Hopping a freight in the St. Louis rail yards, Ted Conover0́4winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award0́4embarks on his dream trip, traveling the rails with "the knights of the road." Equipped with rummage store clothing, a bedroll, and his notebooks, Conover immerses himself in the peculiar culture of the hobo, where handshakes and intoductions are foreign, but where everyone knows where the Sally (Salvation Army) and the Willy (Goodwill) are. Along the way he encounters unexpected charity (a former cop goes out of his way to offer Conover a dollar) and indignities (what do you do when there are no public bathrooms?) and learns how to survive on the road.But above all, Conover gets to know the men and women who, for one reason or another, live this life. There's Lonny, who accepts that there are some towns he can't enter before dark because he's black, and Pistol Pete, a cowboy who claims his son is a doctor and his daughter a ballerina, and Sheba Sheila Sheils, who's built herself a house out of old tires. By turns resourceful and desperate, generous and mistrusting, independent and communal, philosophical and profoundly cynical, the tramps Conover meets show him a segment of humanity outside society, neither wholly romantic nor wholly tragic, and very much like the rest of us.

Seventeen silly songs for children.

Through letters and photographs, profiles teenagers who hopped the freight trains during the Great Depression in order to find adventure, seek employment, or escape poverty.

"Among the many reasons why I took upon myself the task of writing Off the Rails was to clear a lot of misinformation and bogus theories that circulate on the Internet regarding Randy Rhoads' ife and death. Believe me, it was not easy chronicling all of the daily events that happened on and off the road. Fortunately, Ihad kept a journal of our travels so I had accurate details ..."--P [4] of cover.

When Percy breaks down, Thomas the Tank Engine comes to rescue him, in a book with wheels that work. On board pages.

The ultimate guide for train lovers, Field Guide to Trains is fully loaded with pictures and fun facts on all the machines that ride the rails