The Banshee Train

by Odds Bodkin, Ted Rose (Illustrations)

Odds Bodkin's story, based on folklore that Irish railroad workers brought to America, and Ted Rose's shimmering watercolors evoke the suspense and mystery of this otherworldly chase through the high Rocky Mountains. On a foggy night, spring floods swell the Colorado River. John Mercer, engineer of Train Number 1, and Mr. O'Reilly, his fireman, worry about crossing Gore Canyon where, twenty years before, the trestle washed out and an unlucky engineer drove his train over the edge. Is Gore Canyon Trestle still there? And can they-should they-try to outrun the Banshee?

Genres: Picture Books

32 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1995

Reviews

[Sandie · Rating 3 out of 5]

We found this book in the juvinelle section at the library but its not really for very little readers....I just don't think it holds there attention as its rather long. It also might seem spooky to some children. I (as the parent) found it to be very good and interesting...it has facts in it about Irish immegrants and steam engines and bridges that collasped and about the Irish Fairy Woman, The Banshee.

The pictures are not bad....but they are not something to capture a very young childs attention. I would say this is for the above 5 group.

[Jen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this story, but it was too long for my boys and it didn't keep their attention. They picked it out at the library because they like trains. The story includes Irish folklore about the banshee who is a fairy woman who foretells death. In the story, she saves he lives of two men working on a train in Colorado one night.

[Judy · Rating 3 out of 5]

story: 3
art: 4

I enjoyed the book because I'm familiar with the Moffat Road, but the names of all the locations wouldn't mean much to kids. (And if they do know this area, there's quite a distance between Tabernash and Gore canyon ... couldn't the train have stopped at Granby, or Hot Sulphur, or Kremmling ...?

Also, considering the target audience, I'm surprised there wasn't more emphasis on the long, dark tunnel, or the trestle, that (from a passenger's viewpoint) made it look like the train was traveling on an invisible road.

I also would have appreciated a link to the actual history of the train -- was there really an accident in Gore Canyon? What aspects of this tale are anchored in fact?