Gallus was in the hospital laying down on the bed, still healing up from his injuries from his friends’ misadventures. While the new gemstones helped heal him faster, it still took a long time. It wasn’t that bad, Smolder and Ocellus were in the same room as him so they could keep each other companied. Their friends would come in to check on them occasionally, with Silverstream usually visiting and staying the longest to make sure that Gallus was feeling okay.
One day, during his recovery, Doctor Horse walked inside the room holding while gazing at his clipboard. “How was it, doc?” the injured griffon asked.
“Well, kids, I’ve got some good news,” the doctor responded. “Since your injuries are healing up more swiftly than we expected, we’ve decided that you’re all free to go.”
Gallus and the girls were happy to hear about this though he looked like he had some more time to recover. Smolder and Ocellus on the other hand had minor injuries in comparison. A wheelchair had been brought in to help transport Gallus out of the hospital.
“Is there anything we should be aware of?” Ocellus asked.
“For you, Miss Ocellus, I already mentioned that you wouldn’t recommend shapeshifting or flying for about a month. As for you, Mister Gallus, I recommend that you should take physical therapy to deal with your injured limbs.”
“Uh-huh, I will,” Gallus responded. “Thanks a lot, doc.”
“Anytime, I’m just doing my job.” The doctor and the students helped Gallus out of his bed and into his wheelchair. It was a little bit painful, but the griffon was able to get into a comfortable position. “You three take care of yourselves.”
“Bye,” Gallus, Smolder, and Ocellus said with their waves. He and the girls left the hospital and made their way back to the school.
They were glad that they’re out of the hospital almost recovered from the events that happened before. For Gallus, he couldn't stop thinking about his biological parents, Glynn and Gadget, he discovered when plotting a plan to destroy the Gold Gang; now that he has a family, he now doesn’t consider himself an orphan anymore. He smiled as they trotted along.
When they arrived back at school, there appeared to be a celebration for their recoveries. It wasn’t as big as one of Pinkie Pie’s usual parties but this was more of a calming occasion. They mostly just stood around and talked about things they had missed, like the hole in the wall caused by Trud.
The Young Six sat together at one of the tables while they had some delicious chocolate fudge brownies. “So, you’re saying that was caused by a novel that depicts terrifying and disturbing images of Equestria in ruins?” Smolder questioned.
“Yes, apparently,” Sandbar responded. “They should’ve just returned that book, and everything will be fine.”
“I kind of want to know what was in that book,” Gallus admitted.
“Judging by what Kelpie said was in it, you wouldn’t because he got a nightmare on that.”
“Less Yona knows, better,” Yona spoke.
“Exactly,” Sandbar stated. Gallus, Smolder, and Ocellus decided to take their word for it.
“Anything else changes while we were gone?” Ocellus asked.
“Hmm, we’ve heard that most of the minotaurs from the mines are heading to Terry’s village to start their new lives," Sandbar noted.
“Yes. Yona wants to see them again,” Yona spoke.
“Maybe I could visit with you if I want to,” Gallus said. He looked at his sling knowing he still had some more time to heal before he could anywhere.
“So, what happened to Quartz?” Silverstream asked. “I haven’t seen him in a while.”
“I think he said he was going to Canterlot for his new leg,” Ocellus remembered. “Gadget and Glynn are there right now.”
“I get why Gadget’s there,” Smolder commented. “But why is Glynn there? He’s only a medic, right?”
“I don’t know, but maybe he’s still feeling guilty for what they did before.”
“It wasn’t as bad as what others did,” Silverstream reminded. She shuttered a bit thinking back.
“Let’s drop that subject,” Gallus affirmed. “Anything that does have to do with you know who?” Judging by his tone of voice, Gallus wasn't liking the memories being brought up. “What else has happened here?”
“Nothing too major,” Sandbar informed. “Most of us have been given a few days off to recover from what happened.” Gallus just sighed before he had one last bite of his brownie.
“Did Trud do any damage to my room?” Sandbar shook his head left and right, telling him that’s a no. “Okay, good. I just want to lie down and rest.” Sandbar understood and wheel the injured griffon to his dorm room. The friends could tell how he was feeling with his injuries and his parents. They knew they wanted to see each other, but things were a little complex at the moment and out of their control.
