When railroads came into use in America in the 1830s, they were ``owned, built, and run by men.'' In 1838, the first women became employed by the railroads in domestic service jobs. Levinson (Snowshoe Thompson, 1992, etc.) portrays how, through talent and perseverance, women have advanced to become welders, engineers, and executives on the railroads, despite resistance from men. Women were considered ``bargains'' because they were ``honest, productive, dependable, and accepted low pay.'' Readers will learn about Ella Campbell, a brass pounder (telegraph operator) in the 1870s who helped to head off a train collision; how Ida Hewitt, the first female locomotive engineer in the US, learned the job by riding along with her father; how, in 1901, Sarah Clark Kidder became president of the Nevada County Narrow Gauge to become the first woman to head a railroad company. The black-and-white archival and contemporary photographs add excitement to this remarkable, unusual history. (b&w photos, notes, glossary, further reading, index) (Nonfiction. 10-14)
