Starlight Express is a 1984 musical with music by Andrew Lloyd Webber and lyrics by Richard Stilgoe. It tells the story of a young but obsolete steam engine, Rusty, who races in a championship against modern locomotives of diesel and electric engines in the hope of impressing a first-class observation car, Pearl. Famously, the actors perform on roller skates.
The Little Engine That Could is an American folktale existing in the form of several illustrated children's books and films. The story originated and evolved in the early 20th century, but became widely known in the United States after publication in 1930 by Platt & Munk. The story is used to teach children the value of optimism and hard work. Based on a 2007 online poll, the National Education Association listed the book as one of its "Teachers' Top 100 Books for Children".
Freddy Krueger is a fictional character and the antagonist of the A Nightmare on Elm Street horror film franchise. Created by Wes Craven, he made his debut in Craven's A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984) as the malevolent spirit of a child killer who had been burned to death by his victims' parents after evading prison. Krueger goes on to murder his victims in their dreams, causing their deaths in the real world as well. In the dream world, he is a powerful force and seemingly invulnerable. However, whenever Freddy is pulled back into the real world, he has normal human vulnerabilities and can be destroyed. He is commonly identified by his burned, disfigured face, dirty red-and-green-striped sweater and brown fedora, and trademark metal-clawed, brown leather, right hand glove. This glove was the product of Krueger's own imagination, having welded the blades himself before using it to murder many of his victims, both in the real and dream worlds. Over the course of the film series, Freddy has battled several reoccurring survivors including Nancy Thompson and Alice Johnson. The character was consistently portrayed by Robert Englund in the original film series as well as in the television spin-off Freddy's Nightmares. The reboot portrays him as an undead groundskeeper accused of molesting the students.
The Railway Series is a series of British books about a railway known as the North Western Railway, located on the fictional Island of Sodor. There are 42 books in the series, the first published in May 1945 by the Rev. Wilbert Awdry. Awdry wrote 26 books; the final one being written in October 1972. His son, Christopher, wrote 16 more between September 1983 and July 2011. The series features many anthropomorphic vehicles, including Thomas the Tank Engine. Thomas became the most popular and famous character in the series and the titular character of the television series Thomas & Friends from 1984 to 2021. The children's television series originated as adaptations of these stories.
The Virginia and Truckee Railroad is a privately owned heritage railroad, headquartered in Virginia City, Nevada. Its private and publicly owned route is 14 miles (23 km) long. When first constructed in the 19th century, it was a commercial freight railroad which was originally built to serve the Comstock Lode mining communities of northwestern Nevada.
The Kid is a 2000 American fantasy comedy-drama film, directed by Jon Turteltaub and written by Audrey Wells. The film follows a 40-year-old image consultant who is mysteriously confronted by an eight-year-old version of himself ; Emily Mortimer, Lily Tomlin, Chi McBride, and Jean Smart also star.
Midnight Patrol: Adventures in the Dream Zone is a British-American animated series produced by H-B Production Co. in conjunction with Sleepy Kids PLC and is known outside the US as Potsworth & Co. In the United Kingdom, the BBC felt that the suggestion of children being awake after midnight was inappropriate ; thus the name was changed.
Nancy Thompson is a fictional character in the A Nightmare on Elm Street franchise. She first appears in A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984) as a teenager hunted in her dreams by enigmatic serial killer Freddy Krueger. In this film, she was portrayed by Heather Langenkamp—who reprises the role in the sequel, A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors (1987). Langenkamp later portrayed a fictional version of herself who embodies the role of Nancy in Wes Craven's New Nightmare (1994). A reimagined version of the character, Nancy Holbrook, is portrayed by Rooney Mara in the 2010 remake.
Merchandise for the Thomas & Friends franchise has been produced to capitalize on the success of the television series Thomas & Friends. Whilst merchandise was produced alongside due to the popularity of the first of The Railway Series by the Rev. W. Awdry since 1945, and the original broadcast of the television series in 1984 in the United Kingdom, large numbers of manufacturers have sought to produce Thomas-branded items after the television series was broadcast in the United States and Japan.
Wooden toy trains are toy trains that run on a wooden track system with grooves to guide the wheels of the rolling stock. While the trains, tracks and scenery accessories are made mainly of wood, the engines and cars connect to each other using metal hooks or small magnets, and some use plastic wheels mounted on metal axles. Some trains are made to resemble anthropomorphical, fictional, and prototypical railroad equipment.
The Busy Little Engine is a 2005 American animated adventure short film written and directed by Desmond Mullen. It was selected for the 2006 San Diego International Children's Film Festival and reviewed in the professional library journals Booklist, School Library Journal, and Video Librarian. The Busy Little Engine was picked Best DVD by Parenting Magazine in July 2006.
The Meon Valley Railway was a cross-country railway in Hampshire, England, that ran for 22 miles (36 km) between Alton and Fareham, closely following the course of the River Meon. At its northern (Alton) end, it joined with the Alton Line from London. It was conceived as an additional main line to the area around Gosport, and it was opened in 1903. It never fulfilled its planned potential, and remained a local line through sparsely populated agricultural areas, and it closed to passenger services in 1955; some local goods services continued until total closure in 1968.
Day Out with Thomas is a trade name, licensed by Mattel for tourist events that take place on heritage railways and feature one or more engines decorated to look like characters from the popular long-running classic British children's television series Thomas & Friends. The events are held around the world in Australia, Canada, Japan, the Netherlands, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the United States of America. They include a full-day of activities for families in addition to rides on trains pulled by the customised steam locomotives resembling characters such as Thomas the Tank Engine.
Thomas the Tank Engine is an anthropomorphised fictional tank locomotive in the British Railway Series books by Wilbert Awdry and his son Christopher, published from 1945. He became the most popular character in the series, and is the titular protagonist in the accompanying television series adaptation Thomas & Friends and its reboot Thomas & Friends: All Engines Go.
The Caboose Who Got Loose is a children's picture book written and illustrated by Bill Peet, published in 1971 by Houghton Mifflin.
Thomas & Friends is a children's media franchise created by Britt Allcroft and currently owned by Mattel. The franchise revolves around an ensemble cast of anthropomorphic steam locomotives and other vehicles, including the main protagonist Thomas the Tank Engine, who work on the Island of Sodor.
Backtrack is a 2015 mystery thriller film written, co-produced, and directed by Michael Petroni. It stars Adrien Brody, Bruce Spence, Sam Neill, Robin McLeavy, Malcolm Kennard and Jenni Baird.
Out of Scale is a 1951 American animated short film directed by Jack Hannah and produced by Walt Disney. In the short, Donald Duck has a ride-on sized train layout in his backyard. There is a large tree that is out of scale, so Donald moves it while they are out. They come back to see their tree moving. The chipmunks realise that one of Donald's model houses is perfect for their size.
Play Safe is a 1936 animated short film produced by Fleischer Studios and released by Paramount Pictures. This film was part of Max Fleischer's Color Classics series. The film follows the story of a boy who has a dream about being on a real train.
The Red Caboose Motel is a 48-room train motel in the Amish country near Ronks, in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, where guests stay in railroad cabooses. The motel consists of over three dozen cabooses and other railroad cars, such as dining cars that serve as a restaurant. It was developed and opened in 1970 by Donald M. Denlinger, who started with 19 surplus cabooses purchased at auction from the Penn Central Railroad. The expanded and renovated property has also hosted railroad-themed events and concerts and dances in its barn.
