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The Night Operator
Frank Lucius Packard (February 2, 1877 - February 17, 1942) was a Canadian novelist. Frank L. Packard was born in Montreal, Quebec and educated at McGill University and the University of Liege. As a young man he worked as a civil engineer for the Canadian Pacific Railway. His experiences working on the railroad led to his writing many railroad stories, then to a series of mystery novels, the most famous of which featured a character called Jimmie Dale. Several of his novels were made into films. Frank Packard died in 1942 in Lachine, Quebec and was buried in the Mount Royal Cemetery in Montreal.
- GenresClassics
218 pages, Paperback
Published June 8, 2024
7 people are currently reading
18 people want to read
About the author
Frank L. Packard
166 books9 followersFrank Lucius Packard was born in Montreal, Quebec and educated at McGill University and the University of Liege. As a young man he worked as a civil engineer for the Canadian Pacific Railway. His experiences working on the railroad led to his writing a series of mystery novels, the most famous of which featured a character called Jimmie Dale.
Frank Packard died in 1942 in Lachine, Quebec and was buried in the Mount Royal Cemetery in Montreal.
Frank Packard died in 1942 in Lachine, Quebec and was buried in the Mount Royal Cemetery in Montreal.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
December 15, 2018
Absolutely loved this! The stories were all very engaging and Packard's writing was a brilliant mix of humor, detailed descriptions of the men, and engaging narrative. Loved all the railroad-related descriptions applied to the men, too. I could almost feel how it was to be involved in such harsh, gritty work back in that day. Packard's personal knowledge of the rails shone through wonderfully! Though fictional tales, I felt they were all quite believable. A must-read for anyone who loves locomotives, then or now!
August 14, 2018
Railroad Fiction at Its Best
Superbly written stories - lots of railroad metaphors, plenty of action and colorful characters - written in a conversational style. Lots of fun, with a few heartstrings tugged along the way.
The reader for the LibriVox edition isn't a reader, really; he's a storyteller. You feel like the author has taken over his body and is telling you the stories himself, around a potbellied stove in some deserted railway station. Bravo!
Superbly written stories - lots of railroad metaphors, plenty of action and colorful characters - written in a conversational style. Lots of fun, with a few heartstrings tugged along the way.
The reader for the LibriVox edition isn't a reader, really; he's a storyteller. You feel like the author has taken over his body and is telling you the stories himself, around a potbellied stove in some deserted railway station. Bravo!
December 7, 2017
I read a lot of books, but very, very few have "staying power," meaning I think about them for a long time after I've finished them. This is one special book, which appeals to my love of storytelling, adventure, bravery, and pulls on my emotions as I am reading. It's a keeper. I love this book with the same sense of wonder as generated when I read about high-seas adventures.
April 15, 2017
Interesting railroad saga
Although the dialects can be troublesome, the story told is a good one! Beautiful insights as to what early railroading must have been like. Stay with the story, you won't regret it!!
Although the dialects can be troublesome, the story told is a good one! Beautiful insights as to what early railroading must have been like. Stay with the story, you won't regret it!!
August 15, 2017
It probably helps if you're a railroad buff.
If you didn't know who the author was for this collection of short stories then you'd never connect this book to the hugely influential Gray Seal series which also written by Frank. L. Packard. None of these stories are set in New York and most of them spotlight a different character in each tale. The time is the second half of the Nineteen Century, and the setting is the Hill District, a department of the Transcontinental Railroad that runs through the Canadian Rocky Mountains. A rough territory calling for rough men who nevertheless share a common pride in their status as railroad workers.
These stories don't involve life or death struggles against depraved big city criminals like you'll find in the Gray Seal books. Here the stakes are smaller and the tone usually much lighter. Think of Big Cloud, the frontier town where the Hill Division is based, in terms of a 1950s television western. There are a few continuing characters, in this case District Superintendent Carlton and his 'Master Mechanic' Tommy Reagan, who act as a sort of Matt Dillon and Festus team a la 'Gunsmoke,' but the focus for each short story is usually someone else. Specifically a man never referenced before and never seen afterwards who has to overcome some moral or physical challenge.
The trouble is that those characters are usually rather one-dimensional and their struggles not all that interesting. To be sure Packard writes knowledgeably about railroad life, but that by itself wasn't enough to hold my interest. There is the comedic element which appears in most of these stories, but that fell flat for me as well. A bit too heavy-handed for my tastes. F. L. Packard is certainly not in the class of P. G. Wodehouse (who is?)
I rate this one two and a half stars. I didn't get much pleasure in reading it but it wasn't bad enough for me to give up on it either.
As an aside the newspaper in Big Cloud is the Daily Sentinel, just like in the Green Hornet series. Hornet co-creator George W. Trendle was a Packard fan so it's quite possible he got the name from this very book!
If you didn't know who the author was for this collection of short stories then you'd never connect this book to the hugely influential Gray Seal series which also written by Frank. L. Packard. None of these stories are set in New York and most of them spotlight a different character in each tale. The time is the second half of the Nineteen Century, and the setting is the Hill District, a department of the Transcontinental Railroad that runs through the Canadian Rocky Mountains. A rough territory calling for rough men who nevertheless share a common pride in their status as railroad workers.
These stories don't involve life or death struggles against depraved big city criminals like you'll find in the Gray Seal books. Here the stakes are smaller and the tone usually much lighter. Think of Big Cloud, the frontier town where the Hill Division is based, in terms of a 1950s television western. There are a few continuing characters, in this case District Superintendent Carlton and his 'Master Mechanic' Tommy Reagan, who act as a sort of Matt Dillon and Festus team a la 'Gunsmoke,' but the focus for each short story is usually someone else. Specifically a man never referenced before and never seen afterwards who has to overcome some moral or physical challenge.
The trouble is that those characters are usually rather one-dimensional and their struggles not all that interesting. To be sure Packard writes knowledgeably about railroad life, but that by itself wasn't enough to hold my interest. There is the comedic element which appears in most of these stories, but that fell flat for me as well. A bit too heavy-handed for my tastes. F. L. Packard is certainly not in the class of P. G. Wodehouse (who is?)
I rate this one two and a half stars. I didn't get much pleasure in reading it but it wasn't bad enough for me to give up on it either.
As an aside the newspaper in Big Cloud is the Daily Sentinel, just like in the Green Hornet series. Hornet co-creator George W. Trendle was a Packard fan so it's quite possible he got the name from this very book!
March 25, 2020
Interesting to learn more about this sector from a contemporary voice.
November 21, 2022
An exciting collection of adventure and mystery short stories, all relating to railroading in the Rocky Mountains in the steam era.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews