ALL ABOUT OUR ROUTE GUIDE BOOKS

So how did our guide book series get started?

In May 2007, Robert Tabern joined the Trails & Rails program on Amtrak's Empire Builder between Chicago and Minnesota. Trails & Rails was the partnership program between the National Park Service and Amtrak which placed volunteer interpretive guides aboard select trains across the country during summer months. The guides would use a reference manual book in order to present commentary to passengers about the various historical and natural sites out their window. Prior to Robert joining Trails & Rails, the initial reference manual book was written in a style where each guide got assigned a 30-mile segment of the route to research and write about. This led to a very inconsistent book and presentation -- with some segments being well written and detailed, while other segments were not.

Having been a television news writer and producer for many years, Robert decided to partner with several other educators and an author in the group to research and write a definitive route book for Trails & Rails guides to use on their assigned route between Downtown Chicago and Minnesota. The new reference book was composed in 2008 and released in 2009; it ended up being over 200 pages. The guide book was only meant for the Trails & Rails volunteers to use. However, passengers on the Empire Builder would often see the book being used and sometimes asked where they could purchase a copy. Around the same time, Amtrak began eliminating free route guide pamphlets. This led Robert to consider publishing and selling a route guidebook specifically for passengers.

In 2010, Robert completed a route guide book for passengers on the Empire Builder between Chicago and the Twin Cities. It is called "Outside the Rails: A Rail Route Guide from Chicago to St. Paul, MN" and was just over 300 pages in length. Unfortunately, the National Park Service made the decision to eliminate the Chicago-based Trails & Rails program on the Empire Builder later that year. This setback did not deter Robert from continuing to produce route guide books. This included route guides from Chicago to Milwaukee, Quincy (IL), Kansas City, St. Louis, Carbondale (IL), Indianapolis, South Bend (South Shore), and Detroit/Pontiac (MI).

In 2012, Robert decided to team up with Dr. Eva Hoffman, another rail guide book author who lived in Colorado. Her book series calling "Flashing Yellow Guidebooks" covered most of the western long-distance Amtrak routes. Dr. Hoffman was also a Trails & Rails volunteer, except she would provide commentary on the California Zephyr between Denver and Grand Junction, CO. Robert and Dr. Hoffman agreed to cross-promote their book series since they focused on different areas of the country.

In 2015, Robert co-founded a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization called the Midwest Rail Rangers. The Midwest Rail Rangers provide onboard education programs on various train routes across a seven-state region that includes Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, and Wisconsin. The program is similar to Trails & Rails, except programs are provided on trains other than Amtrak. Robert decided to sell his railroad route guide books as a significant fundraiser for the Midwest Rail Rangers. This continues today, nearly nine years later.

In recent years, the railroad route guide books have expanded to give passengers an even better experience. Instead of just traditional books, route guide e-books and MP3 podcasts are also available. This allows passengers to download route guide information as a PDF on to their laptop or tablet instead of hauling several several books with them. Expansion of book titles have also included a three-volume book series about the historic Mark Twain Zephyr train and the production of a companion DVD (released in 2021 and 2022).

In December 2022, "Flashing Yellow Guidebooks" author Eva Hoffman passed away, generously leaving all of the copyrights for her railroad route guidebooks to Robert and the Midwest Rail Rangers. The rights transferred over in January 2023, with Eva's books being incorporated into the Midwest Rail Rangers' offerings. We hope to remember Eva in our thoughts every day and continue offering the legacy of her books for sale here on our website for many years to come.

Dr. Hoffman retired from the United States Environmental Protection Agency where she was an environmental scientist specializing in cleanup of hazardous materials at mining and railroad sites. She held a degrees from Baylor, University of Hawaii, and University of Rhode Island where she took local history classes for fun. The curiosity of a scientist coupled with a love of trains probably drove the train staffs crazy, but ultimately lead to the research which formed the basis for her book series.

Before starting "Flashing Yellow Guidebooks"... Dr. Hoffman wrote research papers for scientific journals, articles for alumni newsletters, and press releases, all on scientific topics. As a former member of the Rocky Mountain Railroad Club, Dr. Hoffman wrote several articles on Amtrak for the club newsletter. Until 2017, she was also a volunteer for the Trails & Rails program, a partnership between the National Park Service and Amtrak, that provided interpretive programs on the California Zephyr between Denver and Grand Junction. Dr. Hoffman lived her later years in Clark Creek County, Colorado, with her husband and a dog.

In December 2022, "Flashing Yellow Guidebooks" author Eva Hoffman passed away, generously leaving all of the copyrights for her railroad route guidebooks to Robert Tabern and the Midwest Rail Rangers. The rights transferred over in January 2023, with Eva's books being incorporated into the Midwest Rail Rangers' offerings. We hope to remember Eva in our thoughts every day and continue offering the legacy of her books for sale here on our website for many years to come.

Robert was born and raised in the Chicagoland area... and was introduced to railroading by his parents, who would often take him on several overnight train trips every year on Amtrak. One of Robert's favorite things as a kid was having his own small slumber-coach room... and staying up half the night watching the lights from small towns shine through the window. Robert graduated from Glenbrook North High School in Northbrook, Illinois in 1997... and went on to earn his degree in Radio/Television Broadcasting from Arkansas State University in 2001. Over the next decade, Robert would go on to work as a producer and assignment manager at various network-affiliated television stations in Arkansas, Indiana, and Wisconsin.

Robert re-developed his love for train travel when he became involved with Trails & Rails in 2007. This partnership between the National Park Service and Amtrak placed volunteer guides on certain train routes across the country. Robert was a docent on the Empire Builder between Chicago and Minnesota during the 2007, 2008, 2009, and 2010 seasons. In 2012, Robert co-founded and co-managed a brand new Trails & Rails program that operated between Chicago and Missouri for three seasons. It was one of the only Trails & Rails programs to operate year-round. In 2015, Robert left Trails & Rails to co-found the Midwest Rail Rangers, an independent non-profit organization providing on-board educational programs on the South Shore Line between Chicago and Indiana, at the Illinois Railway Museum aboard the Nebraska Zephyr, private rail excursions, and various other charters.

Besides broadcasting, Robert also worked in the travel and tourism industry for a number of years. From 2015 to 2019, he served as tour operations coordinator for Country Travel Discoveries in suburban Milwaukee, designing and managing off-the-beaten path rail and motorcoach tours. Robert also worked as director of passenger development at the Wisconsin Great Northern Railroad in Trego, Wisconsin from December 2019 to July 2022.

Robert currently serves as President of the Midwest Rail Rangers. He works as editor of a weekly newspaper in Polk County, Wisconsin. Robert currently resides with his girlfriend, Shaila, in Luck, Wisconsin, about 90 minutes northeast of the Twin Cities.

Robert Tabern can be reached by e-mail at rtabern@railrangers.org.