Less a pop-up than a pull-out, this survey of railroad history is jampacked with facts delivered in discrete chunks that are nevertheless organized to cover, spread by spread, the development of railroads in Europe and the United States, different rail and engine technologies, the spread of rail transportation around the world, challenges offered by differing terrains, modern trains and train stations. The illustrations, a combination of archival materials, photographs and original art, are enlivened by pull-out leaves that extend a page-occupying image of a car, for instance, with more cars, a tender and/or a locomotive. Occasional lift-up flaps reveal interiors—Hercule Poirot within the Orient-Express; a ’30s-era jazz band on tour. The sheer volume of facts and busyness of the pages ensure that young rail fanatics will find something new over multiple readings. (index) (Pop-up nonfiction. 8-13)