Sandbar got Gallus to their dorm, he helped the blue griffon lie down on his bunk. “You need anything else, Gallus?” the colt asked.
“None. I just want some alone time.” Sandbar just nodded before he walked away to give his friend some alone time. Gallus just sighed as he couldn’t understand why his parents, who were overjoyed to be with him again, had to be in Canterlot. They didn’t do anything as bad as other gang members, so it wouldn’t make sense if they were punished. Gadget at least would be helpful with some reconstruction, but Glynn was a medic. Maybe he would be helping to treat some of the creatures that were injured in the rescue attack.
The blue griffon, with his broken bones, sat there all alone. He couldn’t go anywhere until his injuries were healed up and he wished the gemstone that was left for him would work faster. Gallus now wished he stayed with his friends. After a couple of minutes, he was starting to get bored. He was thinking about going to sleep when he saw somecreature flying into the room, Silverstream.
The hippogriff managed to raise Gallus’s spirits. He was surprised to see her bringing in her saddlebag. “Hey, Gally,” Silverstream said, standing beside him. “I thought I’d help keep you entertained with some books.” She opened up her bags and showed him some books she had borrowed from the school library.
“Thanks, Silvy,” Gallus said, “I was kind of getting bored.” Silverstream smiled as she showed a couple of books that she could read.
There were a lot of options to choose from, and both of them were having a hard time picking one. Eventually, the one that caught Gallus’s eyes was the one that had a steam engine on it. It didn’t look like the Friendship Express they were more familiar with.
This engine was missing a cab, had only one set of wheels connected to the pistons’ two wheels in front and behind it. “What kind of engine is this?”
“Who knows. Let’s check it out.” With that being said, Gallus handed over the book to Silverstream, and she sat at the end of Gallus’s bed so she could start reading.
The steam engine is one of the most powerful devices built in Equestria. It has gone through many different changes throughout the years since the foundation of Ponyville. Since the number of products being sold between Ponyville and Canterlot had increased, traveling by hoof was proving to be not only unprofitable but dangerous too.
Ponies still needed goods from different cities. With other locations such as Manehatten and Fillydelphia, a solution needed to be developed. Princess Celestia had ordered a group of ponies to come together and try to think of something new. The head of this group was a stallion named Steamed Ash.
“That’s a history book,” Gallus commented not too impressed.
“It’s an interesting one,” Silverstream noted. She found it fascinating to learn more about different species’ history. Wanting to know more, she kept reading.
Ash and his crew tried a couple of ideas to power modes of transportation. However, a few problems made more of a hindrance than a help. The machines would often wear ponies out faster, they couldn’t maneuver around easily, and they were just like ponies pulling carts but with extra steps.
With no reliable method of steering, the idea of an alternate mode of transportation seemed to just be a dream at this point. Fortunately, a solution would be found when a pony by the name of Side Line got brainstorming when she saw droplets of water sliding down the grooves in her roof tiles.
Bringing up the idea with the team, they decided to test this out by changing the wheels on a cart and lying it on some metal poles. When they pushed the cart, it rode along the pole better than the other attempts they had made. They knew they would need more than just poles for their new creations since they could tell the poles were struggling to hold the cart alone.
To counter this, new rails were being built. To keep them straight, they began lying some planks underneath. These tracks were quickly taking shape, as was the engine. While the rails were easy to build, as they were a loop, the locomotive was an issue in itself. There were plenty of things they needed to keep in check. They had to keep the steam pressure in the right spot if it was too cold, and the engine wouldn't move, and if it was too hot, they had a risk of a boiler explosion.
“How often do you think that happened?” Gallus asked.
“Maybe it’s pretty… often.”
“Then I hoped they got lucky when that happened.” Both griffs shuddered thinking what would happen if a creature got caught up in. Brushing that aside, Silverstream saw a picture and showed it to Gallus. There was the first locomotive that looked like a balcony on wheels. A boiler stuck out in the middle of it with some levers behind it and a pony at the controls.
“I think this was the first successful train,” Silverstream guessed.
“Looks like a stove you can move around easier instead of a train,” Gallus commented.
“Well, it was the first one.” She looked at the paragraph under the photo and continued reading.
The first model, they had named ‘Rolling Hoof’, managed to reach a decent speed of 15 mph. With the success of their first locomotive, they now had to build a track leading from Canterlot to Ponyville. The process took nearly three years.
