Rumble strolled along Barr Street, a relative nice cul-de-sac hidden away on the side of town. It had some pleasant homes scattered along it, lined up in that trademark inflexible rigid format used in so many American streets. The street ran down for about a mile or so, but Rumble knew exactly where he was headed. He walked about halfway down the street. He felt somewhat bad about leaving his friends next to Western Champion, which had been shunted back into its shed to protect it from the elements, but it was neccesary, as they needed some extra help with the engine.
He walked up to a house which was not too different from any of the others. Just your average, A frame American home, probably built by the Levitt company in the 1950s or something like that. He stepped down the drive, and onto the path. Sat on the ground was a rock, with an egg sat behind it. Rumble bent down to look at it, only to see it was a xenomorph egg (thankfully, there was no Facehugger in it. Rumble would rather not go the way John Hurt did). He sighed. However lived here had an odd sense of humour. He walked up to the door, and knocked on it three times, as per the instructions posted on the door.
A moment later, a woman opened the door. She had dark grey skin, and dark blue hair that was currently tied back behind her head. She also had green eyes that seemed to glow in the darkness. She was currently dressed in a blue T shirt, and grey slacks, with a pair of black boots to match. She smiled when she saw who it was. "Ah, Rumble!" she said. "Nice to see you again. It's been a while."
"Hey, Chrysalis," Rumble replied. Chrysalis worked for the local police department, and was pretty high ranking. However, today was her day off, and as school had ended for the day, Rumble knew precisely why she was at home.
"Are you wanting to see Thorax?" Chrysalis asked. Rumble was good friends with Thorax, who was Chrysalis' son, and it was fairly common for the two of them to work together on school projects.
"Ocellus too, if you wouldn't mind," Rumble added. "You see, we found something in town-"
"It wasn't a mail bag loaded with gold and diamonds, was it?" Chrysalis asked jokingly. The first time they had met, it was in March shortly after a mail train had been robbed on the California Coast Railroad. The Crusaders, as well as Rumble, Button, and Pip, had helped to recover the other mail bags, and the robbers had been arrested. That had been one hell of a day. "Because if it was, that would really throw the spanner in the works for me."
"It was something better," Rumble smiled. "It was an engine, in that old shed in town that people haven't been in years."
The woman's face brightened up almost immediately. "Well," she said, "Thorax will definitely want to hear about this. But come in, and welcome to the Hive."
Rumble stepped through the door into the house, shutting it behind him. Shortly after he had done so, a boy with black or grey skin and orange hair, as well as purple eyes, stepped forward, wearing a green shirt and jeans with a pair of trainers and red socks on his feet. "Hey Rumble!" he called.
"Hi Thorax!" Rumble replied. Rumble and Thorax had been pretty close for years, and had covered each other's backs for years. They had first become friends after Rumble had come to the defence of Thorax's sister, not to mention help him admit his feelings to Silver Spoon.
"So, what brings you here today?" Thorax asked, walking over to the drinks cabinet. "You want something to drink?"
"I'm fine, thanks," Rumble replied. "Can I see Ocellus as well?"
"Ocellus!" Chrysalis called. A moment later, a girl with blue skin and blue eyes stepped forward. She had pink hair running down her back, attached to the back of her head of course, and wore a red dress with blue shoes on her feet, combined with green socks.
"Y-yes mom?" she asked. Ocellus was very shy. No. That's an understatement. Ocellus suffered from a crippling lack of confidence, and was very poor at speaking to other people. As a result, she had often been picked on by other students for her timid nature. Thankfully, Rumble had been able to get them to back down, and of course Thorax had helped her in life. However, her quiet nature hid an incredibly perceptive and intelligent person, who didn't so much read things as memorise them word for word. Indeed, her appetite for knowledge was pretty impressive, and her grades were consistently high, just shy of those of Twilight Sparkle. Despite this, however, she was somewhat slow to make friends, although she got on well with a boy called Gallus. Her nervous complexion softened when she saw who was there. "Rumble!" she cried. "Nice of you to come and see us!"
"Nice to see you too," Rumble answered. "Hey, I was wondering if you two could help us with something."
Ocellus stepped forward, and sat down on the couch. "Sure," she said. "What's the problem?"
Thorax took a seat, and Rumble then stepped forward, putting down a set of plans. "Ever seen one of these before?" he asked.
Thorax looked confused, but Ocellus identified it immediately. "Of course!" she said. "That's a Class 52 Western!"
"Yeah," Rumble answered. "We know it's a diesel, but how does it work?" He took a quick sip of his coke, as Ocellus poured over the drawing.
"That's a hydraulic locomotive," Ocellus explained, as her mind started to go into overdrive. "This means it is powered by a torque converter, which is a type of fluid coupling that transfers rotating mechanical power from an engine, in this case diesel, to a rotating driven load, connecting the power source and the load together. Usually positioned between the flexplate and transmission, the Westerns had two of these to maximise tractive effort and speed."
There was the sound of a jaw dropping, as Thorax looked on in astonishment. "You can tell all of that from just looking at it?"
"Erm, yes?" Ocellus replied.
Rumble looked up. "Now that's all quite interesting, but you wouldn't mind explaining it in a way that an ordinary person would understand? I literally had no idea what you just said."
"Yes is a word used to indicate that-"
"Before that!" Rumble said. "The bit about fluid thingies."
"Oh!" Ocellus replied. "Basically, the engine is a series of cylinders that ignite fuel. These ignitions push pistons that rotate a fan mounted in an oil bath. This fan makes the wheels turn. Westerns have two of these systems." She looked up. "Why do you ask? I didn't take you for a person interested in old British diesel engines."
Rumble nodded, and took a deep breath. "You see... we found one in that old shed in town."
"REALLY?" Ocellus squeaked, jumping out of her chair. "This is incredible! if we can find one in working order, we have no end to the possibilities of rail operations in the area!"
"That's the problem," Rumble replied. "The one we found, Western Champion, looks to be in pretty poor shape. We have no idea what state the engines are in, or these toe capitulators-"
"Torque converters," Ocellus corrected.
"Or these torque converters," Rumble went on. "We wanted some extra help, and given you two are pretty brainy when it comes to engineering, I was wondering if you wanted to help out."
Thorax's eyes lit up. "Count me in, Rumble!" he said. "I owe you a lot anyway, so this will be a great opportunity to pay you back anyways."
Ocellus was also keen to get onboard. "The chance to run and restore a locomotive?" she asked. "I'd love to. There aren't enough opportunities to find locomotives in the middle of nowhere and restore them. I'm not aware of any other narrow gauge railways in this part of the world, so we're limited there. But I'd love to help in any way I can."
"Do remember you'll need adult supervision for this project," Chrysalis said. "Besides, I can help."
"Any extra pair of hands would be greatly appreciated," Rumble said.
"Oh, this is a fine pair of hands," Chrysalis smiled. "Before I met my husband at college, I used to take motorbikes to bits and reassemble them for fun on several days. Boy were those days fun," she smiled, remembering the old days. "Of course, I don't get to do that much anymore, but a chance to work on anything mechanical sounds fun."
"We've got Pip's dad onboard, if that helps," Rumble told them. "Well then, shall we head down then? The diesel won't fix itself!"
"Onwards to adventure!" Thorax called, and the four of them stepped outdoors and into the sun, towards town, with Chrysalis shutting the door behind her.