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It was a beautiful morning in Los Santos. Freight was just finishing a run, when he noticed a Brown Streak, who Freight could see was on the verge of an existential crisis...

GTA… but with talking trains!! is a short YouTube video by Hat-Loving Gamer, acting as a crossover between Thomas & Friends and Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas. A retelling of the infamous San Andreas mission "Wrong Side of the Tracks" in the style of a classic five minute Thomas episode, the short follows the journey of Brown Streak as he attempts to break out of the confines of his Los Santos yard, and finds himself caught up in a gang war in the process.

Hat-Loving Gamer later made a follow-up short, based on the train scene from Spider-Man 2. Both shorts are notably narrated by Mark Moraghan, narrator of Seasons 17 to 21 of Thomas & Friends.


Tropes found in the short include:

  • Adaptation Expansion: As a result of turning the trains into living characters, the short expands the Brown Streak's reason for heading to Las Venturas in the first place.
  • Affably Evil: One Vagos gang member politely asks Brown Streak to take them to Las Venturas as fast as he can, and they all cheer him after he breaks through the barrier.
  • Affectionate Parody: Of both Thomas & Friends (emulating the format of that show's classic seasons) and Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas (making fun of some of that game's quirks).
  • Amusing Injuries: After ramming through the blockade, Brown Streak's face was sore and gained some Instant Bandages, but he was more happy when he was off to a new adventure in Las Venturas.
  • Artistic License – Physics: CJ and Big Smoke managed to survive after getting hit by a train twice, but this wouldn't be possible in real life.
  • Broken Bridge: Parodied, as Brown Streak's wish is to try and explore the world outside of Los Santos since "it hasn't been unlocked yet".
  • The Cameo: GuinessWalker, a YouTuber known for his GTA Biographies series, appears in the background as the person holding a guitar on the Unity Station platform.
  • Demographic-Dissonant Crossover: Of a beloved all-ages show about trains and a video game that was once infamously rated Adults Only. The short sticks to remaining PG and closer to the former in terms of presentation.
  • Downer Beginning: Brown Streak was on the verge of an existential crisis at the beginning. Freight attempted to cheer him up only for Brown Streak to tell him about the blockade at the end of his branchline.
  • Earn Your Happy Ending: At the end of the short, Brown Streak finally achieved his dream of exploring Las Venturas after charging through the blockade.
  • Ignored Aesop: After Brown Streak tells Freight about the blockade on Frederick Bridge, the latter tended to the former and said that sometimes the best travels are those we can only dream about. However, after Freight departed, Brown Streak wasn't actually listening because he began to hatch a plan to charge through said blockade when the moment is right.
  • Just Train Wrong: Brown Streak's hi-level coaches don't have any side doors for the passengers to go in or out.
  • Mythology Gag: Many Grand Theft Auto protagonists can be spotted throughout the video:
    • Claude and Tommy Vercetti are standing on the Unity Station platform when Brown Streak departs.
    • Franklin and Lamar are seen arguing in the background of the Glendale scene.
    • Trevor's face is used on the traction engine waiting to cross the road. This also doubles as a Thomas & Friends reference, with the character of Trevor the Traction Engine. Floyd is the person driving the traction engine.
    • Niko and Roman are enjoying fishing on the river bordering Las Venturas, with their boat containing a bowling ball and pin.
  • Nice Guy:
    • After Brown Streak explained his situation about the barrier blocking Las Venturas, Freight attempted to cheer him up.
    • The local gang members towards Brown Streak.
      • The shirtless member ran to the front of the train and politely asked Brown Streak to go as fast as he can.
      • All three of the gang members cheered for Brown Streak after he charged through the blockade allowing him and the members to go to Las Venturas.
  • No OSHA Compliance: The railroad crossings here lack signals to warn drivers that a train is coming.
  • Oh, Crap!:
    • "LOOK THE FIZZLING FIREBOXES OUT, CJ! THE TRAIN!"
    • The local gang members had horror on their faces when they found out that their path was blocked by the barricade. Fortunately, Brown Streak rammed through the blockade and the gang members cheered for him.
  • Parody Assistance: Mark Moraghan, the narrator for Seasons 17 to 21 of Thomas & Friends, is the narrator here.
  • Precision F-Strike: By Thomas standards, the obligatory final line.
    "After all, all you have to do... is follow the damn train, CJ!"
  • Ramming Always Works: At the end of the short Brown Streak gets through the barrier blocking Las Venturas by smashing through it. His face is sore afterwards but that's about it.
  • Saying Sound Effects Out Loud: The gunshots are the narrator quietly saying 'bang bang'.
  • Sophisticated as Hell: Thanks to Mark Moraghan's delivery of dialogue that is sanitised but faithful to the original game.
    "I'm gonna ice these fools, man!", said the Heavy-Set Fellow.
  • Stylistic Suck: Despite being made in CG, the short emulates some of the production quirks of model-era episodes of Thomas, particularly the obvious crease in the sky where the set's backdrop turns a corner.
  • Too Dumb to Live: A Glendale was resting on tracks while his driver was arguing with his friend. Guess what happens next?

Tropes found in the followup short include:

  • Boring, but Practical: Spider-Man did have a few ideas to stops X95, but it was more spider webs. His idea manages to work just in time before he got exhausted.
  • Misblamed: When Spiderman rescues the passengers that get tossed out of X95, those passengers proceed to complain about how bad the railway was.
  • Parody Assistance: Just like in the "GTA… but with talking trains!!", Mark Moraghan narrates this short.
  • Runaway Train: X95.
  • Secret-Keeper: Even though a lot of people knew who Spider-Man really was, they promised to keep his identity a secret.

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