Railroad: Trains and Train People in American Culture
by James Alan McPherson (Editor), Miller Williams (Editor)
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Railroad: Trains and Train People in American Culture by New York : (1976)Tags
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Railroad is a curious collection of articles, short histories and biographies, poems, songs, first person accounts, fiction and facts about various facets of railroading (slang, explanation of signals and their meaning, bridges, etc.) whose overarching theme is perhaps best described as melancholy.
The short histories cover such things as the evolution of the idea of steam powered transport starting with the 1641 efforts of the Frenchman Solomon de Caus, the underground railroad in the United States, the wild financial exploits of Drew, Vanderbilt, Fisk, and Gould, and the labor strife of blacks and whites in the U.S. in the 19th and 20th Centuries.
The biographies provide a glimpse into the lives of Casey Jones, Kate Shelly, and show more Thomas Edison among others. The first-person accounts cover some of the “roads less taken”. There’s a sketch of life in a hobo camp (Charles Chrysler), a reflection on a life with a father who was a boiler maker (Otto Salassi), what it was like working in the dining cars ( Joe Monroe) and others.
The fiction runs the gamut from the grim to the almost unintelligible and this reviewer did not find any of it particularly interesting. The same is true for a lot of the cited poetry.
Overall I don’t begrudge the time spent reading but it is not a book I am likely to revisit.
(Text Length – 185 pages. Includes numerous pictures, illustrations, maps, etc.) (Book Dimensions inches LxWxH – 8.5 x .625 x 10.875). show less
The short histories cover such things as the evolution of the idea of steam powered transport starting with the 1641 efforts of the Frenchman Solomon de Caus, the underground railroad in the United States, the wild financial exploits of Drew, Vanderbilt, Fisk, and Gould, and the labor strife of blacks and whites in the U.S. in the 19th and 20th Centuries.
The biographies provide a glimpse into the lives of Casey Jones, Kate Shelly, and show more Thomas Edison among others. The first-person accounts cover some of the “roads less taken”. There’s a sketch of life in a hobo camp (Charles Chrysler), a reflection on a life with a father who was a boiler maker (Otto Salassi), what it was like working in the dining cars ( Joe Monroe) and others.
The fiction runs the gamut from the grim to the almost unintelligible and this reviewer did not find any of it particularly interesting. The same is true for a lot of the cited poetry.
Overall I don’t begrudge the time spent reading but it is not a book I am likely to revisit.
(Text Length – 185 pages. Includes numerous pictures, illustrations, maps, etc.) (Book Dimensions inches LxWxH – 8.5 x .625 x 10.875). show less
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Author Information
James Alan McPherson Jr. was born in Savannah, Georgia on September 16, 1943. He received a bachelor's degree from Morris Brown College in 1965, a law degree from Harvard Law School, and a master of fine arts degree from the Writers' Workshop at the University of Iowa. While still in law school, he won a contest sponsored by The Atlantic Monthly show more magazine for a semi-autobiographical short story called Gold Coast. His first short story collection, Hue and Cry, was published in 1969. His next anthology, Elbow Room, won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction in 1978. He also wrote memoirs including Going Up to Atlanta and Crabcakes. In 1981, he was among the first 21 people who received what became known as genius awards from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. He taught at the University of Virginia and the Writers' Workshop at the University of Iowa. He died from complications of pneumonia on July 27, 2016 at the age of 72. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Miller Williams was born on April 8, 1930 in Hoxie, Arkansas. He received a bachelor's degree in biology from Arkansas State University and a master's degree in zoology at the University of Arkansas. He taught biology at several colleges before getting a job in the Louisiana State University's English Department in 1962. He joined the University show more of Arkansas' English department in 1970 and remained a professor emeritus until his death. His first collection of poetry, Et Cetera, was published in 1952. During his lifetime, he wrote over 25 collections of poetry including A Circle of Stone, Halfway from Hoxie, The Boys on Their Bony Mules, Points of Departure, The Ways We Touch: Poems, and Time and the Tilting Earth: Poems. He received the 1991 Poets' Prize for Living on the Surface and the National Arts Award for his lifelong contribution to the arts. He also worked as a translator and editor and went on to co-found the University of Arkansas Press, which he directed for two decades. He read his poem, Of History and Hope, at President Bill Clinton's second inauguration. He died after years of battling Alzheimer's disease on January 1, 2015 at the age of 84. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Common Knowledge
- Dedication
- This book is dedicated to the rebuilding of our roadbeds and the replacement of ties and rails so that America's trains, which are its history, will not ride on crystallized metal, rotten wood and uncertain ground
Classifications
- Genres
- Nonfiction, History
- DDC/MDS
- 385.0973 — Society, government, & culture Commerce, communications & transportation regulations Railroad transportation Subdivisions History, geographic treatment, biography North America United States
- LCC
- TF23 .R28 — Technology Railroad engineering and operation Railroad engineering and operation
Statistics
- Members
- 38
- Popularity
- 765,215
- Reviews
- 1
- Rating
- (3.00)
- Languages
- English
- Media
- Paper
- ISBNs
- 2
