Rhyon's Christmas Carol

**Rhyon's Christmas Carol** is a movie special. It was scheduled for a Christmas 2019 release, but was postponed and later cancelled due to production issues. In November 2020, production resumed. It was released on Christmas Day 2021.

## Summary

Rhyon hates Christmas and his attitude spoils the festivities for everyone. But when he is visited by three ghost trains, his attitude changes forever. Meanwhile, Sheldon is also against the holiday spirit and plots to steal it from the other engines by getting rid of the coaches for the Christmas Starlight.

## Plot

Rhyon hates Christmas. Every year, he'd express it and spoil the holiday for the others. This concerned the other engines, especially Mitchel and Georgia. Meanwhile, Sheldon also hates Christmas as it reminded him of how lonely he was, especially since his only girlfriend Gwen was forced away from him by Jeff the previous year.

On Christmas Eve, Rhyon decides to sleep at Armour to get away from the others. When Georgia finds him, he angrily drives her away. Byron, overseeing his outburst and annoyed by his lack of remorse, warns him that he'll one day change his ways or face the consequences. Meanwhile, Sheldon comes up with a scheme to steal the coaches of the Christmas Starlight, a special passenger train the engines pull on Christmas.

That night, Rhyon was about to sleep when he encounters something horrifying; the ghost of his long dead friend Jackson, who shared his selfish attitude. Jackson warns him to avoid his fate and tells him that he will be haunted by three spirits. He then vanishes, leaving Rhyon both frightened and confused.

Meanwhile, Sheldon successfully steals the coaches, though he briefly falls victim to one of Ben's pranks. Just before he escapes, Jeff witnesses the commotion.

At 1 AM, Rhyon is woken up by a ghost train that looks like Georgia, who identifies herself as the Ghost Train of Christmas Past. She reveals her intentions to take Rhyon back in time. Though resistant, he reluctantly agrees. She takes him to Port Ogden in 1929, where he sees his younger self celebrating Christmas with Jackson, Lachlan, and his long lost friend Dianne. Then he is shown 1930, where Rhyon becomes too work-focused and negative because of the Wall Street crash causing the Great Depression. He is especially disheartened to see his younger self coldly reject Dianne. He is eventually taken back to the present, where he briefly falls asleep again.

At 2 AM, Rhyon is visited by another engine; this time, an engine that looks like Steven. The engine claims to be the Ghost Train of Christmas Present, which Rhyon partially expected. The engine takes Rhyon to the roundhouse and shows him that Christmas is a time of giving and not getting. He also shows Rhyon that Lachlan is heading home during a snowstorm. When Rhyon asks what it has to do with him, he is shown two rusty engines; one represents ignorance, and the other represents selfishness. The ghost train then vanishes, leaving a now panicky Rhyon on his own for a while.

At 3 AM, he encounters a ghost train that looks like Gwen; he correctly guesses that she's the Ghost Train of Christmas Future, who will show him his fate. He is shown a depressing Christmas morning with the engines grieving the demise of Lachlan in an avalanche. He also hears that he could've saved him as he was the only engine available, but refused due to his selfish nature. He also hears that he has been retired, much to his horror. The ghost train then pushes Rhyon into a scrapyard, but not before he pleas that he can change.

Rhyon wakes up with a start, realising that he is still alive. He also remembers that he has to save Lachlan and rushes out to the rescue. In the storm, he arrives at the scene and pushes Lachlan through a cleared path made by Cabott and the rotary snowplow.

Half an hour later, Rhyon returns to the roundhouse and apologises to Georgia. His apology is interrupted when Mitchel and Jeff arrive with the new that the coaches for the Christmas Starlight are gone, with Jeff confirming that "Sheldon has ruined Christmas". However, Rhyon changes the mood when he gives a speech about what Christmas really means; being with family.

