WHAT'S MAJOR TOM THINKING ABOUT TODAY?

I'm "training" my eyes on all the finches at the bird feeder outside my living room window. With the solar screens, I can see out, but they can't see in! Even though it was Labor Day, I still needed to prepare my blog for you today, which I always love to do. 

I wanted to tell you about Skimbleshanks, who was a cat character in T. S. Eliot's book of poetry Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats and in Andrew Lloyd Weber's musical Cats. Skimbleshanks was described as an orange tabby cat who lives on the night mail train that travels the British West Coast Main Line. He is very important to the operation of the train, as it will not leave without him and he frequently looks in on the passengers and crew to ensure that everything is running smoothly. When it is time for his song in the musical, he is seen wearing a brown vest with a pocketwatch chain.

These are the last lines of the last verse of the poem:

He gives you a wave of his long brown tail
Which says: 'I'll see you again!
You'll meet without fail on the Midnight Mail
The Cat of the Railway Train.

Of course, I have to tell you some history about Thomas the Tank Engine. It began with a boy named Wilbert Awdry, who would lie in his bed at night and listen to the trains nearby on the Great Western Train Line, sounding as if they were talking to each other as they huffed and puffed along the track.

Many years later, Wilbert Awdry became Reverend W. Awdry. In 1940, he married and had a child, Christopher, and passed on his love of trains to his son. In 1943, when Christopher was confined to his bed with measles, Wilbert amused him by making up stories about the steam engines from his own childhood. This was the beginning of the adventures of Edward and two other engines, Gordon and Henry. These original stories were told over and over again until Rev. W. Awdrey finally wrote the stories down and published his first book, The Three Railway Engines, in 1945. At Christmas of that year, the Rev. Awdrey made his son Christopher a simple wooden toy engine that was later christened "Thomas." And that's the beginning of the legendary Thomas the Tank and Friends!

In 1983, following in the footsteps of his father, Christopher began writing stories for his son, Richard. "Really Useful Engines" was the first of 14 books by Christopher Awdry. Do you know the members of the "Steam Team" and the other engines? There's a lot of new members, too!

During its 16th consecutive year, Day Out With Thomas will make stops in more than 45 cities in the United States and Canada and is expected to welcome more than one million passengers in 2011. I've checked the schedule and it's currently in Tennessee, then Ohio, then Colorado, and other locations until the end of the year. Check the schedule to see if the tour is near you; if not, I'm sure they'll be gearing up for their 17th season in 2012! 

I may not have been born in Texas, but it's my forever home now and I'm real proud to tell you about the Texas State Railroad, located on Hwy 84 between the cities of Palestine, Texas and Rusk, Texas (about 2-1/2 hours from Dallas). The Rusk depot has an RV park and campground with 71 camping sites with full hook-up and a 15-acre fishing lake, plus a lot more.

The Texas state prison system established the railroad in 1881. Inmates from the Rusk Penitentiary built the line, which was used to transport hardwood that was used as fuel for the furnaces at the prison-operated iron smelter. The furnace supplied the state of Texas with iron products. In 1906 prison crews extended the rail line to Maydelle and in 1909 reached their final destination of Palestine. Since 1977 the Texas State Railroad has appeared in several movies, television series, commercials, and music videos. The TSRR is currently restoring steam engines that were built in the early 1900s and also passenger cars that were built in the 1920s. Here are some upcoming events!

Coming in October, you can enjoy Peanuts - The Great Pumpkin Patch Express Train Ride which departs in Rusk on October 2, 7, 8, 9, 14, 15, 22, and 29. You can meet Snoopy, pick your own pumpkin, visit trick or treat street, and more!

You can enjoy The Polar Express Train Ride which departs in Palestine on all through November and December! Look at these pajamas that you can purchase:

Wow - I have lost all "track" of time today, but we still have time to watch a video. You don't even have to buy a ticket to watch The Little Engine that Could!