The Daughter of a Magnate
This is an American Western without any bad guys. The main characters are trains, and the elements---snow, terrain, weather and water. Frank Spearman wrote six novels about the building, and early days, of the transcontinental railroad. This was his first. He introduces characters who will reappear in several of his later novels. Those novels all have villains. The daughter of the new owner of the railroad travels by rail with her father to see the new line and the West it covers. They encounter several dozen rough and capable employees, who constructed and run the line. They are thoroughly dedicated men; the railroad is all they know. A supervisor, Ab Glover, falls desperately in love with Gertrude Brock--the daughter of the Magnate. The story is about that love, but even more, it is about the great challenges of weather, terrain and accidents. The numerous terms Spearman uses to describe the railroad and the natural environment had this reader referring often to the dictionary. This reader feels that Spearman's novels are superior to those of the other several writers of American Westerns of the early 1900's. (Summary by Bob Rollins)
Genre(s): Action & Adventure Fiction, Westerns
Language: English
Section | Chapter | Reader | Time |
---|---|---|---|
Play 01 | A June Water | Bob R |
00:24:50 |
Play 02 | An Error at Headquarters | Bob R |
00:20:33 |
Play 03 | Into the Mountains | Bob R |
00:17:25 |
Play 04 | As the Dispatcher Saw | Bob R |
00:07:15 |
Play 05 | An Emergency Call | Bob R |
00:07:08 |
Play 06 | The Cat and the Rat | Bob R |
00:12:31 |
Play 07 | Time Being Money | Bob R |
00:15:17 |
Play 08 | Splitting the Paw | Bob R |
00:14:24 |
Play 09 | A Truce | Bob R |
00:12:57 |
Play 10 | And a Shock | Bob R |
00:18:24 |
Play 11 | In the Lalla Rookh | Bob R |
00:14:52 |
Play 12 | A Slip on a Special | Bob R |
00:17:20 |
Play 13 | Back to the Mountains | Bob R |
00:20:02 |
Play 14 | Glen Tarn | Bob R |
00:20:36 |
Play 15 | November | Bob R |
00:14:41 |
Play 16 | Night | Bob R |
00:17:03 |
Play 17 | Storm | Bob R |
00:22:18 |
Play 18 | Daybreak | Bob R |
00:17:17 |
Play 19 | Suspense | Bob R |
00:25:10 |
Play 20 | Deepening Waters | Bob R |
00:20:49 |
Play 21 | Pilot | Bob R |
00:09:32 |
Play 22 | The South Arete | Bob R |
00:24:09 |
Play 23 | Business | Bob R |
00:20:14 |