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Changed line(s) 4,5 (click to see context) from:
Through the distant trees floats the grinding whoosh of a steam engine. A distant figure, silhouetted by the glare of a headlamp, approaches. The portable stereo on his shoulder gives an eerie train whistle. Tonight, Frank has a tale of trains? Submitted for the approval of the Midnight Society, he calls this story "The Tale of Train Magic."
to:
Through the distant trees floats the grinding whoosh of a steam engine. A distant figure, silhouetted by the glare of a headlamp, approaches. The portable stereo on his shoulder gives an eerie train whistle. Tonight, Frank has a tale of trains? trains, but also a tale of the dangers of hopelessly longing for something. Submitted for the approval of the Midnight Society, he calls this story "The Tale of Train Magic."
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Nice Hat is no longer a trope.
Deleted line(s) 88,90 (click to see context) :
* NiceHat:
** The train conductor's cap, one of which was left Tim by his dad.
** Cap’s cloth cap.
** The train conductor's cap, one of which was left Tim by his dad.
** Cap’s cloth cap.
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Added DiffLines:
* HypnoPendulum: Ray uses his watch in this manner to bring Cap onto the Train and make Tim the new conductor in his place.
Added DiffLines:
* ItOnlyWorksOnce: Tim was able to escape the train the first time by grabbing the brakes. When he tries it again, Ray says he disconnected it.
Added DiffLines:
* TragicMistake: Ray fell asleep and forgot to check his watch, leading to a horrible train crash. However, instead of learning his lesson and asking Tim to help fix it, he decides to give his burdents to the boy. This leads to him trapped on the railways forever while everyone else gets to move on.
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Added DiffLines:
* JerkassHasAPoint: Hank may be a bit mean about it, but he's right in how his little brother's fixation with their late father's model trains is not healthy.
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Shortening my recaps.
Changed line(s) 4,10 (click to see context) from:
Where is Frank? Is he grounded again? As the others wonder, they hear, through the distant trees, the hefty, grinding whoosh of a steam engine. A distant figure, silhouetted by the glare of a single headlamp, approaches. The portable stereo on his shoulder gives an eerie train whistle.
-->'''Frank:''' Relax! Not everybody [[JustForPun runs on the same schedule]] as you.\\
A tale of trains? Yes, but also of desperate ambition, and how a glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel might turn out to be that of a big old train - with nowhere to run. Submitted for the approval of the Midnight Society, he calls this story “The Tale of Train Magic.”
to:
----
Changed line(s) 13,48 (click to see context) from:
That evening, by the railway, his older brother Hank echoes their mother’s caution against spending too much time at the central station. He invites Tim with his friends to the movies. In favour of a prior engagement, Tim declines.
Vexed, Hank decries Tim’s sedentary preoccupations. From Tim’s head, he lifts their late dad’s cap, which is suddenly blown away by a gust of wind.
Through the trees, Tim follows the cap, to where it lies on the silent tracks. As he stoops to pick it up, a man’s voice brightly greets him from behind.
Behind him, in a faintly luminous mist, stands a grey-haired man in a conductor’s uniform, holding a lantern. He introduces himself as Ray Lawson, conductor on the 713, which passes each night, here on track number one.
Having seen Tim haunt these tracks, Ray ascertains Tim’s ambition to be a train man. He draws his pocket watch, and offers it to Tim.
As Tim uncertainly reaches, Hank calls through the nearby trees. Ray cautiously withdraws his hand. When Tim looks up, the conductor has vanished.
Hank mockingly discredits Tim’s outlandish story.
One day, at the bustling station, Tim lugs a heavy suitcase to railway mechanic Cap Anderson, who jovially accepts the assistance.
Tim asks about the 713. Cap confirms its tracks to have been used since he was Tim’s age.
From a nearby train, a conductor invites Tim to announce the departure. With mock-brusqueness, Cap urges him on.
Tim rushes to stand by the train, and skilfully calls the stops and imminent departure.
Hank steps onto the front lawn with a baseball bat, and kneels to tie his shoelace. Above him, Ray Lawson steps into view, and requests to see the “young conductor.” Hanks realises him to mean Tim. Ray asks Hank to pass onto Tim a small model of a railway coach.
Hank takes it, and calls through the door for Tim - but when he next looks, Ray has vanished.
A delighted Tim inspects the model, whose interior houses finely detailed passengers - and a conductor who resembles Ray.
He couples it to his electric train, and switches on the track. As he fondly watches, the basement window, high above him, admits a sudden white glare. The room begins to shake. He hears the heavy chime of a railway signal. As the model train picks up speed, the room continues to rattle. Tim turns around - and the light from the window expands to engulf him.
When it fades, he finds himself stood in the aisle of a train coach. Around him, in somewhat old-fashioned attire, sit several passengers, of whom the model’s figurines are replicas. With eerily detached calmness, they greet the new passenger, and ask if he has a ticket.
Ray then arrives, announces Tim’s new custody of the 713, and once more proffers his conductor’s watch. Suddenly uneasy, Tim hurries to the brake handle, pulls it, and is thrown to the floor.
He then finds himself on his basement floor. On the model train track, the new coach lies on its side, and exudes a wisp of smoke.
Vexed, Hank decries Tim’s sedentary preoccupations. From Tim’s head, he lifts their late dad’s cap, which is suddenly blown away by a gust of wind.
Through the trees, Tim follows the cap, to where it lies on the silent tracks. As he stoops to pick it up, a man’s voice brightly greets him from behind.
Behind him, in a faintly luminous mist, stands a grey-haired man in a conductor’s uniform, holding a lantern. He introduces himself as Ray Lawson, conductor on the 713, which passes each night, here on track number one.
Having seen Tim haunt these tracks, Ray ascertains Tim’s ambition to be a train man. He draws his pocket watch, and offers it to Tim.
As Tim uncertainly reaches, Hank calls through the nearby trees. Ray cautiously withdraws his hand. When Tim looks up, the conductor has vanished.
Hank mockingly discredits Tim’s outlandish story.
One day, at the bustling station, Tim lugs a heavy suitcase to railway mechanic Cap Anderson, who jovially accepts the assistance.
Tim asks about the 713. Cap confirms its tracks to have been used since he was Tim’s age.
From a nearby train, a conductor invites Tim to announce the departure. With mock-brusqueness, Cap urges him on.
Tim rushes to stand by the train, and skilfully calls the stops and imminent departure.
Hank steps onto the front lawn with a baseball bat, and kneels to tie his shoelace. Above him, Ray Lawson steps into view, and requests to see the “young conductor.” Hanks realises him to mean Tim. Ray asks Hank to pass onto Tim a small model of a railway coach.
Hank takes it, and calls through the door for Tim - but when he next looks, Ray has vanished.
A delighted Tim inspects the model, whose interior houses finely detailed passengers - and a conductor who resembles Ray.
He couples it to his electric train, and switches on the track. As he fondly watches, the basement window, high above him, admits a sudden white glare. The room begins to shake. He hears the heavy chime of a railway signal. As the model train picks up speed, the room continues to rattle. Tim turns around - and the light from the window expands to engulf him.
