The Chase - a novel by Clive Cussler

[twhite]

Mr. Beasley:

Thanks for the heads up--I've read a couple of Cussler novels and he's always good for an entertaining read.  Seems he's always managed to sneak a train into his plots ("Sahara") and have a lot of fun with them.   I'll pick this one up. 

I'll second "Whispering Smith" as a good RR-flavored western novel.  The movie isn't bad, either.  Paramount used all of that old Virginia & Truckee old-time equipment that they originally bought for "Union Pacific", only this time in really vivid Technicolor. 

Tom

 

[DavidGSmith]

I read the book some time ago when it first came out. A good fast paced story like all of his. Lots of historical data.

Dave 

[loathar]

Well, when a book has cover art that shows a steam locomotive settling to the bottom of a lake in Montana, you know there's at least something interesting going on.

That cover caught my eye in the store the just the other day! I might have to go back and get it now.

[Dean-58]

For anyone interested in turn of the century (20th) railroading, I highly recommend getting a copy of "The Big Ivy," by James McCague, considered by some to be the best railroading novel ever.  It's long out of print, even the Ace Books paperback, but when my old copy, from the '60s, just plain wore out, I bought a new copy of it from a vendor at www.abebooks.com.  The shipping is 3-4 times the price of the used paperback (what shipping isn't, these days?), but it's a rousing story of railroading in the days when men were men and women were women (and men were glad of it!).  Its only flaw (one!) is the perpetuation of the old "Crane With a Broken Neck Service Letter" myth, but I've seen that in non-fiction books as well.

McCague also did another novel, "Fiddle Hill," about the changeover from steam to Diesel, that's not as chockful of railroading lore, and I don't know if it's ever been released in paperback (someone gave me a hardcover copy).  I also enjoy "Iron Bronc," by Wil Ermine, which is a sort of turn of the century western/RR novel.  Its only flaw is that Ermine, like a lot of writers, didn't choose a good "expert" and therefore had the Wolf River & Northern shortline being operated with a pair of "ancient 4-4-2 Atlantics"--and this in the early years of the 20th century!  I went so far as to use white-out and letter in "4-4-0 Americans" in my original copy, but didn't bother when it wore out and I got another copy from ABE (American Book Exchange).  Ripping good yarn!

Mild warning: if you come across a copy of "Breakheart Pass," by Alistair MacLean, be aware that he used all British railroading terms in the book--and the story wouldn't even work in the USA's Old West.  Not bad, but try to ignore a "Brake Van" at the rear of a passenger train that, if disabled, the uncoupled train could run wild down a mountain grade!  (This is one of the rare cases where Hollywood actually improved the story when they put it on screen, with Charles Bronson in the lead role.)

Another classic is "Whispering Smith," by Frank Spearman, another rousing Western involving a transcontinental road battling banditry (based, I'm told, on the UP's battle with the Hole in the Wall Gang).  It's also long out of print, but it's very atmospheric, with no less than two love stories that don't get in the way of the plot but actually add to it.  The 1930's color movie, starring Alan Ladd, takes the usual Hollywood liberties with the plot, but seeing trains with cars wearing archbar trucks and truss rods is 'way cool.

If anyone's interested in more, I have a few more--and would be interested in learning of others from Forum Family members with other titles on their shelves!

[ARTHILL]

Great book. I liked the western flavor as well as the earthquake interpretation. There was an earlier Dirk Pitt book with a ghost train. Just re-read that, great story as well.

[MisterBeasley]

Well, when a book has cover art that shows a steam locomotive settling to the bottom of a lake in Montana, you know there's at least something interesting going on.

This is Clive Cussler's first departure in a long time from the long-running series of Dirk Pitt and NUMA novels.  Still, it has many of the same trademarks - a dashing, rich hero and lovely ladies, good and evil, and the inevitable high-speed runs in various motorized vehicles.  Set in 1906, though, high-speed means steam locomotives.

Trains are very central to the whole story, so if you're looking for a fun summer read (400 fast pages) or you've got any airplane travel planned, you might want to pick this one up.  It's relatively new, so you probably want to check the library before shelling out hardcover prices.  Paperback eventually, but probably not until the fall.