True Rides The Rails

True Rides The Rails is the fifth episode of the first season of The Adventures Of True. True and her class take a field trip to a narrow gauge railway, and True befriends one of the engines who work on that railway.

One day at Jim Henson Elementary School, Miss Busybody was speaking to her class.

"Okay, class, you know what today is." she said. "Today's the day of our field trip to the Piperville Railway. If you remembered to bring your signed permission slip, please put it on my desk."

To her delight, all of the students placed their slips on Miss Busybody's desk, and all of them were signed.

"Good!" she smiled. "If anyone needs to use the restroom, I suggest doing it now."

Thankfully, only a few students had to go, those being Franklin, True, and Molly. Once they came back, the voice of the school's principal, Milford Meanswell, came on the PA system.

"Your attention, please." he said. "The bus has arrived for Miss Busybody's class's field trip to the Piperville Railroad. Miss Busybody's class, please make your way to the bus at this time."

"You heard Mr. Meanswell." said Miss Busybody. "Let's line up and head out to the bus."

All the students lined up and made their way out the classroom to the bus, and soon, they were on their way. True was sitting next to Franklin.

"This is really exciting, Franklin!" she grinned. "I've never been to a real railway before!"

"Neither have I!" agreed Franklin. "This is gonna be so much fun!"

Blue, who was sitting behind them, spoke up next.

"Steve let me borrow his camera so I can take pictures." she said.

"Cool." said True. "I can hardly wait!"

Soon, the bus arrived at the railway, and everyone got off.

"Watch your steps." Miss Busybody said as all the students hopped off the bus.

Miss Busybody then led the class over to the station, and they all received tickets.

"Hold onto your tickets tightly, class." she ordered. "You don't want to lose them."

The students put their tickets in their pockets. However, Franklin stored his ticket in the front pouch of his backpack.

"Now, while we're waiting for the train, let's discuss some important rail safety tips." said Miss Busybody. "Who can name one?"

One of the students, a young anthropomorphic tiger, raised his hand.

"Rintoo?" she called.

"Never play on or around railroad tracks." Rintoo said.

"Good." praised Miss Busybody. "Who else?"

True raised her hand.

"If the lights flash and the boom gates go down at a railroad crossing, that means that a train is coming and that you should stop." she said.

"Never walk between the cars of standing trains." added Sunny.

"Never play on railroad bridges." added a young anthropomorphic koala wearing a red hoodie with a panda on it and panda slippers on his feet named Tolee.

"Only cross tracks at designated crossings." said Blue.

"Listen for train bells, horns, and whistles." said Stocking Head.

"Good job, all of you." said Miss Busybody with a smile on her face.

Just then, a whistle was heard, and before long, a bright green 4-4-0 tender engine named Chuggie, who had a red funnel, a red cowcatcher, red wheels, a red whistle, green pistons, a red nose, his name, the number "21", and the American flag on his sides pulled into the station, pulling two passenger coaches in those same colors. A young man with long dark brown hair and wearing a blue shirt with a white stripe, a blue ascot, white pants, and white shoes jumped out of the first coach when it came to a complete stop. He also rang a small bell.

"All aboard!" the man said as he rang his bell.

Miss Busybody and her class lined up and boarded the coach, and the man punched their tickets one by one as they boarded. Once everyone was onboard, he stuck his arm out the window and waved a green flag, signaling they were ready to go. Before long, they were on their way, and the man spoke up.

"Welcome aboard." he said. "I'm Butch Cassidy, and as the owner of this railway, it gives me great pleasure to have the opportunity today to be here with you on this ride. Enjoy the beautiful scenery and the ride itself, and later, you'll get the chance to see how our most popular commodity, maple syrup, is made."

The man sat down near the back of the coach, and True and her friends all looked outside their windows and gazed at the beautiful scenery. True was among those who was most happy.

"I can't believe I'm riding on a real train!" she said to herself. "This is really exciting!"

They crossed a bridge, and Blue spotted a deer drinking from the river below, which she took a picture of.

"That's one for the album." she announced.

"Hey, True, look at this!" said Timmy.

True went over to where Timmy was seated.

"Look!" said Timmy, pointing.

He was pointing up in the skye, where the kids saw a golden eagle in flight.

"Wow!" True gasped. "A golden eagle!"

Blue overheard, rushed over, and snapped a picture of the eagle.

"Wait til Steve, Joe, Josh, and Sprinkles see this!" she said.

Just then, Butch spoke again.

"Attention, please, everyone." he said. "We'll be coming to a stop at a picnic area where you can have your lunch momentarily, so please return to your seats."

