Remembering Train Rides
 
Complete Kit:   TR103 $300

Not too long ago trains crisscrossed this country, whizzing passengers to their destinations. Now one songwriter worries about the day his young son will ask him, "Daddy, what's a train?" "Ideal for intergenerational study of train rides themselves or the myriad topics that, like trunk lines, branch out from it." Donna Barkman, in Learning from the Past.

Remembering Train Rides complete kit comprises:

Media Presentation on VHS Video. Punctuated with music, sound effects, and interview quotes; "All Aboard!" takes viewers on a whistle-stop tour of train rides. This one goes from Chicago to Minneapolis in 1977. Visuals of scenery, depots, and train cars - inside and out - evoke the feelings of anticipation, friendliness, and pleasure that many people associate with railroad travel. (20 minutes)

CD with Guide in Binder.  Four sing-along songs: "Wabash Cannonball," "Casey Jones," "I've Been Working on the Railroad," and "On the Atchison, Topeka and the Santa Fe." Then, six Railroad Ballads.

25 Booklets. Pull a Lung! is slang for "to pull a drawbar to uncouple cars" and it's the title of the large-print booklet in this kit. Inside are three poems, a menu from the diner on the 1937 Super Chief, the four sing-along songs, and ten more examples of authentic "train talk" - with definitions.

Jokes. Two sets of large-print jokes with a narrative to allow them to be done as a club routine.

Skit and Large-Print Newspaper. There are parts here for three characters, and two of them want to know "When is the Train Due?" The third character is the station agent, reading lines from behind a large-print newspaper. Four copies of the script.

Cap and hat. The female lead in the skit wears an old hat. The station agent is outfitted with an official engineer's cap.

Things to Touch. Includes a current train schedule, an Amtrak menu, and a laminated copy of the 1937 Super Chief menu. A route map of national rail lines in large format is laminated and ready to trace remembered trips with a non-permanent marker.

Manual. Includes general and specific program information, a suggested list of books and media, and fun program ideas like how to serve a dinner in the diner.

Kit bag. Holds everything together in a convenient carrying case of navy blue and yellow vinyl.  Includes window pocket and luggage tag labels.

Contact information: