Catch The Last Train with Gordon Titcomb and Wendell Minor

Railroads and romance have always gone hand in hand. If you are lying in bed at night and hear the whistle blow, there's a hint of mystery, the lure of the unknown. For those lucky enough to travel by train in the heyday of rail travel, there was the adventure, the camaraderie of travelling  with strangers headed for a similar destination.

Two friends, both Litchfield County residents, decided to join their talents of music and illustration to create a new book, The Last Train, that brought together some of the favorite railroad songs, images and sounds.  Illustrator Wendell Minor asked his friend, Gordon Titcomb, a musician, to collaborate with him on this book.

The two will come to Southbury on Saturday for a book signing.

Titcomb explained that as a songwriter he has to become the character in the song.

"The song starts with feeling," said Titcomb. "It has to have emotions to ring true. Then I take those thoughts, and massage them into a linear form. This book was the sum of all my experiences on trains, and I used to travel on the railroad quite a lot."

Minor grew up in Aurora, Illinois where 12,000 railroad employees worked at a roundhouse.

"As a kid in the Midwest, you had a railroad going right through the center of town," said Minor.  "There were grain trains and coal hopper trains.  I used to take the sleeper from Aurora to Kansas City."

"Every great train song has just grabbed me," Titcomb said. "The Eagles did Midnight Flyer, Roy Acuff did the Wabash Cannonball, and Steve Goodman wrote The City of New Orleans."

The book, both men said, was meant to be timeless.

"The book doesn't have an expiration date," Titcomb said. "It isn't trendy."

"It was always my philosophy that I wanted to create something I'd be proud of in the future," said Minor. "Books can bring a sense of history to tell the American narrative. This book has a connection of generations."

"I went to school with the sons and daughters of railroad people," Minor said. "I remember the porters, who had so much respect and made a living wage. And I remember all the poetic lines."

"There is something so romantic about the railroad," Titcomb said. "I am a pilot, but I believe we need to get the rails back in shape. It is also efficient – CSX claims that they can ship one ton of freight 500 miles on a gallon of diesel fuel."

Regardless of the future of rail travel in America, there are plenty who can't get enough of the music, images and lore.  Wendell and Titcomb went to ride the Essex Steam Train in Essex, Conn., and loved being up front with engineer and the man who fed coal into the fire.

The collaboration was a success, both say. "Sometimes I felt like Wendell was inside my brain," Titcomb said. "I don't normally work on collaborative projects."

"The words and pictures become more than the sum of the two," Minor said.

Minor is the award-winning illustrator of over 40 picture books for children, including the New York Times bestsellers Ghost Ship by Mary Higgins Clark and Look to the Stars by Buzz Aldrin. Gordon Titcomb is a composer and musician who has spent more than two decades performing and recording with many well known artists including Arlo Guthrie, Hank Williams Jr., and Paul Simon. He has also been a guest performer with Emmylou Harris, Judy Collins, and Willie Nelson.

A book signing for The Last Train will be held locally at Borders, Southbury Shopping Center, Southbury, on Oct. 23, from 12 to 2 p.m. The duo will give a talk and book signing on Nov. 8 at 6 p.m. at the Southbury Public Library.

You can hear Titcomb's recording of The Last Trrain at www.lasttrainsong.com, and purchase a book and audio version at www.liveoakmedia.com.