Meanwhile, Sheldon is about to push the coaches off an unfinished bridge in the city. However, he hears the engines singing, indicating that Christmas still isn't stolen. This gives him an epiphany; "maybe Christmas doesn't come from the store, maybe Christmas perhaps means something more". He then saves the coaches with Rhyon's help and returns to the roundhouse. Gwen breaks up with Jeff and chooses to be with Sheldon. Rhyon joins Mitchel and Georgia on a tripleheader run of the Christmas Starlight, now a changed engine.

## Characters

* Rhyon
* Mitchel
* Georgia
* Sheldon
* Jeff
* The Ghost Train of Christmas Past
* The Ghost Train of Christmas Present
* Lachlan
* Byron
* Cabott
* Ryan
* Conner
* Mr. Evans
* Mr. Brown
* Gwen *(does not speak)*
* The Ghost Train of Christmas Future *(does not speak)*
* Amtrak F40PH #281 *(does not speak)*
* Steven *(cameo, mentioned)*
* CP G5d #1278 *(mentioned)*
* Nick *(deleted scene)*
* Umit *(cameo, speaks in deleted scene)*
* Lyle *(early draft)*
* Austin *(early draft)*
* Jim *(early draft)*
* Kale *(early draft)*
* DRGW SD40T-2 #5400 *(early draft)*
* UP DD35A #84 *(early draft)*

## Locations

* Armour, UT
* Port Ogden, AZ
* Port VanDenH, CO
* Stevens, UT
* Jefferson, CO *(mentioned)*

## Cast

* Ahatbears as Rhyon
* NSWSteamFan as Mitchel
* Spo0derGwen as Georgia, Dianne, and the Ghost Train of Christmas Past
* RichmondCityRailfan as Jeff, Conner and Mr. Evans
* Benthetrainkid as Ben, Sheldon, and Mr. Brown
* Mike Studioz as Byron and the Ghost Train of Christmas Present
* 2026 Productions as Ryan
* Noodle Gaming as Lachlan
* Mr3801Fan 26 as Mitchel's engineer

## Production

Following the disastrous results of the pilot episode “Austin’s Bad Day”, AllosaurFan cancelled an upcoming Halloween special to reboot the entire series. After changing the setting to the 1980s, he changed the series premiere from a Halloween special to a Christmas special. The script was completed by early December 2019.

The first production problems occurred when only 2026 Productions, NSWSteamFan, Benthetrainkid and RichmondCityRailfan recorded their lines. The special eventually missed it’s target release date on December 25, 2019, and was postponed to a 2020 release.

Due to the delay, AllosaurFan found the opportunity to look over the script for plot issues. On January 2020, he decided to remove some scenes as he felt they were pointless, though he still wanted to film these scenes for an extended version. These sequences included a brief scene Sheldon chasing after Nicholas and Umit, an argument between Nicholas and Sheldon, a prank pulled off by George on Jeff, an extended scene of Ryan criticising the series, and an extended ending with Sheldon raging on Boxing Day. During production, several characters were written out; Skander, who was replaced by Umit and Jeff. By late January, the final draft looked completely different from the original script. After the rewrite, the special was changed from the series premiere to Season 1 finale.

On February, Ets2Fanatic4581, Noodle Gaming and Frog\_princess766 recorded their lines and filing began. By March 2019, five scenes have been complete, with three being cut.

As the days passed, AllosaurFan began to find the project hopeless because of the production problems and delays. On April 20, the special was officially cancelled.

On November 2nd, the special resumed production, albeit with several script changes.

## Trivia

### Fun Facts

* It's the first movie special of the series.
* AllosaurFan makes a cameo as Mitchel's engineer.
* When Ryan says "We might have another Gettysburg on our hands", it is a reference to CP 1278's backdraft boiler explosion that occurred on the Gettysburg Railroad in 1995.
	+ Ryan's incident with a crane arm would later foreshadow Strasburg 475's incident that occurred one year later after the video's release.

