Go West!: The Great North American Railroad Adventure by Pascal Blanchet
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
This is a delightful picture book about the history of the railway in North America, as well as a train ride from Montreal to Los Angeles. There are stops along the way in Buffalo, Chicago, Omaha, Denver, Cheyenne, Coutis, Calgary, Banff, Vancouver, Seattle, San Francisco and Los Angeles. The pictures are done in art nouveau, with delightfully done drawings of either the train stations, or features of the city visited. New York gets both Grand Central, as well as a skyline.
When my daughter was young, I though it would be a treat to travel the slow way, on the train. We would take the Coast Starlight from San Jose to Los Angeles and from San Jose to Portland, and marvel at the country side. It is pretty much as depicted in this picture book. Union Station in Los Angeles really has that gorgeous look to it (see images below)
In between the stations, and facts abouat the cites, are facts about the early railroads, such as how the Pullman porters started, or what the first engines looked like.
The only issue I have with this well researched book is that there is no train that comes from Seattle to San Francisco. There never has been. The train to San Francisco stops in Oakland, across the bay.
Here are some examples of the pages:
Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review.