The Little Train That Couldn't, by Some Guy (1997)

Once upon a piece of paper, in Crantlin Valley, a little train named Jim arrived at his new home. Jim was a boxcar train from Alabama. Jim felt very unimportant.
One day all of the airplanes and trains that brought the regular load of toys from Crantlin Valley to Merold City went on strike. The city needed one shipment a year. The conductor told Jim that he was needed badly to get the toys to Merold City. The one problem was that the tracks had not been used since the last shipment, being when the transportation vehicles went on strike. "Oh boy!" thought Jim, "My chance to show I'm important!" Along he went on his journey.
A week later, Jim was still trying to deal with the tracks. After a steep climb up a hill, Jim came to a rickety bridge made of a rope that looked as strong as old hair. "What in the heck!" Jim yelled out loud. For this was not the right track. "Someone must have hit the railroad track switch." He had guessed correctly, for the trains on strike had flipped the switch a year ago. "If I can make it across this bridge," thought Jim, "it will be easy going the rest of the way." Along the bridge he chugged, swaying back and forth, picking out the moss between the moist planks like a toothpick. Suddenly he started to hear a groaning sound. Jim moved farther, and reached the edge. Another groan told Jim the bridge would fall any second. Snap! The fibers resembling a rope broke leaving Jim's boxcars suspended in mid-air.
The jolt of the cars falling down almost pulled Jim over the side, but the courageous train stood firm. Straining from the weight of the cars, Jim tugged furiously. The job suddenly got much easier. "All that work in Alabama sure paid off!" he thought. Actually, the toys had been falling out of the cars, and shattering as they hit the bottom of the cavernous pit. However, Jim could not hear them, for he was too caught up in his imagination, picturing the headlines screaming, "HERO TRAIN SAVES TOY SHIPMENT".
Finally, after working hard for what seemed an eternity, he lifted the boxcars clear of the hole. The rest of the trip seemed easier. He never figured out why, till he reached the station in Merold City, for he was a stupid train, and didn't even think of perhaps losing the toys. The conductor told Jim what had happened, and never did Jim try such a stupid trip again.
THE END