Along with the tracks they needed to build, they needed to construct bridges, tunnels, and rolling stock for Rolling Hoof to pull. The first rolling stock, that would be finished, would be coaches, as more ponies wanted to travel in between small farm towns and big cities.
Soon, after three coaches were built, Rolling Hoof was ready to roll. They looked up the coaches with some equipment to simulate a fully loaded train. Once everything was prepared, they set off.
Rolling Hoof was slow already as it was, but now with the extra weight of the coaches, it crawled along the track. However, the trip from Canterlot to Ponyville was mostly downhill. It would be the return journey that would be a pain. The return journey to Canterlot was mostly uphill, slowing Rolling Hoof down even more. They were moving at least 6 mph now, but this is still better progressed than ponies would achieve on foot.
After a couple of hours of traveling and keeping the steam pressure in the sweet spot, they finally made it back to Canterlot, where a celebration was being held. Over the years, steam travel improved to make them stronger and faster into the transportation we have today.
Silverstream was amazed by what she had read. “Wow, I didn’t know that steam traffic was this interesting,” she gasped.
“It does sound kind of cool,” Gallus commented. “But… how come we only see passenger trains?”
“What are you talking about?”
“That book said that the railroad was built to transport cargo, right? So how come we’ve only seen passenger trains.”
“Huh. You’re right. I mean, there’s gotta be some big stuff that has to be transported that way. Then again, we don’t see too many bits of cargo being transported that much. I think we haven’t seen one yet.”
“Well, if you want to find more out, you could ask Rusty. He told me that he’s a huge fan of trains.”
Silverstream gasped in excitement. “I’ll go find him!”
With that being said, the excitable hippogriff took off like a rocket to find him. Gallus just sat back as he was happy his girlfriend was back to her normal attitude. Rusty was at downtown’s store, looking around for a model kit that he could buy someday. He was thinking about which model he could buy if it wasn’t for a hippogriff flying up behind and surprising him with. “Hey, Rusty…!”
The colt nearly dropped the model he was looking at and luckily caught it before it smashed on the ground. That would’ve been something that would take him a while to pay off. He glared at Silverstream who promptly apologized for the scare. “Hi, Silverstream. What’s with all of your excitement?” Rusty asked.
“Gallus told me that you know about trains, so I want to know more about Equestrian locomotives. I just found a book about Equestria’s first train, Rolling Hoof. But I’ve only seen the engines that are a part of the friendship express and they all looked the same. Plus, Gallus said there were only passenger trains. Not everything can be handled by pegasi, how...?"
“Take it easy, Silver! I’ve got some history books, and I also have my uncle who works on the railroad too. I’ve got plenty of knowledge on Equestria’s railroads.” The two walked away from the store and head down the street while exchanging information about the Railroads.
After some time passed, they had gotten some books from Rusty’s place. One was a guidebook about the Friendship Express, another was about the shunting yards and how they worked, and a third was about what Silverstream had been looking for, goods trains. They took them back to the school of friendship and decided to share them with. Gallus is glad to see her again.
“What did you find?” Gallus asked. He was shown the three books they had gotten. He looked at the one about the Friendship Express. “They made a book about that train?”
“Actually, it’s the name of the company,” Rusty noted. He opened the book up to the page that explained what he was talking about. Silverstream read it out loud.
After more powerful engines were built, other cities like Manehatten and Fillydelphia wanted to be connected like Ponyville and Canterlot. A new company was forged to help keep these cities connected, it was called The Friendship Express.
A set of 4-4-0 locomotives were built for the future lines between Manehattan and Fillydelphia, some of which were built with tenders to have longer journeys without the need to refuel.
“Wait, I haven't seen one with a tender,” Silverstream commented. “And who do those fours and zeroes mean?”
“It shows the wheel configuration,” Rusty explained. He pointed to the engine in the book that was the typical class of engine they had seen pulling the trains. “It works like this: the first 4 shows how many unpowered wheels are at the front that isn’t powered. The middle 4 is how many drive wheels the engine possesses, and the zero is for how many training wheels it has. So with an engine like this, these engines are 4-4-0s.”
“Oh, that makes more sense.”
