfuss, Raymond Loewy, Norman Bel Geddes, Walter Dorwin Teague, and Otto Kuhler. The rise of the "streamlined" esthetic thus coincided with the apogee of American steam locomotive design. The streamlined steam locomotive was the evolutionary product of its times, eclipsed all too soon by the diesel-electric.

During this brief heyday, trains like New York Central's 20th Century Limited, the Pennsylvania Railroad's Broadway Limited, Milwaukee Road's Hiawatha, and Southern Pacific's Daylights became world-renowned "steamliners."

SteamLiners begins with a review of the designers and design movements that shaped the first decades of the 20th century in Europe and America, as well as a look at the earliest efforts at what came to be termed streamlining.

The book then examines, chronologically, the streamlined steam locomotive classes and key streamlined steam-powered passenger trains operated by U.S. and Canadian railroads.

Photography is almost exclusively black-and-white. Many of these images run full-page or larger, and all are crisply reproduced. Views range from railroad publicity shots and trackside vistas to the detailed "roster" angles and closeups prized by modelers. All but the most obscure classes of locomotive benefit from this varied photographic coverage. Where variations occurred within a class, or modifications were made over the years - as with the PRR T-1, for example - a series of comparative photos and informative captions sort everything out. Images are rounded out with a selection of mechanical diagrams, train floor plans, and rarely seen brochures.

Color content comes in the form of six reproduced paintings by two of America's foremost transportation artists, Michael Kotowski and the late Ted Rose.

Typography and layout are clean and uncluttered. The design gimmickry of so many similar books has, thankfully, been avoided in this attractive volume.

More than just a "railroad book," SteamLiners will be of interest to students of industrial design, railroad history, and Americana alike.

Today there are more than one hundred restored steam-powered trains on the tracks ready to satisfy the kid in all of us. As a child, I took the annual train trip to Washington, D.C. from Knoxvillle, Tennessee, for granted. Now, part of the current interest in 'riding the rails' is nostalgia for the old days when time moved slower and there was no hurry to get somewhere. On my trips, there really wasn't much to see except clothes hanging on the lines in backyards, until you reached a Virginia historic town and as you glide through the town, some marvelous building could be seen. Usually, I chose to travel at night.

One of the joys of an overnight train trip is the brilliant night sky, dense with twinkling stars and roaming satellites miles above (keeping watch). Much more can be seen when the city lights fade in the distance for vast stretches between towns. Riding the train is only part of the experience. Many train stations have been turned into museums, where memories and memorabilia of a bygone era of railway travel are stored. At the Southern Railway station, where my trips departed, there are some restored passenger cars on the premises replenished as a historic museum with actual things used back then. It has been lovingly collected and fitted for the train passenger of the past to re-live the things they took for granted. Nothing lasts forever. Parker Lamb tells how he loved to hang around the railroad yards in his Mississippi hometown as a child. In the third grade at John Sevier School, I sold most of my Girl Scout cookies to the men at the Roundhouse down the hill from the school. He says, "Children like the machines, and they like big things. Steam engines make lots of noise. They're hot and even a bit scary. For a kid, they're even better than fire trucks."

Trains still carry passengers from depot to depot, though not like in the Fifties and earlier, just as they did in their heyday. Amtrack is the only long distance carrier at present. This book shows in pictures and text the mass transit history of America before cars took over. The diesel engine shown on the cover became popular and quicker, but now for a short run, the steam engine has reappeared in its glory. In Knoxville, we have the Rambler to take tourists to the place where the three rivers converge to turn into the Tennessee River, just a few miles out of town. Last year, due to the popular movie, 'The Polar Express' they took advantage of the concept and added special Christmas-time excursions with that theme. A popular newsman is this year's host to read parts of the book to the children who think they are in a movie -- before he 'moves up' to the Atlanta t.v. market. Farewell, Ted Hall! Kids love the noise and the sideways rolling of the cars on the rumbling wheels along the track. That shrill (too loud) train whistle continues throughout the return trip to advertise that the train is running today. The Great Smoky Mountains Railroad offers excursions through the western North Carolina section of the National Park.