When it fades, he finds himself stood in the aisle of a train coach. Around him, in somewhat old-fashioned attire, sit several passengers, of whom the model’s figurines are replicas. With eerily detached calmness, they greet the new passenger, and ask if he has a ticket.
Ray then arrives, announces Tim’s new custody of the 713, and once more proffers his conductor’s watch. Suddenly uneasy, Tim hurries to the brake handle, pulls it, and is thrown to the floor.
He then finds himself on his basement floor. On the model train track, the new coach lies on its side, and exudes a wisp of smoke.
to:
That evening, by the railway, his older brother Hank echoes their mother’s caution against spending too much time at the central station. He invites Tim with his friends to the movies. In favour of a prior engagement, Tim declines.
Vexed, Hank decries Tim’s sedentary preoccupations. From Tim’s head, he lifts their late dad’s cap, whichcap is suddenly blown away by a gust of wind.
Through the trees,away. As Tim follows the cap, to where it lies on the silent tracks. As he stoops to pick it up, a man’s voice brightly greets him from behind.
behind. Behind him, in a faintly luminous mist, stands a grey-haired man in a conductor’s uniform, holding a lantern. He uniform introduces himself as Ray Lawson, conductor on the 713, which passes each night, here on track number one.
Having seen Tim haunt these tracks, Ray ascertains Tim’s ambition to be a train man.night. He draws his pocket watch, and offers it to Tim. \n\n As Tim uncertainly reaches, older brother Hank calls through the nearby trees. Ray cautiously withdraws his hand. When Tim looks up, the conductor has vanished.
Hank mockingly discredits Tim’s outlandish story.
One day, at the bustling station, Tim lugs a heavy suitcase to railway mechanic Cap Anderson, who jovially accepts the assistance.
Anderson. Tim asks about the 713. Cap confirms its tracks to have been used disused since he was Tim’s age.age.
On the front lawn, Ray Lawson approaches Hank, asks him to pass onto Tim a small model of a railway coach. Hank takes it, and calls through the door for Tim - but when he next looks, Ray has vanished.
From a nearby train, a conductor invites Tim to announce the departure. With mock-brusqueness, Cap urges him on.
Tim rushes to stand by the train, and skilfully calls the stops and imminent departure.
Hank steps onto the front lawn with a baseball bat, and kneels to tie his shoelace. Above him, Ray Lawson steps into view, and requests to see the “young conductor.” Hanks realises him to mean Tim. Ray asks Hank to pass onto Tim a small model of a railway coach.
Hank takes it, and calls through the door for Tim - but when he next looks, Ray has vanished.
A delighted Tim inspects the model, whose interior houses finely detailed passengers - and a conductor who resembles Ray.
Hecouples it the model coach to his electric train, and switches on the track. As he fondly watches, the basement window, high above him, admits a sudden white glare. The room begins starts to shake. He hears the heavy chime of a railway signal. As the model train picks up speed, the room continues to rattle. Tim turns around - and the A bright white light from the window expands to engulf him.
When it fades, he finds himself stood in the aisle of a train coach. Around him, in somewhat old-fashioned attire, sit severalpassengers, of whom the model’s figurines are replicas. With eerily detached calmness, they greet the new passenger, and ask if he has a ticket.
passengers. Ray then arrives, arrives; announces Tim’s new custody of the 713, and once more proffers his conductor’s watch. Suddenly uneasy, Tim hurries to the brake handle, pulls it, and is thrown to the floor.
floor. He then finds himself on his basement floor. On the model train track, the new coach lies on its side, and exudes a wisp of smoke.
Vexed, Hank decries Tim’s sedentary preoccupations. From Tim’s head, he lifts their late dad’s cap, which
Through the trees,
Having seen Tim haunt these tracks, Ray ascertains Tim’s ambition to be a train man.
On the front lawn, Ray Lawson approaches Hank, asks him to pass onto Tim a small model of a railway coach. Hank takes it, and calls through the door for Tim - but when he next looks, Ray has vanished.
Tim rushes to stand by the train, and skilfully calls the stops and imminent departure.
Hank steps onto the front lawn with a baseball bat, and kneels to tie his shoelace. Above him, Ray Lawson steps into view, and requests to see the “young conductor.” Hanks realises him to mean Tim. Ray asks Hank to pass onto Tim a small model of a railway coach.
Hank takes it, and calls through the door for Tim - but when he next looks, Ray has vanished.
He
When it fades, he finds himself stood in the aisle of a train coach. Around him, in somewhat old-fashioned attire, sit several
Changed line(s) 51,90 (click to see context) from:
Later, in Cap’s office, he explains the conductor’s watch to be at the epicentre of Train Magic: railways depend on time. Tim mentions the offer of such a watch from Ray Lawson. Perplexed at Tim’s acquaintance with the name, Cap shows him a framed, black and white photo of a steam engine - before which stands its conductor, Ray Lawson.
Before radios, explains Cap, conductors received messages via notes left on trackside poles, which the conductor would reach for, by hand, from the train. A story heard by Cap from his older colleagues told of a track change at switch 224, word of which was relayed to the conductor of the 713. The conductor fell asleep, so forgot to check his watch, and never got the message to change tracks. The train crashed. Many died, including the conductor - Ray Lawson.
Switch 224, realised Tim, is on the tracks by his house. The 713 crashed into his house.
Suddenly agitated, Cap sternly orders Tim home, denounces his train fixation, and urges more typical recreation for a young boy, such as sport or video games - anything but trains.
Cap then hastily dons his cloth cap and overcoat, and hurries off…
He hurries through deserted station, and into the night - watched distantly by Tim.
By track 224, Cap looks up to see, standing on the quiet track, Ray Lawson, whose voice now faintly echoes. Cap confronts the spectral conductor, and demands he leave Tim alone.
Ray coolly declines. With a heavy whistle and a thunderous whoosh, the 713 now looms on the track. Ray lifts his watch, and Cap falls into some kind of trance, and boards the train. With an insidious chuckle, Ray follows.
As Tim cries out in futile dismay, the train shudders to life, rolls forward, and, in so doing, fades from the material realm.
In the cellar, Tim inspects his new model train coach, whose passenger figurines now include one in the likeness of Cap.
Hank excitedly arrives, with a new copy of ''[[Recap/AreYouAfraidOfTheDarkSeason3TheTaleOfTheCrimsonClown Zeebo’s Big House]]'', which he takes to the television in the corner of the cellar. He turns, and notices Tim’s aggravated preoccupation.
Tim shows him the newly forged figurine of Cap. Hank laughingly admits the likeness.
Suddenly, on its track, the model train rolls into life. Perplexed, they observe the independently mobilised train set. Tim can only suppose it must be… train magic.
On the cellar wall, the clock hands swiftly roll to thirteen minutes past seven - 713. Tim realises the spectral train to have just left the station.
Unnerved, Hank asks what’s going on. Tim earnestly beseeches Hank to help him with something. Hank disdains his eccentric fancies.
Tim urgently yells his desperation, and that Cap’s life in danger.
Frustrated but sympathetic, Hank puts Tim’s delusion down to delusion, and confesses his worry.
