“Nathaniel’s Trains” is about a boy who sold his toy train set to save a real railroad. The book is based on a true story.

There is a real Nathaniel, and you can actually ride on the railroad that he saved, which is a short drive from the Lehigh Valley.

The Colebrookdale Railroad, Boyertown, Berks County, won second place in the 2020 USA Today Readers Choice Award for the best scenic train ride.

“Nathaniel’s Trains” (29 pages; $21.99 print; $7.99 digital; 2022) is written by Diane Bakos and illustrated by Matt Szychowski.

The book is available at the usual book-sellers. Bakos has area appearances on behalf of the book scheduled for November and December.

Bakos based her children’s book on Nathaniel Guest, executive director of the Colebrookdale Railroad Preservation Trust. Guest led the fight to preserve and restore the line.

The book tells the story of little boy Nathaniel, who not only likes trains but loves them, especially the toy ones that his grandfather gave him. One day, his father takes him to see the old, rusted engine of the Colebrookdale Railroad.

Heartbroken by its condition, Nathaniel decides to sell his trains and use the money to help bring the train engine back to its former glory. The local newspaper prints a story about him, and soon many people in town volunteer to help. It is not much of a spoiler alert to say that the train comes back to life.

“I wrote it from a kid’s perspective,” says Bakos in a phone interview. “I wanted to appeal to those little kids who loved trains. And to inspire kids to hope and dream big to make a difference.”

Bakos’ career includes being a television anchor, talk-show host, and anchor and producer of a medical information television show. She has worked for PBS, NBC, ABC and WFMZ-TV. She did informational videos about Colebrookdale Railroad that can be seen on its YouTube page.

She has written another children’s book, “WHACK’d.”

“It is about what happens when Santa and the elves take Christmas off. It took me 10 years after I thought of it before I finally just sat down to write it,” she says.

Bakos’ son Will is also a train fanatic.

“We had a trip scheduled on the Orient Express, but it was canceled because of COVID. Will scheduled a number of local trips, including one on the Colebrookdale in 2020.”

Her son met Guest and volunteered for the Colebrookdale Railroad the following weekend. Since he was too young to drive a car at the time, Bakos drove him to the railroad and began to volunteer herself.

Colebrookdale Railroad is also known as the Secret Valley Line.

Guest says the nickname developed because “the railroad was lost for so long, no one had ever heard of it. It was out of consciousness and gone to sleep, hidden from view.

“It is a very beautiful and historically-important railroad that needed to be rediscovered,” Guest says in a phone interview from the train station.

The Colebrookdale Railroad offers rides through wooded areas and along rock formations that were blasted away to provide passage.

The railroad cars have been intricately reworked with Tiffany-style lights, gold-leaf decorations and leather seating to take riders back to the days when train-riding was a luxurious experience.

“It shows what travel was like in a different time,” says Guest. “It was a much finer way to travel. Even the basic level was better than what most people have to deal with today.”

The Colebrookdale Railroad, which originally dates from the Civil War era, has been running passenger trains for nearly 10 years. It also has freight cars that haul stone and agricultural products.

The Colebrookdale station features bricks, gas lamps and metal gates collected from towns in Pennsylvania. The Colebrookdale Trust, which operates the railroad, has collected Pullman cars. Steam engines that have been acquired are being restored.

The big difference between the book and the real-life story of “Nathaniel’s Trains” is that Guest was an adult when he worked to bring back the railroad. But he says the difference is not as great as it seems.

“You have to be a child at heart to do something like this. You have to be an idealist. I guess I don’t feel any different than when I was a little boy and dreamed about it.”

Information: https://www.colebrookdalerailroad.com/