|
Yonder Comes the Train Story of the Iron Horse and some of the RRs it travelled
Yonder Comes The Train by Lance Phillips Hard cover with dust jacket
The story of the Iron Horse and some of the roads it traveled.
Copyright 1965
Yonder Comes the Train captures the spirit of an age as well as a business, a way of life as well as a profession. Illustrated with over 450 photographs and drawings, it is a book that is factual, fond, and fascinating.
In a lurching cab, the hand of an engineer reached for a plaited cord and the blast from the whistle on a stream locomotive split the air. It might have been two longs and two shorts for a crossing, or the long wail that heralded the approach to some lonely station in the night, or some engineer just quilling for the hell of it. When these sounds came late in the darkness, whether from some all steel Pullman limited busting into tomorrow or from a rattling consist of empty freights, the reaction among the listeners in the night was the same - Yonder comes the train.
Lance Phillips, himself the son of an engineer and one of those countless American boys who in the still of a far off summers day would pass away the hours listening to and memorizing the whistle calls of those artists of the cord, here presents and affectionate portrait of the great steam locomotive and some of the American roads over which it pulled its trains.
After sketching the history of the development of the steam engine and its first application in England, Mr. Phillips traces the introduction of the locomotive to America and chronicles the growth of the early roads laid out to operate between town, and then of the great lines that headed into and across open country, hoping that the growing population would follow the high iron to new frontiers and opportunities. In the short span of one human lifetime, steam railroads revolutionized American life. And with this revolution came the great names-the great financiers, the great engineers, the great heroes and the great villains of an age that passed too quickly, as quickly as one of its own engines at a crossing.
PREFACE As far into the past as my memory goes, steam locomotives, trains, and railroads have held my interest. My father was a locomotive engineer and I grew up in the railroad atmosphere of the little town of Manchester, Virginia. As I look back now, over half a century, the old scenes are still vivid and the personalities alive, in and about the roundhouse. I still remember the tall tales told about my engine, such as how bridging the nozzle (a piece of wire run through the exhaust pipe, paralleling the flues, to create a vacuum) would make her pull a forty car train in half, and so on, ad infinitum.
As a boy herding neighbors milk cows on Spring Hill in the still of a summer day, I would pass away the hours listening to and committing to memory the whistle calls of those artists with the cord. And across the long years of silence comes back Jim OBriens impatient call at a red board; Mr. Ellingtons Old Oaken Bucket as he headed for Danville around the bluffs of the James River; and the wail of my fathers chime whistle as he approached the yard limits at Clopton with the Coast Lines Florida Special.
It was perhaps this background and an unflagging interest in steam railroading that whetted my desire to look back; and in looking back over the years of the steam engine to Thomas Newcomen, and to Richard Trevithicks first steam locomotive, I have truly been impressed to see how splendid was the day of the steam locomotive.
Since the locomotive was the heart that brought life, making the composite whole, a railroad, possible, it would be difficult, if not impossible, to separate one from the other. In this essay it has not been possible to do more than briefly sketch the geneses of a few of the great railroad systems of America; the fact that some have not even been mentioned in no way reflects upon their importance but was necessitated by lack of allotted space.
Since many excellent works of accomplished historians on practically all individual railroads are available, and treatises on the steam locomotive, this contribution is not intended as a comprehensive history on either, but rather to bring in condensed for the story of the steam locomotive from its birth and of some of the American roads over which it pulled its train.
In a lurching cab, the hand of an engineer reached for a plaited cord and the blast from the whistle on a steam locomotive split the air. If in mountainous country, the reverberations kicked and bounced over the terrain; if in level, they followed a more direct path through the ether waves.
Yonder Comes the Train! This familiar phrase immediately poses questions - where was yonder? Where did this busy, alive, and romantic steam locomotive originate? What transpired through the years from the birth of the locomotive, its train, and the railroads to bring about the great impact it had on our American way of life?
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.
Shipping charges
Postage rates quoted are for shipments to the US only. Ebay Global shipping charges are shown. These items are shipped to Kentucky and then ebay ships them to you. Ebay collects the shipping and customs / import fees. For direct postage rates to these countries, send me an email. Shipping to Canada and other countries varies by weight.
Payment options
Payment must be received within 10 days. Paypal is accepted.
Terms and conditions
All sales are final. Returns accepted if item is not as described. Contact us first. No warranty is stated or implied. Please e-mail us with any questions before bidding.
Thanks for looking at our items.
| 
