Brownie the Boomer: The Life of Charles P. Brown, an American Railroader

Farm work in Indiana not to his liking, 19-year-old Charlie Brown and a friend hopped a freight train for Chicago in 1898. So began Brown's career as an itinerant railroad worker, a ``boomer''--15 years as fireman, brakeman, switchman on the major rail lines of the country. After a near-fatal accident in 1913, Brown wrote this autobiography , which was published in the 1920s; Grant, editor of Railway History , here provides background and explanatory notes. Brown's unpretentious and matter-of-fact story offers a fine portrait of working conditions in the early years of the century. He lived in boardinghouses and the YMCA; he recalls events that involve runaway cars, a train robbery, drunken brawls, a collision, chance meetings with other ``boomers.'' Rail buffs and social historians will welcome this colorful bit of Americana. Photos. (Aug.)