Type of bind: Hardcover
Dewey Decimal Number: 625.261
EAN num: 9780879236717
ISBN number: 087923671X
Label: David R Godine
Manufacturer: David R Godine
Quantity: 1
Page Count: 112
Printing Date: October 01, 1995
Publishing house: David R Godine
Age index: Ages 9-12
Sale Popularity Level: 609744
Studio: David R Godine
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Editor's Notes and Comments:
Product Description:
Superpower tells with beauty and precision how the most powerful steam-engine train every made was designed and built in the 1920s.
Ben is just eighteen when one day, in 1925, he goes to work with his father and grandfather at 'the Loco' in Lima, Ohio. But he is soon caught up in a marvelous adventure-the building of a new locomotive, the very first Berkshire, one of the most powerful and efficient ever.
The apprentice meets engineer Will Woodard, who explains the dilemmas and niceties of locomotive design. In the pattern shop, Ben see Woodard's blueprints turned into finely-crafted wooden pattern for castings of iron and steel. From Marko Ukropina, an 'old country' foundryman, Ben learns the secrets of pouring the massive frames (and to be more careful around white-hot steel). He follows the rough castings to the machine shop, where they are planed smooth and true. In the forge, Ben joins a team of hammermen wrestling a glowing steel ingot under the ground-shaking steam hammer three stories tall-and realizes why only the biggest and brawniest men work here.
Superpower chronicles the building of a steam locomotive in meticulous detail. But there is more here-it is also the story of working men, many of them immigrants from all over Europe. It recalls a time when family members worked together, and when pride in craftsmanship was intrinsic to American life. Based on oral histories of Lima's workers and their families, Superpower is, most of all, a story of America at work.
User popularity level:
Rated by buyers 
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If you have children of an age of around 10, who are interested in Steam Locomotives, this may be the book for them. But if you are an adult with some background in railroads, well see above...
Paul
Rated by buyers 
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I have hundreds of railroad books. Mostly they contain photos of steam locomotives in their smokey glory.
This book has not one photograph. (Well, except for the author!)
Instead, David Weitzman's beautiful line drawings perfectly illustrate the task at hand; BUILDING a steam locomotive.
If you ever waned to know how was done, this is the book for you. It also works for any age of person. The young one will find the story compelling and the older one will find themselves saying "So that's how! "
Out of those hundreds of books I own, this is one of the special ones.
Rated by buyers -
I discovered this book at a friend's house several years ago. It was quick bedtime reading. Upon returning home, I got my own copy, and have since given away other examples as Christmas gifts.
Although suitable for children, it appeals to all ages, to anyone with the least interest in how things work and how the great engineered artifacts of yesterday -- such as the mightiest steam locomotives -- were built. Today, when we look at an old steam locomotive, we are looking at an entire lost world; the basic principles of steam power are well known, but except for a few enthusiasts who keep old locomotives running, the details of steam-propelled vehicles have almost disappeared from human memory. As with the Saturn V moon rockets, the skills and facilities to make such magnificent machines, indeed the blueprints themselves, are gone. Reading this book, and looking at the drawings of a locomotive frame being cast, or machined in a huge planer, it's sobering to realize that it is very likely we no longer have the foundries or the machine shops in this country that can handle such massive projects, even if we wanted to.
But enough of pinin' for the past; it's gone for a reason, and history and technology have moved on. Still, there are basic lessons to be learned from this book, about work, and problem solving, and making things as a team that none of us could achieve alone.
Beware: books like this are infectious. It was books like this, and frequent visits to all manner of museums with my father, that eventually turned me into an engineer.
Rated by buyers 
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This book describes how gigantic steel and iron parts were fabricated and assembled into giant steam locomotives years ago. It is a fascinating read for any one with any mechanical aptitude or interest. The illustrations -- meticulously drawn and rendered by the author -- are spellbinding. You can't help but say "Wow!" when you see some of them. The only negative I saw was the overly warm and folksy background story as told in an autobiographical style by the author.
Rated by buyers -
I'm rekindling my fascination with steam locomotives again. I had read this book about 10 years ago and came across it again on my bookshelf. I'm re-reading it with the same joy/fascination I did the 1st time ! (and I'm no kid at 42 years old - would be nice to have a son to share it with!!) I'm glad I haven't lost that child-like wonder at these huge machines of yesteryear. I feel like I'm the young apprentice in the book, ravenously learning the complexicities of designing and building one of the magnificent monsters !
Can't recommend it highly enough for steam loco-fans of all ages !!
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