Train Books

[JoeRids]

A Couple of my favorites, mostly rail oriented:

I'm A Stranger Here Myself: Travels in Small Town America- Bill Bryson (Laugh out loud funny trip rediscovering America)

Making Tracks: An American Rail Odyssey- Terry Pindell (capures the flavor of a cross county train ride with some history thrown in)

Waiting on a Train- James McCommons

Twilight of the Great Trains- Fred Frailey (a great account of pre Amtrak passenger railroading, a bit of a "foamer" book but not rediculously so). Frailey is a great writer.

Any book by Karl Zimmerman, another wonderful rail travelogue writer and historian

To be honest, any novel is fair game for a rail trip!

 

[Peggy]

To be honest, any novel is fair game for a rail trip!

True, true.... I just wanted to get into the spirit of things!! :lol:

 

[WICT106]

Its over fifteen years old, but the research and facts remain valid. Also, this book will point you in the direction of some primary sources for North American rail history: "Getting There: The Epic Struggle between Road and Rail in the American Century," by Stephen Goddard.

See also "America Railroads," by John Stover. "Railroads Triumphant," by Albro Martin. Mr. Martin also wrote "Enterprise Denied," which covered the period where the ICC strangled US Railroads with all sorts of regulation. "The Men Who Loved Trains," by Rush Loving. "Merging Lines" and "Main Lines," both by Richard Saunders.

"Farthest North," by Fridtjof Nansen. The Hunger Games trilogy, by Suzanne Collins.

My book, "Far Distant Echo: A Journey by Canoe from Lake Superior to Hudson's Bay."

 

[Peggy]

I read Murder on the Orient Express on the SWC a few years ago. It's excellent! I LOVE Agatha Christie and have read almost all of her novels. My favorite character is Miss Marple. Hers are the best. Hercule Poirot is pretty good (he's in Orient), but I definitely prefer Miss Marple.

I enjoyed it as well! I went all nerdy and read The Man In Lower 10 on the trip up because I was on the upper level, and read Murder on the Orient Express on the way home, when I was on the lower.

They were the perfect sized books for each part of the ride.

 

[SarahZ]

I read Murder on the Orient Express on the SWC a few years ago. It's excellent! I LOVE Agatha Christie and have read almost all of her novels. My favorite character is Miss Marple. Hers are the best. Hercule Poirot is pretty good (he's in Orient), but I definitely prefer Miss Marple.

I enjoyed it as well! I went all nerdy and read The Man In Lower 10 on the trip up because I was on the upper level, and read Murder on the Orient Express on the way home, when I was on the lower.

They were the perfect sized books for each part of the ride.

I'm glad you liked it.

 

[Shortline]

I have never read Jack London's The Road. Not sure why, I've read most of his other work, but never this one. Downloaded it to the iPad along with a few other books, for my 2 day trek home. Looking forward to it, also might download the other book mentioned, called Super. Thanks for the great topic!

 

[andersone]

Mr. Kisor's book is very good, but i just finished Stephen Ambroses's Nothing Like It In the World: The Men Who Built the Transcontinental Railroad 1863-1869. I could barely turn my Kindle Fire off,,,,