Locomotive by Brian Floca (review)

So, how much do you want to know about America's first transcontinental railroad? Just the general picture? Then follow Floca's poetic account of the fictional journey of a mother and two children riding coach class from Omaha to San Francisco just weeks after the line's completion. There's plenty to see out the window on the four-day trip, from the ever-changing landscape, to the newfangled telegraph poles, to the pitch-black tunnels and vertiginous drop from the trestle over Dale Creek. Step outside at the frequent stops to take on water, fuel, or a new engine and observe the hubbub that keeps the steam train rolling, and the makeshift towns that spring up to service travelers. If you need to know more about the "how" of steam travel, consult the annotated front endpapers that display the full route and the way the Union and Central Pacific lines came to connect; linger to browse the UP advertisements. Not enough? Take lots of time to study the cutaway and exploded details of the steam engine itself on the back endpapers (next to the CP time and fare schedule), and if you're truly among the nerdiest of train nerds, go back and compare the engines underway in the main text with the innards in the diagram. Still not sated? Floca holds forth in a dense concluding note on everything from the social history of rail travel to innovations that made running the trains safer for the crews. And if you don't care to read a word of text, be sure watch your fellow passengers packed cheek-by-jowl on the stiff bench seats, checking out the "convenience," pondering the suspect chicken dinner in a stopover diner, or, if they're luckier than you, headed for the Pullman sleeper and a good night's rest.