One of the best Railroad books I have ever read was "Set Up Running, Life of a Pennsylvania Railroad Engineer" by I believe John Orr. The author was the son of Oscar P Orr who hired out of Sunbury, Pa. at the beginning of the 20th Century. John Orr's claim of a photographic memory made it possible to recall the story's his father told him and also his own real life experiences growing up in a Railroad enviroment. The story starts with O.P. Orrs hiring and procceeds to his time of being Setup as an enginner. Once Set up he was never set back to fireman and had an outstanding career with the railroad. At one time early on OP's crew worked 7 days straight without any time off. Insane to even thing about these kind of hours today. He explains the different locomotives they used and which ones performed well the shortfalls of others. Back in the day there were also shananigans going on as well and a few of them are brought up. One was how they stole coal from their own train so they would not have to stop at Williamsport to refuel. He worked until after WWII. There were many changes to the railroad during his time. This is truely an outstanding book. You will not be disapointed.
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