The Last Train: 01/26/13

The Last Train by Gordon M Titcomb is a folk song that recounts the last years of passenger trains as a major source of transportation in the United States. Wendell Minor's paintings turn the song into a children's picture book.

The narrator tells about his father who used to sell tickets at the now boarded up and dilapidated train station. It goes through the memories of hearing and seeing the the trains roll through town and imaging the places they were headed to and from.

As a child I listened to trains rumble through Rose Canyon below my grandparents' home. In the day time I would rush out to watch them — so many times that my grandmother kept a foot stool out there so I could see over her fence. So I get the nostalgia — but I'm not sure how well that plays with children with the context of a parent or grandparent explaining the book.

Now as a parent, I'm happy to say my kids are growing up in an area where trains are still an every day thing. They don't go as many places as they used to but we can still go down to our little station (un-manned) and catch a train or just go train watching. We can hear them blow their horns at night.

Four stars

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