T'was the Night... the way it should've been written

[Jason Rose]

Things you'll need to know before you read:

* A "Seth Thomas" is a clock
* A "Pike" is another term for a railroad
* Locomotives carried either 2 white or 2 green lanterns on the front. Not one red and one green
* An "Extra" is an unscheduled train
* "Hogger" is another term for Engineer
* A "consist" is a railroad term for a train
* A "Hopper" is an open top short-sided car usually used to haul coal or rock
* An "Extra Board" usually shows which railroaders are working or scheduled to work and what trains are expected


--------

T'was the night before Christmas,
and all down the tracks,
lie a blanket of snow
on the ties in neat stacks.

The station was glowing,
that nice yellow glow,
which beckons the traveler
in from the snow.

The ancient Seth Thomas,
which hung on the wall,
showed the hands nearing midnight,
just ready to call.

As the hammer descended,
and the first strike was heard,
a distant sound joined it...
the call of a bird?

No bird call was this sound,
assuredly not.
It was deeper, and resonant...
yet airy and hot.

As the sound became closer,
with his head out the door,
the station man pondered
the incoming roar.

For no trains were slated
for twelve on that night,
and it seemed to be rushed
on a schedule so tight.

He saw the big headlamp,
and markers so bright,
but something was different
that cold snowy night.

Instead of two white lights,
one marker was green,
and the other was red,
which could clearly be seen.

Now, this wasn't normal
on ANY old pike...
they're white, or their green,
not whatever you like.

So onto the platform
the railroad man went,
for a closer inspection
of this 'extra', Hell bent.

As the cab window passed him,
the old hogger waved,
his white beard aflow
as the weather he braved.

His red suit was spotless,
in spite of the coal,
and his grin was the grin
a jolly old soul.

As the consist roared by,
he could see it was short:
just the loco, one hopper
and caboose to report.

In the hopper he saw
an unusual freight,
of gaily wrapped packages,
stacked nice and straight.

In the whole of ten seconds,
the train had passed through.
The man watched it go,
just as men often do.

The caboose slowly faded
away down the track,
and his pot-bellied stove
started calling him back.

But just as he started
to head for the door,
he had to glance back
at the railroad once more.

How it could happen
he just didn't know.
For the rails through the station
still under snow.

As he went through the doorway,
to comfort from ice,
his eyes fell on something
which made him look twice.

Right next to the telegraph,
wired to his ilk,
sat a plate of warm cookies,
and a glass of fresh milk.

And there on the extra board,
chalked up in white:
"Merry Christmas to all,
and to all a good night!"