Upgrading the Railway Network

by The Stainmore Phoenix

Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Dangersignal sat, feeling cold and alone. He was crying softly, the tears tasting bitter. He always prided himself with having a clean slate, but this was too much and he felt as if he was going to fall apart at the joints. As he wiped tears away and stood up, he looked in the window to see a familiar figure reflected in it.

“Dash!” he said.

“Hey, there!” she said, then stopped. “Something wrong?”

Dangersignal sighed and explained what was happening and how he felt.

“I feel so…,” he began, but cut off as Rainbow Dash placed a hoof up and on his shoulder.

“You feel lost,” she said. “That’s because of your losses and how you’ve had to look after yourself and your younger brother. I wish you’d actually learn to live life to the fullest!”

He smiled at her and the two embraced. Jaisson soon arrived and chuckled.

“When’s the wedding?” he asked.

The Alicorn and Pegasus looked at him, each going redder than the pannier’s livery. They were in love and there was no denying it. Everyone saw their faces trying to hide that fact and failing miserably.

“Wait,” Dragonstorm said. “You fell in love with one of Princess Twilight’s friends and didn’t tell anyone?”

“Actually, I fell in love with him,” Rainbow Dash said, sheepishly.

“And she looked rather beautiful that one Grand Galloping Gala night I had off,” Dangersignal said. “The two of us struck up a conversation and, well, things went off in a pleasant direction.”

No sooner had Dangersignal finished, when a loud commotion was heard downstairs. The humans, Alicorns and Pegasus made their way to the action, which was the manager fuming and ranting about the “Griffon Parcel Service”.

“What is the Griffon Parcel Service?” Tobias asked.

“A mail service. Lots of post come from the Griffon Kingdom and they don’t even bother to sort it, so mail is delayed getting to it’s intended destinations,” Rainbow Dash explained. “Evidentually, the mail comes to this coast and is just dumped here, meaning that there is a ton of mail left unsorted and undelivered.”

“I’ve got it!” Jordon said.

“What?”

“A nightly mail train!” Jordon said. “We deliver the mail during the night, so the ponies and other residents of Equestria get their letters and packages in the morning.”

The manager of the hotel turned to see them standing there. He came to them.

“Think you can get this mail delivered if we sort it out here?” he asked.

“We can, but we need to phone to all the stations to let them know that a nightly mail service has been established,” Tobias said. “It’ll make life easier on us all.”

The manager ran to make the calls, while Dangersignal, Rainbow Dash and Tobias made their way to the warehouse, where they inspected the engines and decided to fire up a medium sized tender engine in GWR green with strange side plating and stranger looking wheels.

“The Aberdare Class, built by the GWR for goods trains, but some worked postal trains,” Tobias explained. “Great engines for getting trains like this moving with very little coal wasted and steam lost.”

“Brilliant,” Dangersignal said.

Tobias went and began lighting the fire while Dangersignal and Rainbow Dash placed lamps on the locomotive’s front. One lamp was set on a metal rod that Tobias called a “Lamp Iron”, which was directly over the coupling, while the other was set over the locomotive’s right buffer.

“Why are these strange objects arranged like this?” Rainbow Dash asked her boyfriend.

“These are lamps and the arrangement is called a “Headcode”, which tells a person called a signalman that a mail or express perishable goods is coming through,” Dangersignal replied. “You know what perishable goods are, right?”

“Uh, apples?” She responded, sounding confused.

“Fruits, vegetables, fish, milk. Basically, anything that can go rotten in the heat or in very off weather,” Dangersignal said.

“Ah,” she said. “But mail doesn’t “Go bad”?”

Tobias chuckled, “No, but because it is a special type of train, it is lumped with the express perishable goods, as they are both trains that carry needed supplies.”

Rainbow Dash nodded. Soon, the engine had steam up and was being moved about, shunting together a one coach mail train. Once all was ready, Tobias collected his fire Alicorn and their passenger, then made their way to the station, where the others were waiting with postal sacks.