“Hey, could you pass me that book, please?” Gallus asked. He pointed to the book showing goods trains. Since they weren’t usually scened he wanted to know more about them. Rusty handed him the book and he took a look.
Freight trains are made for transporting cargo that's too far to travel on hoof and goo heavy to transport by flight. Most classifications that fit this are minerals and logs. Most engines at this point would have to double or even triple-head these trains as they weren't built for such heavy cargo.
One of the best class of engines was one nicknamed the hippos. Whilst they were slow, they more than made up with their immense strength. With these engines, they helped transport Equestria's freight to and from different towns. Major towns like Canterlot and Manehattan had marshalling yards built.
"What's a marshaling yard?" Silverstream asked. Gallus turned the book around to show off a map of the yard, which had lots of tracks. The mainline was shown as two white lines at the bottom. Tons of lines could be seen above the mainline in different colors.
Rusty started pointing out what the different tracks were. “Those tracks are goods coming in. The tracks above them are for coaches. That top line is for sorting the rolling stock,… oh and those tracks over there are the roundhouse,” he explained. “There’s a turntable that the engines use so they can face the other end of the train. There’s also a water tower and coal shute for refueling.”
“Wow… That sounds amazing!”
“That doesn’t answer my question of why we haven’t seen these engines or places before,” Gallus said.
“It’s likely that there’s another line that only workers on the railroad are allowed to use,” Rusty guessed. “My uncle also said that civilians aren’t allowed on railroad property. Aside from the passenger stations.”
“Do you think there’s any chance we can see a freight train?” Silverstream asked.
"Hmm, at the stations were allowed at, not likely.” The hippogriff sighed in disappointment. Rusty then looked at Gallus, who had something to say.
“Couldn’t you write a letter to your uncle?” the Griffon asked. “Maybe he can explain better.”
“…I’ll try.” The colt walked out of their dorm room to write the letter for his uncle as the two griffs looked at the book about shunting yards. They might be only gotten some information about them from the goods book but this would likely give more details. Silverstream picked it up and read the details.
With goods needed to be sent some way, the railroad companies need to keep their efficiency if they want to stay in business. One of the most efficient ways of sorting different types of rolling stock is having a hump yard.
The picture shown of a hump yard was a tank engine pulling some freight cars up a hill.
Using the gravity of the hill, along with careful control of the brakes, some say this style faster than just moving one set of cars at a time, putting the ones at the front on right siding, uncoupling, reversing, and repeating.
This style does require a lot of teamwork. Somepony has run alongside the cars to put their brakes, another pony has to be in the signal box and change the points. And of course, the tank engine needs a driver and fire pony to keep it going.
“Wow, this sounds complicated,” Silverstream noted, “And dangerous too.”
“Maybe if the creature responsible for the brakes could fly, it'd be safer,” Gallus guessed.
“I think being the switch pony would be harder. How many tracks were on that map? And all those cars... That’s almost too much for me to process.”
“I'm sure his uncle will help explain that crystal clear.” Gallus took another look in the book about freight trains to see if there was any other cargo that got transported. “Ooh, sometimes you transport food in refrigerator cars.” Silverstream was curious and flew beside her boyfriend to take a look.
“Hey, it says that bigger creatures get transported too.” The two love birds carried on reading the railroad books amazed at the information they had found out.
Later that evening, Silverstream wheeled Gallus into the cafeteria. The two got their food and met up with their friends. “Where’ve you been lately?” Smolder asked Silverstream.
“Gallus and I learned about the railroad,” Silverstream replied cheerfully. “Did you that Friendship Express is a company name?”
“Really?” Sandbar asked. He had known a lot more culture than his friends but like most others, he thought Friendship Express was the name of the engine.
“Yeah! Pretty amazing right? Plus, Rusty said that he has an uncle who works on the railroad. He said he sent a letter to try and contact him.”
“I’d hold your excitement, Silver,” Ocellus said. “I’m not sure how much more you’ll learn only through a letter.”
“You'd be surprised,” Gallus remarked. He looked around until he saw Rusty. The injured griffon flagged him down. “Yo, Rusty, over here!”
Gallus groaned in pain after making his arm wave. Rusty stopped by their table and placed his tray down. “Are you okay?” he asked seeing.
“Yeah... Just a little sore.”
“I hope you feel better soon. Anyways, what are you guys talking about?"
