Novels about trains.

[MiniMax]

I just read a fun (short) mystery novel that takes place on the Capitol Ltd and Southwest Chief. It's The Christmas Train by David Baldacci. The plot may have some holes in it, but his on-board descriptions and train jargon are correct and well researched. The central character boards the train in Washington for a trip to Los Angeles because, for other reasons, he cannot fly. The mystery involves other passengers that he meets aboard as he winds his way through the train stations, lounges, bar cars, sleepers, and Amtrak personnel as they cross the country. Conversations aboard include topics related to Amtrak's (ridiculous) problems with funding, food prep, comfort, delays, and all the talk and diverse people that we are so familiar with while aboard a long distance train. I even learned a few new facts.

 

[Ispolkom]

Jim Lehrer's Super is set on the Super Chief in 1956. It isn't much of a mystery novel, as I recall, but is a good evocation of a great train.

 

[jimhudson]

One of my faces is still "The Old Pantagonin Express" by Paul Theroux!

Imagine riding Amtrak and Latin American Passenger Trains from Boston to the tip of South America! Alas its now part of History but a great Ride Along read!

 

[ALC Rail Writer]

If you can stand the unique blend of racism, sexism, homophobia, and imperialistic attitudes that compose the Anglo-N a z ism that are Ian Fleming's James Bond novels...

In "Live and Let Die" (my least favorite) Bond travels on the Silver Phantom (and also the Meteor) to Florida with Solitaire, escaping a sophisticated group of Harlem (read: black) gangsters who try to kill Bond en route. And in "From Russia With Love" Bond is trapped by a SMERSH plot to murder him on the Orient Express. Other novels and stories have trains as minor parts, but those two have long sections on board famous trains.

 

[brentrain17]

The classic "All Aboard" by EM Frimbo a must read for train fans and of course anything by Paul Theroux,

 

[domefoamer]

Jim Lehrer's "Flying Crows" was a good read. It's about a train station, as well as a train. It takes off from actual history, with a mentally handicapped man who was discovered living alone inside the Kansas City Union Station until it was cleared for renovations. The story follows his escape from an asylum aboard the Flying Crow train, and how he witnessed a crime that forced him to hide in the station for years and years.

I hope this thread brings many other titles. I'm looking for reading on a three-day CZ/CL trip later this month. So far, "Super" is my top pick.

 

[June the Coach Rider]

I just downloaded - Death Rides the Zephyr, A Mystery by Janet Dawson. I have not read it, but it was one of the recommended train books for my kindle. I will read it while on the CZ next month.

 

[manderson]

Dick Francis, "The Edge"

 

[Chaz]

Since avalanches are affecting the Empire Builder just now it would be appropriate to read the historical novel 'Vis Major' by Martin Burlash (2009)

Vis Major: Railroad Men, an 'Act of God'-White Death at Wellington

It was a great read! Fantastic!

via Google Books

https://play.google.com/store/books/details/Martin_Burwash_Vis_Major?id=JdGkjlx9gaEC

Amazon

http://www.amazon.com/Vis-Major-Railroad-God-White-Wellington-ebook/dp/B005OAG2YO/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1394246916&sr=1-2&keywords=vis+major

[i bought my ebook via Google - much cheaper there few months ago than Amazon or Barnes & Noble. [GoodReads link below lets you check prices at various storeS & library holdings]

Goodreads listing:

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7396279-vis-major?from_search=true

[Also see an actual history

The White Cascade: The Great Northern Railway Disaster and America's Deadliest Avalanche

http://www.amazon.com/White-Cascade-Northern-Deadliest-Avalanche/dp/0805083294/ref=la_B000APQDSS_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1394247509&sr=1-2

by Gary Krist - It came out a year before Martin's book & influenced it {they worked somewhat in tandem].

[i have the ebook...on my 'do list']

From Vis Major's Google page

Description








At 1:43 a.m., March 1, 1910, a wall of snow descended on two Great Northern Railway trains stalled in the town of Wellington, Washington. Ninety-six people died in a single moment. To this day, the Wellington Slide remains North America's worst avalanche disaster. Although other accounts of this monumental event exist, none are told entirely from the perspective of the railroad men who battled the week-long blizzard leading up to the tragedy. Vis Major gives voice to those men.With vivid imagery and evocative prose, historian
Martin Burwash brings railroaders from CascadeDivision Superintendent James O'Neill to brakemanAnthony John Dougherty to brilliant life. Relive thecrucial moments where men worked feverishly toclear the snow-clogged line over Washington'sStevens Pass and intimately feel the fatigue,frustration, and misery of working hours uponhours in the harsh winter weather or aboardsteaming rotary snow plows.


Expertly blending historical fact with railroadknowledge, Burwash delivers an amazing fictional
account of this incredible, but often overlooked trueevent and simultaneously reveals the courage andfortitude of the human spirit.

