Short lines

The influence of the railroad on the lives of Americans was at its height roughly between 1900 and 1950. Americans not only rode the rails in unparalleled numbers, they also wrote and read about this mode of transportation. The railroad story was a distinct popular genre during those years, crowding the pages of such magazines as McClure's, Scribner's, and The Saturday Evening Post. The stories in this collection date from 1897 through 1941. Presented here is some of the best work of the best railroad writers, as well as classic stories by their better-known contemporaries, such as Frank…