Amazon.com Book Description (ISBN 0803719299, Hardcover)

The exciting story of a famous train disaster, as told by a two-time Newbery Honor author

In the final years of the nineteenth century, the engineer of the mighty locomotive depends on the fireman to stoke the furnace that runs the engine and supplies steam to the whistle. Sim Webb is proud to be Casey Jones's fireman--because Casey is the best engineer on the Illinois Central, and his is the biggest whistle. But one day Casey and Sim meet a sinister red-headed gentleman who offers Casey an even bigger whistle, an unearthly whistle that Sim knows should not be blown. Can Sim stop Casey from dooming not only the train, but the entire world?

The marvelous text of two-time Newbery Honor winner Nancy Farmer, and astonishingly vivid art of James Bernardin bring a thrilling part of American history and folklore to fire-breathing, steam-belching life. It's a story that will blaze across the reader's imagination and will not soon be forgotten.