Riding the Rails

<p><strong>Between 1854 and 1929 more than 200000 children boarded westbound trains with tags on their coats and hope in their eyes-sent to new lives new families and uncertain futures. This is their story.</strong></p><p>In <em>Riding the Rails: The Untold Story of America's Lost Children</em> acclaimed historical author <strong>John Frances</strong> delivers a haunting and unforgettable account of the <strong>Orphan Train Movement</strong> the largest child relocation effort in American history. Combining rich historical detail emotional first-person narratives and vivid storytelling this book shines a light on the children who were abandoned shipped across the country and reshaped into someone new.</p><p>Follow the journeys of Mary Ann Eli and countless others-real stories built from archival records oral histories and long-forgotten files buried in church basements and county courthouses.</p><ul><li>Who were these children?</li><li>What were they promised?</li><li>And what did they lose along the way?</li></ul><p>With gripping chapters and immersive prose <em>Riding the Rails</em> reckons with a system built on good intentions but marked by silence erasure and survival.</p><p><strong>Some found homes. Some never did. But all of them deserve to be remembered.</strong></p><p><em>If you love true stories of forgotten history hidden identities and the resilience of the human spirit this is the book you've been waiting for.</em></p>