Trains and Railroads Books

My son loved this book until the sound died 2 days after he received it. Unfortunately, before the sound went away altogether, the book made a continuous, wheezing noise that was impossible to turn off.

The photos in this book are wonderful. However, the sound lasted for all of one day. I purchased 2 of these and the batteries on both died within 24 hours. I'm returning them.

This book on cross sections goes from the 1st train invented through the Le Shuttle built in 1994. It is an awsome book with great illustrations of all the trains and there individule history on the tracks, this gives you a great look at the trains and how and who built them. In the back of the book the is a timeline of all the trians plus a glossary on the parts of the train and there use.

Author Stan Fischler's interest in Subways developed as a child in New York City and having ridden subways all over the world, he has now written about 10 major systems (London, New York, Moscow, Paris, Toronto, Boston, Chicago, Washington DC, San Franciso, and Tokyo). As is typical of Motorbooks works, about half of the 96 pages are taken up with (generally) crisply reproduced color photographs, well laid out amid the author's text. Unfortunately, both the text and the photographs leave something to be desired.

A large majority of the photos are the work of one person and in some cases those used provide a very limited view of a given system. In the case of Boston, for example, there are 3 views of the current Orange Line cars, 2 shots of one of the 4 types of Green Line cars - but none of the other 3, no shots of any Blue Line cars, and 2 of the 3 Red Line photos are of a series that was scrapped some time ago while one of the current series goes unseen. At least 4 different series of Chicago cars are shown with little effort to identify their differences, while each of three series of nearly identical DC cars are shown and identified separately - if it matters. On the plus side, some of the photos provide unique views of the diverse systems: a snow-covered underground platform in New York, the museum-like interiors of several Moscow stations, classic brickwork on the London Underground, and interior shots of several cars.

With an average of eight pages available to describe each system, and much of that given over to photos, an author must be very focused to convey information consisely. Unfortunately Mr. Fischler's abbreviated histories of each system lack such a focus. A large part of his Chicago chapter is devoted to the South Shore Lines - an interurban railway which never ran on CTA subway or elevated tracks. Yet no mention is made of Chicago's two other interurbans which did use the 'L' to reach downtown. He is sharply critical of some systems for their failure to build express tracks or run 7x24 like his beloved New York while never mentioning these shortcomings (if, indeed, they are) about other systems. And, clearly, the LRV subways of Boston and San Francisco bother him; he doesn't seem to know how to deal with these aspects of those cities' systems and never mentions their common usage of the ill-fated Boeing LRVs.

Motorbooks aren't known for publishing academic reference books, so perhaps I'm being too critical. This book does provide a variety of information and photos on many of the world's subway systems and may be appealing to those with a developing interest in the subject. But it left me disappointed and unsatisfied.

"Subways of the World" -- the title implies that this is a book about ALL subway systems of the world, but it covers only ten of them. It is written from a very American point of view; the author claims six out of the ten most important subways to be in North America. Due to these shortcomings the book can get no more than four stars from me.

Nevertheless, it is an interesting book with a lot of nice color photographs. It covers history and recent high-tech developments of both pioneering London Underground and Paris Metro. It tells about the construction of the extraordinarily ornate and effective Moscow Metro, the luxurious Washington Metro, and the state-of-the-art technology of the San Francisco BART. Lesser known subways like the systems in Toronto, Chicago, and Boston are treated as well as, of course, the vast systems of New York City and Tokyo.

I bought this book expecting to find interesting, coffee-table-type pictures and chatter on 10 subway systems of interest to me, and ended up writing a letter of criticism to the publisher. Almost all of them are compared (usually negatively) to the author's hometown system of New York. The two systems that received the greatest complaint from the author are Chicago and Toronto, Chicago for having a low proportion of subway mileage in its total, and Toronto for not having express tracks. The pictures in this book are mostly from the last 20 years (although little effort was made to identify when in that time the pictures were taken) and are generally fairly limited in their variety. In all I was somewhat disappointed with this book; good thing it was inexpensive.

Maybe I was expecting a book up to the standard set by the first book in this series, on Amtrak. I am not familiar with the New Haven's service area, and was often lost when reading the text. The McGinnes era seems to have few pictures. For example, there is only one of the Talgo trains and none of the converted RDC trains. Instead of being a snapshot of the trains of the later years, as shown on the cover, it attempts a history without the photographs or maps to make satisfy a reader new to the history of the NH.

I found the book to have a great deal of information on the New Haven Rail road that I did not know. Having grown up on the main line of the New Haven it let me know about the route that I was not aware of.

