Able to lay her own tracks, as well as pick them up again, the train is a marvelous feat of engineering, and as an unbound entity she can travel anywhere her master desires. The only trouble is the trouble she attracts. Her owner and creator, one Professor Hieronymus J. Dittmeyer, can’t seem to help but catch the attention of all manner of odd characters, including an undead conductor and a ghostly guardian. But even the most well intending ghost just isn't enough to keep trouble from the tracks. From run of the mill outlaws, to world-class super villains, the crew of the Sleipnir needs hands-on protecting and they need it fast!Enter Rodger Dodger, dead-eye marksman and all around vexed soul. Dodger finds he is inexplicably drawn to the Sleipnir and her crazy crew, though he is reluctant to return to the work of a gunslinger after a dreadful history of bloodshed and violence. At the request of a restless spirit, Dodger takes on the work, straps on the biggest guns this side of the Mississippi and soon finds his life will never be the same again. (Which is just fine with him because he didn't like the one he had anyways.)On a train that can go anywhere, anything is bound to happen!

    Then the love affair turned sour - strikes, bad food, delays, disasters...Parallel Lines tells the story of these two railways: the real railway and the railway of our dreams. Travelling all over Britain, Ian Marchant examines the history of the British railway and meets those who still hold the railways close to their hearts - the model railway enthusiasts, the train-spotters and bashers (a hybrid of train-spotting where the individual - usually male - has to travel behind a certain locomotive in order to catalogue it), the steam enthusiasts. He swaps stories with commuters at the far reaches of London suburbia, he travels to deserted railway museums, and smokes cigarettes on remote, windswept stations in the furthest corners of Scotland, turning his characteristic eye for character, humour and surprise to one of the great shared experiences of the British nation.

    His night at the hotel begins with promise, but then his prospective one-night stand walks out on him. Leaving town, Denny is mistaken for look-a-like Homer Dumpling, a popular native son who mysteriously disappeared from town three years earlier. Instead of correcting the mistake, Denny dons his new identity as easily as a Vermonter's winter fleece, and a good thing too-the woman he had hoped to sleep with has turned up dead, and Denny is the chief suspect.As Denny tries to unravel the mystery, he struggles to hide his true identity from Homer's increasingly suspicious circle of family and friends, including Homer's prickly girlfriend. In Denny, Carkeet has crafted a fast- talking bumbler whose instinct for survival will face the ultimate challenge, with readers cheering him on all the way..

    Written both for veteran train travelers and those considering their first rail journey, it will make any trip smoother and more enjoyable with its insightful travel trips and information about how railroads operate. With trains attracting new riders in record numbers because of the economy, the price of gasoline, and the delays and crowding that are now the norm when traveling by air, the time is perfect for a new edition of All Aboard. Here you can learn how and why the first railroads came about, the building of America's trans-continental railroad, and how individual trains are operated. The author also offers advice that can only come from a veteran traveler: booking trips, finding the lowest fares, avoiding pitfalls, packing for an overnight trip, what to do on board, whom to tip and how much. All Aboard is the ultimate guide to American train travel and its unique history and culture.

    Fleeing a broken heart, Tess runs away to Aurora Springs, Texas, where she joins a frontier settlement of dreamers attracted by mysterious lights in the sky and finds unexpected love.

    With winds estimated at over 225 miles per hour, it was the first recorded Category 5 hurricane to make landfall in the United States.Striking at a time before storms were named, the catastrophic tropical cyclone became known as the 1935 Labor Day Hurricane, and its aftermath was felt all the way to Washington, D.C. In the hardest hit area of the Florida Keys, three out of every five residents were killed, while hundreds of World War I veterans sent there by the federal government perished.By sifting through overlooked official records and interviewing survivors and the relatives of victims, Thomas Knowles pieces together this dramatic story, moment by horrifying moment. He explains what daily life was like on the Keys, why the veteran work force was there (and relatively unprotected), the state of weather forecasting at the time, the activities of the media covering the disaster, and the actions of government agencies in the face of severe criticism over their response to the disaster.The Labor Day Hurricane of 1935 remains one of the most intense to strike America's shores. Category 5 is a sobering reminder that even with modern meteorological tools and emergency management systems, a similar storm could cause even more death and destruction today.

    There Robbie leads and idyllic life of rabbiting, backyard science experiments, and hooligan scrapes with his friend Billy. Penola is oblivious even to its minor celebrity as the birthplace of the poet John Shaw Neilson, but poetry means the world to Robbie's new teacher from the city, the stylish Miss Peach, a sixties sophisticate with stirrup pants, Kool cigarettes and Vespa scooter.Miss Peach's artistic yearnings and modern ways prove too much for the good people of Penola, but they fire Robbie's precocious imagination and burgeoning sexuality, until what begins as a schoolboy fantasy has terrible, real consequences.Everything I Knew challenges our determination to believe in the innocence of childhood and adolescence. Yet again it shows Peter Goldsworthy to be a master of shifting tone, from the comic to the tragic, and 'one of the few Australian writers to command superb technique' (Sydney Morning Herald)

    Ann's devotion to her older brother runs deep, so when he gets involved in the Underground Railroad, Ann asks no questions. She joins him in the struggle. Together they lie, sneak, masquerade and defy their way past would-be enforcers of the hated Fugitive Slave Law. Their dedication to the cause leads to complicated relationships with their fellow Quakers, pro-slavery neighbors and with the fugitives themselves. When Jesse returns from a run with a deadly fever, accompanied by a fugitive, Josiah, who is also sick and close to death, Ann nurses them both back to health. But precious time is lost, and Josiah, too weak for travel, stays the winter at Redfield Farm. Ann becomes his teacher, friend and confidant. When grave disappointment shakes her to her roots, Ann turns to Josiah for comfort, and comfort leads to intimacy. The result, both poignant and inspiring, is life-long devotion to each other and to their cause. Redfield Farm is a tale of compassion, dedication and love, steeped in the details of another time, but resonant with implications for today's world. The author brings a deep understanding of the details of the Underground Railroad which lend authenticity and truth to this tale of a life well-lived and a love well-founded.

