August 10, 1989 – The Educational Film Trains is Released
“Gawrsh, I was hoping to meet some of the people who work on this here railroad.”
On August 10, 1989, the second of three educational films in the Goofy’s Field Trips series, titled Trains, was released. It features Bill Farmer as the voice of Goofy.
The short begins at the Rio Grande Train Station, where two kids, Cindy and Peter, are bombarding Peter’s father with questions. Peter’s father asks the kids to wait while he buys the tickets, and as they go to sit down, they spy Goofy in the station, singing to himself. He greets them, and the three magically disappear from the station and reappear near an Amtrak train. They are greeted by the engineer, who explains his job and some logistics of the train and tracks. He then has them meet Sherry, the Chief of Onboard Services, who explains her job before she takes them aboard the train. She introduces several types of rooms, including the dining car. As Peter looks through a book, Sherry explains the different types of trains he spies in his book. She takes them to meet the conductor, who quickly explains his role before the train takes off. The kids and Goofy then are whisked away to the freight yard, where they see a variety of freight trains and meet the yard master. He points out the different kinds of freight trains, which carry different kinds of supplies. He also describes the differences of the trains of old, and the new computerized systems of the time. Afterwards, they head to the dispatch center to learn about the process of dispatching the trains, with the computers helping make sure the trains are doing what they want them to do. The kids then reappear in the main terminal, and head out to their train with Peter’s father. As they pull out of the station, they spy Goofy waving goodbye from the platform.