Richard Petersen

Hogger is an exceptionally well written account of one man’s journey through life as a railroad man. The railroad, in this case the Milwaukee Railroad, was an everyday fact of life in the 1930’s world in which the author was born and raised. For the author “the sight of an awesome steel monster roaring down the track, belching smoke and steam, aroused a desire to be part of that world.”

Mr. Petersen kept a journal of his railroad experiences starting from his first day as a regular employee in 1944 up through his retirement in 1986. He witnessed and experienced the transition from steam to diesel power and he also witnessed the decline and final failure of the Milwaukee Railroad.

The titles of the chapters in the book amount to an outline of the author’s story. We learn about his first experience taking a summer job as a member of a track gang, his hiring on as a new fireman shortly after receiving his high school diploma, the work and training that took him from a green to a seasoned fireman and ultimately led to his promotion to engineer. In his last chapter, A View From the Smokey End” he talks us through the ups and downs of a typical working day during the steam locomotive era.

The author paints very vivid word pictures of events that happened to him during his trip from 1944 to 1986. He shares with author Tom Clancy the ability to convey the essence and reason for being of his fellow workers using as few words as possible. The result is the reader will most likely retain a memory of some of the authors co-workers long after memories of other aspects of the book have been forgotten.

For example… “Twenty-five year veteran hogger Earl Poffenberger, a man of ample proportions, most noticeably about the equator, clearly living beyond his seams, had recently taken the assignment and would be the hogger on the lead engine”.. or “If the man had any talent at all for railroading, he had thus far managed to conceal it. He would have been better advised to paint himself orange and seek employment as a highway traffic cone.”

I found this book to be very enjoyable and I would recommend it to anyone with an interest in memoirs . See Common Knowledge for an example of the writing style.

(Text Length including foreword, introduction, and epilogue - 161 pages, Total Length - 181 pages. Includes three pages of photographs, table of contents, end notes, appendix, glossary, bibliography, and an index) (Book Dimensions inches L x W x H - 9 x .5 x 6)… (mais)