Here are the locomotives,
the iron horses, the great machines,
pulling their trains behind them.

Here are the crews that make them run,
and here is how they do it.

And here is a family, heading West,
hoping to start a new life.

It is the summer of 1869, and trains,
crews, and family are travleing together,
riding America's first transcontinental
railroad, still new, just built.

In these pages, dense with the details
of their trip, are the sounds, speed,
and strength of the locomotives;
the work that keeps them moving;
the thrill of travel from plains
to mountains to oceans.

Come hear the hiss of steam,
fell the heat of the engine,
watch the landscape race by.
Come ride the rails,
come cross the young country!

ALL ABOARD!

From the dust jacket