Luna guided City of Truro into a spacious and comfortable shed, along with his coaches. Looking around, she could see a small team of the restorers Celestia had sent for. She smiled as she saw the curious looks on each of their faces. Instead of putting the brakes on, she simply pushed the reverser all the way forward and opened the throttle, letting Truro pull the coaches to a stop. After doing that, she closed the regulator and reverser, setting the locomotive brake on before stepping out of the cab.
She looked at the small team of six ponies. Two were Earth Ponies, another two were Unicorns, and the last two were Pegasides. Three were stallions, the other three were mares. The princess smirked, wondering if she was looking at some other version of the Element Bearers.
"My sister has informed me that you six are one of the best restoration teams in Equestria. Is this correct?"
The ponies looked at each other before a pegasus stepped forward. "Yes. It is. We've all been doing restoration work together since grade school."
Luna nodded and gestured towards the engine. "Well. I hope you are up for the challenge of restoring Truro here. I would restore him myself, but my skills are severely lacking in that field of work."
The pegasus smiled. "Of course. We always love sinking our tools into new things."
Luna chuckled. "Well, I must warn you, Truro here is not new by any means."
"Yeah... Celestia said that this train was somehow over fourteen hundred years old. We were all skeptical about the age but if you were able to steam the train all the way here, we guessed it was alright."
Luna raised a brow. "When did you get to know my sister on a first-name basis?"
The pegasus' ears flattened. "Sorry! Force of habit..."
"No matter. Anyway. Let us get to working on Truro. I say we should start on the coaches first. That way Truro has time to expel his boiler pressure."
"Got it."
The whole team began working hard to restore Truro to his former glory. Over the next couple of days, another unicorn had offered her decorative services, Rarity. Luna respectfully declined, knowing the mare would want to change a few things about the interior. The princess preferred the interior just the way it was.
The first to go was the rust, dirt, and grime. Luna had been afraid of ruining the paintwork, but two her surprise, the two unicorns of the group worked extraordinarily well to remove just the rust, revealing the beautiful Great Western Green underneath.
The inner workings of Truro were cleaned out and removed of any and all rust and smoke. Each and every bolt of Truro was taken off, being either refurbished or outright replaced. Luna, despite knowing that originality was key for this locomotive, could care less about bolts. They were bolts. Likely not even the originals either.
Luna herself cleaned the whistle, allowing it to sing even better than it did before. The team proceeded to check the bearings, but were surprised at the design of said bearings. They were roller bearings. A very revolutionary form of them. Seeing this, it was no wonder Luna was able to start Truro and his coaches so easily and go so fast with little resistance. These types of bearings could travel faster, and last longer, and keep going with less cost, and get places sooner.
"Timken Roller Bearings, huh? Well, it is no wonder I was able to attain the speeds I did," Luna chuckled, looking at the inscriptions on one of the bearings.
"What speeds?" one of the ponies asked.
The princess smirked. "Well..."
The team worked fast and efficiently at the job. Luna could see why they were regarded as the best. They were grade school friends, so they had trust in each other. Not to mention that they had been doing this since grade school, so they had the expertise. They were all polite too, always willing to teach her how to do this and that.
The team was so good in fact that it cut what should have been a month-long job down to just a fortnight. By the time the job was done, the whole train was so cleaned and polished that Luna could see her reflection. And by the stars, Truro looked beautiful. He looked like a proper steam locomotive. Not a toy.
FOOOOOOOO! FOOOOOOOO!
The whistle sang with newfound strength as Truro pulled into the Canterlot Station, Luna in the cab, operating the controls. Princess Celestia, Princess Twilight Sparkle, and the rest of the Element Bearers were eagerly waiting at the platform, some more eager than others.
"Marvelous! Absolutely marvelous!" Rarity, the white unicorn exclaimed, admiring the paintwork. "Whomever did the work on this machine is a true master of their craft!"