As the mail was loaded, Dragonstorm came to the cab.

“All but Jaisson will travel with the letters and parcels. He’ll travel in the brake van,” he explained. “Make sure you don’t go breaking any Gresley records!”

He made his way to the postal coach, which would be uncomfortable for him. Once the final door shut, Dangersignal looked back to see that Jaisson was showing a green lamp and blowing his guard’s whistle.

“RIGHT AWAY!” Dangersignal turned to Tobias. ‘We’ve got the signal!”

PHEEEP!

Tobias advanced the regulator and the train moved slowly off. Soon, the train was flying along the line. Rainbow Dash was sitting on the footplate of the cab, the wind whistling. The rails hummed, signals showed green, the moonlight danced around the train. The lamps cut through the darkness like a knife cutting through bread.

Just then, a “distant” signal warned Tobias and Dangersignal that Canterlot was nearby. Tobias slowed down and gave a special signal on the engine’s whistle-two short, pause, three short, pause one.

“What was that?” Rainbow Dash asked.

“I was whistling to our postal crew that Canterlot is coming up and to get ready to offload the letters and parcels for the town,” Tobias said.

Rainbow Dash nodded and watched as Dangersignal threw a shovel load of coal on the fire. He stopped and mopped his brows.

“Tiring work this,” he huffed.

“I know, but we’ll have a rest at the station,” Tobias replied.

Just then, they looked skyward to see a Pegasus that Rainbow Dash knew. She gritted her teeth and snarled.

“Lightning Dust!”

“Who?” Tobias asked.

“A Pegasus who once nearly killed Rainbow’s friends,” Dangersignal said. “Last I heard, she was sent packing, never to return to the Wonderbolts Academy. I bet she wants to race our train, to see who’s better.”

Dangersignal was right. Lightning Dust hovered near the cab and looked inward, with disgust.

“Dashie,” she snorted. “You give all Equestrians a bad name hanging with a human and a filthy Alicorn guard who’s of no use at all to the royalty.”

“Don’t you have any badges to lose in shame?” Dangersignal asked sweetly.

“GGGGRRRR!” Lightning Dust snarled.

Rainbow Dash was laughing and so was Tobias, who couldn’t resist laughing when he heard that Lightning Dust was “sent away in disgrace.”

“Well, I challenge you to a race,” she huffed indignantly.

“We’d love to, but we can’t delay any mail. Besides, you’d be seeing return before you got halfway to our next destination,” Tobias said. “We’re on time and that’s all I have to say.”

The guard’s whistle sounded and Rainbow pulled the whistle lever, giving a toot of acceptance. Tobias advanced the regulator and the train moved off, leaving a fuming Lightning Dust in its wake. The crew were working hard to keep to time.

“How about I teach you both a song?” he asked.

“Certainly!” Rainbow Dash squeaked excitedly.

“Okay, the song is called “Night Mail, performed by W.H. Auden, and was used on the last four minutes of a British Railway documentary called “Night Mail” which is about the night mail train.”

“Sounds like it could be fun,” Dangersignal said.

“Okay, here goes,” Tobias said, and began.

“This is the Night Mail crossing the border,
Bringing the cheque and the postal order,
Letters for the rich, letters for the poor,
The shop at the corner and the girl next door.

Pulling up Beattock, a steady climb:
The gradient's against her, but she's on time.
Thro' sparse counties she rampages,
Her driver's eye upon the gauges.

Panting up past lonely farms
Fed by the fireman's restless arms.
Striding forward along the rails
Thro' southern uplands with northern mails.

Winding up the valley to the watershed,
Thro' the heather and the weather and the dawn overhead.
Past cotton-grass and moorland boulder
Shovelling white steam over her shoulder,

Snorting noisily as she passes
Silent miles of wind-bent grasses.
Birds turn their heads as she approaches,
Stare from the bushes at her blank-faced coaches.

