Rapido Trains 102008 TurboTrain: A Journey

It has been over 40 years since the TurboTrain first rocketed to its record-breaking speeds and touched the hearts of a new generation of railfans. Part train, part jet aircraft, the TurboTrain was the latest in ground transport innovation.

But the Turbo's promise of a new era of passenger travel sadly went unfulfilled. A gas turbine powered train introduced at a time of unprecedented hostility towards passenger train travel and unprecedented high fuel prices had little chance.

Despite its obstacles, the TurboTrain was a success with the travelling public and, by the time the last trains were retired in 1982, Turbo was running at over 98 percent efficiency. This made it one of the most reliable passenger trains in North America.

TurboTrain: A Journey is the first book ever to tell the story of the TurboTrain through history, stories and photographs, the majority of which have never been published before. Researched and written by Rapido Trains' company founder, Jason Shron.

Here is what Trains Magazine had to say about the book:

"Author Jason Schron's (sic) book isn't intended to be a definitive history of the Turbo. Rather, it's a tribute to the innovative trainsets' engineering and service. He paints a pragmatic picture of a technology that, in Canada, suffered numerous teething problems and near-death, only to rebound as a reliable and popular means of transportation..."

"With several never-before-published photos, the book is a fitting tribute to a train technology ahead of its time that ultimately fell victim to an industry behind it." (emphasis added)

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