by John P. Meyer

The really big show is there for one more day: Go for the FREE, stay for the Dickens memorabilia.

True confession: I was not thrilled about getting up before 6 a.m. on Tuesday (Aug. 18) so I could stumble into some random clothing items and catch the DART train, in order to be at Union Station in time for the 7:30 a.m. ribbon cutting ceremony for Disney's A Christmas Carol train tour.

But once I got there -- and particularly after beginning the tour of the four tricked-out Amtrak train cars housing the Dickens memorabilia and insider filmmaking ephemera -- I was glad I'd dragged my night-owl butt down there.

You can perhaps understand my cynicism: I mean, really now: ANOTHER version of Dickens' A Christmas Carol? What the hey was filmmaker Bob Zemeckis thinking?, I thought. Even after hearing that the movie was to be produced in 3D and IMAX, I wondered whether there was anything at all new that could be brought to the cinematic storytelling table.

Well, color me converted, because the experience of walking through the fabulous Amtrak and Hewlett Packard-sponsored, museum-like, traveling iron horse display was enough to get me as excited as the dickens.

Dallas Mayor Tom Leppert and assorted other dignitaries (including Asst. Chief J.A. Bernal of the Dallas Police Dept.; Charles English, president of the Boys & Girls Club of Greater Dallas; Marc Magliari, media relations manager for Amtrak; and Bob Gault, V.P. of special events at Disney) got there almost as early as I did in order to cut the ceremonial ribbon on the whing ding.

Dallas is the 21st of 40 stops on the country-wide tour for the bald-faced promotional (yet remarkably entertaining) event. Before the train pulls out of the station again (after 4 p.m. on Wednesday, Aug. 19) you'll have a chance to grab up the kiddos and herd them downtown for a free tour of the stuff you can see in our video and photo gallery, appended here.

The movie itself -- which you can get a glimpse of in the on-site, inflatable 3D theater (!) -- opens on Nov. 6.

"God bless us, every one."

What do you think?