I got this passed on to me the other day and I thought I would share it with everyone. ---------------------------- 'Twas the night before Christmas, and all through my pike, Not a steamer was stirring, not even a Mike. My yard tracks invitingly empty and bare, In hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there. The diesels were nestled all snug in their sheds, While visions of DCC danced in their heads. While I, in my blue-and-white engineer's cap, Had just settled down for a long winter's nap, When down in the train room, there rose such a clatter, I sprang from my bed to see what was the matter. Away to the basement I flew like an ace, Tripped over the cat and fell flat on my face. I stifled a curse meant for Chessie (the cat), And I muttered to no one, "I meant to do that," When what to my wondering eyes should appear, But an HO-scale sleigh and eight Preiser reindeer, With an engineer driving, so lively and quick, I knew in a moment it must be St. Nick. More rapid than GG-1's, onward they came, And he blew a steam whistle and called them by name: "On Athearn! On Lionel, Kato and Walthers! On Kadee and Micro-Trains, Atlas and others! To the top of the mountains of Hydrocal plaster, Now dash away, dash away, dash away faster!" As dry leaves that behind a new Genesis fly, When they meet with an obstacle, mount to the sky, So in through the window the coursers they flew With the sleigh full of trains, and St. Nicholas too. And then, on my roundhouse, I saw on the roof The prints in the dust of each HO-scale hoof. As I drew a deep breath, and was turning around, From beneath the benchwork, St. Nick came with a bound. He was dressed like an engineer from head to foot, And his clothes had that fine smell of ashes and soot; A bundle of trains he had flung on his back, And he looked like a peddler just opening his pack. His eyes - just like marker lights! Dimples, how merry! His cheeks like a Warbonnet, nose like a cherry! His droll little mouth was drawn up like a bow, And his beard was so white, it would please Phoebe Snow. He puffed on a pipe as he refilled its bowl, And the smoke, it smelled just like bituminous coal. He had a broad face and a belly (I found) That shook like a tank car with wheels out-of-round. He was chubby and plump, and I wanted to shout, "Yes! The man's got a route the UP can't buy out!" A wink of his eye as he passed near the door Soon gave me to know I'd have freight cars galore. He spoke not a word, but went straight to his work. He filled all my yard tracks; then turned with a jerk, And leaving an airbrush he'd found on eBay, And giving a nod, he returned to his sleigh. He pumped up the brakes, blew two blasts on his whistle, And away they all flew like the down of a thistle. But I heard him exclaim, ere he drove out of sight, "HAPPY CHRISTMAS TO ALL! KEEP 'EM ROLLING! GOOD-NIGHT!" Merry Christmas Everyone ------------------ Smile! It makes people wonder what you are up to. Bry's Photopoint.com Album
Thanks for sharing this with us. My granddaughter and I had a real good chuckle reading it. ------------------ Robin member #35 Maberly and Tayside
That was great! I printed it out so that when my little gets older and one day learns to read, he'll have a neat christmas tale
<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by moose: That was great! I printed it out so that when my little gets older and one day learns to read, he'll have a neat christmas tale <HR></BLOCKQUOTE> Moose, How the heck did you print it out?? I tried but just got code gobldegook!! John ------------------ The Santa Fe and Southwestern, Chief of the Southwest!!
Ahh young Jedi...... Tis easy. All ya need to do highlight it, copy, and paste to Word, MS works, notepad or similar. then name it what ya want, and print the document out.
Thanks for sharing that. I'm going to print it out and save it! ------------------ Lou PRSLou's website Are you a teen interested in trains? Join the T.A.M.R.
Thanks Moose!! I am going to print it on parchment, frame it and hang it in the train room !! Happy Modeling!! John ------------------ The Santa Fe and Southwestern, Chief of the Southwest!!
Here is the "O" scale version of "The Night Before Christmas"... Edited by Jim Barret: 'Twas the night before Christmas, and all through my pike, Not a steamer was stirring, not Lionel’s, not Mike’s. My yard tracks invitingly empty and bare, In hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there. The diesels were nestled all snug in their sheds, Wile visions of Proto-2 danced in their heads. While I, in my blue-and-white engineer's cap, Had just settled down for a long winter's nap, When down in the train room, there rose such a clatter, I sprang from my bed to see what was the matter. Away to the basement I flew like an ace, Tripped over the cat and fell flat on my face. I stifled a curse meant for Cindy (the cat), And I muttered to no one, "I meant to do that," Then what, to my wondering eyes should appear, But an O-scale sleigh and eight Preiser reindeer! And an O-scale engineer, so lively and quick, I knew in a moment it must be St. Nick. More rapid than Challengers, onward they came, And he blew a steam whistle and called them by name: "On RailKing! On Lionel, On Premier and Atlas! On K-Line and I-Rail, on Ross and Curtis! To the top of the mountains of Hydrocal plaster, Now dash away, dash away, dash away faster!" As dry leaves, that behind a new Genesis fly, When they meet with an obstacle, mount to the sky, So in through the window the coursers they flew With the sleigh full of trains, and St. Nicholas too. And then, on my roundhouse, I saw on the roof The prints in the dust of each O-scale hoof. As I drew a deep breath, and was turning around, Out from under the benchwork, came St. Nick with a bound. He was dressed like an engineer from his head to his foot, And his clothes had that fine smell of ashes and soot; A bundle of trains he had flung on his back, And he looked like a peddler just opening his pack. His eyes - just like marker lights! His dimples, how merry! His cheeks like a Warbonnet, nose like a cherry! His droll little mouth was drawn up like a bow, And his beard was so white, it would please Phoebe Snow. He puffed on a pipe as he refilled its bowl, And the smoke, it smelled just like bituminous coal. He had a broad face and a belly (I found) That shook like a tank car with wheels out-of-round. He was chubby and plump, and I wanted to shout, "Now, That man's got a route the UP can't buy out!" A wink of his eye as he passed near the door Soon gave me to know I'd have freight cars galore. He spoke not a word, but went straight to his work. He filled all my yard tracks; then turned with a jerk, And leaving an airbrush he'd found on eBay, And giving a nod, he returned to his sleigh. He pumped up the brakes, blew two blasts on his whistle, And away they all flew like the down of a thistle. But I heard him exclaim, ere he drove out of sight, "HAPPY CHRISTMAS TO ALL! KEEP 'EM ROLLING! GOOD-NIGHT!" ------------------ Lou PRSLou's website Are you a teen interested in trains? Join the T.A.M.R.