"Do you mean who designed it? Or who restored it?"
"Both."
Luna chuckled. "Both. Both is good. Now. Is everypony ready?"
"Ready for what?" a cerulean pegasus, Rainbow Dash, asked.
"For going to the local cake parlor," Luna scowled. "For exploring the Great Western Railway of course!'
"Rainbow, we've been talking about this over the whole week!" Twilight exclaimed.
"I've been training with the Wonderbolts all week! What do you want me to do?!"
"Valid point," Luna stated. "Now! We musn't dally! We must leave now in order to maximize time spent on the GWR."
FOO! FOO-FOO-FOO! FOO!
Celestia sighed. "Are you absolutely sure you want to drive this train there? Why not let a trained conductor drive?"
Luna scoffed. "I would like to see you pilot Truro to 111MPH."
"I will never believe the notion that Truro exceeded 100MPH, much less reached one-eleven!"
"Then get on."
Celestia scoffed as she, Twilight, and the other Element Bearers stepped onto the forward coach. Luna smiled as she looked at the stuck-up "Nobles" who clearly wanted a ride on Truro.
She cleared her throat, and with a smile, grabbed the whistle cord.
FOOO! FOOOOO!
Luna opened the regulator and cylinder valves, allowing the train to pull out of the station. The chugging of the cylinders steadily increased in speed, steam pouring from them and creating a most wonderous sound. Nay, song.
Truro pulled away from the station with newfound strength and efficiency. The refurbished parts greatly increased Truro's acceleration, so much to the point that Celestia had to brace herself, for she hadn't sat down before the train began moving.
"If I didn't know any better, I'd think she did that on purpose."
The train accelerated out of Canterlot quick and easy. Luna pulled the reverser back further and further. Speed really increased when they began going downhill. 60, 70, 80. As Truro approached 90, Luna applied the brakes, holding the speed. During restoration, she had found that the reason the brakes worked as well as they did was because they were Vacuum Brakes.
To put it simply, the brakes were always on. There was a continuous pipe running throughout the length of the train, of which a partial vacuum was maintained to release the brakes and allow the train to move. Long story short, this type of braking system was far superior to the basic manually-operated brakes the other trains used. This type was also safer. For if a train were to become disconnected for whatever reason, the vacuum would be lost and the decoupled half would grind to a halt. This made for a very safe train.
"Look at the SPEED we're doing!" Twilight exclaimed as she watched the scenery shoot by them. "Even the Crystal Zephyr isn't this fast!"
Celestia smiled. "Credit where it's due. This is fast. But we are going downhill."
"Uh- When the hay did you ever see the Crystal Zephyr go this fast downhill?"
"..."
Everypony braced themselves in the seats as they flew around a corner, wheels squealing. Soon, the bottom of the mountain approached. In the cab, Luna saw this, and took off the brakes. She opened up the regulator as far as it could go, allowing plumes of brilliant white steam to pour from the smokestack.
To everypony's surprise, the train exceeded 100MPH. And it kept accelerating according to Twilight's speed-check spell.
Everypony, knowing nothing on wheels had ever been able to attain this speed, was horrendously confused.
"What the..." Celestia began.
FoooooOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!! FOOOO! FOOOO! FOOOOOOoooooooOOOOOO!
In the cab, Luna smiled, knowing how confused everypony was. She checked the boiler pressure, continuing to smile as it sat level at 200PSI. This new, ultra high-quality coal plus the adjusted safety valve allowed Truro to run even faster and more efficiently then before.
"We're already near Ponyville holy CRAP!" Twilight exclaimed, seeing the small town in the distance. She squeed like a filly as they exceed 110MPH. She could not believe how smooth the ride was. At this speed, the train should have been shaking itself apart! Yet it wasn't!
"How?!"
"It must be something to do with the suspension on the train," Celestia noted.
"Since when do trains have suspension?"
"Didn't you see the springs supporting it?"
"No! Where were they?"
