Orphan train problems So-called “train children” were frequently bullied and ostracized in their new communities. Some were rejected and never found a home. Others were mistreated by adoptive families or misused as free farm labor, leading to many instances of runaways.

The train is filled with dozens of other children who have lost their families in one way or another; they are now hoping that their journey will connect them with new parents and a new, better life. Kline's book is fictional, but it's based on the very true history of thousands of children shipped to the Midwest.

Orphan Train is a work of fiction, however it touches on the real-life stories of those who rode the trains between 1854 and 1929, when more than 200,000 orphaned, abandoned, and homeless children were transported from eastern United States to the Midwest for adoption.

On Sunday April 25, 2021 Beatrice Flanagan Polak Fojtik will celebrate a century of life at the Arbor Hills Healthcare Center in Eagle Lake, Texas with her children at her side. Beatrice' life is of national significance, as she is the last known living Orphan Train Rider in the US.