Of all my wife’s stuffed animals, there are three that have a special allure. Every time I walk by them, they seem to be alive, and I can almost hear them speak to me.

For quite some time, I had been after them to pose for one of my paintings, but they always said no. Finally, I convinced two of them. When that painting was completed, they all liked what they saw so much that they wouldn’t leave me alone. They wanted me to paint all three of them together. To silence them, I decided that they could join Olivia, the little girl in “All Aboard,” on her toy train.

Boy, what actors they were; real hams, in fact. They wanted to pretend that they were on a real train, speeding downhill with the wind in their faces. So I let them have their way.

For those of you who have no imagination, these little characters might appear as if they are just stuffed animals sitting on a toy train. For me though, they are real and full of life, aboard a charging locomotive, with the wind in their faces, courageously speeding downhill toward a wonderful adventure. – JD