Train Wrecks: A Pictorial History of Accidents on the Main Line

Rating:
Summary: My First Train Book
Review: I received this book (first edition) for Christmas as a boy, and although at the time I was looking for something more generic regarding railroading, I was pleasantly surprised with it, and over the years it has become one of my favorite train books.

Railroading was probably not the most dangerous of professions or means of transportation, but as the dust jacket attests, it certainly wasn't the safest. I was surprised to learn how often steam locomotives actually blew up, sending giant hulks of boiler and iron hundreds of feet into the air, or literally miles from the scene of the accident. Until new designs in car couplers and car construction were invented, many passenger cars would actually "telescope" into each other when wrecked, with the obvious results of death or maiming of passengers. Factor in things like split rails, bridge wash-outs, incorrectly aligned track, bad weather...there were many factors that could lead to severe accidents on the railroad.

This book provides interesting photos of just about every imaginable type of train accident, some of which are very old. While the text explains the different types of accidents that can befall the railroad, it also provides insight into how the railroads have progressed technologically and the impacts those advances have had on railroad safety.

Overall, the book is a light read for an adult, but it kept me captivated as a young person. The photos are what make the book, and like a moth to a flame, will make you come back again for another look.