The Long Trains Roll

by Stephen W. Meader

Not only an adventure story packed with thrills, this is also a book about railroads that will appeal to all railroad fans. Through Calico Gap, one of the passes to the West through the Appalachian wall, runs a four-track rail artery, an important military objective for enemy sabotage. Randy MacDougal, youngest son in a family of railroaders, stumbled on the clues leading to such an attempt, followed them through with the aid of the railroad detective and the FBI, and averted a catastrophe endangering war transportation. "Mr. Meader has succeeded not only in telling a good story but in conveying the stirring quality of railroads and railroading, that quality which, as he says, 'makes every man and boy breathe quicker at the sight and sound of a big locomotive storming down the rails.'"---New York Times.

Genres: Fiction

Unknown Binding

About the author

Stephen W. Meader (May 2, 1892 – July 18, 1977) was the author of over forty novels for young readers. His optimistic stories generally tended to either concern young men developing independent businesses in the face of adversity, or else young men caught up in adventures during different periods in American history.

Meader graduated from Haverford College in Philadelphia in 1913, and initially worked in Newark, New Jersey as a cruelty officer with the Essex County Children's Aid Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children, and by 1915 was working for the Big Brother Movement. After working for a Chicago publishing house in 1916, he took a position with the Circulation Department of the Curtis Publishing Company in Philadelphia, eventually reaching the position of Editor of the Sales Division publications. His first novel, The Black Buccaneer, was the first juvenile publication of the newly founded Harcourt, Brace and Howe.

Reviews

[Raymond Bial · Rating 5 out of 5]

A suspenseful and insightful novel set in Pennsylvania railroad country during World War II. Meader not only writes an exciting and uplifting novel about young heroes, the war effort, and the fight against Nazi saboteurs, but also enlightens readers with a colorful history of American railroads.

[Philip Dampier · Rating 5 out of 5]

Third favorite Meader book. I love trains and this is a great book for train lovers. The story takes place during WWII and is a great train mystery.

[Grace Scherer · Rating 5 out of 5]

While I do believe this book was written for younger audiences, I think someone of any age would find The Long Trains Roll as a quaint yet thrilling book. Stephen W. Meader did a fantastic job of keeping the book full of Randy's adventures with Stan and the gang and balancing that with history about the railroads and new facts that anyone with an admiration for America's rail lines would find interesting. As I closed the book, I have never wanted more than to join the rails and fight Nazis, all while coming home to your mothers cooking by the end of the night. It's a fantastic read all around!