More calmly, Tim pleads for Hank’s help. Hank softly agrees to do as Tim asks.
Some time later, while Hank stands by track 224, Tim mans the cellar train set. Soon enough, the spectral signal begins to chime, the model train speeds up, and white light blazes through the window. The room begins to shake. A heavy mechanical rumble fills the air. The white light blooms to engulf Tim.
He finds himself back in the spectral coach. Seated at the end, in some kind of trance, he finds Cap.
Before radios, explains Cap, conductors received messages via notes left on trackside poles, which the conductor would reach for, by hand, from the train. A story heard by Cap from his older colleagues told of a track change at switch 224, word of which was relayed to the conductor of the 713. The conductor fell asleep, so forgot to check his watch, and never got the message to change tracks. The train crashed. Many died, including the conductor - Ray Lawson.
Switch 224, realised Tim, is on the tracks by his house. The 713 crashed into his house.
Suddenly agitated, Cap sternly orders Tim home, denounces his train fixation, and urges more typical recreation for a young boy, such as sport or video games - anything but trains.
Cap then hastily dons his cloth cap and overcoat, and hurries off…
He hurries through deserted station, and into the night - watched distantly by Tim.
By track 224, Cap looks up to see, standing on the quiet track, Ray Lawson, whose voice now faintly echoes. Cap confronts the spectral conductor, and demands he leave Tim alone.
Ray coolly declines. With a heavy whistle and a thunderous whoosh, the 713 now looms on the track. Ray lifts his watch, and Cap falls into some kind of trance, and boards the train. With an insidious chuckle, Ray follows.
As Tim cries out in futile dismay, the train shudders to life, rolls forward, and, in so doing, fades from the material realm.
In the cellar, Tim inspects his new model train coach, whose passenger figurines now include one in the likeness of Cap.
Hank excitedly arrives, with a new copy of ''[[Recap/AreYouAfraidOfTheDarkSeason3TheTaleOfTheCrimsonClown Zeebo’s Big House]]'', which he takes to the television in the corner of the cellar. He turns, and notices Tim’s aggravated preoccupation.
Tim shows him the newly forged figurine of Cap. Hank laughingly admits the likeness.
Suddenly, on its track, the model train rolls into life. Perplexed, they observe the independently mobilised train set. Tim can only suppose it must be… train magic.
On the cellar wall, the clock hands swiftly roll to thirteen minutes past seven - 713. Tim realises the spectral train to have just left the station.
Unnerved, Hank asks what’s going on. Tim earnestly beseeches Hank to help him with something. Hank disdains his eccentric fancies.
Tim urgently yells his desperation, and that Cap’s life in danger.
Frustrated but sympathetic, Hank puts Tim’s delusion down to delusion, and confesses his worry.
More calmly, Tim pleads for Hank’s help. Hank softly agrees to do as Tim asks.
Some time later, while Hank stands by track 224, Tim mans the cellar train set. Soon enough, the spectral signal begins to chime, the model train speeds up, and white light blazes through the window. The room begins to shake. A heavy mechanical rumble fills the air. The white light blooms to engulf Tim.
He finds himself back in the spectral coach. Seated at the end, in some kind of trance, he finds Cap.
to:
Later, in Cap’s Cap's office, he explains the conductor’s conductor's watch to be at the epicentre of Train Magic: railways depend on time. Tim mentions the offer of such a watch from Ray Lawson. Perplexed at Tim’s acquaintance with the name, Cap shows him a framed, black and white monochrome photo of a steam engine - before which stands its conductor, Ray Lawson.
Before radios, explains Cap, conductors received messages via notes left on trackside poles, which the conductor would reach for, by hand, from the train.A story heard by Cap from his older colleagues told of a track change at At switch 224, word of which a track change was relayed to the conductor of the 713. The conductor fell asleep, so forgot to check his watch, and never got the message to change tracks. The train crashed. Many died, including the conductor - Ray Lawson.
Switch 224, realised Tim, is on the tracks by his house. The 713 crashed into his house. Suddenly agitated, Cap sternly orders Tim home, denounces his train fixation, and urges more typical recreation for a young boy, such as sport or video games - anything but trains.
Suddenly agitated, Cap sternly orders Tim home, denounces his train fixation, and urges more typical recreation for a young boy, such as sport or video games - anything but trains.
Cap then hastily dons his cloth cap and overcoat, and hurries off…
He hurries through deserted station, and into the night - watched distantlyThat night, by Tim.
Bytrack 224, Cap looks up to see, standing on the quiet track, Ray Lawson, whose voice now faintly echoes. Lawson. Cap confronts the spectral conductor, and demands he leave Tim alone.
Ray coolly declines.alone. With a heavy whistle and a thunderous whoosh, the 713 now looms on the track. Ray lifts his watch, and Cap falls into Cap, in some kind of trance, and boards the train. With an insidious chuckle, Ray follows.
As A distantly watching Tim cries out in futile dismay, the dismay. The train shudders to life, rolls forward, and, in so doing, fades from the material realm.
In the cellar, Tim inspects his new model train coach, whose passenger figurines now include one in the likeness of Cap. \n\nHank excitedly arrives, with a new copy of ''[[Recap/AreYouAfraidOfTheDarkSeason3TheTaleOfTheCrimsonClown Zeebo’s Big House]]'', which he takes to the television in the corner of the cellar. He turns, and notices Tim’s aggravated preoccupation. \n\n Tim shows him the newly forged figurine of Cap. Hank it to Hank, who laughingly admits the likeness.
Suddenly, on its track, the model train rolls into life.Perplexed, they observe the independently mobilised train set. Tim can only suppose it must be… train magic.
magic. On the cellar wall, the clock hands swiftly roll to thirteen minutes past seven - 713. Tim realises the spectral train to have just left the station.
Unnerved, Hank asks what’s going on. Tim earnestly beseeches Hank to help him with something. Hank disdains his eccentric fancies.
Tim urgently yells his desperation, and that Cap’s life in danger.station.
Frustrated but sympathetic, Hank puts Tim’s delusion down to delusion, and confesses his worry.
More calmly,Tim pleads for Hank’s help. Hank softly agrees to do as Tim asks.
Some time later, while Hank stands by track 224, Tim mans the cellar train set. Soon enough, the spectral signalbegins starts to chime, chime; the model train speeds up, and white light blazes through the window. The room begins to shake. A heavy mechanical rumble fills the air. The white light window, and blooms to engulf Tim.
He finds himself back in the spectral coach. Seated at the end, in some kind of trance,he finds Cap.
is Cap.
...
Before radios, explains Cap, conductors received messages via notes left on trackside poles, which the conductor would reach for, by hand, from the train.
Switch 224, realised Tim, is on the tracks by his house. The 713 crashed into his house. Suddenly agitated, Cap sternly orders Tim home, denounces his train fixation, and urges more typical recreation for a young boy, such as sport or video games - anything but trains.
Cap then hastily dons his cloth cap and overcoat, and hurries off…
He hurries through deserted station, and into the night - watched distantly
By
Ray coolly declines.
