//------------------------------// // Santa Fe 1015 // Story: Lonesome Whistle // by Vauclains Understudy //------------------------------// In the early hours of the morning, the two princesses stood outside the Ponyville Main Station, awaiting the arrival of their latest acquisition. A Santa Fe Prairie-type (2-6-2) was supposed to be coming at any minute, and they wanted to see the work done to ready the loco for its new life as a main-line engine. The engine in question was another Baldwin engine: Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe 1015. Like many of his kind before, he was a Vauclain who lost his compound cylinders once the Santa Fe felt that the increased maintenance costs weren’t worth the increased fuel efficiency. Always believing in second chances, Celestia requested that the engine be re-equipped with Vauclain cylinders, and the task was soon carried out. Eager to show his stuff, the Prairie roared past the platform at speed with a fully loaded express train behind him. Celestia and Luna smiled as he blew past; another investment in human technology had paid off. “Is it going to become a habit of ours to continue purchasing locomotives from the humans?” asked Luna. “We’ve still got our home-built engines, Sis,” replied Celestia, “We’ve only bought a select few that were deemed best for dealing with the longest and heaviest trains on our railways. Besides, it was either this or rust away as displays outdoors for Big Mike and 1015.” “I’ve only been back for about four years now, and I still can’t believe how much we’ve come to rely on trains in such a short amount of time,” said Luna. “I know what you mean,” her sister said, “We are pretty late to the party. I still remember when ponies pulled the carts on the railway. The humans stopped using that technique in the 1830s.” “You still remember the Rainhill Trials,” pointed out the Princess of the Night. “Of course I do; I was there,” Celestia replied. Ironside arrived at the platform, fully rested and eager to try his hoof at running the new engine. He landed behind the Princesses just as Celestia reminded Luna that the former was an eyewitness to one of the greatest events in railroading history. Not surprisingly, “You witnessed the Rainhill Trials?!” came the exclamation. Celestia and Luna both jumped about three feet into the air. Both wheeled around the moment they landed. “Oops, sorry,” said the engineer sheepishly. “I have to get used to you popping up out of nowhere whenever I start mentioning trains,” said Celestia. “Heh, you know me,” Ironside replied, “I’m attracted to trains like iron to a magnet.” Meanwhile, 1015 backed down towards the platform. It had been a long time since he’d been able to run under his own power, and even longer since he got to run as a compound. His new 79-inch drivers shone in the morning sun. Ever since his conversion to simple expansion, he and his brethren had had to run with smaller 69-inch drivers. He never really understood why the change was necessary; in fact, he’d felt a whole lot slower when running as a simple. But since Celestia insisted on him being rebuilt to as-built dimensions (but retaining his superheater), he regained his compound cylinders and his larger drivers. “Now I feel like a proper express engine again!” he exclaimed. The Princesses and the engineer watched as the engine halted in front of the station. The guard who had been piloting hopped down from the cab covered from mane to hooves in sweat. Ironside was shocked at the sight, not from how sweaty the guard was, but from the fact that he had been operating the engine in the first place. “Uh, why was a guard driving the engine?” he asked. “As of right now, we can’t risk any damaged rolling stock, especially not a brand-new locomotive,” Luna replied. “Yeah, but, one of the Royal Guards? Really?” asked Iron. “Don’t worry, son,” the guard stated, “I’ve been given some rudimentary training in operating steam engines. You’re the one doing the actual test run for the engine.” “Oh, alright then,” replied Iron, very relieved. “Don’t depart just yet, Ironside,” Celestia said, “Silver here is still going to be on board for the run.” “Alright,” the engineer replied, “As long as I’m not being bothered while driving the train, I’m fine with that.” “I’ll just be standing guard and that’s all,” Silver said. Ironside hopped into the cab of 1015. It was spacious and comfortable, and not very different from Big Mike’s cab. All the controls were in their usual locations, and there was even a speedometer on the backhead (for some reason, many locomotives did not have speedometers. The engineer was supposed to judge the engine’s speed on his own). “Hello, 1015,” Iron said as he ran his hooves along the controls. “Morning, sir,” the engine replied, “Are you my new driver?” “Indeed I am,” the pony responded, “I’m Ironside.” “It’s a pleasure to meet you. Shall we get started?” asked the Prairie. His answer came in the form of Ironside blasting his whistle twice. 