Reading this book is a chore, as the author has almost no ability to write a compelling account of one of the most ambitious and brutal totalitarian undertakings of modern times. However, most of the raw statistics and data from the Burma-Siam Railroad are so interesting that even he cannot get in the way of this incredible story.

I think part of the problem lies in the fact that Clifford is a military historian and suffers from an all too frequent "laundry list" approach to ennumerating different battalions and minutiae that were relocated, shipped out, etc. The book literally drags for pages at a time while the narrative simply stalls.

Another annoyance is the author's painfuly obvious pro-UK and somewhat veiled anti-American tone; in the first chapter he takes some jabs at the yanks without giving them credit for much of anything in the Asian theater. It's the old argument that the only reason the Americans were able to do anything at all was because of our industrial capacity. That argument is insulting and been proven erroneous many times over -- and besides which, if that were the case than how do you explain Vietnam? But the Brits frequently have this problem and are known the world over for their elitism and pomposity.

Although one of my favorite movies of all time is "Bridge on the River Kwai," I knew that much of the details were fiction. That's why I purchased this book, hoping to learn -- as promised -- the real story behind the Burma-Siam railroad.

However, the book's prose is so bland and uninspiring that it manages to make an otherwise interesting story boring. There is little narrative here, the paragraphs are large and clunky and the comma-free punctuation will annoy readers.

That said, if you have a deep interest in and knowledge of the Pacific Theater in World War II, you might find this book more approachable.

My 4 year old son really enjoys trains, and this book really has kept his attention and interest. It is an ideal book for a pre-schooler or young school-aged child who is interested in trains and has an active imagination. The illustrations are beautiful, and the story is a great combination of fantasy and reality. The train world is fascinating for many kids, and we were happy to find a book that has a fine moral (the love of family) as well as an entertaining plot.

We have gotten both Daylight and President Washington for our 4 year old son. He loves them both. He has learned so much from the first two books in this series. He now knows about couplers, thunder, lightning, rockslides, brakes..... The songs are also great. He has memorized all of them.

Unfortunately, the author took a vacation on the third book, "The Torpedo Run." In the story, Scoop and Tiny are able to stop the most powerful locomotive in its day by merely standing on the tracks. There is even a picture of this. We were so impressed by the first 2 books, we did not preview this before we let our son read it. (which I doubt we could anyway, as he had such great excitement after his grandmother gave it) We spent the next week trying to explain this. We cut the page with the picture out and intend to edit that part when we read it to him and also erased that part of the tape. What was the author thinking? This is geared towards children and he's showing how to stop a train by standing on the tracks!

This book is totally overpriced. I can get this identical book at a local store for $ 1.00. What was I thinking? I was sure this had to be a bigger or better version. This is the first time I have ever felt "taken" by Amazon.

This is a cute book. There are 4 pages of stickers. If you remove the cover from the inside pages, you can use the scene on it with the stickers to create various train scenes...and then change them as desired.

However, my 3 year old did not see using it that way - he would rather put the stickers in his own sticker book, so that particular concept failed. But the stickers are nice, and the concept is still cute.

There is a lot of awful stuff being published in the name of children's entertainment. As the father of a two-year-old, I've read a lot of it (over and over again, usually). But Diesel 10 Means Trouble has to be one of the worst.

Despite having seen several episodes of Thomas and Friends into the dozens of times (I could perform an impromptu one-man show of a couple from the Milkshake Muddle DVD), I've got a soft spot for the little blue engine and his Protestant work ethic (misguided though it may be).

Which leads me to the main reason that Diesel 10 Means Trouble rubbed me the wrong way: it's simply not written like the other books. First off, it's one of the few actually credited to an author: the show's one-time producer, Britt Allcroft.

Whether she's a good producer I can't say, but she's a horrible writer. Where the other books are painstakingly crafted to a certain reading level, Allcroft mixes large and small words with seemingly no thought of the book's audience, or to any sort of narrative flow.

The story of Diesel 10 Means Trouble is utterly ridiculous. Fans of the show will wonder where such characters as Mr. Conductor and Lady the Golden Engine came from, and what the devil "magic gold dust" has to do with it all.

(Some parents have expressed disappointment at Diesel 10's negative qualities, but I think that's silly. First of all, he's the best part of the book -- I love a good villain, and I really enjoy reading his part aloud. And second, how are kids supposed to learn to tell "right" from "wrong" if they're not exposed to "wrong" once in a while.)

But possibly all the explanation that is needed is that this book was adapted from the movie Thomas and the Magic Railroad, the attempt at a feature film that was produced, written, and directed by Allcroft. Purists can't stand it, and its failure at the box office directly led to Allcroft's resignation from HIT Entertainment.