In the cellar, Tim inspects his new model train coach, whose passenger figurines now include one in the likeness of Cap.
Suddenly, on its track, the model train rolls into life.
Unnerved, Hank asks what’s going on. Tim earnestly beseeches Hank to help him with something. Hank disdains his eccentric fancies.
Tim urgently yells his desperation, and that Cap’s life in danger.
More calmly,
Some time later, while Hank stands by track 224, Tim mans the cellar train set. Soon enough, the spectral signal
He finds himself back in the spectral coach. Seated at the end, in some kind of trance,
...
...
Changed line(s) 97,98 (click to see context) from:
Ray strides serenely up the aisle, and flings aside his conductor’s cap. He happily announces Tim’s custody of his very own train. Having crashed eighty years ago, the 713 has done so ever since - right on time! Having made one fatal mistake, Ray has been trapped in the repeated crash ever since - but will soon be free.
to:
Ray strides serenely up the aisle, and flings aside his conductor’s cap. He happily announces Tim’s Tim's custody of his very own train. Having crashed eighty years ago, the 713 has done so ever since - right on time! Having made one fatal mistake, Ray has been trapped in the repeated crash ever since - but will soon be free.
Changed line(s) 101,128 (click to see context) from:
-->'''Ray:''' Take good care of my - ‘scuse me - your train.\\
With an insidious chuckle, he saunters to the back of the coach.
From his trance, Cap calls across to Tim.
-->'''Cap:''' It’s Train Magic, Timothy - the most powerful kind!\\
Meanwhile, with the lever, Hank struggles in vain desperation.
Tim finds a strength to resist his trance.
To Ray, he calls a denial of the enforced custody. Ray turns to face him. Tim drops the watch - and smashes it with his foot.
As the watch breaks, Hank manages to wrench the lever. The track switches, and the ghost train whistles along it, and fades into the ether.
From behind him, in the protective grip of Cap, calls Tim. He explains Hank to have amended the conductor’s failure to switch the tracks.
Cap steers the two away from the track, having noticed, standing upon it, the distant, solitary figure of Ray Lawson.
-->'''Cap:''' He doesn’t have a train anymore. He has no watch. He has nothing but these old tracks, and the night.\\
To Cap, Tim admits his sudden decision to take a break from the station for a while. With a small smile, Cap endorses Tim’s pursuit of a change of scene. As Cap and the Williamson brothers head off, Ray, spectral lantern in hand, wanders his tracks...
-->'''Frank:''' So Tim learned about two kinds of magic - Train Magic, and the kind that happens between brothers and friends.\\
With a final train whistle from Frank’s stereo, Gary closes the meeting.
With an insidious chuckle, he saunters to the back of the coach.
From his trance, Cap calls across to Tim.
-->'''Cap:''' It’s Train Magic, Timothy - the most powerful kind!\\
Meanwhile, with the lever, Hank struggles in vain desperation.
Tim finds a strength to resist his trance.
To Ray, he calls a denial of the enforced custody. Ray turns to face him. Tim drops the watch - and smashes it with his foot.
As the watch breaks, Hank manages to wrench the lever. The track switches, and the ghost train whistles along it, and fades into the ether.
From behind him, in the protective grip of Cap, calls Tim. He explains Hank to have amended the conductor’s failure to switch the tracks.
Cap steers the two away from the track, having noticed, standing upon it, the distant, solitary figure of Ray Lawson.
-->'''Cap:''' He doesn’t have a train anymore. He has no watch. He has nothing but these old tracks, and the night.\\
To Cap, Tim admits his sudden decision to take a break from the station for a while. With a small smile, Cap endorses Tim’s pursuit of a change of scene. As Cap and the Williamson brothers head off, Ray, spectral lantern in hand, wanders his tracks...
-->'''Frank:''' So Tim learned about two kinds of magic - Train Magic, and the kind that happens between brothers and friends.\\
With a final train whistle from Frank’s stereo, Gary closes the meeting.
to:
With an insidious chuckle, he saunters to the back of the coach.
-->'''Cap:''' It’s Train Magic, Timothy
Meanwhile, with the lever, Hank struggles in vain desperation.
To Ray, he calls a denial of the enforced custody. Ray turns to face him. Tim
...
As the watch breaks, Hank manages to wrench the lever. The track
Cap steers the two away from the track, having noticed, standing upon it, the distant, solitary figure of Ray Lawson.
With a final train whistle from Frank’s stereo, Gary closes the meeting.
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None
Changed line(s) 132 (click to see context) from:
* AlasPoorVillain: As ruefully [[LampshadeHanging noted]] by Cap, Ray’s fate is quite poignant - escape from the repeated train crash brought not freedom, but estrangement from his duty and charges, leaving him to wander the tracks alone.
to:
* AlasPoorVillain: As ruefully [[LampshadeHanging noted]] by Cap, Ray’s fate is quite poignant - Due to abandoning his role as conductor at the last moment, escape from the repeated train crash brought not freedom, but estrangement from his duty and charges, leaving him to wander the tracks alone.
Changed line(s) 146 (click to see context) from:
* IronicHell: Having tried to foist his place in a phantom train crash on a young boy, Ray, when the tracks are finally changed on time, loses his watch, his charges and his train, and is left to wander the tracks alone.
to:
* IronicHell: Having Ray had tried to foist escape his place in a phantom train crash on by foisting the role of conductor on a young boy, Ray, when the tracks are finally changed on time, loses boy. But, having given up his watch, watch and abandoned his role as conductor, his charges and his train, and when the tracks are instead finally changed on time, the passengers spirits are released into the afterlife, while Ray's spirit is left behind to wander the tracks alone.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
Recap/ pages are Spoilers Off, and trope entries go in alphabetical order by trope name.
Changed line(s) 130,133 (click to see context) from:
* AfterlifeExpress: The 713 [[spoiler: on release from its repeated crash, carries its passengers into the ether]].
* AffablyEvil: While not evil, Ray tries to [[spoiler: force a young boy to take his place in a phantom train crash]], but is quite genial about it.
* AlasPoorVillain: As ruefully [[LampshadeHanging noted]] by Cap, Ray’s fate is quite poignant - [[spoiler: escape from the repeated train crash brought not freedom, but estrangement from his duty and charges, leaving him to wander the tracks alone.]]
to:
*
* AlasPoorVillain: As ruefully [[LampshadeHanging noted]] by Cap, Ray’s fate is quite poignant -
Changed line(s) 143 (click to see context) from:
* FriendlyGhost: [[SubvertedTrope Subverted]]; while genial, Ray aims to [[spoiler: lure Tim into taking his place in the phantom train crash]].
to:
* FriendlyGhost: [[SubvertedTrope Subverted]]; while genial, Ray aims to [[spoiler: lure Tim into taking his place in the phantom train crash]]. crash.
Changed line(s) 147 (click to see context) from:
* IronicHell: Having tried to foist his place in a phantom train crash on a young boy, Ray, when the tracks are finally changed on time, [[spoiler: loses his watch, his charges and his train, and is left to wander the tracks alone]].
to:
* IronicHell: Having tried to foist his place in a phantom train crash on a young boy, Ray, when the tracks are finally changed on time, [[spoiler: loses his watch, his charges and his train, and is left to wander the tracks alone]]. alone.
