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Life Along the Tracks

Mike McLaughlin | Jim Providenza
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1950s railroads
A01=Jim Providenza
A01=Mike McLaughlin
Age Group_Uncategorized
Age Group_Uncategorized
Author_Jim Providenza
Author_Mike McLaughlin
automatic-update
boxcar life
Category1=Non-Fiction
Category=AJC
Category=BM
Category=DNC
Category=WGF
Chicago
COP=United States
Delivery_Pre-order
Denver & Rio Grande Western
eq_art-fashion-photography
eq_bestseller
eq_biography-true-stories
eq_isMigrated=0
eq_isMigrated=2
eq_nobargain
eq_non-fiction
Great Northern
Language_English
PA=Not yet available
Price_€20 to €50
PS=Forthcoming
railroad outfits
railroad work crew
Rock Island & Pacific
signal gang
softlaunch
train

Product details

  • ISBN 9781638640301
  • Dimensions: 178 x 254mm
  • Publication Date: 31 Oct 2024
  • Publisher: Washington State University Press
  • Publication City/Country: US
  • Product Form: Hardback
  • Language: English
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Description
As a boy in the early 1950s, Mike McLaughlin was a regular stowaway riding switch engines back and forth in Seattle, Washington. By the time he was in high school, he was hand-firing steam engines as an unofficial crew member. Obsessed with trains and destined for a life along the tracks, he started by digging ditches as a gandy and ended as a railroad and transportation consultant, but he never completely relinquished his shovel. His career spanned multiple railroads, including Great Northern, Denver & Rio Grande Western, and Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific, as well as transportation management for several large industrial firms.

With McLaughlin, even the mundane becomes fascinating. Unlike those of an executive or engineer, his personal accounts focus on what went on behind the scenes--from the finer points of using a shovel to suddenly having to reroute 16,000 tons of talc ore from Montana to a ship in Portland. He describes living and working as part of maintenance and signal gangs, moving days on several lines, supervisory issues, and more. His collection of mid-20th century timetables and other paper ephemera provide minute detail related to railroad activities and communications. Numerous photographs and Dave Clemens' hand-drawn maps enhance the text, illustrate where stories take place, and promote a deeper understanding of some gritty, intense railroading.
About Jim Providenza | Mike McLaughlin
Lifelong trainman Mike McLauglin (1937-2012) started as a gandy for Great Northern. After graduating from the University of Washington he worked for railroads across the United States, advancing to line supervisor and lower/mid-level manager, and later, to traffic manager for major companies such as Coors and Leprino Foods. He finished his career as a railroad and transportation consultant.

Jim Providenza holds a B.A. and a J.D. degree from Santa Clara University, and retired as a Police Captain after a 38-year career in law enforcement. He is a co-author of A Compendium of Model Railroad Operations, as well as the author of more than sixty articles on various aspects of model railroading.

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