Today's story is titled "Thomas The Forgotten Tank Engine"
and it tells the tale of a typical day of model railroading here at my house.
As the day began, all of my model trains were resting comfortably and awaiting their assignments for the day.
Thomas, with Annie and Clarabel behind him, was waiting in the living room...
In a little rail yard I had created so that the trains would have a place to wait until it was time for them to travel down the main line.
Next to Thomas in the rail yard was a little steam engine known as a Porter...
And it's coupled with some European-style passenger cars.
On the other side of Thomas... a diesel locomotive from Alaska's White Pass and Yukon Route railway...
Ready to provide passenger service.
Out in our garage... a diesel-powered Amtrak locomotive with three passenger cars behind it.
Our house sits just 14 blocks from a real Amtrak station...
So, it's pretty cool to have a model of an Amtrak train here at our house.
Also in the garage... we've got a couple of freight trains.
A Santa Fe steam locomotive with various boxcars and container cargo cars from the White Pass Railway.
And next to the Santa Fe... peeking out from the tunnel... another steam train pulling freight cars.
And if we look down at the other end of the tunnel, we can see a real caboose hanging out the end of the tunnel...
Plus a caboose from the White Pass Railway next to it.
Amtrak, of course, doesn't use a caboose.
Finally, in a room at the far other end of the house...
My favorite train of all time: the Santa Fe Super Chief...
Painted in a classic color scheme known as the War Bonnet style.
Back in the 1950s, these Super Chief passenger trains were THE coolest way to get across the country.
You pretty much only see them in museums now... but I think it was just about the greatest passenger train ever made!
Now that I've finished the introductions... let's see what assignments the trains get from the dispatcher today.
Thomas hoped that he would have the honor of making the first run of the day.
(Radio static)
"Uh, Amtrak, train 500, you are clear for dispatch."
So, it was Amtrak that got the 1st assignment of the day: to head out for the day's first passenger service.
(Sound of a train horn)
(Sound of repeated train horns)
(On the train radio) "Santa Fe train 202, your dispatch orders are approved."
The Santa Fe Super Chief is up next, on a passenger run that will take it all the way through the house...
And out through the garage, and even outside eventually, in to the yard.
(Sounds of train bells and horns)
(Train horns)
Meanwhile, Thomas and his friends waited patiently in the living room...
Hoping the dispatcher would radio them with an assignment very soon.
(radio static)
"Train 2: Clear for dispatch. Main track."
It turns out that it was one of the freight trains that got the next call on the radio.
(steam train whistles)
Enjoy the unmistakable sound of a steam-powered locomotive in action!
(steam train chugging sound)
No call for Thomas, yet... and you can't really tell it from his expression, but...
I think that he's starting to get a little impatient.
(sound of steam release)
Yep, that's Thomas blowing off a little steam there!
(radio static)
"Dispatch to train number three, please stand by. You'll be the next to go."
Train number three, the little black Porter steam engine, it's kind of an interesting little model train.
It's made by a famous model train company called LGB
And that's a German company that offers a lot of these model trains that are based on real trains that used to run over in Germany back in the day.
Now all of my friends know me as Jim Zim...
But my real last name is Zimmerlin... and that's a German name.
My great-grandfather and his family lived in Germany until they immigrated to the United States back in the 1880s...
So, I get a little bit of a kick out of having some model trains that reflect the German side of my family heritage.
(radio static)
"Dispatch to train number three, you are now good to go. Track is clear ahead."
(sound of a steam train whistle)
Thomas couldn't believe it. Is he ever going to get to go?!?
(On the train radio) "Santa Fe, train 707, you better leave right now if you're going to stay on schedule."
(steam train whistle)
(sound of steam train chugging)
And off they go!
(chugging sound)
It takes a while to get up to speed when you're pulling that many freight cars...
But that's a pretty powerful locomotive, so...
Before you know it, they're heading through the garage...
Right out the side door...
In to the yard...
And at this point the track has to climb slightly uphill...
But once the train reaches the top...
It's an easy glide on the downhill side...
And through the garden.
(steam train whistle)
By now, Thomas was practically beside himself with worry that the dispatcher had completely forgotten him.
After all, Thomas is the new guy here. All the other trains had been around long before Thomas.
Maybe if Thomas blew his whistle again, it would get the dispatchers attention!
(train whistle)
(radio static)
"Dispatch to White Pass, train 107: Track is clear. Departure approved."
Oh, great! Passed over again! The White Pass passenger train got the next assignment.
And that meant that every one of the other trains had been called to action already... but not Thomas.
Thomas simply could not believe his bad luck!
Maybe he wasn't even going to get to run at all today.
(sound of passing diesel locomotive)
(radio static)
"Dispatch to train number one, the Tank Engine."
(cheering)
"Fire up your engine immediately!"
"And stand by for a priority red assignment. I say priority RED."
It turns out that the little German Porter steam engine...
Who all the other trains knew was a little flaky...
(toot toot!)
Had completely blown through a station without stopping and picking up the passengers.
The dispatcher needed Thomas to save the day...
By heading out with as much speed as possible...
And travelling all the way through the living room and kitchen...
And in to the garage to pick up the passengers that the Porter had forgot.
(Sound of Thomas chugging very quickly)
So, it turns out that Thomas wasn't the forgotten Tank Engine after all.
In fact, he ended up being the hero...
Saving the day for some forgotten passengers that the porter had passed up.
I'm Jim Zim. Thanks for watching!
I hope you'll check out some of the other videos on my YouTube channel.
There are a lot of videos about model trains, plus some other subjects that I'm interested in.
I'm going to pop up suggestions for four other videos here that I think you would enjoy.