Parker Lamb, the author and photographer of this book says it all, "There is something special and timeless about trains." He is a retired professor at the University of Texas at Austin, has been writing about trains since 1960 and taking pictures of them since 1949. He followed up this one with CLASSIC DIESELS OF THE SOUTH (2003). Earlier he wrote PERFECTING THE AMERICAN STEAM LOCOMOTIVE and KATY DIESELS TO THE GULF. My dad was a railroad man, so I think he would no doubt agree that they are special in many ways, not just nostalgia.

The second volume in the Boston Mills Press "Masters of Railroad Photography", Steel Wheels Rolling: A Personal Journey Of Railroad Photography by railroading expert and photographer J. Parker Lamp is a simply fascinating collection of black-and-white photographs of railroad successes over the course of five decades. From pictures of the last of the American Midwest steam engines through the arrival of the diesel engine and much more, Steel Wheels Rolling captures mass transit history in America in unforgettable impressions. Very brief text captions round out this gorgeous showcase of exceptional railroad photography. Also very highly recommended is the first titles in the "Masters of Railroad Photography" series, Ted Benson's One Track Mind: Photographic Essays On Western Railroading...

What a neat idea to produce a paperback that relates the tales of folk who were actually passengers on the great streamliners of the past. Author Mike Schafer managed to cover a lot of miles (and consume plenty of food in the dining cars too) on these trains and his travels take up most of the text, various side-bars give others a chance to tell of their streamline rail adventures. All very interesting but what let the book down for me (apart from the bland predictable layout) was the poor picture selection and the quality of those chosen, too many are soft-focus, blurred, or not really relevant In the acknowledgement the author praises Bob Johnson for having the foresight to photograph the interiors of these trains but his photos are no better than snaps that belong in a photo album and not really good enough to appear in print. If they had to be used maybe a couple of spreads made to look like a scrapbook with hand-written comments would have solved the problem. I think the best visual items in the book are the brochure covers and ads put out by the railroads to promote their trains.

If you are interested in streamline trains the author (and Joe Welsh) have produced much better books, I would suggest `Classic American Streamliners', 160 pages, or best of all, `The Art of the Streamliner' a hardcover 144 page book which (amazingly) costs not much more than `Streamliner Memories'.

What a pleasant surprise to get this book home and discover that it is written by a true lover of trains! Wonderful pictures accompany intersting stories about the author's experiences as a train fanatic. The section covering the Illinois Central and its Land o Corn reminded me of my childhood and the magic of taking the train from Rockford to Chicago for the day. I this the book is worth the price for the photographs but I also think it's worth the price for the narative. Highly recommended.

Be careful when looking for Thomas books. There are many different formats. Picturebacks(Read to Me series) and there is a Pictureback READER which are quite different. (See Cranky Day review) There is also The Big Blue Treasury which is different still. It has more words than the reader, but just as big of pictures and no where near the text of the Read to Me series. Amazon doesn't always have them listed as Read to Me, so check for the triangle at the top of the book cover.

It is interesting that different people have different takes on the same stories. Unlike the previous reviewer (below) I really liked this book. (And of course, my son loves it.)

James and the Red Balloon
Thomas is excited about this new method of transportation, but he begins to be worried about being replaced when James expresses his concern.

James inadvertently ends up saving the balloon when it runs out of air; and the balloon ends up bringing more business for the Steamies.

--I used this as a learning time by pointing out that if is best to wait and get facts about a situation before going off half-cocked.

Harvey to the Rescue
--I simply love this story. First it is hard not to love this lantern-jawed strong man (eh...engine). I also like that Thomas is so kind and considerate in this story (unlike some others in which I'd like to put him into time-out.LOL)

Harvey is new and strange and the Steamies are not all that nice. Harvey is saddened by their lack of friendliness; but Thomas wisely points out that sometimes it takes time to make new friends.