 

[Chaz]

Through the Heart of the South [Kindle Edition via Amazon $8]

Jody Meacham (Author) 2010

Novel involving the Seaboard Ry esp. it's crossroad station in Ham\let NC...during the desegregation period

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Through-Heart-South-Jody-Meacham-ebook/dp/B0047742MY/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1394249578&sr=1-1

Goodreads page:

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/9571576-through-the-heart-of-the-south?from_search=true

The author's website:is a really good:supplement:

http://www.jodymeacham.com/

Familiar Rail writer Henry Kisor wrote about it here:

http://henrykisor.blogspot.com/2010/10/how-to-self-publish-novel.html

I was the first to review it on Amazon Nov '10:

------------------------

" I have had both a Kindle & a Nook since Summer & so far have only bought one ebook--this one! (I do libraries [the Manhattan, Brooklyn & Queens libraries have large collections!] & free).

But being both a rail fan and someone who came of age in the 60's (left high school in '64) I went ahead and purchased the $8 Kindle version. The author's website helped clinch the sale! (That he 'self published' it helped too).
[...]

[i was tipped off to the book by journalist-novelist Henry Kisor
[...]

I really enjoyed the book! I was moved to (good) near-tears many times.

I appreciate the effort the author made to 'live into' how individual Blacks experienced high school integration in a Southern railroad 'hamlet'. Whites too--but he pretty much knew that growing up there!

The former Seaboard Railroad figures in as both backdrop and sometimes shares center stage. The author's depiction of rail scenes, human relationships and outdoor settings was superb.

My one criticism is I lost track of who was who at times--so many characters! [While I wasn't looking for them...I found only 3 errors (2 typos and an extraneous word)--pretty good for any book (let alone a self published one!) these days]."

 

[tonys96]

Good little read is "Groucho Marx and the Broadway Murders" by Ron Goulart. Funny, mysterious and there is death on the train........

As the Super Chief chugs out of Union Station, ex–crime reporter and Groucho Marx scriptwriter Frank Denby and his wisecracking wife Jane, originator of the sassy Hollywood comic strip Molly, who are headed to New York to turn the strip into a radio series, are startled to find Groucho also aboard, guitar in hand, warbling “Lydia the Tattooed Lady.” Ever the thespian, Groucho plans to play the Lord High Executioner in a Broadway version of The Mikado. But first, he and the Denbys must deal with movie mogul Daniel Manheim’s near-death in the observation car.Who wants Manheim cuddling up to Forest Lawn sod? Half the train’s occupants, it seems, including two actresses (both former mistresses of recently slain mobster Nick Sanantonio), a chorus boy, and possibly Manheim’s own bodyguard.

 

[Everydaymatters]

And let's not forget "Zephyr", written by our AU member Henry Kisor. It gives insight to what goes on that most passengers are not aware of.

 

[guest]

Dick Francis, "The Edge"

Oh yes, he's great and that's one of his best, it's for sure his most light-hearted book. Almost all the action takes place on the VIA rail Canadian. I highly recommend it, anyone who likes this forum would like that book.

 

[andersone]

I spent most of my professional career as a librarian,, unfortunately I spent the last fifteen almost utterly focused on technology,,, and to be honest I had forgotten how good a read Dick Francis was,,,,,

 

[MrFSS]

I spent most of my professional career as a librarian,, unfortunately I spent the last fifteen almost utterly focused on technology,,, and to be honest I had forgotten how good a read Dick Francis was,,,,,

Living in the horse capital of the world, I really enjoy the Dick Francis books which are mostly about - horses!

 

[Ocala Mike]

You do realize, MrFSS, that my neck of the woods also lays claim to being the "horse capital of the world." I think there was (or is) a trademark case between the two areas, but not sure how or if it was resolved.

Anyway, many of your Kentucky people are down here this weekend for a big thoroughbred sale that is going on at Ocala Breeders Sales.

 

[MrFSS]

You do realize, MrFSS, that my neck of the woods also lays claim to being the "horse capital of the world." I think there was (or is) a trademark case between the two areas, but not sure how or if it was resolved.

Anyway, many of your Kentucky people are down here this weekend for a big thoroughbred sale that is going on at Ocala Breeders Sales.

But, we were first. Horse racing in KY at Churchill Downs is the oldest continuous sporting event in the country. And, near where I live is the only place in the US to host the World Equestrian Games, usually always in Europe.

How many new colts are you buying this year?

 

[Ocala Mike]

We were sellers, not buyers, when we were in the thoroughbred business. Now we're just "hobbyists" with a couple of riding horses on our mini-farm.

 

[MrFSS]

We were sellers, not buyers, when we were in the thoroughbred business. Now we're just "hobbyists" with a couple of riding horses on our mini-farm.

Ever come up to Keenland Sales? We live a few miles from that track.

 

[the_traveler]

I spent most of my professional career as a librarian,, unfortunately I spent the last fifteen almost utterly focused on technology,,, and to be honest I had forgotten how good a read Dick Francis was,,,,,

Living in the horse capital of the world, I really enjoy the Dick Francis books which are mostly about - horses!

Myself, I like Iron Horses!! :giggle:

 

[the_traveler]

Horse racing in KY at Churchill Downs is the oldest continuous sporting event in the country.

Maybe the Derby is the oldest event, but Saratoga Race Course (15 miles south of where I grew up) is the oldest continuously operated race course in the country.