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None
Changed line(s) 133,134 (click to see context) from:
* AlasPoorVillain: As ruefully [[LampshadeHanging noted]] by Cap, Ray’s fate is quite poignant - [[spoiler: escape from the repeated train crash brought not freedom, but estrangement from his duty and charges, leaving him to wander the tracks alone]].
* AngerBornOfWorry:
* AngerBornOfWorry:
to:
* AlasPoorVillain: As ruefully [[LampshadeHanging noted]] by Cap, Ray’s fate is quite poignant - [[spoiler: escape from the repeated train crash brought not freedom, but estrangement from his duty and charges, leaving him to wander the tracks alone]].
alone.]]
*AngerBornOfWorry: AngerBornOfWorry:
*
Changed line(s) 139 (click to see context) from:
* BigBrotherInstinct: Finally convinced of Tim’s sincere belief in his strange ideas, Hank solemnly agrees to help him.
to:
* BigBrotherInstinct: Finally convinced of Tim’s Tim's sincere belief in his strange ideas, Hank solemnly agrees to help him.
Changed line(s) 141 (click to see context) from:
* DisappearedDad: On his untimely death, Mr Williamson left Tim his conductor’s cap.
to:
* DisappearedDad: On his untimely death, Mr Mr. Williamson left Tim his conductor’s cap. Later, Hank tells Tim his obsessed preoccupation won't bring their dad back.
Changed line(s) 150 (click to see context) from:
** The train conductor’s cap, one of which was left Tim by his dad.
to:
** The train conductor’s conductor's cap, one of which was left Tim by his dad.
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None
Changed line(s) 134 (click to see context) from:
* AngerBornOfWorry: When afraid for Tim’s life, Cap brusquely orders him home.
to:
* AngerBornOfWorry: AngerBornOfWorry:
** When afraid for Tim’s life, Cap brusquely orders him home.
** When afraid for Tim’s life, Cap brusquely orders him home.
Changed line(s) 148 (click to see context) from:
* NiceHat: The train conductor’s cap, one of which was left Tim by his dad.
to:
* NiceHat: NiceHat:
** The train conductor’s cap, one of which was left Tim by his dad.
** The train conductor’s cap, one of which was left Tim by his dad.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Changed line(s) 7,8 (click to see context) from:
-->'''Frank:''' Relax! Not everybody [[JustForPun runs on the same schedule]] as you.
to:
-->'''Frank:''' Relax! Not everybody [[JustForPun runs on the same schedule]] as you.
you.\\
Changed line(s) 101,102 (click to see context) from:
-->'''Ray:''' Take good care of my - ‘scuse me - your train.
to:
-->'''Ray:''' Take good care of my - ‘scuse me - your train.
train.\\
Changed line(s) 107,108 (click to see context) from:
-->'''Cap:''' It’s Train Magic, Timothy - the most powerful kind!
to:
-->'''Cap:''' It’s Train Magic, Timothy - the most powerful kind!
kind!\\
Changed line(s) 121,122 (click to see context) from:
-->'''Cap:''' He doesn’t have a train anymore. He has no watch. He has nothing but these old tracks, and the night.
to:
-->'''Cap:''' He doesn’t have a train anymore. He has no watch. He has nothing but these old tracks, and the night.
night.\\
Changed line(s) 125,126 (click to see context) from:
-->'''Frank:''' So Tim learned about two kinds of magic - Train Magic, and the kind that happens between brothers and friends.
to:
-->'''Frank:''' So Tim learned about two kinds of magic - Train Magic, and the kind that happens between brothers and friends. \n\\
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Changed line(s) 139 (click to see context) from:
* CoolTrain: The 713 looks undeniably fantastic - and traverses the astral plane, which is also pretty cool.
to:
* CoolTrain: The 713 looks undeniably fantastic - and traverses the astral plane, which is also pretty cool.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Changed line(s) 152 (click to see context) from:
* TechnologyPorn: Some lovely shots of both life-size trains and Tim’s model replica.
to:
* TechnologyPorn: Some lovely shots of both life-size trains and Tim’s model replica.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Changed line(s) 146 (click to see context) from:
* IronicHell: Having tried to foist his place in a phantom train crash on a young boy, Ray, when the tracks are finally changed on time, loses his watch, his charges and his train, and is left to wander the tracks alone.
to:
* IronicHell: Having tried to foist his place in a phantom train crash on a young boy, Ray, when the tracks are finally changed on time, [[spoiler: loses his watch, his charges and his train, and is left to wander the tracks alone.alone]].
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Changed line(s) 127,128 (click to see context) from:
With a final train whistle from Grank’s stereo, Gary closes the meeting.
to:
With a final train whistle from Grank’s Frank’s stereo, Gary closes the meeting.
Is there an issue? Send a MessageReason:
None
Added DiffLines:
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/screenshot_2020_08_14_at_021840.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:"Train’s got its own language. Sound of wheel on metal… the sharp whistle… the pure song of the bell - you see, that’s the train speaking - if you know how to listen."]]
Where is Frank? Is he grounded again? As the others wonder, they hear, through the distant trees, the hefty, grinding whoosh of a steam engine. A distant figure, silhouetted by the glare of a single headlamp, approaches. The portable stereo on his shoulder gives an eerie train whistle.
-->'''Frank:''' Relax! Not everybody [[JustForPun runs on the same schedule]] as you.
A tale of trains? Yes, but also of desperate ambition, and how a glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel might turn out to be that of a big old train - with nowhere to run. Submitted for the approval of the Midnight Society, he calls this story “The Tale of Train Magic.”
Young RailEnthusiast Tim Williamson, in the conductor’s cap of his late father, stands amidst a rather splendid model train set, and announces a stop at an imaginary Waterloo Station.
That evening, by the railway, his older brother Hank echoes their mother’s caution against spending too much time at the central station. He invites Tim with his friends to the movies. In favour of a prior engagement, Tim declines.
Vexed, Hank decries Tim’s sedentary preoccupations. From Tim’s head, he lifts their late dad’s cap, which is suddenly blown away by a gust of wind.
Through the trees, Tim follows the cap, to where it lies on the silent tracks. As he stoops to pick it up, a man’s voice brightly greets him from behind.
Behind him, in a faintly luminous mist, stands a grey-haired man in a conductor’s uniform, holding a lantern. He introduces himself as Ray Lawson, conductor on the 713, which passes each night, here on track number one.
Having seen Tim haunt these tracks, Ray ascertains Tim’s ambition to be a train man. He draws his pocket watch, and offers it to Tim.
As Tim uncertainly reaches, Hank calls through the nearby trees. Ray cautiously withdraws his hand. When Tim looks up, the conductor has vanished.
Hank mockingly discredits Tim’s outlandish story.
One day, at the bustling station, Tim lugs a heavy suitcase to railway mechanic Cap Anderson, who jovially accepts the assistance.
Tim asks about the 713. Cap confirms its tracks to have been used since he was Tim’s age.
