AUDIENCE PARTICIPATIONS

The Transcontinental Train

Sam Houston Area Council

Divide the audience into 6 groups. Assign each group one of the words listed below. When their item is mentioned in the story, the assigned group should shout the designated saying. Have a practice session before starting the story.

TRAIN                                                                “Toot Toot”

CONDUCTOR                                                “All Aboard!”

NEW YORK DOCTOR                           “The Big Apple!”

STEEL WORKER                                   “Forged in Steel!”

ST. LOUIS BUSINESSMAN     “Gateway to the West!”

KANSAS FARMER            “Breadbasket to the World!”

Just before the transcontinental TRAIN pulled out of Grand Central Station in New York City, 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 State, 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 Pennsylvania STEEL WORKER boarded the TRAIN and sat across the aisle from the NEW YORK DOCTOR.

Climbing through the Allegheny Mountains, the TRAIN continued past rivers and forests across the Midwest to St Louis, Missouri. The CONDUCTOR greeted a ST. LOUIS BUSINESSMAN who boarded the TRAIN at Union Station. The ST. LOUIS BUSINESSMAN smiled at the STEEL WORKER, and sat behind the NEW YORK DOCTOR.

The TRAIN picked up speed as it passed the Gateway Arch. The CONDUCTOR paused to look out the window with the STEEL WORKER as the TRAIN traversed a long bridge over the Mississippi River. It made its way to Kansas City where a KANSAS FARMER boarded the TRAIN. The KANSAS FARMER greeted the STEEL WORKER and shook hands with the NEW YORK DOCTOR and then sat beside the ST. LOUIS BUSINESSMAN.

Continuing west, the TRAIN 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 passengers watched the vast landscape as the TRAIN sped by.

The ST. LOUIS BUSINESSMAN and the NEW YORK DOCTOR admired the large trees, as the TRAIN wound through the Sierra Nevada Mountains and the Redwood forests. The transcontinental TRAIN pulled into its final destination of San Francisco, California. It had made its way from east to west, from coast to coast. After this long journey it was time for the CONDUCTOR to say “Good-bye” to the tired travelers: the NEW YORK DOCTOR, the Pennsylvania STEEL WORKER, the ST. LOUIS BUSINESSMAN, and the KANSAS FARMER. The TRAIN had made a very successful trip.