About the author: Charles Hollister Noble (1901 – 1954) was an American historical novelist and screenwriter. Noble was a professional writer and editor in the newspaper, radio and motion picture fields, with strong interests in the American Civil War and railroads. (Wikipedia)
Major characters:
- Howard Bierce, Road Foreman of Engines, Great Western Railway
- Jim Reynolds, Assistant Division Superintendent
- John Macintosh, Division Superintendent
- Maria D'Alvarez, proprietress of the Casa Alta restaurant
- Selma ---, the blonde waitress
- Lisa Maddon, waitress, aspiring pianist
- Ted Helmholtz, pianist
- Pete Gustavson, a miner
- Jackpot Thomas, a organized crime boss and gambler
Locale: the Sierra Nevada mountains, at the border of California and Nevada
Synopsis: Set during World War II, Howard Bierce, troubleshooter for the Great Western Railway, is en route with his wife to New York to an exhibition of his hobby artwork. On the spur of the moment, he drops off the train at Pioneer Gap to choose between his two loves: the railroad or the art world. He books a room for a couple of weeks with Assistant Division Superintendent Jim Reynolds.
Pioneer Gap is facing a number of quick moving snowstorms which threaten to strand him there, as well as disrupt service on the railroad. Howard is called in to deal with the escalating situation. He takes his meals at the Casa Alta restaurant, owned by Maria D'Alvarez, and employing two waitresses: sexy blonde star-of-the-show Selma and quiet, mysterious Lisa Maddon. Gambler Jackpot Thomas makes inappropriate moves on Selma, and Howards knocks him out and throws him out in the snow. Thomas, unaware who hit him, swears revenge. Trains start piling up in the snow, along with a special train carrying gold bullion.
Howard encounters his old college chum pianist Ted Helmholtz, and becomes aware of unsaid drama between Helmholtz, Reynolds, and Lisa. Helmholtz has teamed up with miner Pete Gustavson to work the remnants of an old mine.
Review: This is one of those books I love to pull out during a snowstorm, as it deals with the drama of railroading in the High Sierras during a blizzard, with lots of mystery and murder mixed in too. This was my fifth reading (and it just started snowing).
I enjoyed the scenes of the railroad workers and their dwellings inside the snowsheds, where it is nighttime 24 hours a day. The characters are well done, and the author's enthusiasm for railroading is obvious - especially as he writes the story in the first person.
The only critique I have of this novel is that there are way too many subplots going on in parallel throughout:
- Howard and Betty's strained marriage
- Howard's pull between his railroad job and his art hobby
- Selma and her various admirers
- Jackpot Thomas and his ilk of hoodlums
- Dangerous mine excursions with Helmholtz and Gustavson
- Helmholtz's terminal illness
- Constant snowfall paralyzing the town
- School kids gearing up for a pageant
- Love triangle of Helmholtz-Reynolds-Lisa
- Reynold's secret previous life and tragedy
- Piano careers of Helmholtz and Lisa
- Shipments of gold east on the railroad
- Troop trains heading the opposite direction
It saddens me to read about the author's own fate. He was accused of plagiarism of research, and committed suicide just before he was exonerated. He had potential for more fine novels.