1015 crawled slowly out of the station, his cylinders shooting steam as he went. Unfortunately for the princesses, that resulted in them getting soaked in condensed steam and water (and some cylinder oil). On a brighter note, they both were now glistening and wet, and Iron decided to go the extra mile by blowing a wolf whistle at them from 1015. While Luna was barely, if at all amused, Celestia had a devious smile form on her snout. Ironside cackled as he opened the throttle and roared off down the main line. Once all of 1015’s pipes were nice and warm, he settled into a steady chug. He could cruise like this all day long, but because this was his test run, he’d be doing anything but. The first test was his brakes. Ironside opened the throttle wide, and 1015 shot off like a rocket down the track. Once he reached 60 mph, Iron shut off steam and threw the brakes into full emergency; this was supposed to simulate a worst-case scenario, as all Equestrian trains were limited to 60 on the main line. 1015’s wheels locked and he skidded across the rails for about a mile or two before stopping. During this time, the inertia of the ponies in the cab threw them forward. Iron at least had the throttle and Johnson bar to support him, but Silver almost smashed head-long into the backhead. He glared at the engineer. “Next time, give me a little warning so you don’t kill me,” he growled. Iron looked away embarrassed, realizing that he’d forgotten to signal “Down brakes” with the whistle. Next would have been the emergency reversing test, in which Iron would accelerate the engine up to speed again, then reverse the valve gear and get the driving wheels to either lock or spin backwards. But Ironside remembered that Vauclain compounds don’t take very well to being reversed at speed. With that in mind, he then proceeded to test 1015’s hill-climbing capabilities. Now, being a passenger engine, the Prairie was not likely to be very good at climbing grades that Big Mike would have no trouble climbing, but the railways were quite hilly in certain sections, especially in the Canterlot vicinity. 1015 was planned to be the newest express loco, meaning he would be traveling all over the Equestria mainland. While most of the hilly areas on the lines would have helper engines assigned to work those sections, Canterlot was one of the few that did not. And since the capitol city of Equestria was a natural hotspot for commuters and vacationers alike, many trains were forced to climb the hill without helper engines. Always trying to remain a realist when it came to trains, Ironside requested that 1015 be equipped with a laypony’s idea of an express train. Being built for ponies instead of humans, the coaches were smaller and lighter than their counterparts, making them much easier for 1015 to haul. Since he didn’t want passengers on board for fear of injury from the rigorous testing, Ironside had more coaches added onto the train to simulate the weight of the ponies that would normally be on board. As a result, 1015 had to start up the grade slowly to avoid snapping a coupler. Driver, guard, and engine were apprehensive. 1015’s large drivers were meant to allow fast running, but they also cut down on friction, making traction on an incline harder to retain. If he slipped too much on the grade, 1015 would run the coaches into each other, and because of their light weight, very likely derail them. Ironside kept one hoof on the throttle, and the other on the sand lever. Whenever the drivers slipped, he’d have to shut off the throttle and apply more sand to the rails to increase traction. 1015 hoped that his weight distribution on the drivers would help with the decreased traction, and it did to a small extent. Unfortunately, it wasn’t long before he began to slip. Sure enough, Ironside dropped more sand on the rails to keep the traction up. The Prairie caught the rails and once more climbed the grade. It was a slow and tedious process. 1015 kept a steady pace, but the slippage was frequent, and Ironside began to worry that he’d be out of sand before reaching the summit. Already they had come close twice to losing traction altogether and running backwards into the coaches. Both ponies were covered in sweat and coal dust, both from working the fire and from the stress. About half a mile from the summit, Ironside decided to gun it and see what happens. He opened the sand up once more, and then opened the throttle wide. 1015’s wheels surprisingly didn’t slip. Instead, they gripped, and the Prairie’s steady chuffs slowly grew faster and faster until the locomotive was literally roaring up the line. The couplings held. Realizing that the test was already a success, Ironside held down the whistle cord, letting 1015 sing with joy at the feat they’d accomplished. “We could hear you all the way from over here,” Celestia beamed as Ironside and Silver disembarked from the engine. “And I thought 1015 was supposed to chuff softly,” Luna chuckled. You couldn’t tell, but 1015 was smiling from running board to running board. “He’s all set to go,” Ironside said, “I’ve never driven an express engine without helpers up the Canterlot Climb before; 2398 only does double-headers on that stretch.” “You pass, 1015,” Celestia said to the engine. “Well, I didn’t exactly ace the exam,” he replied, “I slipped quite a few times on the climb.” “That’ll happen to any engine, even with helpers,” Celestia responded, “What you did today is one for the history books.” “Thank you, Princess,” said 1015, “That means a lot to me.” That evening, Iron backed 1015 into the Canterlot roundhouse for the night. He was one of only two engines who had a permanent stall here; the other was 2398. Many Equestrian locos were already tucked in for the night, so the Prairie didn’t have to worry about feeling lonely. “Hey Iron?” said the engine. “Yeah?” replied the pony. “I’m pretty certain any Baldwin like me could’ve made that climb look easy.” “Why?” “Because the rolling stock here isn’t as big as the ones back home. A small string of empties here is like running light for us.” “It doesn’t matter, 1015. You proved yourself worthy to be part of the Equestrian Railways. You’ve got a home now. That’s all that matters.”