Well, it sure has been some time since I last posted here. Been a lot of personal things going on. I’m going to keep this brief. I have decided to unpublish my novel on Smashwords due to lackluster sales for over a year on the site. I do much better on Kindle, and as of now, Kindle will be the exclusive marketplace to find my novel. This will allow me to take advantage of certain promotional programs on Kindle that I could only participate in with my novel available in E-book format exclusively through Kindle. Keep an eye out for further details coming soon.
Although I purchased a print copy of your book from Amazon back in 2014, I didn’t get a chance to read it until recently. Having no place to go with New Jersey’s stay at home order in place, I have been getting a bit of reading done.
I really enjoyed THE RAILROAD MAN. Being a railfan and having been to many of the places that are locations you used in the novel. This added an extra bit of interest to the read. I have photographed the NYS&W many times around Ridgefield Park and have visited the Little Ferry roundhouse during a yard tour that was part of a 1982 excursion to Oakland. I’ve also railfanned the Delaware-Lackawanna on the western end of the “Midland” and yes, I have taken night photos of trains in the fog! I’m not sure about the middle portion of your fictional railroad. You did mention the “old road” by which I assume you are talking about the Ex-DL&W line across New Jersey but I guess the Ex-L&HR route may work as well. Especially since it would come close to the NYSW/Midland tracks at Sparta.
I really appreciated the reality of the train operations. I know you are an engineer so you are an expert on the subject. I am not one of “those” railfans who think they know more about railroad rules and operations then the railroaders do, but I spotted nothing I can say just wouldn’t happen in real life. I’ve read too many stories and seen too many movies where the things that happen on or to a train are simply ridiculous. Great read and I hope you have another railroad themed novel in the works.