This is an excellent text on the time of the railroad and the role of women in that time. The character in this book, despite being a piece of historical fiction, is an excellent personification of the female spirit that was certainly present though not celebrated at the time. It was a nice book. ( )

The book is about women working on the railroad. Especially in the late 19th century it was not very common that women work, especially in the railroad and at the beginning of the book you think that the book is definitely about a boy, but it is not. The book shows that women should not give up struggling for the same rights as men. ( )

This is not actually a biography. Apparently the author was surprised to find a picture of an all-women railroad work crew taken sometime around the turn of the last century, and combined that with information about a female engineer on the B&O line to come up with this story about a young woman who, through chance, has the opportunity to drive a train - and more chances after that.

It is easy to believe that at some point in the past men were men and women stayed at home, but the picture that inspired this story is just one of many small pieces of evidence that puts the lie to it. I just wish that the illustrations and the story itself weren't so ambiguous about our main character's gender. Many young readers may skip the afterword and just assume this person is male because, after all, we *all* know that people who like trains are guys. (Sometimes I think we've regressed since I was a kid. Toys weren't all blue and pink in the 80s, were they?) ( )

Story about a picture found which depicted women working the railroads