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Rails Across the Land By Kenody Charlton 204 Pages
Rails Across the Land by Kenody J Charlton
Freight and passenger trains of the 40s and 50s
204 Pages
Hard Cover with dust jacket
Copyright 1991
CONTENTS
Chapter 1-Home Rails 6
Chapter 2-Rails Among the Cornstalks 18
Chapter 3-Chicago: Streetcars and Shoe Leather36
Chapter 4-The Legend of Englewood Station56
Chapter 5---Chicago: The Speed Merchants68
Chapter 6-St. Louis Union Zoo 76
Chapter 7-Crooked Rails in High Grasses 86
Chapter 8-The Hooppole 90
Chapter 9-The Great Graduation Trip, Part I94
Chapter 10-The Great Graduation Trip, Part II 114
Chapter 11-Eastbound 132
Chapter 12-Westward Ho152
Chapter 13-Southern Cooking 158
Chapter 14-The Northlands 170
Chapter 15-Iowa Days 182
Chapter 16-Memories194
Index 202
Preface
Suppose that the young boys of today are still somewhat taken by the sight and sound of trains and locomotives.
Yet, when I was young, the spectacle was so very different across the land. Today's generic diesel locomotives and non-entity Amtrak trains clearly leave much to be desired from a spectator's point of view. Steam engines drew awe and wonder from a boy in my day. Who could not help but be impressed by the smoke, steam, smell and sound of such spectacular machines? And the then-new diesel locomotives were so very colorful as a diversion.
The years which this book covers, 1945-1952, were really the last true years of railroading in the old tradition. Steam was still king, and the diesel began to make itself known as a fancy partner, never a threat to steam.
My railroading experience began at the tender age of 14. Like many boys, I liked to watch trains in my hometown of LaSalle, Illinois, but what really seemed to move me was lying in bed at night and listening to the sound spectacle of an Illinois Central coal train fighting up the grade a few miles away, or a Rock Island passenger train rushing along the Illinois River Valley. Whistles in the night had a very special attraction for me.
Soon, it wasn't enough to just witness railroading so I began a hobby of photographing its wonder. It became a passion and a hobby of love. I spent the next few years compiling a visual record of railroading during this exciting period of years. In this book I recall this glorious railroad era.
All of the black and white photographs in this book ..were taken by me between 1945-1952. The color photographs that I took were taken a few years later. The photographs in Chapter 16 were taken in June, 1989.
This book is not a definitive or historical study of railroads during those years. It is not a book of technical information on motive power; nor is it a volume of high caliber camera studies. This book is a pleasant and nostalgic reflection on the glory of those wonderful years in railroading, a great chapter in America's not-so-distant past.
Above all, this is a book for those who can remember and for those who never knew.
All pictures are of the actual item. If this is a railroad item, this material is obsolete and no longer in use by the railroad. Please email with questions. Publishers of Train Shed Cyclopedias and Stephans Railroad Directories. Large inventory of railroad books and magazines. Thank you for buying from us.
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