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 Posted - April 16 2015 : 12:00:16 AM
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a while back, and I can't find the post, a TFer put up some titles he had read,
I'll throw in a few from my book shelf, as previously threatened:
The Railway Revolution: George and Robert Stephenson.
L.T.C. Rolt, New York: St. Martin's Press, 1960, American
ed. 1962.
A fascinating historical narrative of the progenitors of the first
practical self propelled locomotive. Written in the age before
television, it was written when writers knew how to write.
The technical narrative of how these ingenious men hafted
a locomotive prototype out of raw materials is astonishing.
The Story of American Railroads. Steward H. Holbrook,
New York: Bonanza Books, 1947.
Again, from age of writers writing. A compilation of railroad's
trials and triumphs in an age where the world moved at the
speed of steam. A gripping read.
Steelways of New England. Alvin F. Harlow. New York:
Creative Age Press, 1946.
A thundering, gusty exposition of the first railways in New
England through 1946 and the politics of getting track
financed and operational in a divisive climate of boom
and bust. Boston versus New York, and it wasn't about
the Red Sox vs. Yankees.
The Railway Man. Eric Lomax. New York, London:
W.W. Norton & Co., 1995.
Later made into a film with Nicole Kidman. Not on my
"must see" list. The book itself is an elegantly written
discussion of man's inhumanity to man, with rail as
its backdrop, in Burma, 1941, as a POW.
Westward By Rail. W.F. Rae. New York:
Indian Head Books, 1993.
A superb first hand account of rail travel 1869 first
published as a travelogue describing in exquisite
detail the journey from New York to San Francisco
by rail, in a first hand account.
Not a literary expert, but it seems to me that in
this age of instant gratification, something has
been lost, watered down. This stuff was written
with a keen eye to detail and the writers were not
afraid to use potent verbs and vivid phrases.
May have trouble finding older titles, no doubt out
of print.
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Posted - April 16 2015 : 04:52:14 AM
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Here it be:
http://tycoforums.com/tyco/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=16003
Glenn
I was thinking of the immortal words of Socrates, who said, "... I drank what?"
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Posted - April 16 2015 : 07:58:49 AM
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Thanks for sharing! I'll have to look those up next time I'm at Half Price Books.
Tim
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