Ralph on the Overland Express; Or, The Trials and Triumphs of a Young Engineer

Chapman, AllenProject Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

Rating 2.5
Word count
312K words
Chapters
32

Tags

English Originals Friendship TestedInspirationCourage and TrialEngineering DreamSuspenseful PlotGrowing UpGrowing Through TrialsRailroad StoryBoyhood AdventureYouth Reading

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.Ralph on the Overland Express; Or, The Trials and Triumphs of a Young EngineerAuthor: Chapman, Allen,Language: English, Class: PZ: Language and Literatures: Juvenile belles lettres, Release Date: May 1, 2009

Editor's review

This book is one of Allen Chapman's series of boys' engineer novels, told from the perspective of the young engineer Ralph and describing his experiences, trials, and growth aboard the Overland Express. It has the typical character of boys' adventure fiction: the protagonist meets sudden crises with skill, courage, and a sense of responsibility, and the plot moves briskly, making it a good entry point for early English boys' engineering adventure fiction. The Project Gutenberg edition is a free ebook, easy to obtain, and suitable for reading on screen or printing. The language is generally moderate in difficulty, but the book was written long ago, so some expressions differ from today's English usage, and readers can incidentally observe the historical change in English. It is better treated as light extracurricular reading or English extensive reading material than as a subject of strict engineering history or literary classics research.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Not a good fit for

Reading tips

  1. Read through once to grasp the plot, then closely read the passages where the protagonist tackles problems to trace his growth.
  2. Note unfamiliar or old-fashioned expressions as you go and look them up afterward to build knowledge of historical English usage.
  3. Read it alongside other boys' adventure stories and discuss how such works shape the protagonist's character.
  4. For classroom use, select a chapter for students to retell the plot and discuss the engineer's sense of responsibility.

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

Contents

  1. 1
  2. 2
  3. 3
  4. 4
  5. 5
  6. 6
  7. 7
  8. 8
  9. 9
  10. 10
  11. 11
  12. 12
  13. 13
  14. 14
  15. 15
  16. 16
  17. 17
  18. 18
  19. 19
  20. 20
  21. 21
  22. 22
  23. 23
  24. 24
  25. 25
  26. 26
  27. 27
  28. 28
  29. 29
  30. 30
  31. 31
  32. 32

FAQ

What English level is this book suitable for? Overall it is moderately easy narrative English, with short sentences and a clearly plot-driven structure; middle school students or intermediate English learners with a basic vocabulary can try it. Because it was written long ago, you will encounter old-fashioned expressions and period language; reading with a dictionary or notes is recommended, and there is no need to agonize over every word.
Do I need to read other books in the series first? From the available information, this is one of a series of stories about the young engineer Ralph, but adventure novels for boys usually have relatively complete plots in each volume. Reading this book directly generally does not hinder understanding; if you become interested in the character relationships, you can read the series in order afterward.
Is the electronic edition suitable for printing out to read? Project Gutenberg provides a free electronic text whose length suits printing and binding into a booklet, and it is also convenient for annotation. For extensive reading only, reading on a computer or e-reader is easier; for close reading and note-taking, printing or using annotation-capable reading software is more convenient.

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About the author

Chapman, Allen Author

Allen Chapman is an author of English-language juvenile fiction about whom little is publicly documented; his nationality, dates of birth and death, and true identity remain unclear. Judging from the twenty-five works held in the collection, he wrote mainly adventure and coming-of-age stories for young readers, often set against railroads, school life and winter camps. Representative works include the "Ralph" series, such as Ralph, the Train Dispatcher and Ralph of the Roundhouse, which follow a railway boy's work and adventures, and the "Tom Fairfield" books, such as Tom Fairfield's Pluck and Luck and Tom Fairfield's Schooldays, which explore school friendship and tests of courage and reputation. The narratives are brisk, suspenseful and uplifting, portraying diligent, upright and responsible boys and lending themselves to themes of duty and friendship.