From a nearby train, a conductor invites Tim to announce the departure. With mock-brusqueness, Cap urges him on.
Tim rushes to stand by the train, and skilfully calls the stops and imminent departure.
Hank steps onto the front lawn with a baseball bat, and kneels to tie his shoelace. Above him, Ray Lawson steps into view, and requests to see the “young conductor.” Hanks realises him to mean Tim. Ray asks Hank to pass onto Tim a small model of a railway coach.
Hank takes it, and calls through the door for Tim - but when he next looks, Ray has vanished.
A delighted Tim inspects the model, whose interior houses finely detailed passengers - and a conductor who resembles Ray.
He couples it to his electric train, and switches on the track. As he fondly watches, the basement window, high above him, admits a sudden white glare. The room begins to shake. He hears the heavy chime of a railway signal. As the model train picks up speed, the room continues to rattle. Tim turns around - and the light from the window expands to engulf him.
When it fades, he finds himself stood in the aisle of a train coach. Around him, in somewhat old-fashioned attire, sit several passengers, of whom the model’s figurines are replicas. With eerily detached calmness, they greet the new passenger, and ask if he has a ticket.
Ray then arrives, announces Tim’s new custody of the 713, and once more proffers his conductor’s watch. Suddenly uneasy, Tim hurries to the brake handle, pulls it, and is thrown to the floor.
He then finds himself on his basement floor. On the model train track, the new coach lies on its side, and exudes a wisp of smoke.
Next day, at the station, Tim relates his strange adventure to Cap, who patiently suggests the possibility of a highly active imagination - or, perhaps, Train Magic. Trains, he says, in their mighty, orchestrated functions, have a kind of language - if you know how to listen.
Later, in Cap’s office, he explains the conductor’s watch to be at the epicentre of Train Magic: railways depend on time. Tim mentions the offer of such a watch from Ray Lawson. Perplexed at Tim’s acquaintance with the name, Cap shows him a framed, black and white photo of a steam engine - before which stands its conductor, Ray Lawson.
Before radios, explains Cap, conductors received messages via notes left on trackside poles, which the conductor would reach for, by hand, from the train. A story heard by Cap from his older colleagues told of a track change at switch 224, word of which was relayed to the conductor of the 713. The conductor fell asleep, so forgot to check his watch, and never got the message to change tracks. The train crashed. Many died, including the conductor - Ray Lawson.
Switch 224, realised Tim, is on the tracks by his house. The 713 crashed into his house.
Suddenly agitated, Cap sternly orders Tim home, denounces his train fixation, and urges more typical recreation for a young boy, such as sport or video games - anything but trains.
Cap then hastily dons his cloth cap and overcoat, and hurries off…
He hurries through deserted station, and into the night - watched distantly by Tim.
By track 224, Cap looks up to see, standing on the quiet track, Ray Lawson, whose voice now faintly echoes. Cap confronts the spectral conductor, and demands he leave Tim alone.
Ray coolly declines. With a heavy whistle and a thunderous whoosh, the 713 now looms on the track. Ray lifts his watch, and Cap falls into some kind of trance, and boards the train. With an insidious chuckle, Ray follows.
As Tim cries out in futile dismay, the train shudders to life, rolls forward, and, in so doing, fades from the material realm.
In the cellar, Tim inspects his new model train coach, whose passenger figurines now include one in the likeness of Cap.
Hank excitedly arrives, with a new copy of ''[[Recap/AreYouAfraidOfTheDarkSeason3TheTaleOfTheCrimsonClown Zeebo’s Big House]]'', which he takes to the television in the corner of the cellar. He turns, and notices Tim’s aggravated preoccupation.
Tim shows him the newly forged figurine of Cap. Hank laughingly admits the likeness.
Suddenly, on its track, the model train rolls into life. Perplexed, they observe the independently mobilised train set. Tim can only suppose it must be… train magic.
On the cellar wall, the clock hands swiftly roll to thirteen minutes past seven - 713. Tim realises the spectral train to have just left the station.
Unnerved, Hank asks what’s going on. Tim earnestly beseeches Hank to help him with something. Hank disdains his eccentric fancies.
Tim urgently yells his desperation, and that Cap’s life in danger.
Frustrated but sympathetic, Hank puts Tim’s delusion down to delusion, and confesses his worry.
More calmly, Tim pleads for Hank’s help. Hank softly agrees to do as Tim asks.
Some time later, while Hank stands by track 224, Tim mans the cellar train set. Soon enough, the spectral signal begins to chime, the model train speeds up, and white light blazes through the window. The room begins to shake. A heavy mechanical rumble fills the air. The white light blooms to engulf Tim.
He finds himself back in the spectral coach. Seated at the end, in some kind of trance, he finds Cap.
By track 224, Hank examines the signal lever. Incredulous, he hears the distant whistle of a steam train.
Meanwhile, Tim tries the brake lever - but Ray arrives, and explains himself to have disconnected it.
Hank looks to his left. Along the track, headlamp glaring and funnel flaming, the old 713 looms forth. At the lever, Hank pulls desperately.
Ray strides serenely up the aisle, and flings aside his conductor’s cap. He happily announces Tim’s custody of his very own train. Having crashed eighty years ago, the 713 has done so ever since - right on time! Having made one fatal mistake, Ray has been trapped in the repeated crash ever since - but will soon be free.
He proffers his watch. Tim, suddenly entranced, reaches for it. He takes it - and is suddenly attired in the full uniform of a train conductor.
-->'''Ray:''' Take good care of my - ‘scuse me - your train.
With an insidious chuckle, he saunters to the back of the coach.
From his trance, Cap calls across to Tim.
-->'''Cap:''' It’s Train Magic, Timothy - the most powerful kind!
Meanwhile, with the lever, Hank struggles in vain desperation.
Tim finds a strength to resist his trance.
To Ray, he calls a denial of the enforced custody. Ray turns to face him. Tim drops the watch - and smashes it with his foot.
As the watch breaks, Hank manages to wrench the lever. The track switches, and the ghost train whistles along it, and fades into the ether.
From behind him, in the protective grip of Cap, calls Tim. He explains Hank to have amended the conductor’s failure to switch the tracks.
Cap steers the two away from the track, having noticed, standing upon it, the distant, solitary figure of Ray Lawson.
-->'''Cap:''' He doesn’t have a train anymore. He has no watch. He has nothing but these old tracks, and the night.
To Cap, Tim admits his sudden decision to take a break from the station for a while. With a small smile, Cap endorses Tim’s pursuit of a change of scene. As Cap and the Williamson brothers head off, Ray, spectral lantern in hand, wanders his tracks...
-->'''Frank:''' So Tim learned about two kinds of magic - Train Magic, and the kind that happens between brothers and friends.
With a final train whistle from Grank’s stereo, Gary closes the meeting.
!!This episode provides examples of:
*AfterlifeExpress: The 713 [[spoiler: on release from its repeated crash, carries its passengers into the ether]].
*AffablyEvil: While not evil, Ray tries to [[spoiler: force a young boy to take his place in a phantom train crash]], but is quite genial about it.