And sure enough, the crew comes around after Harvey does his stuff and saves Percy. They find out that different is good.

Thomas and the Jet Engine
--I don't know if there is some message here that can be used for teaching. In my opinion, this story is just about silliness. If Lucy (from "I Love Lucy" TV show) had been a train, this would no doubt have been an episode.

Perhaps it was written simply to give little Thomas his wish of, for once, being the fastest train on Sodor. Sort of an empowerment statement for young kids.

Five Stars. Two good learning opportunities (imho), plus some classic Sodor silliness.

This is another Thomas book beautifully illustrated by Tommy Stubbs. I much prefer these Thomas books to the "originals". Both my 3 year old and 4 1/2 year old enjoy this book very much. It's an engaging story with good moral lessions (Thomas misbehaves, but learns from his mistakes).

My 3 year old son is a huge Thomas fan, but tends to get a bit distracted by two things about this book. One is it's "wordiness" - there's a lot of language on each page, and he gets bored and want to flip ahead, while I'm trying to finish. The other is the odd "Americanization" of the characters, in the illustrations - the people look like they're in Kansas, not England!

Nell Duvall's debut into fiction crosses genres with the ease of a virtuoso. Though labeled romance, Train to Yesterday is historical and is adventure. Duvall paints a vivid picture of what life was like in 1855 for both, the well to do and the poor, and how the heroine, a modern day executive, has to adjust to pre Civil War America. The story almost falls into the mystery category as Duvall weaves a suspenseful tale, which will keep you turning pages. For a writer who writes action stories, Train to Yesterday was a delightful change of pace.

Railroad heiress Penny Barton works as the marketing director of Ohio-based HyperTrans. Penny arranges a special promo of the firm's product safe high-speed rail. A set is made to look like it is 1855 and Penny rides a mid nineteenth century steam engine train through a tunnel. She meets Fletcher Dawe, whom she assumes is a reenactment actor.

Penny and Fletcher are attracted to one another but he assumes she is a lying saboteur as no one knows Penny. She in turn cannot find him until she sees the photo circa 1855. She further learns how her family earned their fortune, that Fletcher was a merchant who invested in high-speed rail; and the tragic death of canal lockmaster Dan Hudson. When Penny faints, she awakens in 1855 to a world in which the transportation industry violently competes between those who support the railroads and those who back the flatboats sailing the Ohio canals.

This an interesting time travel romance with a vivid look at 1855 through the eyes of the twenty-first century heroine at how her family made their money. Although Penny adapts too easily and the romance between her and Fletcher takes a back seat to historical panorama of pre Civil War Ohio, sub-genre fans will enjoy buy a ticket to rid the TRAIN TO YESTERDAY.

Harriet Klausner

My son is a train fanatic and now that he is four he can really appreciate this book. It's comic book style and repitition have also encouraged him to read parts of it (a word here and there). The book has enough depth to stimulate discussions about time, how people lived "in the old days", etc. From this starting point we have branchedout to read as many Stevenson books as the library has to offer, since they all have his wonderful sense of humor and offer a sympathetic view of the world and children.

This board book unfolds, page by page, until all of the cars of the train are revealed. The completely opened book is about 3 feet long, with one side showing the outside of the train cars and the other side showing what the people are doing inside each car. The book is sturdy enough to survive being dragged about on the floor as a toy train once opened. The illustrations are colorful and fun and show recognizable activities. The text on each page is short and rhythmic and can be read in a way that imitates the motion of an accelerating train. The only minor problem is that the folded book fits very tightly in its "case", so that it is very difficult, if not impossible, for small children to remove the book by themselves. I expect the case will be discarded, if not destroyed, in very short order! Its loss shouldn't distract from the overall quality and appeal of the book.