Welcome with me Kaki Warner—a RITA award-winning
author and my friend.
Although she now lives on the eastern slopes of
the Cascade Mountains in Washington, Kaki grew up in the Southwest and is a
proud graduate of the University of Texas. Her years spent riding horses and
enjoying the expansive vistas of Texas became the inspiration for the backdrop
of her first novels—the wide-open spaces of historic New Mexico
Territory.
Kaki and her husband Joe now live in a hilltop
cabin overlooking the scenic Methow Valley in Washington where Kaki spends her
time gardening, hiking, reading, writing, and soaking in the view from the deck
with her husband and floppy-eared hound dog. Sounds ideal, no?
Long before Kaki and I met and became fast
friends at a writer's conference in Seattle last year, I was a fan of her
wonderful Western romances. She brings the West to life along with some
endearing heroes and heroines. Warner’s Pieces
of Sky, book 1 in the Blood Rose trilogy won the RITA award for Best First Book, a real
achievement.
Her latest
books from the Runaway Brides trilogy feature scenes where the
characters ride on the Transcontinental Railroad. Kaki tells me she got the
idea for the railroad connection from her husband who is a “railroad freak.”
Well, so am I, and I can’t wait to hear what she has to say as she talks 19th
century train travel!
Train Travel
After the Transcontinental Railroad
Good morning!
And thank you, Regan, for inviting me to help celebrate Western Historical
Romance month on your blog!
Since several of my books center around
the railroads (especially Bride of the
High Country and my upcoming August release, Behind His Blue Eyes), I thought I’d share some of the weird and
interesting facts my research uncovered about train travel after the completion
of the Transcontinental Railroad in 1869.
Even though rail service had been available
in the east for three decades, cross-country passenger hauls were scarce in the
early 1870s. Amenities, even scarcer. No bathrooms, for instance. But that was
OK since the trains had to stop every twenty miles or so to fill the tenders
with water or add coal or wood. If the passengers were lucky, there might be an
outhouse beside the tracks. And if they had a dime, they could purchase a box
lunch from an enterprising local beside the track, or enjoy a hot meal of
beans, bacon and a stale biscuit. Then back on the train and the hard, wooden
benches for another lurching, bouncing twenty or thirty miles. YIPEE.
But when I wrote Bride of the High Country—wherein the fiancée of a railroad mogul
flees their wedding with a valise full of stolen railroad certificates—I wanted
my characters to travel in style—i.e. Pullman Palace Cars.
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| Pullman Sleeping Car of 1859 |
These railcars were as plush as rooms on a
gambler’s riverboat, complete with velvet couches, drop-down beds, carpet and wooden
inlay around the windows. In addition, each four-berth Pullman boasted a lavatory
with a “necessary”, which emptied directly onto the tracks (and you thought it was
hunters who decimated the buffalo—HA!). And many of these luxury runs also
included a parlor car and dining car, which served mostly-edible meals when
your plate wasn’t sliding into your lap as the train clickety-clacked along.
Ah, the beautiful scenery and fresh air.
If only you could see out of the soot-streaked windows or breathe through the billowing
smoke wafting back from the locomotive. Still, it was faster than a three-month
trip by wagon. Plus, you got to shoot at stuff from the rear platforms as you
careened along at ten, twenty, or even thirty miles an hour. What a treat!
FACT: Each Pullman Car was owned and operated by
the Pullman Company (not the railroad), and was serviced by a white-jacketed
ex-slave universally named “George” in deference to his employer, George
Pullman.
The West would have been a vastly different
place without the influence of the railroads. For one thing, they offered
incentives (like cheap land) to encourage people to settle along the
right-of-ways (which had been granted to the railroads at no charge by the
government), thereby building a permanent market for the goods they were hauling.
 |
| Transcontinental Railroad |
They also carved routes through impossible
country, built thousands of trestles, bridges, culverts, and tunnels, or—since anything
steeper than a 3% grade was prohibitive in fuel, construction, maintenance, and
equipment costs—they laid tracks miles out of the way to avoid obstacles, thus
opening up even more country. Such as Heartbreak Creek, in Colorado Territory,
which is the setting for my August release, Behind His Blue Eyes, wherein a man trying to escape his past finds
himself caught up in a search for a serial killer bent on keeping the railroad
from coming through the canyon. Oh, yeah, and there’s also a love story. It is
a romance, after all.
FACT: In constructing the Transcontinental, Irish
immigrants laid tracks west from Nebraska, while Chinese workers came east out
of Sacramento—and they arrived at the EXACT SAME SPOT at Promontory Summit! Amazing! And the Chinese laborers (mostly
farmers imported by the Central Pacific) later contributed to the development of
the California vineyards and the highly productive farmland in the Central
Valley.
