Snow on the Rails; Tales of Heartland Railroading
Oregon, WI: Badger Books, Inc., 2003. Presumed First Edition, First printing. Trade paperback. viii, 247, [1] pages. Illustrations. Footnotes. Inscribed by the author on the title page. Inscription reads: Kerry: stuff in here even for Yoopers! ("North Country Ties") warm regards and solidarity! Dennis Boyer. Laid in is a notecard from AFSCME with a hand written message that reads: Dear Kerry: Please drop me an email on your home computer some time. I'm nearing the end of my AFSCME tenure and am looking at some policy work that might have some labor economics components. I'm getting to know some researchers doing some interesting stuff. Take Care Dennis. Dennis Boyer is a folklorist and storyteller who wrote Great Wisconsin Taverns for Trails Books, in addition to three collections of Wisconsin-related folklore: Driftless Spirits, Giants in the Land, and Northern Frights. Boyer is a member of several railroad historical societies, has written extensively for local historical society publications, and is active in historical preservation groups. He also participates in historical reenactments, most notably as a railroad character he refers to simply as "the old carman." Some of the stories relate to The Great Northern Railway which was an American Class I railroad. Running from Saint Paul, Minnesota, to Seattle, Washington, it was the creation of 19th-century railroad entrepreneur James J. Hill and was developed from the Saint Paul & Pacific Railroad. The Great Northern's route was the northernmost transcontinental railroad route in the U.S. Excerpts from a review from The Spark found on line: Snow on the Rails is a book of short stories written by a former railroad carman on the Milwaukee Road. The author, Dennis Boyer, has brought to life different jobs on the railroads for people who've never worked the railroads. The title story, "Snow on the Rails," is about a worker's last day on the job. In the middle of a snowy night, he hears a sound like slow feet creeping in the snow. "A huge blackness loomed over me and I dropped to the icy railbed. With a thunderous crash over my head, heavy metal parts fell on my back. I was lying in the snow between the rails, panting and shaking." Eight detached cars that had been left up the track had silently rolled his way, through the open switch on snow covered rails. There's a story about a man who works up in a tower completely alone where two rail lines cross, another story about women workers in a repair shop and how the men treat them. Many aspects of rail life that might surprise us: the crews that cut down trees to make ties, a railroad hotel in a small North Dakota town, a railroad security guard investigating a murder on rail property coming out of the rivalry between the United Auto Workers and the Farm Equipment Union at the start of the Cold War. The stories span the history of the railroads. There is a story set in the Great Strike of 1877 when railroad workers in major cities of the country battled the police and National Guard. "North Platte Christmas" is about a canteen worker at a rail stop in Nebraska during World War II serving injured soldiers coming through during the war. The latest stories deal with the new developments of short lines small railroads designed to undermine workers' conditions, and mergers of the big railroad companies. All together this book is an engaging picture of railroad workers' lives. Condition: Very good.
Keywords: Trains, Railroads, Transportation, Tracks, Locomotives, Passengers, Freight, Economic Development, Settlements, Carman, Social Conditions, North Platte, Drover, Paint Shop, River City
[Book #84471]
Price: $85.00