Welcome back, everybody! It is wonderful to see you all again.
A number of changes have occurred since we last caught up with the engines of this little railway. One morning Scootaloo rolled out of her shed to be greeted by Ocellus.
“Good morning!” the Changeling called.
“Morning,” Scootaloo groaned. “Don’t you have any idea what time it is?”
“The others have already gone to work,” Ocellus told her. “And you have a goods train to take up the line.”
Scootaloo immediately forgot to be grumpy, and set off for the yard.
Amongst the many changes was the acquisition of new carriages. In addition to the old four-wheel carriages, there were now open-air bogie coaches, which had been converted from old flatbeds. There was even a new guard’s van, from which tickets could be sold on the move, eliminating the need for ticket staff on some days.
Scootaloo gently backed up into the yard, and rolled onto the slate wagons. The impact was suitably gentle, and she was hooked up in no time. With a gentle application of the regulator, she was soon away and up the line.
“It’s a lot smoother than I remember it,” she thought. "They must have fixed all the bumps in the rails. But I don’t recall there being a maintenance train!”
She got her answer at the first station. Pulling into the platform, she noticed that a passing loop had been added, as well as signalling and a signal box.
A loud beeping suddenly distracted her thoughts, and a train rolled into the siding with a diesel at either end.
The first diesel was very squat. It had 4 wheels, connecting rods, a long, flat bonnet, and a squat cab. It was painted blue, with orange lining.
The other diesel was noticeably larger. It had 6 wheels with connecting rods, a bonnet and engine cover that extended from one end of the engine to the other, a cab positioned about ¾ of the way down the engine, and a large funnel mounted to the front. It was painted yellow (or was it umber?) with blue lining.
“Hello!” said the first diesel.
“Who are you?” asked Scootaloo. “I’ve never seen you two before!”
“I’m Snips!” said the first diesel.
“And I’m Snails!” said the other. “We pull the maintenance train. It’s thanks to us that the track is nice and smooth around here!”
“So, you’re the engines that cleaned up the track!” Scootaloo exclaimed. “Nice job guys, it was getting a little bumpy.”
“A little bumpy?” asked Snips.
Just then, the guard’s whistle went. “Gotta go!” said Scootaloo. “See ya!”
The passenger train rolled into the distance.
“Who was she?” asked Snips.
“Go back to sleep,” Snails replied. The signal shifted and away they went, the two diesels making quite the noise as they did.
Scootaloo rumbled up the line, still smiling at all the beautiful sights along the line. At the lakeside station she noticed yet more changes. A railway vanished off into the forest, running parallel with the quarry line for a few hundred yards before vanishing into the undergrowth. Some sidings had also been built to accommodate...something.
The old tank engine’s attention was distracted by a whistle. Coming down the line with a passenger train was Apple Bloom. “Howdy Scootaloo!” the chipper yellow tank engine called, her tanks gleaming and her nameplate shining in the sun. Safe to say, following naming, Diamond Tiara had stopped bothering her.
“How was your run?” Scootaloo asked.
“It’s been good thanks,” Apple Bloom smiled. Her face then changed to a frown. “But we got a problem.”
“What sort of problem?” Scootaloo was nervous.
“We got a couple of new engines. One of them is called Babs Seed. She worked in a factory in Manehattan, and her language can be rather strong.”
“She won’t give me any nonsense,” Scootaloo said optimistically.
Suddenly, there was another whistle. It echoed across the valley from the treeline.
Progressively, a loud rumbling noise could be heard. It got louder, and louder, AND LOUDER.
Then it emerged from the trees and onto the line. It was the strangest engine that Scootaloo had ever seen.
It was a very long engine. It had 3 bogies, atop which sat a very long, offset boiler, a running board coated in ash, a large funnel that reminded Scootaloo of a coffee filter, and 3 cylinders. But these were not arranged like those on most steam engines. They were positioned vertically, underneath the cab on the right-hand side. These connected to a series of gears along the side of the bogies, which span round as this engine rolled backwards. The cylinders roared round and round, as the engine worked double time. The noise being produced was worthy of a mainline engine going 5 times the speed.
This engine was pulling 5 cars loaded with logs. He stopped in the platform on his side, then changed course and moved forward to push them into the siding. He was uncoupled, and backed up again, in order to have a long drink.
“Good morning!” he said. “You’re Scootaloo, I take it?”
Scootaloo couldn’t help but be charmed by his friendliness. “Yup!” she replied.
“That sounds like somethin’ that 9F would say!” Apple Bloom called. “What’s his name...Big...Whopper? No, that ain’t right...” she went on puzzling out this engine’s name.
The big engine continued speaking. “I’m Rumble,” he said. “Apparently I got the nickname because I make the rails shake. I was originally used by a logging railroad in Vanhoover, but when that closed down, I came here to work the new logging line.”
“I've never seen an engine like you before,” Scootaloo said.
“I’m a Shay. Named after my inventor. There’s another Shay here, called Pipsqueak, and a Climax called Featherweight.”
Just then the foreman appeared. “Babs has derailed on the quarry line just outside the tunnel. She’s jammed in one of the tunnel portals.”
Scootaloo looked forward. “Nice meeting you Rumble,” she said, “But I’ve gotta go now. See you soon!”
“See ya!” he replied, as the smaller tank engine puffed away.
Apple Bloom was still figuring out this engine’s name. “Mighty...tugboat?” She finally got it. “Big Mac! That’s his name, Scootaloo!” But then she noticed Scootaloo was gone. “Aw dangit.”
Scootaloo passed through the top station and proceeded onwards to the quarry line. The run was fairly easy with her empty train. Sure enough, she came to the tunnel. An engine was poking out of the other end. It had 4 driving wheels, a very narrow boiler, a pair of tanks mounted right next to the cab, and no bunker. She was painted umber, with ruby red lining. She looked very cross, and was arguing loudly with the guard.
“Listen up, cuz!” she said, in her thick Manehattan accent, “You should build tunnels properly, or else not build them at all!”
“We know full well you can fit through this tunnel, Babs Seed!” the guard snapped. “If you didn’t insist on rocking about, we wouldn’t be in this mess!”
“And I wouldn’t be stuck here if you’d done that gauging run properly!”
Scootaloo pulled forward. “I’m here to help,” she said.
“Good riddance,” said the guard. He coupled Scootaloo up, who pulled Babs back with her. Sweetie Belle was being sent up to retrieve the trucks.
Babs sulked the whole way down the line. When they returned to the shed, Miss Cheerilee was not pleased.
“Babs Seed, Babs Seed, what are we going to do?” she asked.
“It ain’t mah fault I don’t fit in a stupid tunnel,” Babs snapped back.
“You ride too roughly,” Cheerilee replied. “If this doesn’t improve, I’ll have you painted pink.”
Babs simply scowled at her.