"On the bogies."
"The what!?"
FOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! FOOOOOOOOOOOO! FOO! ... FOOOOOOOOOOOOO!
Truro blasted through Ponyville Station with enough speed to fling suitcases in its direction.
"Suh... Alright! We need to get a blueprint of City of Truro! This train is insane!" Twilight yelled.
"I find it hard to believe Luna would let anypony do that," Celestia replied with a slightly annoyed tone.
Twilight was surprised. "What? Why?"
"I have a feeling that Luna would want to keep some exclusivity with this train."
"Oh for- We could just BASE IT on City of Truro! It doesn't have to be an exact replica!"
"I still don't know."
"Hmph."
Across the fields the train went, reaching as high as 115MPH before it hit a limit. Luna knew Truro could go faster, but now it seemed to be a matter of power deficiency. There was too much air resistance being generated. The bearings and better-quality coal helped, but even then, the power deficiency was too great.
Accepting defeat, Luna held the train at a "steady" 113MPH all the way until they approached the switch track for the Great Western Railway line. It took them practically no time compared to if they had taken the Friendship Express or Crystal Zephyr.
Flexing her now-healed wings, Luna shot ahead of the engine and flipped the switch, sending the train straight onto the old rails. Celestia, Twilight and company were thrown to one side of the coach, none expecting the sudden change in direction. After flipping the switch back, she took off and shot after the train, landing in the cab and instantly setting about slowing the train down to a still-brisk 60MPH.
"You could have said something!" Luna heard Celestia call from behind. She looked past the tender and at the coach's front door, spying the white Alicorn.
"Whatever do you mean?" Luna asked as she took off the brakes.
"The turn back there! I nearly stabbed my horn through one of the windows!"
Luna scowled. "And I would have made you pay. Now, let me continue driving."
Celestia scoffed as she stepped back inside the coach, sitting in a seat.
"You alright?" Twilight asked.
"Yes, I'm fine." The Sun Princess took in a breath. "Let's watch the scenery go by. I'm interested in seeing what this line has to offer."
The rest of the journey was mostly uneventful. Luna slowed down and even stopped in the center of the Maidenhead Viaduct, allowing those with and without wings to get a good view. From afar, the bridge truly was a sight to behold. Twilight and Rarity thought it looked far too good to be a Railway Bridge. City of Truro and his three coaches parked on it was icing on the cake.
After several minutes of examining the bridge, its structure, and its impressive age, everypony got back on the train and continued down the line. The rails creaked and groaned, but having travelled over them once, Luna was confident they would hold.
It was a few hours before they happened upon the other landmark Luna knew of. The platform in which she found Truro.
Chuff... Chuff... Chuff........ Chuff..... Tsssssssss...
Luna and the others stepped out onto the decrepit platform, feeling the crumbling concrete beneath their hooves.
"So this is where you found this train?" Celestia asked.
Luna nodded. "This is where I found Truro and two of his coaches. We passed the siding in which I found the brake coach ages ago. Before the Maidenhead."
"This platform is so OLD!" Twilight exclaimed as she ran spells on the area. "This over here looks like an old building! I wonder what happened to it."
"That was me," Luna explained. "The building had rotted so much that only the frame remained. Simply grazing my tail against one of the planks practically disintegrated it."
"Huh... Strange..."
"I did find a book of archival quality, but the centuries spent exposed to the elements ensured that it too would disintegrate in my grasp."
"Fascinating."
Luna looked around as everypony examined the platform and the small clearing surrounding it. Her eyes glanced up the line, ahead of Truro. It curved it little, almost out of sight. However, just barely poking out from behind the bushes, Luna spotted a track switch. A very old track switch.
"What the..." she mouthed, stepping down the platform and leaning over as far as she could. Indeed, there was a track switch. A rather long track switch meant for high speed.
"Something the matter, sister?"