### Cultural References

* The movie is a retelling of Charles Dickens' *A Christmas Carol* and Dr. Seuss' *How the Grinch Stole Christmas*.
	+ Some of the characters portray characters from *A Christmas Carol*:
		- Rhyon portrays Ebenezer Scrooge.
		- Jackson portrays Jacob Marley.
		- Lachlan portrays Tiny Tim.
		- Dianne portrays Belle.
	+ Sheldon's line "Maybe Christmas doesn't come from the store, maybe Christmas perhaps means something more" is a direct reference to the latter.
* Ben's TV pranks are a reference to *Home Alone*.
* Ahatbears, found the special similar to *An All Dogs Christmas Carol*, though AllosaurFan denied that the similarities were intended, having only seen the original *All Dogs Go To Heaven*.
* The tumbleweed in Sheldon's flashback is sourced from the video game *Don't Starve*.

### Continuity

* Once again, Mr. Brown is the yardmaster of Armour. This is because he is substituting the usual yardmaster.
* The events of Sheldon's flashback would later be mentioned again in No More Mr. Nice Guy.

## Goofs

### Finished Film

* Most of Mitchel's lines are inaudible.
* The poster depicts the northern lights. In real life, they can't be seen from Utah as it's too far from the North Pole. Mr3801Fan 26 was aware of the geographical mistake, but thought that the light display would give the poster a magical vibe. In addition, there is also smoke coming out of Georgia's funnel despite it being covered up by a Santa hat.
* In some shots, the Christmas tree at the station is already gone before Sheldon throws it in the river.
* In Sheldon's flashback, the tumbleweed suddenly disappears before it leaves the scene.
* During the scene where Ben plays a prank on Jeff, the TV is in clear view, but Jeff doesn't see it.
* Ben would actually be trapped in the yard as Jeff's train looks too long to fit in the siding.
* When Georgia pulls in during Sheldon's tirade, the cursor is visible.
* Throughout the special, Armour yard is mostly emtpy, though this could be due the frequent use of freight cars during the Christmas season.
* During the scene where Byron tells off Rhyon for his outburst, he is incorrectly numbered 4004.
	+ When YouTube user Rainier Bagatsing pointed that out, AllosaurFan created an explanation that he was masquerading as classmate 4004 for a photo special.
* In real life, Ryan would need serious repairs after getting hit in the smokebox with a crane. 2026 Productions was aware of this and improvised the "We might have another Gettysburg on our hands" monologue.
	+ This creates a another goof, as said Gettysburg Railroad accident didn't occur until 1995.
* When Ben says "a water tanker is a metaphorical wet floor sign", he is detached from the coaches. In the next shot however, he is coupled to them.
* When Rhyon and the Ghost Train of Christmas Past fly past the camera, a jet sled is visible.
* Dianne is a fictional locomotive inspired by the Berkshires of the Nickel Plate Road and Pere Marquette railroads. Both locomotives were not built until the 1940s. However, it could be assumed that Dianne is a prototype.
* When Rhyon says "No! No! This can't be who I am!", the curser briefly appears on screen.
* Mitchel's engineer's lines are a bit muffled.
* Even after Cabott's rotary cleared the tracks, there are still plenty of snowdrifts.
* In some scenes, Benjamin has a square roof cab rather than a rounded roof cab, as those scenes were filmed before AllosaurFan acquired a Trainz model of the rounded roof cab CF7.
* When Mitchel's engineer says "You going to his send off?", his voice is distorted and almost inaudible. This was due to a recording error.

### Unreleased Draft

* In one shot, Georgia is supposed to be looking at Mitchell. However, she appears to be looking at the camera. The same thing happens to Umit when he is supposed to be looking at Nicholas.
* In one shot, even though Rhyon has left the siding. However, when Georgia talks to Nicholas and Umit, he reappears.
* In several scenes, the engines facial features are too far from their faces.

## Gallery

### Other

First prototype posterSecond prototype poster
## Media

The Port Ogden Rail Chronicles- Rhyon's Christmas Carol