Alan B, BuchanA "must read" for every dedicated railroad buff Set Up Running: The Life Of A Pennsylvania Railroad Engineman, 1904-1949 is the personal story of Oscar P. Orr, who operated steam-powered freight and passenger trains throughout Central Pennsylvania and South Central New York. For forty-five years, Oscar sat at the controls of many famous stem locomotives; moved trains loaded with all manner of freight from coal to perishables, and encountered virtually every situation a locomotive engineer confronting railroad transportation in the first half of the twentieth century. Biographer John Orr is Oscar's son and tells his father's life as a railroad engineer with candor and attention to detail (including his father's first encounter with an automobile along the right-of-way) that weaves anecdote with compelling railroad history. Set Up Running is a "must read" for every dedicated railroad buff!
The book's subject, Oscar "O.P." Orr, is described to us by his son as he progresses through a career path that starts with hand-firing boilers in a power plant and culminates as the second most senior locomotive engineer in the largest American railroad. This is a very personalized view of the Pennsylvania Railroad and railroading in general; the story is told through the eyes of O.P. with relatively little larger context.
The author manages to string together a series of anectodes and stories while avoiding the trap of turning it into a long series of quick conversations that have been crammed together without any thematic structure. Through these episodes we learn about the specific duties required of a locomotive crew, the difficulties they face from time to time, and the ever-present danger associated with operating huge pieces of industrial equipment at high speeds.
In addition to the railroading information we have the opportunity to meet a number of interesting characters. Some of them are skilled co-workers, others pranksters, and a few of them are nothing more than trouble-makers. We learn from Oscar what distinguishes the incompetent from the skilled train crew, and come to realize that he strives to be as good at his job as he can throughout the long span of his career.
There are a few problems with this book, and fortunately they are all minor. I am familiar with the general geography of the area where Oscar served but would have appreciated more maps showing exactly where various phases of the story take place. I also think that it would be a good thing to have photographs or illustrations of the various types of equipment operated by him.
According to the preface, the book has been published as part of the Pennsylvania State University's "Keystone" project dedicated to recording the history of the state. I intend to search out other books in this series describing Oscar's contemporaries in other fields.
