The Trains We Rode

This wonderful book by Lucius Beebe is the most definitive book on train travel in the industrial age with some photos dating back to the 1870's. Only true historians and railroad afficianados will want this book for their reference library or as a great family heirloom to hand down for generations to come. Wonderful photos abound from a by-gone past of America with accurate captions. The writing is from a by-gone era as well though too . Some sentences ( one counted of 89 words ! ) do require quite a bit of reader focus. I do not emphasize this as negative but rather a matter of fact the way the author wrote in a style from another time which only adds to the 'charm' of this printed MASTERPIECE. Enjoy a step into a part of America's past with luxury train travel in reading "Trains We Rode".

Originally published as a two-volume set, this magnificent book is the crowning work of bon vivant Lucius Beebe. It is a comprehensive book of both pictures and commentary on the subject of rail passenger service in the United States. It concentrates on the period of roughly 1920-1940, the zenith of American passenger trains. The point of view is that of a sophisticated traveler who happens to be knowledgable about the railroading industry. The book contains plenty of editorial comment on the punctuality, dining car service, comfort, and quality of both railways and specific trains. For example, there is extensive coverage of the two top Chicago - New York deluxe trains: New York Central's 20th Centruy Limited and the Pennsylvania RR's Broadway Limited. Every major American railway is covered, as are all of the deluxe "named" trains such as the Empire Builder, Super Chief, Hiawatha, etc.There are also hundreds of wonderful photographs that give the reader a sense of what travel by train was like during that time. The only disappointment I had with this re-release is that the quality of paper and photographic reproduction is not quite as good as the original two-volume set. Having said that, this book still belongs in the library of anyone who enjoys the subject.

This is an account of the passenger trains that were the dominant form of transportation in the United States in the first half of the 20th Century. Wonderful pictures and witty prose highlight this book by the masters of railroad books -- Beebe and Clegg.