Decade of the Trains the 1940s

by Don Ball Jr.

Book Overview

287 pages, Hundreds of pictures. One of Don Ball's best This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0821207598
• ISBN13: 9780821207598
• Release Date: January 1980
• Publisher: Bulfinch Press
• Length: 287 Pages
• Weight: 2.45 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 10.1" x 11.1"

Customer Reviews

If You Enjoy Steam Power

Anyone who loves the steam locomotives will really enjoy this book. Read all about RR's in the 40's. A great book.

DECADE OF THE TRAINS

THERE WERE SHIPPING PROBLEMS THE SELLER RESOLVED SO I WAS ABLE TO GET THE BOOK. I REALLY APPRECIATE HER EFFORTS.

Excellent View of the Railroad Era

This is an informative and well-photographed look at U.S. railroads during the war decade of the 1940's. Authors Don Ball and Rogers Whitaker provide an excellent view of this once-mighty industry. Readers see what it was like to be a railroad engineer ("hogger") at the controls of a powerful steam engine on a mile-long freight train. We see the coal-shoveling fireman and ever-watchful brakeman that joined him up front, plus the rear brakeman and the conductor ("old man") in the copula. The book also teaches about passenger train crews, plus ancillary personnel such as switchmen, station masters, porters, roundhouse workers, rail crews, and telegraph operators. This superbly photographed book shows how vital railroads once were to the nation's economy and how much work it took to run one. We also sense the pride that rail workers feel about their craft, although their number has dwindled from nearly 1.5 million in 1945 to perhaps 250,000 at this writing. This book should be of interest to both rail buffs and casual observers. You can read it straight through or merely peruse the photographs for reference. Either way you'll sense what transport was like in the years before jet travel and interstate highways, and you'll know why so many youngsters (and others) dreamed of being railroaders.