Today's trains are sleeker, greener and faster than ever before. Tomorrow's trains could travel through space at 23 times the speed of sound ? nearly 30 000 km/h (19 000 m.p.h.)! But did you know that train technology goes back 5 000 years? All aboard "Ultimate Trains", which takes readers on a trip through the evolution of train technology, bringing to life the trains of yesterday, today and tomorrow. Five "Build It Yourself" experiments ? simple enough to create at home ? put train technology into action. Readers can learn how to build a steam engine from a soda pop can, test an electromagnetic track and go online to construct their own magnetic levitation train. Ages 9-12 AUTHOR: Peter McMahon knew he wanted to be a writer by grade 10, the year he started working for his high school paper in Peterborough, Ontario. In 1996, he was accepted into the journalism program at Toronto's Ryerson University. Since then, Peter has written and produced for some of Canada's largest media outlets, including CTV, the Toronto Star, the kids magazine YES Mag and Discovery Channel, where he spent seven years as a new media producer and later, senior online producer. His full name is Andrew Jordan Mora, but his business card just says Andy Mora. Andy lives in Innisfil, Ontario, which is a township about 45 minutes north of Toronto. He grew up in the country and has always preferred it to the noise of city life. Now working as a freelance illustrator creating technical, scientific, architectural and medical images, Andy has also worked on many graphic design projects and teaches art part-time to junior high and high school students. Colour illustrations
