At long last
a brand new book from the Society by well known steam authority Ed
King. This is a different take on your normal railroad book. Ed has
written a fictional, but very authentic “memoir” by a man named King,
who hired out on the N&W in 1903 and follows his career through May
1950 when he retired. While it may be fictional, it is truly based on
reality, using authentic N&W places, locomotives and descriptions.
The closest I can come to this style book is the on by a Pennsylvania
Engineer “Set Out Running”.
This is a very interesting read, beginning with the young man coming
out of Bristol, VA, traveling to Roanoke and hiring out as a fireman on
the Radford Division. The tale rings authenticity all the way around,
but as Ed said “it is fiction in case I don’t get a place or location or
time frame exactly right,” not to mention its not a real person, at
least in that time. Regardless, this will be a tremendous addition to
your N&W library! As you read, you will forget that this is not an
actual story.
