Chapter II: Preface

THE LAKE SHORE SERIES, of which this book is the first volume, includes six stories, whose locality and principal characters are nearly the same, and which were originally published in Oliver Optic’s Magazine, Our Boys and Girls. The railroad, which is the basis of the incidents in the first and second volumes, was suggested by the experience of several young gentlemen in Ohio, who had formed a company, and transacted all the business of a railroad in regular form, for the purpose of obtaining a practical knowledge of the details of such a corporation. They issued certificates of shares, bonds, with interest coupons, elected officers, and appointed all the employees required for the management of a well-ordered railroad. The author is the fortunate possessor of one of the bonds of this company--“The Miami Valley Railroad.”

The young engineer is doubtless a smart boy; but so far as his mechanical skill is concerned, several counterparts of him have come to the knowledge of the writer. If he has an “old head,” he has a young heart, which he endeavors to keep pure and true. As he appears in this and the subsequent volumes of the series, the author is willing to commend him as an example of the moral and Christian hero, who cannot lead his imitators astray; for he loves truth and goodness, and is willing to forgive and serve his enemies.

HARRISON SQUARE, MASS.,
July 21, 1869.

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER I. PAGE MR. WADDIE WIMPLETON 11

CHAPTER II. A TREMENDOUS EXPLOSION 21

CHAPTER III. WOLF’S FATHER 32

CHAPTER IV. ON THE LOCOMOTIVE 42

CHAPTER V. CHRISTY HOLGATE 52

CHAPTER VI. ON THE LOCOMOTIVE 62

CHAPTER VII. THE VIAL OF WRATH 72

CHAPTER VIII. THE DUMMY ENGINE 83

CHAPTER IX. TOPPLETONIANS AND WIMPLETONIANS 94

CHAPTER X. COLONEL WIMPLETON AND SON 105

CHAPTER XI. BETTER THOUGHTS AND DEEDS 116

CHAPTER XII. WOLF’S FORTRESS 127

CHAPTER XIII. CAPTAIN SYNDERS 138

CHAPTER XIV. RAISING THE DUMMY 150

CHAPTER XV. GETTING UP STEAM 161

CHAPTER XVI. THE FIRST TRIP OF THE DUMMY 172

CHAPTER XVII. MOTHER’S ADVICE 183

CHAPTER XVIII. WADDIE’S MISTAKE 194

CHAPTER XIX. RICH MEN’S QUARRELS 205

CHAPTER XX. THE BEAUTIFUL PASSENGER 216

CHAPTER XXI. SOME TALK WITH COLONEL WIMPLETON 227

CHAPTER XXII. THE CONSTRUCTION TRAIN 239

CHAPTER XXIII. OFF THE TRACK 251

CHAPTER XXIV. THE GRAND PICNIC 263

CHAPTER XXV. WOLF’S SPEECH 275

CHAPTER XXVI. THE AUCTION SALE 287

THROUGH BY DAYLIGHT;

OR,

THE YOUNG ENGINEER OF THE LAKE-SHORE RAILROAD.