[LMB] Red book and the Empire Builder

[Karen L. Black]

LMB writes:

>  I think it must have belonged to one of my older brothers before it 
> fell to me, because it dated from the late 30's or 1940's and was from 
> about the same era when I was reading his copies of //Boy's Life//.
> 
> It was red -- seemed like a large format book to me, but my hands were 
> smaller then.   In the story, two children, a brother and sister from 
> New York City, travel out by train to the West to spend a summer on 
> their uncle's ranch.  Incidents include the train trip, being taken out 
> on a trail ride by a grizzled ranch hand, killing a rattlesnake (which 
> is later made into two belts) and some sort of climax at a rodeo.  It 
> had some gorgeous full-page color plate illos in a style like the elder 
> Wyeth's, and a number of delightful little marginal illustrations in 
> black and white.
> 
> I can picture everything about it, but title and author are absolutely 
> gone from my memory. 
> 
> Anything?
 
I'm going out on a limb here, but your mention of full-page and marginal
illustrations reminded me of Holling Clancy Holling, who wrote a number of
books I adored. Each one had one chapter per page, with a full-color
illustration and marginal illustrations around the text. Some of his books
are "Pagoo" (about a hermit crab), "Paddle to the Sea" (about the Great
Lakes), "Seabird" (about New England sailors), and "Tree in the Trail"
(about the Southwest). I read them to my sons.

I haven't read his "A Book of Cowboys," but what you described sounds like
the kinds of adventures that would happen in a book of his.

She continues:

> I have been put in mind of it from time to time, but just lately because 
> I'm going to fulfill a long-time ambition and take the train out from 
> Minneapolis to Portland for my daughter's graduation next month.  (It's 
> called the /Empire Builder/, and you can find out all about it and its 
> route on Amtrak's website.   I've toured James J. Hill's house, why not 
> ride his railway?)

My dad, stepmom and brother came out on the _Empire Builder_ a couple years
ago, in a sleeping car room. They enjoyed the trip very much, though you
will want to keep a loose schedule, since Amtrak schedules have been known
to slip. (I have taken the _Coast Starlight_, and it invariably loses time
between Sacramento and Eugene.) You can check the on-time status of a train
by calling 1-800-USA-RAIL and following the voicemail instructions to check.
The westbound _Empire Builder_ to Portland is train #27, and the eastbound
is #28.

Another way to check historical on-time status is by visiting
http://www.amtrakdelays.com/. The last week for train 27 into Portland shows
variation from 30 minutes early to 30 minutes late.

Karen Black
Blodgett, OR