Customer Reviews

There Goes a Train [VHS]

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This movie has it all: trains, more trains, information, and action! We see antique steam engines, diesel freight trains, Amtrak passenger trains, and roundhouses.

"Engineer" Dave shows us what the conductors, brakemen, and service attendants do. But he is a day-dreamer and doesn't listen to directions, then goofs up on the job. It's very silly and cute. In the end, he saves the day by stopping the train before it hits a car stuck on the tracks.

The Amtrak portion of the video is so well done, it almost ran like an infomercial for Amtrak. I wanted to go on a train after watching it with my 2-year old.

It's perfect for any preschooler who's interested in trains.

My 2 year old son (and I) are great fans of the 'There goes a...' video series. There Goes a Train was his first video and is still one of his favorites.

In the video, the host 'Dave' gets to play at being an engineer, brakeman, conductor etc. and ends up daydreaming and goofing up his assignments. Having purchased five tapes in the 'There Goes a ...' series, the videos are entertaining and educational with simple explantations about how things (trains) work. My 2 year old son is still captivated by the video after having watched it dozens of times. The 30 minute video has a number of different mini-storylines and never seems to get boring, even for adults.

This is what I hear when my two-and-a-half year old son wakes up every morning. I have seen this video so many times I have it memorized. Heck, I could probably operate a train myself. All kidding aside, the video is very informative, a little silly (but minimally so and not condescending), and quite entertaining for kids this age. We tried to get the boy to watch other videos in this series, but he only wants this one - every time - time after time. Warning: If you get this video and you find yourself waking up in the middle of the night saying "I can do that...I can collect the tickets," know you are not alone. : )

Our four-year-old son has obsessed over trains since he was about one. On a whim, we purchased this video, not knowing at the time that it would become one of his absolute favorite things on this planet! Three years later, he still asks us to play it -- sometimes several times a day! We recently went to the local video store and rented "There Goes An Airplane" for him and he seems to be as facinated with that as with the train video. Now, I have a pretty strong hunch that we'll be probably getting the entire Dream Big series, eventually, if our son has anything to say about it (and he talks a lot!). For train buffs, check out the "Thomas the Tank Engine" series as well -- as Tony the Tiger would put it, "THEY'RE GREAT!" too.

We have three of the "There Goes A ...." videos with Dave Hood. Our three-year old loves them all, though I would say this is not the best one. If you don't own "There Goes a Fire Truck", that one is even better and I'd recommend that instead; if, however, you are blessed with a tiny train fiend, this should be very entertaining for them (and you too).

Engineer Dave does a very good job of entertaining children while he explains the workings of various locomotives, though the device of daydreaming and then messing up on the job is used too many times, and Dave is caught sleeping on the job too. Also, as another reviewer said, there's a long segment in which Dave climbs along a moving train to alert the engineer to a car stalled on the track up ahead. The bad safety example is second only to the atrocious acting! It would have been better to have spent that time showing more of these fascinating vehicles. When the film is on track (so to speak) it is excellent.

My son is the train nut. We own a whole series of train videos ranging from highly specialized (e.g. "Working Steam", about trains used Post WWII to do industrial work.) to the highly popular "There goes a train". There goes a train is a very entertaining and also quite educational. However, if you want pure trains without all the "acting", I recommend "There goes a Train I and II" and "Choo Choo Trains: Up close and personal".

We span the ages 2, 5 and 60 years. This is one of the best. We all watch it over and over.

my 29 month old son is fascinated with trains. I found this tape to be very education not only about the world of trains but in safety around trains.

This video hold kids attention, but is also on a level that adults don't mind sitting and watching. It gives the opportunity for quality family time. My 21 month old can't get enough of this video.

My 2-year-old son is also a great fan of the "There Goes A..." series. As with the other early videos in the series, this video features Dave Hood as "engineer-for-a-day", and he takes us through different trains. As a parent, I like the video EXCEPT for the ending portion, wherein Dave rides the train at the San Deigo railroad museum and has to "walk" on the outside of the train (while it's moving!) to save the train from hitting a car on the tracks. The sequence is long, does not have any of the educational components of the other parts of the video, and seems exactly contrary to the "safety first" message. Other than that, the rest is a great children's introduction to trains and railroads.