The Old Somerset Railroad: A Lifeline for Northern Mainers

Rating:
Summary: Superbly written, magnificently presented railroad history.
Review: Begun in 1872, the Somerset Railroad linked the Maine coast with Canadian businesses. For fifty-six years it carried people and goods from the north woods around Moosehead Lake to Southern Maine and New England. A legend in the annals of northeastern railroading, Walter Macdoughall's illuminative history, The Old Somerset Railroad: A Lifeline For Northern Mainers, employs and easy-reading anecdotal style as he surveys the railroad's construction, rolling stock, employees, and the ways in which the lives of the people living along the tracks became interwoven with this remarkable railroad. The Old Somerset Railroad is a superbly written and presented contribution to any personal, academic, or community library collection railroading histories.

Rating:
Summary: Superbly written, magnificently presented railroad history.
Review: Begun in 1872, the Somerset Railroad linked the Maine coast with Canadian businesses. For fifty-six years it carried people and goods from the north woods around Moosehead Lake to Southern Maine and New England. A legend in the annals of northeastern railroading, Walter Macdoughall's illuminative history, The Old Somerset Railroad: A Lifeline For Northern Mainers, employs and easy-reading anecdotal style as he surveys the railroad's construction, rolling stock, employees, and the ways in which the lives of the people living along the tracks became interwoven with this remarkable railroad. The Old Somerset Railroad is a superbly written and presented contribution to any personal, academic, or community library collection railroading histories.

Rating:
Summary: The Past Is Brought To Life
Review: I read this book after my father, who lived in Somerset during his childhood, gave me the book as a gift and I thoroughly enjoyed it. My dad rode the Old Somerset Railroad regularly as a boy and Mr. Macdougall's anecdotes and stories, documenting the history of the railroad in northern Maine, put into perspective for me what it must have been like for my father to grow up in those times. Thank you Mr. Macdougall - I found your work both fascinating and informative.