Train Books

[Peggy]

So does anyone have a "perfect book to read on a train"?

I have Murder on the Orient Express as my planned read, never read an Agatha Christie and it seems appropriate.

But I'm open to suggestions for good books set on trains.

Prefer a novel that won't require a lot of serious attention.

On road trips I usually take music that has roots in the area I'll be traveling in, so it will be cool to get to read for a change.

Riding the TE to Chi then the LSL to Albany, if that makes a difference

 

[CHamilton]

Peggy,

Try Henry Kisor's Zephyr and All Aboard With E.M. Frimbo: World's Greatest Railroad Buff

They're both non-fiction, but are both very easy reads.

 

[coachseats]

Here are a few I have read and would recommend. Some are novels, some are non-fiction:

The Big Red Train Ride by Eric Newby

Paul Theroux:

The Great Railway Bazaar

The Old Patagonian Express

Riding The Iron Rooster

Ghost Train to the Eastern Star

Zephyr: Tracking A Dream Across America by Henry Kisor (Who I think is a member here)

The Christmas Train by David Baldacci

The 8:55 to Baghdad by Andrew Eames

Booked on the Morning Train by George Scheer

 

[the_traveler]

Two I like are Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand and The Road by Jack London.

 

[Trainmans daughter]

I like The Christmas Train by David Baldacci, especially when riding on the SWC; Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand; and Zephyr by Henry Kisor (Hi Henry!)

 

[Slasharoo]

The First Tycoon, Cornelius Vanderbilt, by T.J. Stiles is kind of hefty but very readable and it does give history of the beginning of the LSL and rail transportation in the US.

 

[rrdude]

Two I like are Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand and The Road by Jack London.

Unless she's an "Evelyn Wood Speed Reader", (who remembers those TV ads? Hilarious) or tries to "ace" the entire Amtrak network, without unterruption, I think Atlas Shrugged, while a GREAT read, is a tad too many pages.....

 

[Peggy]

Two I like are Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand and The Road by Jack London.

Unless she's an "Evelyn Wood Speed Reader", (who remembers those TV ads? Hilarious) or tries to "ace" the entire Amtrak network, without unterruption, I think Atlas Shrugged, while a GREAT read, is a tad too many pages.....

Read The Fountainhead by Rand years ago and couldn't put it down..... just haven't gotten around to Atlas Shrugged....... I'll make a list of all these suggestions and see what we have on the shelves at work.

Thanks for all the great suggestions!!

 

[rrdude]

btw, I second ANY f the Paul Therouix books. GREAT even if you don't give a hoot about trains. SUPER-GREAT if you are a bit of a railfan....or just like to travel

 

[Slasharoo]

Bill Bryson's Notes from a small Island is a quick read. He's a humorist/travel writer from Iowa and this book is about training and walking in Great Britain. Very funny.

 

[the_traveler]

Two I like are Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand and The Road by Jack London.

Unless she's an "Evelyn Wood Speed Reader", (who remembers those TV ads? Hilarious) or tries to "ace" the entire Amtrak network, without unterruption, I think Atlas Shrugged, while a GREAT read, is a tad too many pages.....

I do (cough) remember those commercials!
But what are "pages"? :huh: I have Atlas Shrugged on my iPad! :giggle:

 

[Peggy]

Two I like are Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand and The Road by Jack London.

Unless she's an "Evelyn Wood Speed Reader", (who remembers those TV ads? Hilarious) or tries to "ace" the entire Amtrak network, without unterruption, I think Atlas Shrugged, while a GREAT read, is a tad too many pages.....

I do (cough) remember those commercials!
But what are "pages"? :huh: I have Atlas Shrugged on my iPad! :giggle:

SACRILEGE!!!!! Pages!!! Pages, not screens!!!!! *clutches heart Fred Sanford style*

 

[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.

 

[looshi]

I read Strangers on a Train on the Cardinal once. If I recall correctly it was a fairly quick read.

 

[the_traveler]

*clutches heart Fred Sanford style*

"I'm coming Elizabeth!"

 

[Peggy]

*clutches heart Fred Sanford style*

"I'm coming Elizabeth!"

"WATCH IT, SUCKA!!!"

 

[SarahZ]

I know it's not a book, but I think I'm going to bring "North by Northwest" on our next LD trip. I love listening to the PA call the Michigan train route stops in the background while they're walking around LaSalle station, and the final scene is the best. No spoilers, but Hitchcock timed/filmed that brilliantly. If you haven't seen it, I highly recommend renting it.

 

[The Chief]

Peggy,

In 2010 Jim Lehrer (of PBS) published Super, a who-dun-it set on Santa Fe's westbound Super Chief. in the mid 1950s. The book came out in early summer and I took the book along to read on Texas Eagle-Lake Shore Ltd. trip to Boston. It's an OK read, good for a train trip, which was my plan. It's not "a perfect book."

Like a lot of members here, I always take books on LD trips for those hours in the roomette / bedroom. A good book is especially nice to have on the EB Empire Builder after lunch in Shelby, 394 flat miles until dinner out of Williston.

I like Hebrew mysteries, because you know who done it in the first few pages,,,

Hope this helps.

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2010/04/24/jim-lehrers-cross-country-fantasy.html

http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/7292068-super

 

[SarahZ]

Peggy,In 2010 Jim Lehrer (of PBS) published Super, a who-dun-it set on Santa Fe's westbound Super Chief. in the mid 1950s.

Thanks, Chief! I'll bring that with me on our Christmas trip.

 

[railiner]

I know it's not a book, but I think I'm going to bring "North by Northwest" on our next LD trip. I love listening to the PA call the Michigan train route stops in the background while they're walking around LaSalle station, and the final scene is the best. No spoilers, but Hitchcock timed/filmed that brilliantly. If you haven't seen it, I highly recommend renting it.

My all-time favorite movie. Unfortunately, it was an original screenplay, written by Ernest Lehman, and Alfred Hitchcock, so no novel version to read.......

Edit....to my surprise, they apparently did later make a book version...http://books.google.com/books/about/North_by_Northwest.html?id=Z852QAAACAAJ

but it is the written screenplay....

 

[OlympianHiawatha]

A sample of another great scene from North By Northwest. Notice the upcoming Tappan Zee Bridge. The Dining Car music is titled Fashion Show-I wish Amtrak Diners still had nice Dinner Music

 

[Peggy]

A lot of great recommendations here! Thanks to all!!

 

[Peggy]

I've got my reading material.

Two vintage paperbacks Murder on the Orient Express (1974 ed.) and The Man in Lower Ten (1964 ed.).

Never read Agatha Christie, but loved Mary Roberts Rinehart as a teen.

They are small and light for my backpack that I'll be toting around Chicago for several hours and they won't make me concentrate overmuch!

 

[the_traveler]

Since you arriving CHI in a Roomette and departing CHI in a Roomette, you are entitled to use the Metropolitan Lounge (ML) each way during the layover. In the ML, you can have your bag(s) held (securely by a Red Cap) while you walk around town if you wish.

 

[Dan O]

I read the Frimbo book, well 150 pp of it, but I didn't think it was that good. Now reading Zephyr and hope it is better.