What do you think?
Rate this book
Rails That Climb: A Narrative History of the Moffat Road
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
November 26, 2021
This is primarily the story of David Moffat and a railroad, but it is also the story of some very stubborn mountains and some very rugged men.
"Stubborn mountains and rugged men." That made me smile. Rugged mountains and stubborn men would be the more usual wording, but I get the impression that Bollinger wasn't a 'usual man.' He actually worked as a Gandy Dancer for the D&SL RR, and he was a preacher who settled in Fraser, Colorado. While reading, I had the strong sense that writing this book must have been a labor of love.
Each chapter is generously illustrated with photographs, line drawings, and documents from the files. It is indexed, but I ended up putting together my own index of info that I know I'll be needing.
It's the details that I appreciate the most. E.g., re: the cover art is a classic view of trains on the rails in winter. But here we learn that engine 200 was built in 1908 and scrapped in 1949. Info such as that helps with dating pictures, as does the bold "Moffat Road" on the side of the cab. The rotary snow plow (dubbed the "Red Devil") was repainted to a standard black in 1914. Yes, Bollinger included lots of detail -- more than I needed to know about technical train operation, but he gives a generous description of what it took to keep that train operating during the long winter months.
I read this over a span of several months. If I'd plowed thru it in a week, I would have been swamped with too much info. Hence the 4-star rating instead of 5.
"Stubborn mountains and rugged men." That made me smile. Rugged mountains and stubborn men would be the more usual wording, but I get the impression that Bollinger wasn't a 'usual man.' He actually worked as a Gandy Dancer for the D&SL RR, and he was a preacher who settled in Fraser, Colorado. While reading, I had the strong sense that writing this book must have been a labor of love.
Each chapter is generously illustrated with photographs, line drawings, and documents from the files. It is indexed, but I ended up putting together my own index of info that I know I'll be needing.
It's the details that I appreciate the most. E.g., re: the cover art is a classic view of trains on the rails in winter. But here we learn that engine 200 was built in 1908 and scrapped in 1949. Info such as that helps with dating pictures, as does the bold "Moffat Road" on the side of the cab. The rotary snow plow (dubbed the "Red Devil") was repainted to a standard black in 1914. Yes, Bollinger included lots of detail -- more than I needed to know about technical train operation, but he gives a generous description of what it took to keep that train operating during the long winter months.
I read this over a span of several months. If I'd plowed thru it in a week, I would have been swamped with too much info. Hence the 4-star rating instead of 5.
December 30, 2019
I started this book and then put it down. It's as if you had to be there to grasp what's being written about. It's like the friend who never refers to other friends by their whole name, and you don't know all the friend's friends and you just nod politely.
So I read "The Giant's Ladder," a pretty much step by step narrative of the building of the Moffat Road, and got the big picture. Then I could go back and read Bollinger's book with enough background to learn something more.
Good photos.
So I read "The Giant's Ladder," a pretty much step by step narrative of the building of the Moffat Road, and got the big picture. Then I could go back and read Bollinger's book with enough background to learn something more.
Good photos.
July 8, 2012
Great details, though the narrative can be confusing at times, as it runs from one story directly into the next without breaks.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews