Head Pin and Wash Up – A Life in Railroading and Activism (ISBN: ISBN-10: 1430304960) by Donald, H. Forbes is one of the best original historical autobiographies of the year!
Donald Forbes is a 4th generation railroad man. Great-grandfather Henry Forbes,
grandfather Clarence Forbes, father Donald Scott Forbes. Donald Forbes lived and worked in the industryhimself for 45 years. In his new book Head Pin and Wash Up – A Life in Railroading and Activism he has written a book that is a very insightful and informative look at the life of a man and an industry (Railroading) that mainstream America needs/should know more about. Railroads and everyone in the industry are a huge part of the growth and success of the United States and the world.
Head Pin and Wash Up is about Family, Politics, Religion, Labor Union, War, Community and the life of a hard working man doing a very dangerous job. When you are the son of a railroading family, it’s easy to understand how you can be born into the ‘job’. The author writes, “My railroad apprenticeship went on all through my high school years. My mother had high hopes for my success in life, but should have realized that I was doomed to live the life of a railroad man.”
There are so many parts of Head Pin and Wash Up – A Life in Railroading and Activism that make it the great, original American book. In a recent interview the author said, “I believe people should read my book because it covers many different parts of one worker’s life. His working career, search for religion, love, bringing up children in very difficult times. Rebelling against formal religion and recognizing bullshit when he was faced with it.”
I recommend Head Pin and Wash Up – A Life in Railroading and Activism to everyone who enjoys history and reading about those that have created history. The author explains the books title, “Head Pin and Wash Up was the order given to separate the engine from the cars and take it to the barn and quit for the day."
I also highly recommend this book for high schools and college classes. The history of railroads and the business of working in the industry should have a higher priority in our schools. In 1630: Beaumont designs and builds wagon roads for English coal mines using heavy planks on which horses pulled carts and wagons. 1753: First steam engine arrives in the colonies from England. 1755: First steam engine in America is installed to pump water from a mine. 1826: The first line of rails in the New England States is said to have been laid down at Quincy, Mass., 3 miles in length and pulled by horses. Because of Head Pin and Wash Up – A Life in Railroading and Activism, I personally found myself Googling "Railroad History' and learned more about Railroads.
The Railroad and those that built it and maintain it have been the backbone of the world. This generation needs to understand the sacrifices and the dangers that men like Don Forbes did because he was “a railroad man” but more importantly he was a family man, an activist and a part of history. Maybe because of Head Pin and Wash Up – A Life in Railroading and Activism this generation will know more about this incredible industry from someone who lived it!
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HEAD PIN AND WASH UP - A LIFE IN RAILROADING AND ACTIVISM by Donald H. Forbes
Hardcover: 140 pages
Publisher: Lulu.com (January 9, 2007)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1430304960
About the Author:
"HEAD PIN AND WASH UP - A LIFE IN RAILROADING AND ACTIVISM" by Donald H. Forbes is about the life of a New England railroad man in the
twentieth century, and his engagement in the turmoil of 1960s America, in particular union struggles and his participation in anti-war activism in the small towns of Franklin and Medway, Massachusetts. The author's autobiographical note is succinct: "Born in the worst of the depression. Grew up in Hyde Park, a neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts. Graduated from Hyde Park High in 1951. Thrown out of Boston Latin and left Technical High School voluntarily. Served in the Army like most people of that generation and railroaded for 45 years: Boston Terminal Co. New Haven Railroad, Penn Central and Conrail. "I came from three previous generations of railroaders. Enough is enough."
Visit Don online at http://don-newhavenrr.blogspot.com
