My life on mountain railroads
By: William John Gilbert Gould ; edited by William R. Gould.
Contributors: Gould, William R., 1919-
Publisher: Utah State University Press
Published: 1995
Place of publication: Logan, Utah
Language: eng
Number of pages: 250
Subjects: Gould, William John Gilbert, 1888-1961.; Mountain railroads -- Utah -- History.; Mountain railroads -- Utah -- Employees -- Biography.
Description: William John Gilbert Gould grew up with a driving ambition to be an engineer. In 1908 he was hired by the Denver & Rio Grande as an underage fireman. In 1917 he achieved his dream and began running engines, first for the D&RG and later for the Utah Railway. He pursued this occupation until the 1950s, experiencing the last days of steam and the first of diesel.

After retirement he, at his son's urging, began writing vignettes and longer stories that focused on his trade, his peers, and the adventures he had or observed. He was a natural storyteller, and his recollections are saturated with occupational lore and reveal much about the history of the western railroads.
Notes: Includes index.
Table of contents: title: Trackside childhood; title: From newsboy to roundhouse : starting to work; title: Learning to fire; title: Life along the rails; title: My mentor on the road; title: At the rat hole flashing the door; title: Old heads, rails, and boomers; title: Railroad hazards and wrecks; title: Engineer on the Rio Grande; title: Running the Utah trains; title: Life on the Utah railway.