ANOTHER
FACT: The standard width between rails was determined by the Romans when they built
stone roads in England. Four feet, eight-and-a-half inches was the width
between the wheels of a two-horse chariot. Over time, those wheels wore such
deep grooves into the stone that later wagon-makers had to space their wheels
to fit them. Then somebody figured wheels roll easier metal-on-metal, so they
laid down metal-capped wooden rails, put flanged, metal-treaded wheels on their
horse-drawn wagons, and soon coal was rolling out of Newcastle at record rates.
And all because of the width of two horses’ asses pulling an old Roman chariot.
Who knew?
So there you have it. More than you ever
wanted to know about the joys and hazards of riding the rails west. Here’s my question for you: Have you ever
taken a cross-country train trip or slept in a Pullman? Would you do it again?
Leave a comment, and your name will be entered
to win one of two three-book sets of my Runaway
Brides Trilogy. Good Luck! Thanks for coming by, and my thanks to you, too,
Regan, for letting me chat with your followers.
Since Kaki graciously agreed to answer a few questions, I’ve
a bit of an interview to serve up. I think you’ll find it interesting. Here it
is:
How
does your new trilogy, the Heroes of Heartbreak Creek relate to the Runaway
Brides trilogy, which is also set in Heartbreak Creek, Colorado Territory?
The
Heroes trilogy continues with most of the same folks
from the Brides trilogy, but with a new hero and heroine in each book. The
starring characters of Behind His Blue Eyes are Audra and Ethan. But we
also catch up with the Brodies and Rylanders, see a bit of Thomas Redstone, and
at the end, are introduced to Rayford (Rafe) Jessup who is hired by Ash as his
wrangler (he’s somewhat of a horse whisperer. Sorta.)
Rafe
is the hero of Book 2, Something In His Smile (the one I’m working on
now). The heroine is a ruined Englishwoman, Josephine. In this book, the
Kirkwells (Ash and Maddie), Pringle (who Mrs. Throckmorton insists accompany
Ash as his manservant—HA!), and Rafe and Thomas all go to England and Scotland
on a horse-buying trip for the thoroughbred/warmblood stable Ash is setting up
in Colorado. Thomas joins them at the
last minute when his visit with Pru in Indiana turns sour.
Book
3 (as yet without a title) centers around Thomas and Pru and will pick up when
they all return to Heartbreak Creek and Thomas tries again to convince Pru to
come home. By this time, he’s a bit more civilized and she’s a bit less the
world-saver, so they’re ready (after some travails) to settle down. Mostly.
I
envision a sub-plot involving Buster Quinn and Mrs. Bradshaw (first introduced
In Bride of the High Country). Since that’s the end of the
trilogy, there will be closure for T & P, as well as issues with other
characters. Don’t know if I’ll continue from there.
You
have the most interesting names for people and places. How do you come up with
them?
I
have a baby book that gives origin of names, which is a big help. I also try to
pick old-fashioned names, or ones that aren’t currently “all the rage”. I also
use names of friends and family members (like the grandkids). And others are
names I’ve heard over the years and thought they were neat—like Brady, Declan,
Tait, and Audra. The other two Wilkins brothers were named after American
statesmen (because I liked the nicknames), and Rayford Jessup, Joe Bill and
R.D. sound utterly Texan. Edwina and Pru are plays on their personalities (and
also make good nicknames), and Thomas Redstone’s name is indicative of his dual
heritage. The rest I just make up. But I’m always on the lookout for unusual
names that sound authentic, but not too contrived.
Your
descriptions of places and views from the trains are amazingly detailed. Do you
do research for that? Take trips? Or, is your creative imagination working hard
to accomplish this?
My
husband and I take a lot of road trips, so I’ve seen most of the western states
at least once. For places I’ve never seen (like Lucinda’s train ride through NJ
and points west), I go online for maps and pictures of the terrain, as well as
pics and maps of the bigger cities during that time frame. If need be, I
research fauna and flora of the area so I get the wildlife and trees right.
Plus, I make up stuff.
You
have captured the male perspective very well...how do you do that? Do you
listen to men and pick up on the way they talk or is it, once again,
imagination? (Whatever it is, it works!).
Thanks.
I do a lot of observing. Plus, I had a brother, and I’ve been married
for-freaking-ever. But I think most of it comes from my less than feminized
personality. I have a lot of “male” traits (their virtues, mostly—all the bad
stuff they can keep), meaning I rarely cry, I don’t suffer fools very well, I
don’t wilt from confrontation (when necessary), and I’m fully capable of
pulling out my own chair, opening my own door, loading my own gun, or killing a
snake with my head (but that’s another story). Plus, I’ve been known to cuss.
However, I refuse to bait my own hook—or fish, unless I have to. Nor do I hunt,
like to watch NASCAR races, have a hat with beer cans on it, or cruise bars.
I
just read that over. I think I need professional help.
I think you’re just fine, Kaki, and as
one of your fans, I thank you for giving us such wonderful stories! For those
of you who want to know more about Kaki and her books, you can find her HERE.
