THE TRANSCONTINENTAL TRAIN



Divide the group into seven smaller groups and assign each group one of the words listed below. Read the story. After each of the words is read pause for the group to make the appropriate response.

TRAIN "Toot! Toot!"
CONDUCTOR"All Aboard"
NEW YORK DOCTOR"New York City!?"
PENN STEEL WORKER "Man of Steel"
SOUTHERN BELLE"Hi, y'all"
TEXAN "Remember the Alamo!"
KANSAS FARMER "The World's Breadbasket"


Just before the transcontinental TRAIN___ was ready to pull out of Grand Central Station, the CONDUCTOR___ held the door for one more passenger, a NEW YORK DOCTOR___ who hurried aboard. The TRAIN___ moved slowly between the tall buildings, out of New York, through New Jersey and on to Pennsylvania. The CONDUCTOR___ checked the ticket of the NEW YORK DOCTOR___ as the TRAIN___ pulled into the Pittsburgh Station. A PENN STEEL WORKER___ boarded the TRAIN___ and sat across the aisle from the NEW YORK DOCTOR___.

The train wound through the Appalachian Mountains, by rivers and through forests down to Atlanta. The CONDUCTOR___ greeted a SOUTHERN BELLE___ who boarded the TRAIN___. She smiled at the PENN STEEL WORKER___, and sat behind the NEW YORK DOCTOR___.

The TRAIN___ picked up speed as it left the mountains and crossed the delta lands of Mississippi. The CONDUCTOR___ paused to look out the window with the SOUTHERN BELLE___, as the TRAIN___ traversed a long bridge over the Mississippi River. It arrived at the hot springs in the midst of the Ozark Mountains of Arkansas, as the NEW YORK DOCTOR___ and the PENN STEEL WORKER___ played cards.

The TRAIN___ crossed into Texas and stopped at Dallas, where a young TEXAN___ boarded the TRAIN___, showed his ticket to the CONDUCTOR___, tipped his hat to the SOUTHERN BELLE___, and took a seat.

The TRAIN___ moved north through the rolling hills of Oklahoma and through the wheat fields of Kansas, stopping in Wichita where a KANSAS FARMER___ and his wife boarded the TRAIN___. The KANSAS FARMER___ shook hands with the NEW YORK DOCTOR___, and sat beside the young TEXAN___, as his wife smiled at the PENN STEEL WORKER___, and sat next to the SOUTHERN BELLE___.

The TRAIN___ turned west, moved up steep mountain passes and through the snow-covered Rocky Mountains of Colorado and Utah. The CONDUCTOR___ checked his watch as the TRAIN___ sped out of the mountains and into the desert of the Great Basin in Nevada.

The TEXAN___ and the NEW YORK DOCTOR___ admired the large trees, as the TRAIN___ wound through the Sierra Nevada Mountains and the Redwood forests. The TRAIN___ pulled into its final destination of San Francisco, California, where the CONDUCTOR___ said goodbye to NEW YORK DOCTOR___, the PENN STEEL WORKER___, the SOUTHERN BELLE___, the TEXAN___, and the KANSAS FARMER___.

Return to the Audience Participation Page.
Mail Box  Please send me your stories and requests.

Home  Return to Scouting Bear's Cave.