All the Livelong Day

All the Livelong Day is a creative nonfiction narrative by Richard Neil detailing theThanksgiving Wreck at Woodstock,on November 25, 1951. The true account is narrated by the son of the fireman on Southern Railway's Second 47, The Crescent, southbound from Birmingham to Meridian, Mississippi to New Orleans. The story details the train wreck and the characters involved, The Greatest Generation of post-World War II. The author is a forester and describes the southern flora as well as the Klamath National Forest mountains of Northern California. The book begins with the author being stationed in Eddy Gulch Fire Tower in summer of 2021, a summer of intense wildfire. He returns home to Red Mountain in Birmingham, Alabama, on a perch below Vulcan, a cast iron statue of the god of forge and metalworking. The story is told from there, beginning on morning of the wreck. In fine detail, the narrative tells of the fireman's ride to Birmingham Terminal Station and of the train ride south, a ride onboard engine, until the trains meet head-on in Woodstock. The fireman's wife and brothers drive from Woodlawn, a community in Birmingham, to Woodstock on night of the wreck to try to find out who's alive and who isn't. National Transportation Safety Board transcripts allow the participants to tell their story in their own words using their actual testimony.