Train Travels Via Pullman 1950

by Richard H. Brown

Narratives of First Class rail travel on the great trains of the 1950s.
Written by a regular passenger during that brief golden era.

45 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 6, 2011

Reviews

[Katherine · Rating 5 out of 5]

Time Machine

Just loved it - took me to another place in time. Fascinating to think about how it was to travel on trains back then.

[Jan Boney · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great descriptions of the experience a rider would have in about 1950. I was frustrated by the perspective of the narrator. He does such a great job of reproducing the vantage point of a 1950 rider that he completely ignores race and class.

I give five stars for the author's achievement of his goal: he describes in fascinating detail the experience of a young, white businessman traveling in the fifties. I give the book zero stars for reproducing the massive silence about segregation and race in the Pullman cars. I would recommend reading this book with a book such as Pullman Porters and the Rise of Protest Politics in Black America, 1925-1945, which I intend to read next.

There are a lot of typos in the book, as you would expect in a self-published book. In fact, there are some indications that this was dictated and incompletely edited.

The descriptions are unfailingly positive, respectful, and vivid. I just want to go to Mr. Brown's house and interview him and make a second half of his book. Or maybe someone should interview a retired Pullman porter for that companion book.

[Bob · Rating 4 out of 5]

A short book of personal memories by a man who did a lot of business travel by train.