Sheepdogs cannot turn her course;
They slumber on with paws across.
In the farm she passes no one wakes,
But a jug in the bedroom gently shakes.

Dawn freshens, the climb is done.
Down towards Glasgow she descends
Towards the steam tugs yelping down the glade of cranes,
Towards the fields of apparatus, the furnaces

Set on the dark plain like gigantic chessmen.
All Scotland waits for her:
In the dark glens, beside the pale-green sea lochs
Men long for news.

Letters of thanks, letters from banks,
Letters of joy from the girl and the boy,
Receipted bills and invitations
To inspect new stock or visit relations,

And applications for situations
And timid lovers' declarations
And gossip, gossip from all the nations,
News circumstantial, news financial,

Letters with holiday snaps to enlarge in,
Letters with faces scrawled in the margin,
Letters from uncles, cousins, and aunts,
Letters to Scotland from the South of France,

Letters of condolence to Highlands and Lowlands
Notes from overseas to Hebrides
Written on paper of every hue,
The pink, the violet, the white and the blue,

The chatty, the catty, the boring, adoring,
The cold and official and the heart's outpouring,
Clever, stupid, short and long,
The typed and the printed and the spelt all wrong.

Thousands are still asleep
Dreaming of terrifying monsters,
Or of friendly tea beside the band at Cranston's or Crawford's:
Asleep in working Glasgow, asleep in well-set Edinburgh,

Asleep in granite Aberdeen,
They continue their dreams,
And shall wake soon and long for letters,

And none will hear the postman's knock
Without a quickening of the heart,
For who can bear to feel himself forgotten?

“That was awesome!” Rainbow Dash cheered.

“I agree with Dash,” Dangersignal said.

“Let’s try singing it on the way to Ponyville,” Tobias said.

It was agreed and after turning around at the Crystal Empire, they headed off towards Ponyville, singing the song and having a jolly good run. The train reached Ponyville on time, the bags were unloaded then the train moved off to continue along.

The sun was just coming up as the train trundled back to the depot. They had broken just about every other record in the books and then some during their night run. Ponies were just waking up and getting ready for the day. However, the crew of the mail train were ready for the beds.

“That’s something that’s gotta stop,” Dangersignal yawned. “We can’t keep up with all this work and be expected to carry out our other duties.”

“Agreed,” Tobias said, as he drew the train to a stop at Ponyville goods platform.

Just then, a shout was heard and the “night mail” crew looked to see five other ponies coming towards the train.

One was an Alicorn like Dangersignal, but had a bright purple coat with dark purple and pink mane and tail, with a giant star, surrounded by smaller stars on her flank.

Another one was a bright while Unicorn with purple mane and tail, with three diamonds on her flank.

The third one had a bright yellow mane and tail, dark yellow coat with three apples on her flank and she wore a hat.

The fourth was a bright yellow Pegasus with butterflies on her flank and she had a bright pink mane and tail.

The last pony had a light pink coat with a darker pink mane and tail. The mane was puffed up a lot more than the other ponies manes.

“Hey Dashie!” the pink one squeaked excitedly.

“Hey Pinkie,” Rainbow Dash yawned. “Can we catch up later. A bed has my name on it.”

The others were confused, but there came a clank as the signal dropped. Tobias gave a toot in reply and moved the heavy train off. Glancing back, Dangersignal noticed that the bright yellow one dove behind the others.

“I think we unintentionally scared Fluttershy,” Dangersignal said.

Rainbow Dash just shook her head. The train rolled into the yards, and after dumping the fire, the team went off to bed. Thankfully, there were no passengers traveling that day and they could sleep. Something had to be done, as the small group couldn’t handle all this work. Nine humans, two Alicorns and a Pegasus were not enough.

Author's Note:

At the request of Dangersignal, I included him and Rainbow Dash singing that song. They have also asked me to write down some of the other events, so there will be a lot more to Dangersignal than first exists.