*AlasPoorVillain: As ruefully [[LampshadeHanging noted]] by Cap, Ray’s fate is quite poignant - [[spoiler: escape from the repeated train crash brought not freedom, but estrangement from his duty and charges, leaving him to wander the tracks alone]].
*AngerBornOfWorry: When afraid for Tim’s life, Cap brusquely orders him home.
** Scared for his grieving brother’s state of mind, Hank becomes quite vexed.
*AwLookTheyReallyDoLoveEachOther: With a friendly gesture, Tucker praises Frank’s story, to which Frank responds in kind.
*BigBrotherBully: [[DownplayedTrope Downplayed]]; Hank ribs Tim a bit, sometimes scornfully, but despite his vexation with Tim’s train fixation, tries to help him.
*BigBrotherInstinct: Finally convinced of Tim’s sincere belief in his strange ideas, Hank solemnly agrees to help him.
*CoolTrain: The 713 looks undeniably fantastic - and traverses the astral plane, which is also pretty cool.
*DisappearedDad: On his untimely death, Mr Williamson left Tim his conductor’s cap.
*DissonantSerenity: The spectral passengers seem eerily disengaged from all but their immediate environs.
*FriendlyGhost: [[SubvertedTrope Subverted]]; while genial, Ray aims to [[spoiler: lure Tim into taking his place in the phantom train crash]].
*GhostTrain: The 713, between solid repetitions of its crash, fades between the material realm and the ether. Having crashed into the house where the Williamsons now live, the electric train set in its cellar speeds up in anticipation of this.
*GroundhogDayLoop: A repeated train crash.
*IntergenerationalFriendship: Young RailEnthusiast Tim Williamson, and railway mechanic Cap Anderson. Tim also seems to be on friendly terms with local station staff in general.
*IronicHell: Having tried to foist his place in a phantom train crash on a young boy, Ray, when the tracks are finally changed on time, loses his watch, his charges and his train, and is left to wander the tracks alone.
*ItCanThink: According to Cap, trains, in their mechanical functions, have a kind of sentience - Train Magic.
*NiceHat: The train conductor’s cap, one of which was left Tim by his dad.
** Cap’s cloth cap.
*OminousFog: Behind Ray, a pale mist hovers above the track.
*ReasonableAuthorityFigure: Easy-going Cap readily listens to, and accepts the possibility of, Tim’s suggestions.
*TechnologyPorn: Some lovely shots of both life-size trains and Tim’s model replica.
*UndeathlyPallor: On the 713, the passengers have a slight pallor.
[[caption-width-right:350:"Train’s got its own language. Sound of wheel on metal… the sharp whistle… the pure song of the bell - you see, that’s the train speaking - if you know how to listen."]]
Where is Frank? Is he grounded again? As the others wonder, they hear, through the distant trees, the hefty, grinding whoosh of a steam engine. A distant figure, silhouetted by the glare of a single headlamp, approaches. The portable stereo on his shoulder gives an eerie train whistle.
-->'''Frank:''' Relax! Not everybody [[JustForPun runs on the same schedule]] as you.
A tale of trains? Yes, but also of desperate ambition, and how a glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel might turn out to be that of a big old train - with nowhere to run. Submitted for the approval of the Midnight Society, he calls this story “The Tale of Train Magic.”
Young RailEnthusiast Tim Williamson, in the conductor’s cap of his late father, stands amidst a rather splendid model train set, and announces a stop at an imaginary Waterloo Station.
That evening, by the railway, his older brother Hank echoes their mother’s caution against spending too much time at the central station. He invites Tim with his friends to the movies. In favour of a prior engagement, Tim declines.
Vexed, Hank decries Tim’s sedentary preoccupations. From Tim’s head, he lifts their late dad’s cap, which is suddenly blown away by a gust of wind.
Through the trees, Tim follows the cap, to where it lies on the silent tracks. As he stoops to pick it up, a man’s voice brightly greets him from behind.
Behind him, in a faintly luminous mist, stands a grey-haired man in a conductor’s uniform, holding a lantern. He introduces himself as Ray Lawson, conductor on the 713, which passes each night, here on track number one.
Having seen Tim haunt these tracks, Ray ascertains Tim’s ambition to be a train man. He draws his pocket watch, and offers it to Tim.
As Tim uncertainly reaches, Hank calls through the nearby trees. Ray cautiously withdraws his hand. When Tim looks up, the conductor has vanished.
Hank mockingly discredits Tim’s outlandish story.
One day, at the bustling station, Tim lugs a heavy suitcase to railway mechanic Cap Anderson, who jovially accepts the assistance.
Tim asks about the 713. Cap confirms its tracks to have been used since he was Tim’s age.
From a nearby train, a conductor invites Tim to announce the departure. With mock-brusqueness, Cap urges him on.
Tim rushes to stand by the train, and skilfully calls the stops and imminent departure.
Hank steps onto the front lawn with a baseball bat, and kneels to tie his shoelace. Above him, Ray Lawson steps into view, and requests to see the “young conductor.” Hanks realises him to mean Tim. Ray asks Hank to pass onto Tim a small model of a railway coach.
Hank takes it, and calls through the door for Tim - but when he next looks, Ray has vanished.
A delighted Tim inspects the model, whose interior houses finely detailed passengers - and a conductor who resembles Ray.
He couples it to his electric train, and switches on the track. As he fondly watches, the basement window, high above him, admits a sudden white glare. The room begins to shake. He hears the heavy chime of a railway signal. As the model train picks up speed, the room continues to rattle. Tim turns around - and the light from the window expands to engulf him.
When it fades, he finds himself stood in the aisle of a train coach. Around him, in somewhat old-fashioned attire, sit several passengers, of whom the model’s figurines are replicas. With eerily detached calmness, they greet the new passenger, and ask if he has a ticket.
Ray then arrives, announces Tim’s new custody of the 713, and once more proffers his conductor’s watch. Suddenly uneasy, Tim hurries to the brake handle, pulls it, and is thrown to the floor.
He then finds himself on his basement floor. On the model train track, the new coach lies on its side, and exudes a wisp of smoke.
Next day, at the station, Tim relates his strange adventure to Cap, who patiently suggests the possibility of a highly active imagination - or, perhaps, Train Magic. Trains, he says, in their mighty, orchestrated functions, have a kind of language - if you know how to listen.
Later, in Cap’s office, he explains the conductor’s watch to be at the epicentre of Train Magic: railways depend on time. Tim mentions the offer of such a watch from Ray Lawson. Perplexed at Tim’s acquaintance with the name, Cap shows him a framed, black and white photo of a steam engine - before which stands its conductor, Ray Lawson.
Before radios, explains Cap, conductors received messages via notes left on trackside poles, which the conductor would reach for, by hand, from the train. A story heard by Cap from his older colleagues told of a track change at switch 224, word of which was relayed to the conductor of the 713. The conductor fell asleep, so forgot to check his watch, and never got the message to change tracks. The train crashed. Many died, including the conductor - Ray Lawson.
Switch 224, realised Tim, is on the tracks by his house. The 713 crashed into his house.