Luna's ears twitched at the sound of Celestia's voice. "There is a track switch," she stated, gesturing towards the track switch just around the curve.
"Interesting... Shall we go see what it is for?"
Luna nodded, stepping into the cab.
Celestia scoffed. "You don't have to bring your new train along every inch of this line."
"I want to bring Truro along the line."
FoooOO! FOO-FOO-FOO! FOO!
The mane six were surprised at the sudden whistle.
"Welp, I think that's our que to get back on," Rainbow Dash said.
"Indeed it is." Luna eyed Twilight, who was still examining the platform and writing notes. "Ahem. Twilight? Are you coming along?"
"You go ahead, I'll catch up," Twilight replied.
Luna said nothing, focusing on the tracks ahead as she waited for everypony - excluding Twilight - to get on. After hearing a door slam, she blew the whistle twice and opened the regulator. Truro began pulling away from the platform quick and easy. As it did so, Luna felt a presence behind her. It was Celestia, who had to sit half inside the cab and half on the tender.
"Do you need something, sister?" Luna asked.
"I was wondering if you had any theories about this train. This... line."
Luna shoveled some coal into the firebox. "A couple. First, this line must have appeared recently in our world, despite its age. Or at least the track switch onto the main line."
"Oh?"
"Sister, you really think the ponies building the main line would have built a whole switch for this line, but not ever go down this line?"
Celestia said nothing.
"And then... there is the fact that Truro may have been specifically preserved by some unknown force of magic. The question is, why? Why Truro? He is a train. I am grateful, for I have had a lot of fun driving him, but-"
Click-Click... Click-Click...
Truro's wheels clicked as he went over the track switch and onto what appeared to be a two-track main line. Luna and Celestia looked down the rails, and were surprised to spot another switch track going right. Past that was another, and then another. It was a small railyard.
Luna's jaw slacked. "What the..."
The two tracks they were on continued for a bit more than a thousand feet before splitting apart, presumably to form a loop. The yard did the same, but only for several hundred feet before ending in buffers. The tracks of the yard were littered with overgrown rolling stock. Small flatbeds, vans, rotted wooden plank cars, what one would typically find in a railyard. Just more practical and not showy.
"Sister, what is that over there?"
Luna looked at where Celestia was pointing. She gasped suddenly, putting on the brakes and bringing Truro to a halt. Unfurling her wings, she took off and flew across the yard towards the object.
Landing a few meters away, she took in the rolling stock. It was very similar to Truro. It had a long sloping boiler, a dark green paintjob, and a black undercarriage. It had a bigger Six-Wheeled Tender with the words GREAT WESTERN painted on. It had outside cylinders and less brass fitting than Truro, but retained a brass-topped smokestack. Also like Truro, or at least when she had first found Truro, it was covered in rust and dirt.
The biggest difference from the locomotive and Truro was that it wasn't a 4-4-0. It was a 4-6-0 Ten Wheeler. A very stylish 4-6-0 Ten Wheeler. These types of locomotives were practically unheard of, but there had been a few ideas thrown around with them. Nopony tried building them, for they would rather continue with the cheap 4-4-0 design.
"What is this?" Celestia asked as she landed next to Luna.
"It is called a steam locomotive."
"I'm being serious."
"I do not know. Though, it looks very stylish, even with those freight cars behind it," Luna said, noting the three rusted gondolas coupled behind it.
"It looks like an elongated version of Truro," Celestia noted, glancing back at Truro to spot Twilight's friends getting out of the forward coach.
"Indeed. Perhaps the Great Western Railway preferred keeping their engines more or less the same. But if that is that case..." Luna stepped forward towards the locomotive, eyeing the number plate underneath the cab windows. 4003. She stepped next to the dirty semi-circular nameplate situated in the middle of the boiler. She reached up and rubbed the nameplate to reveal the name. "What the..."
Stepping back, the sisters read the name of the Express Steam Locomotive. It was two simple words.
L O D E . S T A R