A Memory of Trains : The Boll Weevil and Others

by Louis D. Rubin Jr.

"A Memory of Trains is a book about trains like Mark Twain's Life on the Mississippi is a book about steamboats—which is to say, it is about trains, but it is about so much more. It is social history, memoir, and—as the author says at one point—a journey toward a vocation," writes Fred Hobson in the introduction. “As the son of a railroad conductor and product of a railroad town (Hamlet, N.C.) I’m a passionate railway buff. But in this wonderful reminiscence of old trains great and small, North and South, freight and passenger, smoke and whistle, illustrated by his own photographs, Louis Rubin shows himself King of the Buffs and Master of the Tracks. You can almost hear someone shouting "all aboard!" says Tom Wicker. "Railfans will find all the material they crave about the webs of passenger and freight routes that once plied those parts of the nation ... Rubin's work is also a literary elegy of trains and the culture they bore ... a handsome volume ... Trainspotters everywhere will love it," says Publishers Weekly. "It is his beautifully written narrative, humble and elegant, that makes the book such a gem," wrote Preservation magazine. And the photographs "convey the power, grace, movement, and beauty of the speeding train." "The author's photos accompany the well-written chapters, leave readers saddened by all that was lost when railroads lost their grandeur, but they will appreciate the memories this autobiography stirs," says Roger Carp in Trains magazine. "His photographs, 122 in number, are pure nostalgia; freight trains, passenger trains, trains rolling across trestles and heading into small-town stations, cabooses, water towers, and a carnival train with gaudily painted flatcars ... For readers old enough to remember the book is a joy; for readers too young to remember, here is a chance to share the joy," says George Cohen in Booklist magazine

182 pages, Hardcover

First published October 1, 2000

About the author

Louis Decimus Rubin Jr. was born into a Jewish family in Charleston, South Carolina, on November 19, 1923. He studied for two years at the College of Charleston, served in the Army during World War II (1939–1945), and earned a BA in history at the University of Richmond.

Louis D. Rubin is a writer, editor, publisher, educator, and literary critic, and perhaps the person most responsible for the emergence of southern literature as a field of scholarly inquiry. He served on the faculty of Hollins College (now Hollins University) in Roanoke, Virginia. He coedited Southern Renascence, an important compilation of southern studies; founded the journal Hollins Critic; established the Southern Literary Studies series at the Louisiana State University Press; cofounded the Southern Literary Journal; cofounded Algonquin Books, a literary press that showcases emerging southern writers; and promoted the early work of important southern writers, including Clyde Edgerton, John Barth, and Virginia writers Lee Smith and Annie Dillard.

Reviews

[Michael Carnell · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fantastic book for anyone interested in trains, the south, or writing - or all three. Rubin is an excellent writer and his memories of life in the South and other area have a wistful and joyful feel at the same time. I am especially partial to the stories of the trains through Charleston, like the Boll Weevil, which I never got to see in action although I remember the tracks well.

Additionally the photos that Rubin includes are not published anywhere else and provide a personal glimpse into a time that feels so long ago.

Highly recommended.