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  Choo Choo

  The Story of a Little Engine Who Ran Away

  Virginia Lee Burton

  * * *

  Choo Choo

  The Story of

  a Little Engine Who

  Ran Away

  By VIRGINIA LEE BURTON

  HOUGHTON MIFFLIN COMPANY • BOSTON

  * * *

  Library of Congress Catalog

  Card Number: 37-19461

  Copyright © 1937 by Virginia Lee Demetrios

  Copyright © renewed 1964 by Aristides Burton Demetrios and Michael Burton Demetrios

  All rights reserved. For information about permission to

  reproduce selections from this book, write to Permissions,

  Houghton Mifflin Company, 215 Park Avenue South,

  New York, New York 10003.

  Manufactured in China

  RNF:

  ISBN 0-395-17684-0

  SCP 40 39

  PAP:

  ISBN 0-395-47942-8

  SCP 30 29 28 27 26 25 24 23

  To my son Aris

  Once upon a time there was a little engine. Her name was CHOO CHOO.

  She was a beautiful little engine. All black and shiny.

  CHOO CHOO had a whistle which went who WHOOOoooooo! when she came to the crossing.

  CHOO CHOO had a BELL which went DING! DONG! DING! DONG! when she came to the station.

  And a BRAKE which went sssssssSSSSSWISH!!! And just made an awful noise.

  CHOO CHOO had an engineer. His name was JIM. Jim loved the little engine and took good care of her.

  He would shine and polish her till she looked like new and oil all the parts so they would run smoothly.

  CHOO CHOO had a fireman. His name was OLEY. Oley fed the little engine with coal and water. The tender carried the coal and water.

  ARCHIBALD was the conductor who rode in the coaches. He took the tickets from the passengers. Archibald had a big watch. He told the little engine when it was time to start.

  CHOO CHOO pulled all the coaches full of people, the baggage car full of mail and baggage and the tender, from the little station in the little town to the

  big station in the big city and back again.

  CHOO CHOO went through the fields and across the highway where the gates were down.

  CHOO CHOO stopped at the little stations on the way to pick up passengers and baggage and mail to take to the big city. Ding dong! Ding dong! And she's off again.

  Through the tunnel and over the hills

  Down the hills, across the drawbridge,

  and into the big station in the big city.

  One day CHOO CHOO said to herself, "I am tired of pulling all these heavy coaches. I could go much faster and easier by myself, then all the people would stop and look at me, just me, and they would say, 'What a smart little engine! What a fast little engine! What a beautiful little engine! Just watch her go by herself!'"

  The next day CHOO CHOO was left alone on the tracks while Jim and Oley and Archibald were having a cup of coffee in the restaurant. "Now is my chance!" said CHOO CHOO, and off she started. CHOO choo choo choo choo choo! CHOO choo choo choo choo choo!

  CHOO choo choo choo! CHOO choo choo choo! DING dong! DING dong! Who WHOOOOOOOOOOO! STOP everyone! LOOK everyone! STOP, LOOK and LISTEN to ME! CHOO CHOO raced through the fields and she frightened all the cows and the horses and the chickens.

  CHOO CHOO frightened all the people and some clambered up the steeple. Choo choo CHOO choo! Choo choo CHOO choo! Choo choo CHOO choo! CHOO choo CHOO!

  CHOO CHOO whizzed by the crossings. All the automobiles and trucks had to put on their brakes so quickly that they piled one on top of another. My! they were mad at CHOO CHOO.

  Over the hills went the little engine.

  Faster and faster. She couldn't stop now if she wanted to. The drawbridge was up! CHOO CHOO jumped and just made it.

  But she lost the tender. Fortunately it fell on a coal barge which was passing under the drawbridge.

  CHOO CHOO raced on into the big yard in the big city. Swish! Swish! went the air brakes on the express trains.

  Poor CHOO CHOO didn't know which way to turn.

  Ah! There was a track out, a freight track that ran around the city. CHOO CHOO took it and escaped.

  On and on went CHOO CHOO out of the city through the suburbs and into the country. It was getting dark!... She had lost her way!... She did not have much coal or water left as she had lost her tender....... Finally she came to where the tracks divided. One track went one way and the other track the other way. She did not know which track to take so she took the track that went the other way.

  It was an old old track that hadn't been used for years. Bushes and weeds had grown between the ties. The trees had spread their branches over it. It was up hill and almost dark now ... and this is how the poor tired little engine went.......

  CHOOO choo choo choo ch ch CHOOoo.... choo...... choo choooo..... choo...... ch..... ch ch....... ch........ ch.........ch a a a a AH CHOO! And there she sat!

  In the meantime when Jim and Oley and Archibald heard the little engine go by they jumped up and ran after her. Jim called STOP! STOP! But CHOO CHOO was too far away to hear even if she wanted to.

  Jim and Oley and Archibald ran and ran till they could run no more. Just then a Streamliner train came round the corner behind them. Jim took his red handkerchief and flagged it.

  The Streamliner stopped, Jim called to the Streamliner engineer, "Help me catch my runaway engine." "What about my schedule?" said the Streamliner engineer. "Never mind your schedule," said Jim. "I must find CHOO CHOO." So he climbed in and Oley and Archibald followed. Jim took the controls and ZOOM!

  They were off!

  It was easy to see which way CHOO CHOO had gone. All the cows, horses and chickens pointed with their tails or heads. The people at the crossing cried out "She went that way, that way! Bring her back!" And the people in the town said, "Hurry! Hurry! Hurry and catch the little engine, the naughty runaway engine before she does any more harm."

  While waiting for the drawbridge to close, Oley cried out, "Look! There's the tender in that coal barge."

  Jim said, "Oley and Archibald, you stay here and get the tender up. I'll go on till I find CHOO CHOO."

  Archibald telephoned for the train derrick. After it came it didn't take long to get the tender back on the tracks. They all went on to the "yard" by the big station to wait for Jim to come back with CHOO CHOO.

  At last they came to the place where the tracks divided. They didn't know which way to go now. While they were deciding an old man, who used to be an engineer when he was young, called out to them, "If you're looking for a runaway engine she's right up that track there. And she won't be far as it's an old track which hasn't been used for well nigh forty years."

  They turned on the big head light and went slowly up the old track. They didn't go far before they saw the little engine. CHOO CHOO was so glad to be found that she blew one "Toot" with her whistle. There was just enough steam left for one small "Toot." Jim took a big chain and ran to the little engine and hooked it on.

  The Streamliner backed down the old track, pulling CHOO CHOO back to the main track, back through the big city and back into the train yard where Oley and Archibald were waiting.

  They attached the tender and ran CHOO CHOO into the roundhouse and looked her over to see if any damage had been done. Except for being dusty and tired she was as good as ever. Jim and Oley and Archibald were so glad to have CHOO CHOO back they danced a jig together.

  On the way home CHOO CHOO said to Jim, "I am not going to run away any more. It isn't much fun. I am going to pull all the coaches full of people and the baggage car from the little town to the big city and back again."

 
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  Virginia Lee Burton, Choo Choo

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