The 17 (Used Hardcover) - Edwin C. Washburn

Condition: This book is in Acceptable Condition. There is a plastic cover over the dustcover, which has tattered edges. There are water stains on the top corners of the pages.

A few of man's inventions have done much to determine his historical direction. The most outstanding of these, perhaps, are the locomotives that have followed the iron trails of America. Their headlights have illuminated the way for progress and permanent settlement. Their power has drawn the tools of industry, the equipment for farms, the comforts of civilization, and even the greater part of the people to inhabit the new lands.

Such a useful pioneer was "The 17," whose story is told by Edwin C. Washburn, veteran railroader. "The 17" was an old Baldwin eight-wheel locomotive manufactured in Pennsylvania. Guided by men of great vision, it played an important role in the development of the great empire north and west of the Great Lakes. In this unique book locomotives are treated as living characters. They speak to one another in railroad language that reveals the frontier railroading represented in the construction of the Soo Line.