I mean, come on, anything that stinks that bad shouldn't be allowed indoors, right? My recommendation is to avoid it, even if it is given to you as a gift. Then again, your mileage may vary, and, of course, if your kid loves it (like mine does), you're simply out of luck. Whatever the case, Diesel 10 definitely means trouble.

This story was not in line with ANY other Thomas the Train stories. It was really an awful story with Diesel 10 ....well, getting hurt or dying, or something! It's never quite clear, but obviously SOMETHING happens to him and the rest of the trains obviously don't care b/c he was so mean in the story. I gave this to my son for his 3rd birthday last week and hadn't read it before I wrapped it. Very sorry I purchased it, am actually going to put it in the trash. There's no good lesson or even decent story in this book. Don't buy it!

This book is essentially a companion to the Thomas and the Magic Railroad Movie. It has similar lines and phrases, and my son was especially drawn to it because he loves Diesel 10. This was not a very good bedtime book because my son got so excited during the chase scene toward the end. However, this is a beloved book by all of us during the day! =)

This is the book that has taught me never to buy a children's book without reading it first. I'm sure we've all bought some books that haven't lived up to our expectations, but this one goes way, way beyond that. I don't know what the author was thinking when she wrote this book, and I don't know what the publisher was thinking when they let it go to press! (Unless, I don't know, they were thinking that anything in the Thomas line will sell...)

I was familiar with Diesel 10 before buying this book. He appears in the "Calling All Engines" movie and my son, for whatever reason, really likes him. In that movie, he is not a terrible character. At first he comes across as tough and scary and the other engines are afraid to approach him, but in the end he comes through and helps the other engines with the massive amount of work they have to do before tourist season can begin in Sodor. So he kind of teaches the lesson not to always go on first impressions and not to be afraid to ask for help.

In this book, however, he is nothing but evil. There is no positive message to be gained from this story. He wants to destroy the steam engines and enlists the help of his friends to do so. The book ends with Diesel 10's presumed demise, falling into a river as he crosses a bridge that has just broken up as Lady and Thomas have crossed. I suspect, however, that like Jason Vohees and Freddy Kruger, Diesel 10 will be back.

Beyond Diesel 10's meanness, however, this story is just bizarre. It almost sounds as if a four year old wrote it, what with how new characters and new plot elements are introduced so haphazardly.

My husband has re-named this book, "Thomas and the Underground Cocaine Smuggling Ring," and it's not very far fetched as a title. As you read this story, try mentally putting "cocaine" in place of "magic gold dust." Depending on your point of view, you'll either be horrified at how well it works our or you'll laugh yourself sick. Sir Toppam Hat goes on vacation and is replaced by Mr. Conductor who inexplicably rides around in a cloud of magic gold dust. Mr. Conductor laments that he has lost all of his sparkle and needs more magic gold dust. Thomas makes a trip up the mountain to fetch Lady who is the source of the magic gold dust.

I think the author was using some of that magic gold dust when she wrote the story!

Frankly, this book belongs in the trash, and not on your child's bookshelf. But it's so, so out there that I feel inclined to hold on to it if for no other reason than to show it to people and say, "Can you believe this was ever written?" And so far, every one's reaction has been, "What the ----?" And I really, actually, suggest you find it in a bookstore and read it just to see how crazy it is, but I don't suggest you buy it. There are many other Thomas books to choose from.

My son thinks we have lost this book. I won't read it to him any more. I am really disturbed by his attraction to Diesel 10 which has persisted even after reading this book. I tried to make a lesson out of how mean Diesel 10 is and how the other engines don't like him, but all my son can see is that Diesel 10 likes to smash things. What preschool-aged boy doesn't also like smashing things? This book is out of our rotation because there is nothing positive to be gained from it but there are many negatives.

"We're going to make life miserable for those steaming heaps of trash on wheels" Diesel 10 bellows. "Diesel 10 Means Trouble" could be called trash in paperback.

I strongly urge parents of Thomas the train fans to avoid this book like the plague. I'm not sure what the author was thinking when he wrote it, but I couldn't find one redeeming quality among the pages of hate and rage spewing from the bad guy, Diesel 10. It seems his sole purpose in life is to kill all the steam engines, while he himself is violently killed at the end. Who in their right mind thought up this nutty story?!

And for you history buffs, the creator of Thomas the train was Reverend W. Awdry, a Christian father writing to his son, and it would be hard to deny that simple Christian morals can be found laced throughout the many Thomas stories children have come to love. This book strays from these morals by introducing magic, particulary gold dust, and fails to explain why this gold dust is needed on the Island of Sodor in the first place.

Like I said, don't bother with this terrible Thomas book! The many negative Amazon reviews can't be wrong. Hopefully the editors think better before marketing such a scary, hateful story in the future.

