ATDTDA (7): Nochecita, 200-201

[Paul Nightingale]

The opening of the new section also recalls Lew's
train journey (187). On that occasion, an emphasis was
placed on the excitement attending the railroad; here,
we're told immediately that "around the railroad and
its freight sheds and electrical and machine shops,
the town had grown" (200). Thinking of Dickens, one
can't help but recall the passages in Dombey & Son
that deal with the effects of the railway on Staggs's
Gardens: Chs6/15.

In particular, the description of "what once had been
the domestic palace of a mine owner ..." etc says much
about the growth of the population. It also echoes
Webb's decline in the previous chapter, from
patriarch/shift boss to dead weight.