“Railroads, of course,” Silverstream responded. “Did your uncle receive your letter yet?”
“I'm not sure. Since he travels around Equestria so much, it’s unlikely he’ll get it tonight… or tomorrow.”
“What’s your uncle like?” Sandbar asked.
"Oh, he’s a fun guy. His name is Copper Whistle. He enjoys a conversation with the fire pony since they have long journeys.”
"Are there any other kinds of workers on the railroad?" Ocellus asked.
“There is the guard who sits in the caboose,” Rusty informed. "He rides along in case there’s a derailment, the load shifts into an unsafe position, or there’s a hotbox."
“What’s hotbox?” Yona asked.
“It's when an axle on an engine or rolling stock begins to overheat. It happens when the axle hasn’t been maintained properly.”
“And how severe is that?" Smolder asked.
“My uncle said the worst-case scenario was the freight car catches on fire.”
“Ugh!” Smolder shivered. “That was painful.”
“Thankfully, this is a rare occurrence. It could be worse depending on the cargo.”
“Yeah,” Silverstream agreed. “I mean, what gets carried into those barrel cars?”
“You mean the tanker?” The hippogriff nodded in confirmation. “Uh-huh, those things generally carry milk, molasses, bottled water, or other liquids. I don’t know how many flammable liquids are filled in it though."
“You ever think they can carry lava?”
"I doubt it. Unless a new kind of tanker can be built."
“I don’t see what you’ll be able to do with lava,” Smolder commented. “Even if Dragon Lord Ember lets you have any for random purposes.” Her friends did know that the underground lava rivers were important to the dragon eggs.
“I guess that’s a good point.”
“And what happens when trains come off the tracks?" Silverstream asked. "Not all unicorns can be that strong, right?”
“Doubtful. That’s why crane gangs exist. They’re a group of ponies who have special cars which are cranes on wheels.”
"Have you ever seen one up close?"
“Only once. You should’ve seen them.” The colt and hippogriff were excited about talking about the railroads while their friends enjoyed their meals while listening in.
Just before they went to bed, Smolder listen to her bubbly roommate until she passed out. It took about ten minutes for Silverstream to realize that Smolder had gone to sleep so she thought she would do the same thing.
A few days later, Silverstream would accompany Gallus to physical therapy. Gadget and Glynn still weren’t around yet, which was irritating to the young griffon. “They can’t be staying in Canterlot that long?” Gallus complained.
“I don’t know what’s going on with that,” Silverstream sighed. “Maybe they’re helping to rebuild Griffonstone. They wouldn’t leave you if it wasn’t for a good reason.” The griffon sighed as he knew she was right.
At physical therapy, Gallus was given a small weight for his injured arm to lift. The green crystal had heeled him up quite a bit, but his muscles still needed to get their strength back. He struggled quite a bit and Silverstream was tempted to help him, but Gallus refused her help. This was something he had to do himself.
After a couple of lifts, Gallus was worn out and, so Silverstream began wheeling him back to school on his wheelchair. Along the way, they saw Rusty, who was just about to leave the school when he saw them. “Perfect timing, guys,” he called, “Come check this out.” Curious, the two griffs followed him inside. They headed over to the bulletin board where a note had been posted.
Ride on the railroad on the last day before class resumes. After what you’ve been through, you deserve one more bit of entertainment before we catch up with our lessons. We’ve been informed about an employee from Grounded Goods that arrangements could be made to show what goes on a railroad. For those who want extra credit, you may write a report of what you learned on the trip.
Silverstream’s eye lit up when she saw the note. “A railroad field trip?!” she beamed. Gallus chuckled at his girlfriend’s excitement. He looked at the students that had signed up, including Rusty. There was still plenty of space for them to sign up. Silverstream wasted no time doing this. Gallus wheeled himself over to the sign-up sheet so he could join her, though his arm was still tired from physical therapy, so he needed some help.
After signing up, they checked the date of when the field trip was. “Hmm, not too long from today,” Gallus commented. “I can wait that long.”
“I can’t.”
“Things like this take time,” Rusty noted. “Besides, it’s bad when a delay happens on the railroad. They take hours to clean up and even longer to make up the lost time.” The hippogriff sighed but she knew her friend was right. Still, she really wanted to see a locomotive in action.