“Locomotive,” by Brian Floca.
Atheneum Books for Young Readers, New York, 2013, 64 pages, Grades 3-5.
It is hard to imagine a world that is unable to move faster than men walking or horses running. But from time immemorial until the 1830s that is the quickest anything moved. Suddenly, the steam engine is invented and everything begins to change.
The first trains begin to appear at this time and people are staggered by how quickly destinations can be reached. In an immense country like the United States, this speeded-up transportation will change the entire shape of the country. Whereas settlers travelling west of Omaha could sometimes cover 10 miles in a day, train travel at that time could travel several hundred miles in a day. So a trip from Nebraska to California which had taken six months in 1840, might only take one week if a transcontinental could be built. Brian Floca makes the building of the Transcontinental Railroad and a trip across this vast rail line the focus of this book. He entitles it: “Locomotive.”
As former slaves and Irish immigrants drive the iron spikes into the railroad ties in the East, Chinese immigrants and others start building the railroad line in the West. They will eventually meet at Promontory Point, Utah. A first run of the train is planned and a family boards in Omaha. They look with bewilderment as the great iron locomotive chugs into Nebraska. The conductor shouts: “All Aboard!”
With this the fireman scoops coal into the firebox and the engine begins building up steam. When enough pressure is in the boiler, the engineer pushes forward the throttle, which causes the train to accelerate. The fireman keeps shoveling coal into the firebox and the steam pressure rises. When the pressure becomes dangerous, the engineer opens the steam pipe causing the familiar “choo, choo.”
The train passes over the Nebraska countryside along the Platte River valley. In what seems like no time at all, the train arrives in North Platte. They meander down to a humble diner and look at a menu composed of buffalo steak, antelope chops or chicken stew. One family member asks why the chicken seems to taste like prairie dog. He later figures out it did not take long to pluck this “chicken.”
As the journey continues, the train crosses the Rocky Mountains and the Great Basin in Utah. At various times, they have to connect two locomotives to the train to pull it over the mountains. Throughout the trip, the cars in the train are unhitched by the switchmen and later reconnected to different cars. It is dangerous work and the switchmen must be careful not to get their hands caught in the linking pins.
But the train continues to cross newly-built bridges and drive through tunnels blasted out of the Rocky Mountains. The whole trip seems unbelievable to the family. But after a week, the train begins descending into central California. There at the station is the person they have been waiting to meet.
Who is it? What part of the trip do you think would be the most fascinating? Why are the illustrations so incredible in the book? Would you like to have made this first trip on the Transcontinental Railroad? Would you like to know more about trains or the Transcontinental Railroad? To discover the answers to these questions, go to the library and check out “Locomotive” by Brian Floca.
In 2014, this book won the Caldecott Medal for having the pictures that made the most “outstanding contribution to children’s literature.” The pictures are bold and exciting. It is a very enjoyable book to read with several children and is filled with terms from the early days of railroading. “Locomotive” should prove to be a Caldecott winner that will also find a wide audience. I hope you get a chance to read “Locomotive.” It is great fun. Enjoy!