    And as any good manager of a hotel, a store, a restaurant, or an attraction knows, the key to getting guests to come back is not actually the rooms or the product or the food itself; it's how guests feel when they're there. It's about hospitality. No matter how much effort and time we spend on excellence--stirring worship time, inspiring sermons, a good coffee blend in the foyer--what our guests really want when they come to our churches is to feel welcome, comfortable, and understood.Written by a church consultant and a hospitality expert, The Come Back Effect shows church, ministry, and even business leaders the secret to helping a first-time guest return again and again. Through an engaging, story-driven approach, they explain how service and hospitality are two different things, show how Jesus practiced hospitality, and invite leaders to develop and implement changes that lead to repeat visits and, eventually, to sustained growth.

    A trip across Siberia on the longest continuous railway track in the world is undoubtedly the journey of a lifetime. It's also a convenient way to reach China, Mongolia, or Japan. Tickets are not expensive or difficult to arrange. Readers can now travel almost anywhere they want in Siberia: we tell them how to organize a trip, where to get tickets, and where to go.>Kilometer-by-kilometer route guide -- covering the entire routes of the Trans-Siberian, Trans-Manchurian, and Trans-Mongolian railways with thirty-eight strip maps in English, Russian, and Chinese: readers can see where they are as they travel>Siberia and the railway -- the detailed history of Siberia, the construction of the railway and the running of the Trans-Siberian today are of great interest not only to visitors but also to armchair travelers>City guides with maps -- the best sights, places to stay, and restaurants for all budgets: Moscow, St Petersburg, Ulan Bator, Beijing, and twenty-three towns in Siberia>Nutshell information on Minsk, Berlin, Baltic Republics, Helsinki, Hong Kong, and Tokyo>Rail fares and timetables>Seventh edition includes seventy maps>Plus Russian and Chinese phrases

    Nesbit's timeless classic, The Primrose Railway Children is a gorgeous, heartwarming story of family secrets and new adventures.Sit back and enjoy the journey!Phoebe Robinson loves making up stories - just like her wonderful, imaginative Dad. When he mysteriously disappears, Phoebe, Perry, Becks and their mum must leave everything behind and move to a small cottage in the middle of nowhere. Struggling to feel at home and missing her Dad terribly, Phoebe's only distraction is her guinea pig Daisy. Until the family discover the thrilling steam trains at the railway station and suddenly, every day is filled with adventure. But Phoebe still can't help wondering, what is Mum hiding and more worryingly is Dad okay?

    It is a rough hewn place, an exploding trading post that has dreams of becoming a metropolis.  Horace Stratton, one of Portland's wealthiest heirs, has decided to come home for good after amassing yet another fortune in Shanghai. With him comes his wife Emily, a shy daughter of missionaries, and their teenaged son. On the brink of that happy return, Horace suddenly falls ill and dies in San Francisco. Emily and her son bring her husband home to Portland and they try to settle into this new culture.While they look as if they should belong, Portland is a strange and unsettling place for them.  Emily is guilt-ridden, but sorrow is one of the few emotions she didn’t feel when told of her husband's passing. For Emily had learned more about her husband’s past than anyone would believe. And she discovers that all of his schemes did not die with him. His partners very much want Emily and her son to go away... by whatever means necessary. Emily will have to delve into her husband's seedy and painful past and set things right so that she can make a life for herself and her son in this strange land.

    "This is a promise bridge, and it bridges a promise flowing from your heart to mine. It can't never be broken...the promise is part of you now, understand." Thus begins an unlikely friendship between Hannelore Blessing, a plantation mistress, and a slave girl named Livie. As the young women are launched on a harrowing journey of awakening filled with shared risks and nurtured promises amid whispers of the Underground Railroad and the rising tension preceding the Civil War, they discover their ability to trust, love, and ultimately take action.Aided by Colt, a devoted suitor hoping to win her heart, Hannah comes to understand that true friendship means letting go, so that Livie can be free to find a life and destiny all her own. However, a vicious slave catcher stalks the two women-and his unseemly motives and relentless pursuit threaten all that Hannah holds dear, as well as put her loved ones in unimaginable danger.

    All four of the enormously popular Thomas board books are here: Go, Train, Go!; Stop, Train, Stop!; A Crack in the Track!; and Blue Train, Green Train. Boxed together in a nifty little “lunchbox,” these four books are a feast for Thomas’ smallest fans. The box features a sturdy handle and a velcro close and is perfect for Thomas lovers on the go.

    The empty towns. The rusted-out cars. The corpses, everywhere.He doesn't know why he rides the rails. He just does. The trains never take him away from the ruin. The trains never take him anywhere.Until one day they carry him to a little town called Black Hole, Kentucky, and he meets a strange woman who knows him.Who knows everything.