by Gregg M. Turner and Melancthon W. Jacobus, edited and with a foreword by Oliver Jensen; The Connecticut Historical Society; 317 pages; hardcover, $39.95/paperback, $25.95.

As everybody knows, American railroads are not in terrific shape just now, and the rise, flourishing, and disintegration of train travel in Connecticut is a paradigm for the same phenomenon across the country. Under the able guiding hand of Oliver Jensen, a founder and longtime editor of American Heritage, the authors tell the story of railroads in their native state with good humor and verve. The narrative is enriched by scores of fine photographs of the ravishing equipment that gives steam power an eternal aesthetic advantage over longhaul trucking.