Suddenly agitated, Cap sternly orders Tim home, denounces his train fixation, and urges more typical recreation for a young boy, such as sport or video games - anything but trains.
Cap then hastily dons his cloth cap and overcoat, and hurries off…
He hurries through deserted station, and into the night - watched distantly by Tim.
By track 224, Cap looks up to see, standing on the quiet track, Ray Lawson, whose voice now faintly echoes. Cap confronts the spectral conductor, and demands he leave Tim alone.
Ray coolly declines. With a heavy whistle and a thunderous whoosh, the 713 now looms on the track. Ray lifts his watch, and Cap falls into some kind of trance, and boards the train. With an insidious chuckle, Ray follows.
As Tim cries out in futile dismay, the train shudders to life, rolls forward, and, in so doing, fades from the material realm.
In the cellar, Tim inspects his new model train coach, whose passenger figurines now include one in the likeness of Cap.
Hank excitedly arrives, with a new copy of ''[[Recap/AreYouAfraidOfTheDarkSeason3TheTaleOfTheCrimsonClown Zeebo’s Big House]]'', which he takes to the television in the corner of the cellar. He turns, and notices Tim’s aggravated preoccupation.
Tim shows him the newly forged figurine of Cap. Hank laughingly admits the likeness.
Suddenly, on its track, the model train rolls into life. Perplexed, they observe the independently mobilised train set. Tim can only suppose it must be… train magic.
On the cellar wall, the clock hands swiftly roll to thirteen minutes past seven - 713. Tim realises the spectral train to have just left the station.
Unnerved, Hank asks what’s going on. Tim earnestly beseeches Hank to help him with something. Hank disdains his eccentric fancies.
Tim urgently yells his desperation, and that Cap’s life in danger.
Frustrated but sympathetic, Hank puts Tim’s delusion down to delusion, and confesses his worry.
More calmly, Tim pleads for Hank’s help. Hank softly agrees to do as Tim asks.
Some time later, while Hank stands by track 224, Tim mans the cellar train set. Soon enough, the spectral signal begins to chime, the model train speeds up, and white light blazes through the window. The room begins to shake. A heavy mechanical rumble fills the air. The white light blooms to engulf Tim.
He finds himself back in the spectral coach. Seated at the end, in some kind of trance, he finds Cap.
By track 224, Hank examines the signal lever. Incredulous, he hears the distant whistle of a steam train.
Meanwhile, Tim tries the brake lever - but Ray arrives, and explains himself to have disconnected it.
Hank looks to his left. Along the track, headlamp glaring and funnel flaming, the old 713 looms forth. At the lever, Hank pulls desperately.
Ray strides serenely up the aisle, and flings aside his conductor’s cap. He happily announces Tim’s custody of his very own train. Having crashed eighty years ago, the 713 has done so ever since - right on time! Having made one fatal mistake, Ray has been trapped in the repeated crash ever since - but will soon be free.
He proffers his watch. Tim, suddenly entranced, reaches for it. He takes it - and is suddenly attired in the full uniform of a train conductor.
-->'''Ray:''' Take good care of my - ‘scuse me - your train.
With an insidious chuckle, he saunters to the back of the coach.
From his trance, Cap calls across to Tim.
-->'''Cap:''' It’s Train Magic, Timothy - the most powerful kind!
Meanwhile, with the lever, Hank struggles in vain desperation.
Tim finds a strength to resist his trance.
To Ray, he calls a denial of the enforced custody. Ray turns to face him. Tim drops the watch - and smashes it with his foot.
As the watch breaks, Hank manages to wrench the lever. The track switches, and the ghost train whistles along it, and fades into the ether.
From behind him, in the protective grip of Cap, calls Tim. He explains Hank to have amended the conductor’s failure to switch the tracks.
Cap steers the two away from the track, having noticed, standing upon it, the distant, solitary figure of Ray Lawson.
-->'''Cap:''' He doesn’t have a train anymore. He has no watch. He has nothing but these old tracks, and the night.
To Cap, Tim admits his sudden decision to take a break from the station for a while. With a small smile, Cap endorses Tim’s pursuit of a change of scene. As Cap and the Williamson brothers head off, Ray, spectral lantern in hand, wanders his tracks...
-->'''Frank:''' So Tim learned about two kinds of magic - Train Magic, and the kind that happens between brothers and friends.
With a final train whistle from Grank’s stereo, Gary closes the meeting.
!!This episode provides examples of:
*AfterlifeExpress: The 713 [[spoiler: on release from its repeated crash, carries its passengers into the ether]].
*AffablyEvil: While not evil, Ray tries to [[spoiler: force a young boy to take his place in a phantom train crash]], but is quite genial about it.
*AlasPoorVillain: As ruefully [[LampshadeHanging noted]] by Cap, Ray’s fate is quite poignant - [[spoiler: escape from the repeated train crash brought not freedom, but estrangement from his duty and charges, leaving him to wander the tracks alone]].
*AngerBornOfWorry: When afraid for Tim’s life, Cap brusquely orders him home.
** Scared for his grieving brother’s state of mind, Hank becomes quite vexed.
*AwLookTheyReallyDoLoveEachOther: With a friendly gesture, Tucker praises Frank’s story, to which Frank responds in kind.
*BigBrotherBully: [[DownplayedTrope Downplayed]]; Hank ribs Tim a bit, sometimes scornfully, but despite his vexation with Tim’s train fixation, tries to help him.
*BigBrotherInstinct: Finally convinced of Tim’s sincere belief in his strange ideas, Hank solemnly agrees to help him.
*CoolTrain: The 713 looks undeniably fantastic - and traverses the astral plane, which is also pretty cool.
*DisappearedDad: On his untimely death, Mr Williamson left Tim his conductor’s cap.
*DissonantSerenity: The spectral passengers seem eerily disengaged from all but their immediate environs.
*FriendlyGhost: [[SubvertedTrope Subverted]]; while genial, Ray aims to [[spoiler: lure Tim into taking his place in the phantom train crash]].
*GhostTrain: The 713, between solid repetitions of its crash, fades between the material realm and the ether. Having crashed into the house where the Williamsons now live, the electric train set in its cellar speeds up in anticipation of this.
*GroundhogDayLoop: A repeated train crash.
*IntergenerationalFriendship: Young RailEnthusiast Tim Williamson, and railway mechanic Cap Anderson. Tim also seems to be on friendly terms with local station staff in general.
*IronicHell: Having tried to foist his place in a phantom train crash on a young boy, Ray, when the tracks are finally changed on time, loses his watch, his charges and his train, and is left to wander the tracks alone.
*ItCanThink: According to Cap, trains, in their mechanical functions, have a kind of sentience - Train Magic.
*NiceHat: The train conductor’s cap, one of which was left Tim by his dad.
** Cap’s cloth cap.
*OminousFog: Behind Ray, a pale mist hovers above the track.
*ReasonableAuthorityFigure: Easy-going Cap readily listens to, and accepts the possibility of, Tim’s suggestions.
*TechnologyPorn: Some lovely shots of both life-size trains and Tim’s model replica.
*UndeathlyPallor: On the 713, the passengers have a slight pallor.
