Charlie the Choo-Choo is a book written by Stephen King and illustrated by Ned Dameron, published under the pseudonym Beryl Evans in 2016. A defictionalization of a book found by one of the characters in The Waste Lands, it follows the story of Bob, an engineer for The Mid-World Railway Company, and his friend Charlie, a sentient train.
After being replaced by a new, non-sentient, diesel locomotive, Charlie is left to rot in the furthest corner of a rail yard. However, a few years later, when the diesel locomotive fails to start right when Mr. Martin, the President of The Mid-World Railway Company, needs it to get to his daughter's piano recital in Topeka, Engineer Bob and Charlie save the day by taking Mr. Martin to his daughter's piano recital on time. Mr. Martin then gets Charlie and Engineer Bob a gig pulling kids around a brand new amusement park.
Not to be confused with Choo-Choo Charles.
Charlie the Choo-Choo contains examples of:
- Art-Style Dissonance: For a relatively wholesome story, Charlie the Choo-Choo has a lot of creepy-looking illustrations.
- Character Signature Song: Charlie sings his signature "Don't ask me silly questions, I won't play silly games" song multiple times throughout the book.
- Does This Remind You of Anything?: The story sure takes a lot of time noting when characters "pull Charlie's whistle..."
- Sabotage to Discredit: Though it's not explicit within the story, Jake points out in The Waste Lands that the story makes an awful lot of sense if you assume that Bob deliberately ruined the diesel engine's fuel. Since he was working as a cleaner at the time, he would have been in a prime position to do so, and it's awfully convenient that on the same day that the diesel engine breaks down, Bob decided to show up in full conductor uniform with Charlie repaired and ready to go.
- Sentient Vehicle: The main character, Charlie, is a sentient locomotive.
