On the Blue Comet by Rosemary Wells

Part historical fiction, part time travel mystery, On the Blue Comet starts with a young boy, Oscar, and his father living in Cairo, Illinois in the late 1920s. They share a love of model trains and have built a wonderful train layout in the basement of their home. When the crash comes in 1929, the father loses his job and the house and has to sell the trains to pay for a ticket to California to try to find work. Oscar has to stay with his Aunt and cousin and misses his father terribly. When he finds out the trains are on display in a local bank, he befriends the night watchman to visit them. While he visiting there one night, robbers follow him in and threaten him and the guard. In a panic, he somehow jumps onto the train platform, which magically becomes real and finds himself on a train to California. On it he meets a handsome young actor who helps him connect with his father, but on arrival discovers that 10 years have passed and the U.S. is at war. Somehow, he has to get back to the train to get back to his time. While the cameo appearances of several famous movie stars is fun, the target audience may not be familiar with any of them. Fabulous illustrations by Bagram Ibatoulline enhance the story, and the period details are good. On the Blue Comet by Rosemary Wells, Illustrations by Bagram Ibatouillline. Candlewick Press, 2010.