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C&Os subsidiary Pere Marquette Railway was used by C&O's pro-passenger Chairman, Robert R. Young, as a test bed for his ideas on how to cure the passenger train problem in America. He ordered two diesel-powered 7-car lightweight trains that went into service in mid-1946 on the Detroit-Grand rapids corridor. Over the next year they reversed the passenger losses on this line and actually built up traffic. The trains were the first to emerge all-new from the clogged car builder's shops after WWII. The new trains were of latest design and the on-board services were superb for a coach operation with hostesses, on-board passenger representatives, tickets delivered on the train, credit cards, no-tipping, etc. Many of these things were later tried on C&O's mainline trains, and the equipment showed the way for the huge re-equipping of the name trains on the old C&O in 1950. Eventually affected by the continued erosion of passenger traffic, the trains experienced a slow decline, but lasted as a shadow of themselves down to Amtrak on May 1, 1971. The story is told in great detail from original documents and illustrated with great photos, many of them from C&O official files.

Remembering the Boys brings to life the correspondence of Western Reserve Academy alumni serving in World War II. In these eloquent letters, most of them written to the Academy's headmaster, Joel Hayden, the story of the loneliness of war is told by the men serving on the front lines as well as by those waiting anxiously at home in Hudson, Ohio. Alumni of this distinguished prep school wrote of the boredom, hardships, and dangers of military life. Meanwhile, the students and staff lead a lively, active war effort dedicated to supporting their classmates (and eleven of their teachers) fighting overseas. Under the leadership of head-master Joel B. Hayden, a patriotic WRA modified its curriculum to accommodate early graduation for those approaching draft age and turned over its machine shop classes to fulfill war contracts for local companies. Illustrating these letters is a wealth of photographs of the men and boys of Western Reserve Academy. And with dippings from both the Reserve Record and the Alumni Record and local newspapers as well, Remembering the Boys poignantly captures that extraordinary time . . . and place.