- [first lines]
- Sam: He's not coming, did he call you?
- Betty Ann: No.
- Kiki: Last I heard he was.
- Betty Ann: Maybe he's grounded again.
- Tucker: Or maybe he chickened out on coming here alone. He *is* afraid of the dark.
- Sam: Well, he should've called.
- [shoulders her pack and prepares to go, then stops when a light beams on her face and a train's engine and whistle are heard]
- Frank: [walking up with a major flashlight and a tape-recorder] Relax. Not everybody *runs* on the same *schedule* as you.
- Sam: [going back to the others as he passes] Cute.
- Tim Williamson: I was just talking to...
- [looks around but can't find Ray Lawson]
- Tim Williamson: Where'd he go? There was a conductor standing right here.
- Hank Williamson: I take it back; the cap's not too big. It's too tight. It's cuttin' off your brain.
- Cap Anderson: Most people look at trains, they don't see nothing but big ol' machines. But trains got more than that. Trains gots a language. The sound of wheels on metal, the sharp whistle, the pure song of bells... that's a train speaking.
- Tim Williamson: Hank, I know you think I'm crazy, and maybe I am, but you've gotta help me!
- Hank Williamson: Forget it. You're *beyond* help, lamewad.
- [turns to go but Tim grabs his shirt]
- Tim Williamson: I MEAN IT! If we don't do something, Cap is gonna die. And who knows what'll happen to me?
- Hank Williamson: Would you listen to yourself? You're cracking up! You've got to get out of this basement! Dad is *gone*, Tim. This isn't gonna bring him back!
- Cap Anderson: Go on home now. It ain't natural, kid your age hanging around here with that, now go on! Play baseball, or video thingamajigs, whatever kids your age do, now go on!
- Tim Williamson: But Cap, we're friends!
- Cap Anderson: Get going! Go on! Get going! Stay away from trains, you hear me?
- Tim Williamson: This isn't a joke!
- Hank Williamson: Yeah, the only joke here is YOU, you little -
- [the model train on the table starts moving]
- Hank Williamson: How'd you do that?
- Tim Williamson: I didn't.
- Hank Williamson: Well, who did?
- Tim Williamson: [Tim stares at the model] Train magic.
- Cap Anderson: He doesn't have a train anymore. He has no watch. He has nothing but these old tracks and the night.
- Tim Williamson: Train magic.
- Hank Williamson: What just happened here?
- Tim Williamson: I think I just got rid of a couple of ghosts.
- Cap Anderson: Ray Lawson!
- Ray Lawson: You must be Cap.
- Cap Anderson: Don't matter who I am. Leave the boy alone! Get on your stupid ghost train and go!
- Ray Lawson: [shakes his head] Sorry, can't do that. Gotta keep the schedule.
- Tim Williamson: Cap, you're not gonna believe this. I was playing with my toy train and I ended up on it and there were all of these weird people and I pulled the emergency brake and I think I fell because the next thing I know, I'm in the cellar.
- Cap Anderson: Whoa, whoa, whoa! Come on, there. Hey, are you all right?
- Tim Williamson: Yeah, yeah, I think so. I t's just that at first I was dreaming.
- Cap Anderson: Well, maybe you were.
- Tim Williamson: No, I wasn't! It really happened. What was it, Cap?
- Cap Anderson: Well, it could have been nothing. Could have been your imagination. Maybe it could have been train magic.
- Tim Williamson: What's train magic?
- Cap Anderson: It depends on how you see it, Timothy. You see most people look at trains. They don't see nothing but big old machines. A train has got more than that. A train has got it's own language. Sound of wheel of metal. Sound of whistle. A pure sound of bells. It's a train speaking if you know how to listen.