//------------------------------// // Set Out // Story: Travel By Rail // by Northwest Brony //------------------------------// TRAVEL BY RAIL Chapter 1 The bulk ship Magic pulled into the port of Sacramento. None of the workers on the docks, the captain, or the crew knew what would happen to the cargo. Sure, there were the papers that told them, but not even a paper trail can follow something the likes of the ship’s name. The smell of creosote oil and the rumble of diesel engines were the most prominent features of the railyard in the pre-dawn hours of its existence. Like most mornings, it was an early start to a busy day shipping windmill parts, cement, and lumber to and from the ships that ferry them across the ocean. The day before, the bulk ship Magic had been relieved of its cargo of gravel and cement in order for the supplies to be shipped by train for delivery in Illinois. This morning, the loaded cars were being shunted into one long string for the two powerful 9-40CW locomotives to pick up and set out on its trans-continental journey. Junior Norfolk Southern employee Adam Cowl, known for his cheerful demeanor and positive attitude, was the engineer for the long trip; Norfolk Southern only wanted a competent man on their payroll to touch the controls, the conductor on the other hand would change in the last leg of the trip to another Norfolk Southern employee. The first conductor was senior Union Pacific employee Jacob Holcroft, a somewhat grouchy man who drove fear into the hearts of greenhorns. As the last car of the eastbound train was coupled on, it was time for the two railroad employees to leave the comforts of the warm yard office and begin the long journey to the lakes. “Heh, this will be the longest point-to-point trip I've done,” Adam broke the silence as they made their way to the idling locomotives nearby. “It's not that special,” Jacob replied, his lack of sleep giving him a cranky tone that set off Adam. Climbing into the cab, they were greeted with temperature only slightly warmer than the early morning air. The two chilled employees sat down in their respective seats and got to work. “Go ahead and get the cars,” Jacob stated firmly. After about a minute of yard-speed travel, Adam stopped the train and mentioned, “We’re past the switches.” “I know,” Jacob said as he promptly left the cab to throw the sat witch so that Adam could back the locomotives onto the train. A minute later, Jacob’s voice reappeared on the radio, “Come on and connect the cars.” Obediently, Adam pulled the reverser back, and applied small power to the throttle. Adam looked out the rear-view windows as the locomotives backed up to the cars. Adam pushed the throttle to neutral as the distinctive chunk a-chunk sound of two rail cars connecting rang out through the now-brighter morning. Jacob reappeared in the cab a minute later, sat down, and picked up his desk’s telephone. “This is Norfolk Southern 9229, requesting permission to exit the yard.” Adam could faintly hear the reply, but waited for Jacob to tell him to leave. “Lets get out of here,” was Jacob’s only order. Adam switched the reverser into forwards, and after taking a look at the trains air levels, pulled back on the throttle. The throb and whir of the engines picked up as the two turbocharged v-16s challenged Newton’s first law of motion, the train slowly picked up speed as it gave any rail enthusiast a reason to smile and wave. Making its way out of the yard in the waxing sun, the train was one step closer to its destination. o-o-o The seemingly-endless scrublands whizzed by as the train and its crew made progress across the desert. Earlier, they were held back by another freight that had a hot bearing and was unable to continue at speed until they could get to the nearest RIP track. They were behind schedule now, and dissension was growing between the two members of the crew as they sped across the desert. Surprisingly, Adam had taken an offensive stance, while Jacob was rather calm about the incident. “How come the hotbox detectors didn’t alert them before they could make us late?” Adam quipped. “There was no way that they could have done anything about it anyways. Besides, we don’t have hotbox detectors any earlier on that portion of the line.” Jacob tried to calm Adam down in the best greenhorn-quelling manner that he could put forth. “That train wasn’t even carrying anything heavy enough to wear the bearings out. You heard them on the radio, they didn’t know how it happened themselves.” Jacob shifted in his chair, then spoke up again, “It may have been a deadheading train, but it carried freight before.” Jacob’s attempts at extinguishing Adam’s ire about the overheated bearing were not met with good results. If anything, Jacob’s calm yet annoyed demeanor was harming the situation rather than helping. Adam decided that the scenery was much more worthy of his attention while Jacob sat in his chair looking cross at Adam. The air within the cab was warmer; the tension between the two was thick