Hallmark Channel

Here comes Santa Claus, here comes Santa Claus… What? Another Hallmark Chick Flick? Well, at least it features a real, live steam locomotive, that I’ve never reviewed before. Connecticut Valley Line Hype!

Kudos to Ben Haas for providing THIS MOST USEFUL LINK describing the origin and travels of this steam engine. In a nutshell, our 2-8-2 locomotive was constructed by Alco in 1920 for the Portland, Astoria & Pacific Railroad (a proposed line that was never built). Valley Railroad #40 spent a good portion of its life on the Aberdeen & Rockfish Railroad in North Carolina before moving to Essex, Connecticut.

Time travel is involved (a la “For All Time 2000”), so set your clocks back, err… forward, be flexible, and enjoy the show. Merry Christmas!

ROWF! Look at those eyes! The two protagonists on our time machine train are (left – Lyndsy Fonseca as Angie Reynolds and right – Christopher Lloyd as the enigmatic Train Conductor).

Green with gold flecks on Angie, dontcha think?

Grand Central Terminal, New York City. Angie finds a ticket counter with no line. She’s heading home for a quiet Christmas by herself.

How about that brass clock on the Information Booth?

A golden ticket? Well, let’s just rip off Polar Express, shall we?

With minutes to spare, Angie dashes for the train. I love the purple stairs!

Filmmakers splurged on a simple red “wrap” to cover up the Amtrak logos and blue sides of several Amfleet coaches and food service car. Track 5 has a sign pointing to New Jersey.

Dozing off, Angie awakens to a couple shocks: The equipment she’s now riding is from long ago and former boyfriend #1 Tyler Grant (played by Eric Freeman) is smirking in her direction.

Discombobulated, Angie runs forward into the diner. Hey, that’s the old guy from the ticket counter at GCT!

The conductor informs her that it is 10 years ago (2011 instead of 2021), and she’s got to set everything right before the return part of her gold ticket will reappear.

Nice Christmas decorations on the Connecticut Valley train.

Clanking into Shepard’s Ferry (Essex, CT) train station, comes Valley Railroad #40. Angie squeals in delight that her Daddy (played by Matt Walton) is there to greet her.

Notice the old New Haven Railroad script lettering on the tender beside Tyler. F.B. #1 is pressed into service schlepping Angie’s baggage to the awaiting SUV.

Hubba-hubba! She doesn’t appear in any train scenes, but check out Angie’s Mom! 1980’s heartthrob, Lea Thompson still can strut her stuff. Zowie!

Before I forget, here’s a couple peeks at Angie’s former boyfriend #2, Ben Lee (played by Chandler Massey). Both F.B.s are kinda Metro, although #1 leans “bad boy” and #2 leans “nice guy”.

Guess which one she winds up with?

Okay, back to the trains for some daylight shots. The first image shows #40 pulling a train along the Connecticut River, which the tourist line follows for quite a ways. First coach is Pullman parlor car “Great Republic”. Detail shots of 2-8-2 #40. Notice the added-in snow (special effects).

Night time. Angie’s fixing to leave town. Hey, the RETURN ticket portion has reappeared! Beautiful scene of #40 letting off steam.

An ecstatic Angie phones one of the F.B.s, (I won’t say which), and tells him to meet her at the top of the Empire State Building. No, wait. That’s “An Affair to Remember 1957” — THE prototype chick flick. Anyway, the tender lettering behind Angie reads, “The Valley Railroad Company / Connecticut Valley Line”.

Final Connecticut train scenes finds #40 pulling out of the station and through a “time portal” back to 2021. Check out that spiffy red caboose at the end. I’m pretty sure it’s THIS ONE.

Here’s what IMDb has to say about Next Stop, Christmas:
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt15412176/

If you have ANY information about this movie you’d like to share, please contact me at: Lindsay.Korst@gmail.com, or leave a comment.  Thanks and enjoy the blog!

THE END