Everyone complied. In almost no time at all, they arrived at the picnic area, which also had a playground that included a train-shaped play structure that was built and painted to look like Chuggie. As True ate her lunch, which was a ham, turkey, and cheese sandwich on a hamburger bun, some hard pretzels, an apple, a bottle of grape juice, and a slice of choclate-and-vanilla Battenberg cake, Butch came over to her and sat down next to her.

"Hey there." he said. "True, I presume?"

"Yup." said True. "How do you know my name?"

"Your cousin James and his friend Moose told me about you." Butch explained.

"Oh, okay." said True.

"Say, when you're done eating your lunch, I wanna show you something." Butch said.

"Alright." said True.

Soon enough, True finished her lunch, and Butch took over to Chuggie, who had fallen asleep. Seeing this gave Butch an idea, and he looked at True.

"Cover your ears." he whispered.

True nodded and did just that. Butch took a whistle out of his pocket and blew it really loudly, waking Chuggie up with a start.

"NO, I SWEAR, OFFICER, IT WASN'T ME!" he cried out in shock.

Butch laughed at his train friend's reaction.

"Gets him every time." Butch chuckled.

Chuggie, however, was annoyed.

"Very funny." Chuggie grumbled. "Anyways, what's up, Butch?"

"I wanted you to meet our new friend." said Butch. "This is True. True, this is Chuggie."

"Hi, True." Chuggie said happily.

But True didn't return the greeting. She just stood staring at Chuggie, her eyes and mouth wide open with surprise.

"What's the matter?" Chuggie asked. "Never seen a talking train before?"

"Well, not in person." True finally managed to say.

"You know, I'm not the only engine on this railway." said Chuggie. "There are others."

"Really?" asked True.

"Yup." said Butch. "But I think we'll save that for another time. Right now, it's time to head to the maple farm."

With that, Butch rang his bell, and Miss Busybody and the other students came back to the train and boarded the coaches again. As a special treat, True was invited to ride in the cab, which she happily accepted. They soon arrived at the maple farm, and everyone got off.

"Before we begin the tour, I'd like to say a few things." said Butch. "First of all, stay close to the group at all times. Second of all, if you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask. Last of all, feel free to take pictures whenever you like. Well, now that those things have been addressed, let's get this show on the road."

With that, the tour began, and Blue took pictures of every step of the process of maple syrup production, from the extraction of the tree sap from the maple trees to the filling, sealing, and labeling of the bottles with the sweet and sticky concoction stored within. In no time, the tour was finished, and as another special treat, the whole class, including Miss Busybody, was given a one-pound bag of little maple-flavored candies shaped like maple leaves on the house. After the tour concluded, everyone got back on the train to head back to the station, because it was time to get back on the bus to go back to school. As they rode along the tracks, True spoke with Franklin.

"These are so good!" True said as she had some of her candy.

"I know!" Frankln agreed. "I might even give some to Harriet."

"Say, I wonder whose idea it was to make these." True said.

"I'm wondering whose idea it even was to make syrup from maple tree sap in the first place." added Blue.

"It was the Native Americans." Butch explained. "You see, long before the pilgrims came to America, the Native Americans revered the maple tree. In early spring, they would pierce its trunk with a tomahawk, then they'd place a woodchip in the resulting hole to channel the sap into a bark container. Then, they'd boil the sap over a fire in clay pots to make syrup. To make candy, they simply froze the syrup in the snow."

"Wow, nice." said Blue. "What's a tomahawk?"

"It's kind of like a little ax." Butch replied. "the Native Americans often used it as both a tool and a weapon."

"Cool." said True.

In no time, they reached the station, and while the kids were riding the bus back to school, True waved to Butch, who waved back.

"Gee, that Butch Cassidy guy was so nice." said True. "I'd love to see him again."

That evening, True and Stocking Head were telling James and Moose about their field trip over a meal of Chef Boyardee ravioli and garlic bread.

"And then he gave us all little maple candies on the house." said Stocking Head.

"Sounds like you two had fun." said Moose.

"Yeah, and I'd love to go there again." said True.

"Perhaps that can be arranged." said James.

"Great!" said True.

Later that night, True was getting ready for bed, and as she was crawling under her covers, she spoke with her stuffed cat, Sherman.

"Today was a really fun day, Sherman." she said. "I got to meet a new friend who's a train! And not only that, but I also learned how maple syrup is made."

True then yawned.

"Well, we should probably get some sleep." she said. "Goodnight, Sherman."

True then turned off her light and fell fast asleep, happy to have had such a fun experience.

The End


 * This episode is a crossover with Chuggie & Palson Moose513's Any Idea Wiki.