in the air. After a minute of staring at Adam waiting for a reaction, Jacob declared brazenly that he was going to get some fresh air for a minute. Adam sarcastically replied by telling him not to fall off. Jacob got out of his seat and walked the two steps to the door. Putting his hand on the cold metal door handle, he paused for a moment, turned the latch, and... Like an intense flashover, everything in the cab went white. To Adam, there was a blinding white light that filled the cab as Jacob stepped out the door. Blinking his eyes a few times to get them to see again, he looked around the cab to see if the light had done anything. Seeing nothing wrong with the cab, he once again turned his attention to the rails ahead. He didn’t see anything different out there either. Just what was that light anyway? Adam didn’t see the point of caring about it anymore; his eyes had readjusted, and it didn’t affect anything. A minute passed without any disturbance from Jacob. It was a good minute. Adam looked back at the door that Jacob had left the cab by. Jacob still hadn’t come back in yet, and Adam was getting worried about him. Did Jacob fall off? was Adams main question as he turned his attention back towards the rails ahead of him. A large gray something was coming at him fast. Not good. What the heck? Why is there someone on my line? Adam’s thoughts swirled angrily in his head. Instead of playing a fool, Adam took action, setting the dynamic brakes to the setup phase, he put the air and locomotive brakes into emergency stop. The dynamic brakes took a few seconds to prepare, and when they did, he applied all they had as well. One hand on the horn, Adam hoped it would end well. Suicide thoughts on a railroad. Promontory had a boring job. To clarify, Promontory’s job was pulling the passenger train between Grass Valley and Fillydelphia, with stops at Ponyville, Dodge, Hoofpeka, and Appleoosa. The daily service that his and the other team working for the railroad provided were invaluable to the ponies of those territories. The other team working for the railroad did not pull a passenger train like him, instead they headed a freight train going the opposite direction. In between Ponyville and Dodge there was one siding track where the two trains would stop and have lunch, then continue their journey. The daily rhythm that his railroad job provided was one that Promontory had grown quite bored of. You, the human reader, may be curious as to how Promontory and his team of ponies came to be pulling a train. The answer lies in the rarely-seen earth-pony magic. Despite unicorn magic being more noticeable and far more useful in day-to-day life, an earth pony who could manipulate the magic of the ground was a skilled pony indeed and in high demand. At least, high demand in the railroading industry. Promontory worked for one of the oldest and most famed railroads in Equestria, one that made enough profits to pay for long-term employment of earth-pony magic channellers. Newer railroads that were not as wealthy as Promontory’s employer would have to settle for unicorn-magic powered engines, a costly choice because unicorns would have to re-enchant the engine every few weeks, a rewarding process only for the unicorn. Promontory’s employer had been established early enough that they got the cream of the crop; ponies that could augment their strength to many times their own and pull several-ton trains through the desert every day. As the conductor and head of his team, it was his job to alert the team if something came up. As mentioned before, it was a boring job, but it paid the best out of all the jobs along the route. A whine-like noise cried out through the desert, breaking the bored stupors of Promontory and the three ponies behind him. “Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah! Wah wah waaaaaaaaaah!” Promontory was confused. He had never heard such a noise before. He looked around to see if he could spot the source of the noise. Meanwhile, the noise continued. “Waaaaaah! Wah waaaaaaaaah waaaaaaah!” Promontory had heard of dragons and their strange calls before, but he had neither heard of or seen a desert dragon before. Maybe he could get a sum of money off the discovery if he lived to tell the tale. The sound, which didn’t stop except for short breaks to catch its breath, still continued; in fact, it was getting louder. “Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!” Promontory looked around once again, and steeled himself for an attack. When he looked dead ahead, he could see a black shape with blinking lights headed right at him. Promontory had heard of unicorns that light up when they get really angry. If something similar held true for the dragon, it must be pissed. His eyes went wide and his mind found only one word, “STOP!” “What the hell?” Jacob swore loudly. One moment he was leaving the cab of the locomotive, the next, he was deposited onto the ground, his hand on an invisible door handle, the train mysteriously nowhere in sight.