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The Rainy Day Railroad War

by Holman Day (1865–1935)

  • Free to read
  • 3 hours to read
  • 16 chapters
  • Reading level: 6th grade

"The Rainy Day Railroad War" by Holman Day is a novel written in the early 20th century. The story follows Rodney Parker, a young assistant engineer who finds himself embroiled in conflicts over labor rights and the construction of a railroad through a tumultuous wilderness. As Parker grapples with the challenges posed by the oppressive local timber magnate, Colonel Gideon Ward, he not only faces physical threats but also navigates the complexities of ethics, justice, and corporate interests in a rapidly changing world. The opening of this engaging tale introduces readers to Parker and his role in the railroad construction project, set against the rugged backdrop of a new work site populated by immigrant laborers. The tensions escalate quickly when Parker stands up for the rights of the Italian workers in a restaurant who are mistreated by their padrone, Dominick. The situation spirals into chaos with accusations, physical confrontations, and the urgent need for Parker to prove himself as a leader. As the story unfolds, readers are drawn into a gritty, dynamic conflict that intertwines social justice with personal ambition, setting the stage for Parker's upcoming challenges against both Ward and the elements of the wild.

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  • Railroads

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Chapter One — The Trying-Out of One Rodney Parker, Assistant Engineer

All at once the stump-dotted, rocky hillside became clamorous and animated. From the little shacks sheathed with tarred paper, from the sodded huts, from burrows sunk into the hillside men suddenly came popping out with shrill cries.

Three men, shouldering surveying instruments, stopped in their tracks on the freshly-heaped soil of a new railroad embankment, and gazed up at the hillside. The railroad skirted its foot and the sudden activity on the slope was in full view. “Your lambs seem to be blatting around the fodder-rack once more, Parker,” observed the man who lugged the transit. He was a thin, elderly man and his tone was somewhat satirical.

The men were running toward a common center, uttering cries in shrill staccato and sounding like yelping dogs.

Parker drove the spurs of his tripod into the soft soil and stared up at the hillside, his tanned brow puckering with apprehension.

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Contents

  1. Chapter One — The Trying-Out of One Rodney Parker, Assistant Engineer
  2. Chapter Two — The Whim That Projected the Famous “Poquette Carry: Railroad”
  3. Chapter Three — Engineer Parker Gets Final Orders for “the Land of the: Gideonites.”
  4. Chapter Four — In Which the Doughty “Swamp Swogon” Astonishes Sunkhaze: Settlement
  5. Chapter Five — How Colonel Gideon Was Backed Down for the First Time in: His Life
  6. Chapter Six — In Which “the Cat-Hermit of Moxie” Casts His Shadow Long: Before Him
  7. Chapter Seven — How “the Fresh-Water Corsairs” Came to Sunkhaze
  8. Chapter Eight — The Locomotive That Went Swimming and the Engineer Who: Was Stolen
  9. Chapter Nine — Up the Winding Way to the “Ogre of the Big Woods.”
  10. Chapter Ten — The Wangan Duel
  11. Chapter Eleven — The Bear That Walked Like a Man
  12. Chapter Twelve — The Strange “Cat-Hermit of Moxie”
  13. Chapter Thirteen — The Bear of the Big Woods “Baited” After His Own: Fashion
  14. Chapter Fourteen — How Rodney Parker Paid an Honest Debt
  15. Chapter Fifteen — The Day When Poquette Burst Wide Open
  16. Chapter Sixteen — The Pact That Opened Rodney Parker's Professional: Future

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About this edition

This free edition of The Rainy Day Railroad War by Holman Day comes from Project Gutenberg eBook #22666, released 2007-09-18. It is in the public domain in the United States, so you can read it here in full at no cost, on any phone, tablet or computer. Genre: Adventure, Novels, American Literature.

Summary provided by Project Gutenberg (automatically generated).

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