"This is a good place to start, concidering this is my little nook of the railroad. The Brat Pack! Had to take their pictures really quickly. Those boys never stop moving!"
THE FREIGHT TRUCKS
FLAT-TOP
“Ah, there’s my little friend! Or rather…my BIG friend. Remember that he beat me up! Then again, most everyone is bigger than me, except for maybe the coaches. And even they’re my size! Is it any wonder that I crash trains for attention? I think not!”
“Anyway, Flat-Top is the flat car who hauls the bricks. He’s…the most interesting freight truck I’ve ever met. He’s sort of a brat and is always complaining…but since he’s hanging out with me here at ‘the wall next to the tracks’ I’m going to be nice to him and not step on his toes! I don’t need another pounding for awhile!”
DUSTIN
“Here’s Dustin. I may be a bad little chap, but even I can tell a good friend. Well, Dustin is it! He’s always getting my wheels out of the pot, even though he’s quick to scold me. He seems to be the voice of reason when it comes to me. But oh well, I’m used to it. Oh yes, he’s very useful when some engine tries to pound me. His shoulders are very high up!”
“Dustin is the Big Hopper who carries gravel on my train. He’s a bit slow in the head, but like I said, a great truck. He’s probably my best friend. He’s also Rusty’s best friend. Do I wish I were Rusty’s best friend like everyone else is? Heh Heh…maybe. I mean, no way! Forget it!”
ROCKIES
“These are the Rockies. They’re boxcars and all three of them stick together like glue. They look like most other boxcars, but these guys can dance like heck! I personally don’t hang out with them…I mean, they’re boxcars! How boring! No variation! I do occasionally like to trip one of them. And yes, Dustin, I know that’s not very nice.”
“Now we move onto the coaches. They’re the girls. Nothing wrong with that! Heh Heh. And they even posed for their pictures!”
THE COACHES
PEARL
“This is Pearl. She’s Rusty’s girl and that’s quite all right. She got all bent out of shape when I sabotaged Rusty in the race, which I thought was just plain silly! Live with it, girl! Anyway, I don’t have much against her, she’s fun in her own way. I still think she’s mad at me, though. Maybe that’ll change."
“Pearl is the observation car. What does that mean, anyway? Dinah says that means that she has big windows all around her sides and in her ceiling so the passengers can look out. I don’t understand passenger cars…too complicated!”
DINAH
“This is Dinah. Now, this girl is sweet! She’s all right! Oh yes… (lowers voice) She’s Greaseball’s coach. Meaning, little ol’ CB has to keep his distance. But I don’t see why! I mean, when the big hunk of steel dumped her, who was the one who comforted her? ME! There’s always me for Dinah, even if I have to risk a wallop from the leader of the Rolling Stock.”
“Dinah is the dining car, which I do know the function of. That girl can cook! I would like to have dinner with her sometime, but that would be very risky. I’m better off hanging out by the wall here. As for her personality, she might come across as being ditsy sometimes, but she’s sweet and lovely and…well, that’s enough for now.”
ASHLEY and BUFFY
“Here are Ashley and Buffy. Ashley is the smoking car and Buffy is the buffet car. They’re both pretty swell girls. Hey, I like the coaches, what can I say! I don’t know ‘em very well though. They hang out with Dinah and any friend of Dinah’s is a friend of mine! Hey, shhhh! Don’t tell Greaseball! Heh Heh.”
BELLE
“Belle is the sleeping car. She’s kind of old, but she can still kick. She hangs out with Poppa in the freight yard most of the time. I think I like her. I personally think she is critical of me because of my…colorful past, but she looks out for me, seriously! Once I felt sad. Yes, me, SAD! Well, she asked me what was wrong and I told her. Everyone was mad at me and I was sick of it! So she let me really talk and it felt good. Well, enough sappy blab. You get the picture.”
“These are the engines, the trains I have the least in common with. But that don’t mean I don’t try.”
THE ENGINES
GREASEBALL (This was the face he made when I tried to take his picture. "CB, go AWAY!!")
“Greaseball is the big diesel engine and the leader of the Rolling Stock, his gang. He thought he was fastest of all the engines for the longest time until Rusty beat him in the big race. I helped him try to win by slowing Rusty down, but it didn’t work in the end. We had to redo the race and we all crashed in the rerun. Oww, that hurt! It also was cruel what he did to Dinah. She told him that she didn’t like his cheating ways and he dumped her. But I guess you could say that Greaseball and I are pals, even though I’m a little leery of him. He’s really big and he could knock me around pretty well. Sometimes he threatens to, for fun, I think, but he hasn’t so far. I keep a jump ahead of him. Heh.”
ELECTRA (The only engine who posed.)
“Wow, this is Electra! Look at this guy! He’s really wild, I’ll tell ya. He’s the electric train, which you don’t see very often. He always appears in a flash of lights and sound. It’s enough to blow your eyes and ears, but I like loud stuff like that. He was always fun, except when I raced with him in that rerun of the big race I told you about. He was gonna race with Dinah, but she disconnected him. He decided to race with me, and well, we lost. He crashed with Greaseball, and I got stuck in the middle. I was in the repair shop for a long time after that. I could never figure out if he was mad at me because he lost or mad at Greaseball. G.B. says Electra was mad at him and not me, but I think differently. Everyone’s always mad at me. Anyway, he don’t come around a lot of the time, but when he does he takes me for a ride. So, we’re pals.”
POPPA (Last time I use Flat-Top’s “happy conductor’s” camera. Blech!”)
“Poppa is the oldest steam engine I’ve ever met, but he has so much knowledge. He’s a regular legend around the freight yard and that includes here at ‘the wall next to the tracks’. You can’t help but be a good boy and shut up and listen to him. Rusty is his pet, but he looks out for me too. I think he looks after everyone. He tells me that I have potential as soon as I get my act together. He thinks I’m a great caboose and I have a good heart. Heh Heh. Well, we’ll see.”
RUSTY
“What can I say about Rusty? He’s the best. He won the big race, he’s Poppa’s own boy, he’s got the beautiful Pearl…how can you beat that? Oh, I’m not trying! I just can’t decide whose side I’m on! Hey, I’m on my side! But Rusty would be good to glide around with, if you like that sort of joy ride thing. I happen to like just about everyone, so I do. But thing is, Rusty ain’t so keen on me. I raced with him in the sabotaged race and put on my brakes real hard. He lost big time. He wasn’t happy, let’s just say that. I think he’s gotten over it, but he doesn’t really ask me to go for rides with him and Pearl, like Greaseball and Electra will do. I guess when you’re good, you’re good, and when you’re bad, you’re bad for life.”
Well my little brats, that’s my photo album. Hope you enjoyed it! Heh Heh. Photography is my thing.