My Life With Trains Audiobook By Jim McClellan cover art

My Life With Trains

Memoir of a Railroader (Railroads Past and Present)

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My Life With Trains

By: Jim McClellan
Narrated by: Shane Browning
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Named one of the "75 People You Should Know" by Trains Magazine, Jim McClellan was a railroading legend and one of the railroad industry’s titans. An iconic and innovative executive, McClellan participated in the creation of both Amtrak and Conrail and worked for the Norfolk Southern, the New York Central, US Railway Association, and the Federal Railroad Administration. My Life with Trains combines a world-class photographer’s love of railroading with the insights of a government and railroad official. The book provides a short historical overview of the changes in the industry, recounts McClellan’s experience at various railroads, and offers personal reflections on a lifetime of working with and chasing trains. My Life with Trains covers 60 years as observed by a legendary railroad strategist.

The book is published by Indiana University Press. The audiobook will be published by University Press Audiobooks.

“If you are interested in railroad economics and leadership issues, this book should be in your library. (Railway Age)

“This book is an excellent listen and a valuable research tool.” (Tom Hoback, retired Founder and CEO, Indiana Rail Road)

“McClellan has left us a vivid memoir of a railroad life well lived.” (Classic Trains)

©2017 Jim McClellan (P)2020 Redwood Audiobooks Engineering Railroads Transportation Memoir
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Listener received this title free

A wonderful history of the railroad industry, and beautifully performed by Shane Browning. A good listen.

If you were into trains

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Listener received this title free

Good voice, good pacing, easy to listen to. I will look for him in other books.

Great reader

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Listener received this title free

While the content of this book wasn't what I was expecting at all, the reader, Shane Browning made it interesting.
I was looking for interesting personal stories. This book is more about the business & impersonal end of railroading. Had I read the book, it would have lost me immediately. Hearing it by the reader actually held my attention & I feel more informed as I listen to the end.

Interesting & Enjoyable

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It is entertaining to hear railroad workings from the inside out, and the drama and intrigue that has gone on in those stodgy enterprises. This book is less about railroad trains than it is about the corporate goings-on from a lifetime insider. Many episodes were relatable as my uncle was one of the main planners of the NP/GN/CB&Q/SP&S merger into BN. Interesting stuff.
The reading and audio were forgettable. The reader dozes his way through the narrative void of excitement or emotion. The overdubs for edits are hugely distracting. It’s just a real poor effort that should really be redone to give some life to the accounts.

Storylines are good, performance and recording not so much.

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Listener received this title free

So little seems to be known about how and why the railroad industry has changed so much over the past century, especially from an insider's point of view. McClellan lets us peer into what has changed and why. This is also a pleasant audiobook to listen to--clean, crisp, varied bass-baritone narration.

Interesting Insider View of Our Railroad History

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