Rail Music

By Niz Thomas

Utah, 1869. Forging the next chapter in a country that doesn't seem to want them, Liam Gallagher leads a group of Irish settlers laying the Transcontinental Railroad.

Behind them: Unforgiving winters of the Great Plains and the West, Indian raids, sickness, death.

Ahead of them: The final push toward Promontory, where the western and eastern efforts of the railroad meet, and a contest of wills and of great financial reward looms. The promise of a whole new world of commerce and progress in the Great American experiment.

But Liam's men aren't paid. Their tyrannical railway boss knows they'll be done soon, shipped off to parts unknown, no money in their pocket to show for their work.

So Liam and the boys decide to do something about it.

But when you push tyrants, they don't back down.

And bossman knows a little something about leverage. Knows just where to push to make it hurt.

This taut and explosive historical suspense short story delivers a powerful vision of the shaping of America, and weaves a timeless tale of tragedy, courage, and the dignity of work. Can Liam and his cast of compelling characters overcome the elements and the injustices of corrupt men who keep their own counsel? Pick up Rail Music to find out!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Throughplace Publishing
• Release date: May 1, 2024
• ISBN: 9798224240647

Book preview

The cover for Niz Thomas’ short story, Rail Music, featuring an old-paper texture of an American Railroad train ticket.

RAIL MUSIC

NIZ THOMAS

Throughplace Publishing

COPYRIGHT

Rail Music

Made in the USA

Published by Throughplace Publishing

throughplace.com

Text copyright © 2024 by Michael Nisivoccia

All rights reserved.

Cover and Layout copyright © 2024 by Throughplace Publishing

Cover design by Michael Nisivoccia / Throughplace Publishing

Cover art copyright © [e-mail] / ticket / Depositphotos

Cover art copyright © sozon / aged paper sheet / Depositphotos

This book is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. All rights reserved. This is a work of fiction. All characters and events portrayed in this book are fictional, and any resemblance to real people or incidents is purely coincidental. This book, or parts thereof, may not be reproduced in any form without permission.

COPYRIGHT

Family Tree

Made in the USA

Published by Throughplace Publishing

throughplace.com

Text excerpt copyright © 2023 by Michael Nisivoccia

All rights reserved.

Cover and Layout copyright © 2023 by Throughplace Publishing

Cover design by Michael Nisivoccia / Throughplace Publishing

Cover art copyright © Robert Adrian Hillman / Shutterstock

This text excerpt is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. All rights reserved. This is a work of fiction. All characters and events portrayed in this book are fictional, and any resemblance to real people or incidents is purely coincidental. This book, or parts thereof, may not be reproduced in any form without permission.

CONTENTS

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Family Tree

Chapter 1

Also By Niz Thomas

About the Author

RAIL MUSIC

ONE

Liam Gallagher stood from his usual position of hunched over in half and let the once-heavy, now (after so many years slinging it) less burdensome weight of his Pittsburgh steel railroad spike maul rest in his thickly calloused hands like he was Queen Victoria herself ready to be feted by whatever fanny sniffers she employed to do such things.

The consistent tune of the railworkers—all twenty-five on Liam’s crew—was a music he hadn’t much occasion to celebrate of late. Even with the weather starting to turn from frostbit to temperate. At least teasing with the notion, she was.

Not in a celebrating mood, Liam wasn’t. Neither were the men—their spike-hammer spike-hammer spike-hammer song carrying a tight and clenched tone, drudgery of the highest order done without even the slightest nod toward the physical progress they were making.

Rail music. The wunderkind Denny Boyle’s cadence call to keep the boys on pace, the boys grunting ascent to let Denny know they were on pace, the rhythm of the hammers against steel against ground against open, clear sky. It danced a stuffy, stilted jig up the rocky sides of the Weber River Canyon on either side of them as they plowed through