TALES OF THE RAILS Volume One

"Feeling like a caboose after a rear-end collision? Did you ever take the smoky end on a coal drag?" Abundant railroad expressions from the turn of the last century populate these short stories, originally published in a railroad magazine in 1909, when one person in every four worked for a railroad. An unidentified male reader with a soft, sandy voice imitates the storytellers' accents and speech mannerisms as he tells five yarns, ranging from oiling wheels and stealing turkeys to a thwarted plot to assassinate President Lincoln. The familiar ding-ding-ding of railroad crossing bells separates anecdotes to remind listeners of how little trains have changed in a hundred years. J.A.H.
(c) AudioFile 2004, Portland, Maine [Published: APR/MAY 04]