My Life with Trains: Memoir of a Railroader

by Jim McClellan, Herbert H. Harwood Jr., Ron Batory

Named one of the "75 People You Should Know" by Trains Magazine, Jim McClellan was a railroading legend and one of the railroad industry's titans. An iconic and innovative executive, McClellan participated in the creation of both Amtrak and Conrail and worked for the Norfolk Southern, the New York Central, US Railway Association, and the Federal Railroad Administration. My Life with Trains combines a world-class photographer's love of railroading with the insights of a government and railroad official. The book provides a short historical overview of the changes in the industry, recounts McClellan's experience at various railroads, and offers personal reflections on a lifetime of working with and chasing trains. Expertly detailed with over 250 stunning color photographs, My Life with Trains covers sixty years as observed by a legendary railroad strategist.

Genres: Trains, Nonfiction, Biography

336 pages, Paperback

First published June 16, 2017

Reviews

[Peter Dijkstra · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sheldon Cooper might even find this boring...

[Adam Lutt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting lifetime in railroading during incredible changes to the industry.

A reader who does not have background knowledge of the American Railroad history or “railfan” interest will find this book very confusing and hard to follow.

Kind of ironic that a self proclaimed train lover made an entire career or dissolving railroads.

[Salem Black · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dry at times however a very interesting managerial look into a pivotal moment in American railroad history. If you enjoy transportation history and want to understand how modern railroads were shaped then this is the book for you.

[Joshua Horvath · Rating 2 out of 5]

The book is fine. Basically a memoir telling the modern history of the American railroad industry from the author’s point of view. Perhaps a little dry and self important in places, but for the most part an okay book. One thing that bothered me though, and left a really bad taste in my mouth when I finished the book, was the way the author consistently sang praises for Norfolk Southern. He spoke highly up one way and down the other about how NS was a wonderful and professional organization with top priorities for safety. Problem for me though. The day I read most of this particular material towards the end of the book was on February 3rd 2023. This was the day that Norfolk Southern dropped a train and created an environmental disaster in East Palestine Ohio. The events of Feb 3rd was not an outlier event, it was the inevitable result of a corporate culture that places absolute value of short term profits over its workers, customer satisfaction, efficiency, and most importantly safety. When when the author Jim McClellan sings his praises for Norfolk Southern, he seemed to me like a corporate officer trying to sell me something, and not a reliable witness.

[Gloria]

I love trains. Great pictures.