"The Train With No Name"
was created especially for
Jessica Ann Smith
at the age of 6
With love from
Mommy and Daddy
December 25, 2001
Jessica, along with Amy went to the Atlanta Train Station to see the big circus train that was coming to town.
After exploring all the trains, Jessica climbed onto the back of a little track tester. Looking around, she found some old uniforms lying next to the little train.
"Hey! We can be engineers!" said Amy.
Jessica had a feeling the other trains didn't like having these new little visitors there.
To their surprise, Jessica along with Amy heard the trains talking about the arrival of the circus train.
"It has three big engines!" said The Two Engine Express.
"...and smoke stacks as big as trees!" exclaimed The Timberline Steamer.
Then Jessica heard the little track tester say, "I can't wait to see the circus train with all the animals and clowns!"
"Who cares what you want?" huffed The Two Engine Express. "Who do you think you are anyway? You don't even have a name or an engineer."
Jessica felt sorry for the little train with no name.
The little track tester was sad.
"I never go anywhere important, and more than anything, I do wish I had an engineer," he sighed.
That gave Jessica an idea.
Soon, the trains lined up to leave Atlanta. As usual, the little track tester was last in line, but this time Jessica along with Amy were on board.
"Look!" shouted Amy, tugging on the whistle cord. "It looks like it's rusted shut."
The little train suddenly stopped on its tracks.
"Who's that?" shouted the train with no name.
Jessica proudly announced, "I'm Jessica, and this is Amy. We're your new engineers!"
"But, you... you can't just..."
Suddenly, Jessica heard an alarm.
"Look!" shouted Amy. "There's something wrong up ahead."
The little track tester saw the circus train heading toward the bridge. "A rail has come loose!" cried the track tester. "The circus train could crash!"
Quickly, Jessica jumped from the train, grabbed a loose spike from the track, and pushed it through the rusty whistle to unclog it.
Jessica pulled hard on the cord, and the old whistle sang out loud! The circus train screeched to a full stop. This gave everyone time to fix the track.
When the little track tester returned to Atlanta, The Timberline Steamer rolled up, puffing with excitement. "You and Jessica have saved the circus train," he said, "and we think it is time you had a name!"
"We've decided to call you Hooty," said Jessica.
No longer a train with no name, Hooty blew his whistle and announced that Jessica along with Amy were his new engineers.
Everyone cheered for Hooty, now the biggest little train in Atlanta.
After a very exciting day, Jessica had learned a big lesson....
You don't have to be big to be important.
