The Alphabet Train

I will gladly admit that I have a weakness for endless shots of trains comin' round the bend (a.k.a. "rail porn"), especially if they are well filmed, as Les Jarrett's train shots certainly are. Add to that a "live narration" soundtrack of 3 to 6-year-old kids spontaneously reciting and repeating the letters of the alphabet and the associated train-words and you have a children's video that chugs along like the little engine that could. While I admit that "A is for Amtrak" and "B is for brakeman," I was jumping ahead and having some difficulty predicting what "J," "Q" and "Z" were for. "J," I thought, could be for "Junkie under the railroad bridge," "Q" for "Quirky guy in the observation car dressed in an engineer costume," and, I never got to Z, as I dozed off towards the end, or maybe that was Zzzz. Anyway, this video is far from boring to young kids, who will love to see trains of all kinds and in the process will learn some basic words and phrases. An excellent addition to any children's collection, "R" is for Rick Ray's recommendation for railroaders (and their kids). Aud: P. (R. Ray)