"For people connected to the railroad in some way, "The Life and Times of a Railroad Engineer" is just the ticket to give you the perspective of a railroad engineer with many years of service. A born storyteller with a memory for detail, he decided to write the book after he retired with 42 years of railroading under his belt. He has gathered facts and figures and illustrations as well as stories of some of the people who worked on the railroad with him. This book is for the person who wants to know what it is like to sit up front in that prestigious seat in the cab of a diesel locomotive. What is it like to look back as you round a curve and see coming along behind you a hundred and fifty cars loaded with freight? For this retired engineer, it was an enormous feeling of pleasure and of accomplishment. He calls it the best job in the world. Hoekstra says he traveled for two years gathering information and locating photographs for the book. He visited railroad museums and libraries, and talked with old timers. The accounts added up to interesting stories. It is not a picture book but is illustrated. His recounting of accidents and near accidents adds drama, and clearly rings true. He came on the railroad scene as the coal locomotives were disappearing. He went through the years of many changes and AMTRAK taking passenger service, and the rules of the railroad were forever changing. In many places, the old rails have disappeared and the beds have been transformed into biking and hiking trails for outdoor enthusiasts. The haunting whistle of a train passing a crossing no longer sounds in the night. Yet the economy of this country still rolls on railroad tracks from sea to shining sea. Trains are still an important and necessary part of the economy. --Bob Hoekstra worked in Chicago, Superior Wisconsin, and St. Paul, Minnesota.(from the Superior telegraph)" -- Amazon.