Railroad Redemption »

Wynette I. Mellen was born eight short months after grandmother's death and was given her name. Her father is a retired Engineer for the Union Pacific Railroad and is now active in NARVE, a organization that is made up of retired railroad employees. Wynette is a graduate of Nampa High School and attended classes at Boise State University, though never decided on a degree. She has traveled to Peru and Albania before getting married in 2001 and is now raising three girls, which includes faternal twins. Wynette has had several home businesses and owned a coffee shop for eight months. She now chooses to stay home to take care of her family and devote her time to them, writing and learning the art of word smithing, and being active in her local church.

A. Wynette Robertson was born in 1913 in Buhl, Idaho. Her father was the Section Foreman for the Union Pacific Railroad in Buhl. Her father became the Section Foreman in King Hill, Idaho in 1934. Two short years later she married Robert H. Robertson who was also working for the Union Pacific Railroad and his career path would lead him to become an Engineer. Her life on this earth was only 58 years but her legacy of love and character still ripples down through to her grandchildren. Robert's grandfather came out from Colorado where his family had a saw mill and homesteaded in King Hill when Idaho was still apart of the Oregon Territory. He hired on with the Railroad when the tracks where being laid. Wynette Robertson married Robert at the age of 17, a year before she graduated high school. Although she cut her formal education short and despite the lack of professional education in the art of word smithing, Wynette never lost her passion for the English Language. Wynette Robertson was a self-taught writer. Everyday she would read and write and write and read. She began writing letters to the Editor of the Idaho Statesman about community and political topics she cared about. Eventually she began sending poems into the Idaho Statesman to be published. While publishing her poems she would ride the train frequently to Boise to meet with other writers which eventually became the Idaho Writers Guild. Unfortunately the lack of professional education hindered her involvement in the Guild and her success as a writer. The Novel, Railroad Redemption, has come from a novel she wrote that has been hidden away for 40 years.

Railroad Redemption is a historical novel about the life of a Railroad Engineer, based right here in Idaho. This 1952 tale begins on Railroad Row, King Hill, Idaho and is inspired by Railroad families who lived in the towns of King Hill and Glenns Ferry, Idaho. Although this co-author team of grandmother and granddaughter have never met, they bring you an exciting tale of life, love, and loss.