I looked at this guide to see what might be found in my local area and my state. I was surprised to find his entry for Grau Mill in Quincy, IL. He's correct that Quincy was an important underground railroad stop, unfortunately Grau Mill is not there. After doing some checking to make sure, I can only assume that he's referring to Graue Mill in Oakbrook, IL. The details match, including the location at the intersection of York and Spring Roads. Unfortunately, those roads are in Oakbrook, which is about 275 miles from Quincy. I would be wary of trip planning with this book.

Dr. Bruce Chadwick's brief and exciting narrative of the history of the Underground Railroad is superbly written. Adventurous and refreshing from the beginning, this work can be enjoyed by both academians and laymen. Chadwick provides suspenseful tales of escape from slavery, including accounts such as the well-known escape of Henry "Box" Brown as well as lesser known treasures that I won't spoil by summarizing here.

Not meant to be an extensive historical account of Underground Railroad history or Civil War daily life, this book does provide descriptions, photos and historical details pertaining to more than 300 sites currently listed as part of the Underground Railroad, and an introduction to the Underground Railroad that is the sine qua non of the book. Chadwick also provides histories of some sites that were destroyed before they could be legitimately proven as an historical part of the Underground Railroad.

As for the previous Amazon[.com] reviewer's distaste for this work, I'm wondering what personal animosity existed between the reviewer and Dr. Chadwick. The accusations of historical inaccuracy and false acknowledgements are hardly believable. As for descriptions of certain sites the reviewer claims "vague," that would be the point of visiting the Underground Railroad sites for one's self.

Read this book, and enjoy your journey!

I would really like to give the book 0 Stars or a -5. Thank goodness Dr. Chadwick was not alive and a conductor during the 1800's because based on his descriptions just in Ohio I would have be lost, caught and sold back to slavery. I know a couple of his acknowledgements and know for a fact he did not spend much time talking to them or getting their input before his final draft. There are so many sites all over the United States and Canada that I am sure Vince DeForest could have pointed out, yet he spend an amazing amount of time dwelling in Ohio. At first I was flattered until I started reading the descriptions. If he went on a tour at the Kelton House, he must have slept his way through it. There is a lot more to say about the Stone Academy in Zanesville! What about its significance in the history of the Underground Railroad? Isn't that what the book is about? The only thing about Benjamin Lundy that stuck in his mind was his "bragging about traveling more than 25,000 miles ..". A Quaker bragging, when did this interview take place? What about the Free Labor Store still standing? I could go on but I will leave a few comments for others.

I think you get the jest. In historical accuracy he gets a F, in vague research he gets a A+.

Don't read this book.

We bought this "book" for our 3 year old, who loves everything Thomas and has the other book in this series (Thomas). Both are somewhat difficult for young readers, requiring motor skills well beyond the Thomas interest age target audience. A great idea, but this is one product that really needs parental involvement. Buy with that in mind.

This book is horrible. My 3 year old son loves Thomas the Train as well as books. I thought what could be better than a Thomas and Friends Book that interacted with you. Well, thats just say the pen only says "hi". It does not do anything else. The pen does not read the page "pick up the page" it is on let alone do anything else, besides "hi....hi....hi". Not worth a penny!!

We checked this out of the library and at first I thought it had great potential. It began with a cheerful picture (each picture covers two pages) of Thomas watching children hurrying towards a circus tent. The text suggests that your child touch the pictures of the balloons in the order of red, green, and blue. Great, I thought. This can be used to teach colors and sequence.

Only problem is that this experience is not repeated. The next picture merely says `see' the elephants while the pages after that say' hear' the drums and `smell' the popcorn and cotton candy. Certainly asking a baby or even a toddler to imagine they are smelling something that isn't in the room is not age appropriate.

And further detracting from the books limited merits is the fact that there is nothing for a caregiver/parent to point out. No other trains -like James or Henry-and not much in the way of animals; the usual baby book staple. There are elephants, monkeys and a lion and that's it.

One Star. Artwork is okay, but in general the story and the pictures fall short of being a good baby or toddler book. There are not many animals shown, nor trains which I believe explains why the book is out of print.

Text follows:

Let's go to the circus with Thomas!
Touch the big, shiny balloons!
Red, green, and blue!
See the elephants parade!
Hear the drums roll! Brrrrrrrum!
Smell the popcorn and the cotton candy. Yum!
Hooray!
What a wonderful day!

My 3 year old son is a BIG fan of Thomas the Tank engine. He saw this book, and we have read it several times already...and it has only been at home for one night. :) It's a simple book, with nice bright illustrations. Any toddler who is a fan of Thomas will enjoy this book.