Snowed Under
The morning came, and with it came the packing of cases with personal items and dragging all conceivable bags downstairs. As they waited for the coach to pull up, they decided to share some of their best memories of the trip.
“How about the music?” Tender Taps suggested.
“That would definitely run in the top 10 for me,” suggested Raindrops.
“How about the food?” added Silverstream. “I LOVED THE FOOD!”
“We all did,” Babs replied, subconsciously licking her lips.
“But what else?” Featherweight added. “Surely the WWII Museum was a highlight?”
“It was, yes,” Tender continued. “We really got a sense of what it was like for those submariners in the Pacific.”
“And we did get the highest score of the group,” Raindrops reminded them.
“I bet your highlight was the streetcars Babs,” Featherweight noted.
“They were ONE of the highlights.”
Just then, the bus pulled in, and they boarded it to go to Chalmette.
On the way, they drove through the remains of the Lower 9th, Devastated by the floods of Hurricane Katrina back in 2005. Even 9 years on, it was still yet to recover from the chaos.
The bus rolled across the railroad line and into the battlefield itself, driving along the back of a line of artillery pieces positioned behind a rampart.
“So, this was where we beat the British,” Babs said to the others.
“The great victory of Andrew Jackson,” Tender Taps told them.
“The British did make a number of key mistakes,” Raindrops added.
“Namely?” Featherweight added.
“Listen up!” called Mr Rolls. “We are now going inside the visitor centre to learn about the battle. Please stay alert and remember to be respectful to this battlefield.”
So, they learned the truth of the Battle of New Orleans. Fought in 1815, it was the last attempt of the British to seize American territory. But due to some catastrophically bad planning, what should have been an easy victory turned into an embarrassing defeat for the British, and the victory that cemented America’s reputation.
Seeing the actual site itself really brought the place to life, and there was thunder in the air. With a little bit of imagination, it was easy to imagine cannons thundering in the distance, a battle raging out in the fog and cloud.
The fact there would have been no snow was irrelevant. But their time came to an end and they boarded the bus to the airport. Babs looked out upon NOLA’s streets for what she thought would be the very last time, but fate had a few surprises in store yet.
As the bus came to a stop, they piled off and looked at the departure board.
Each flight had the same word next to it.
CANCELLED.
“I don’t believe it!” Mr Royce said.
“Apparently, it’s because of the snow,” Mr Rolls added.
Raindrops shrugged. “Well, how are we gonna get home?”
“We could go by road,” Tender added.
“The roads are too slow,” Featherweight said. “It’d take us days to get home, and I doubt hotels in the region have any vacancies.”
“We can still get home,” Babs said.
“Have you not been listening?” despaired Silverstream. “We have no transportation options left!”
“We do,” Babs replied. “We got a GG1.”
Tender just looked at her as if she’d suggested robbing Fort Knox. “Are you crazy? That thing’s a museum piece!”
When they arrived at the museum, they looked at the GG1. Sure enough, the paint was still flaky, and it was in need of a little TLC, but the engine was structurally there.
Featherweight was looking around it, and speaking as he did so. “This electric locomotive is nearly 80 years old and out of date. It lacks ATP and TPWS, and lacks digital control gauges. The traction motors are analogue, which isn’t necessarily a problem, except they are full of toxic chemicals which I’d rather not get involved with!” He paused, and looked at Babs. “There is a manual checklist for running these things, but it’d take months and we have nowhere near enough people to run a passenger train. I have no idea what you are thinking, but I doubt this thing will ever run again. And what about passenger cars? We can’t move them in vans!”
There was a loud bang, which startled them. A door had opened, and through stepped a group of men and women, the youngest of whom was 40 and the oldest 80. Leading them forward was Lionel Jeffries.
Each of them was dressed in the Pennsylvania Railroad uniform of a black suit with a black and gold cap. Each had a black tie immaculately maintained, and they stepped over to Babs, who extended her hand to greet Jeffries.
“I didn’t expect to see you this soon,” he laughed.
“The weather’s kinda done that,” Babs admitted. She took a deep breath. “I know all of you have served both your country and your railroad for decades, and none of us have any right to ask any more of you. But please...I’m asking.”
Jeffries chuckled. “What do you need, kid?”
Babs nodded. “Can we borrow yer GG1?”
“Well, we’ll need to get those bogies looked at, but I reckon it can be done. C’mon boys! Let’s get the hazmat suits!”
The works crane went into action, lifting the bodywork free of the heavy motor frames and chassis. Almost immediately, the team flew into action, taking the traction motors to pieces and releasing heavy fluids into toxic container tanks.
“Transistors need replacing,” one of them noted. “Send for spares.”
Featherweight took a close look at the work that was being done. “You were stockpiling spares?” he asked.
“We always dreamed of getting this thing running again. We were just waiting for a chance to wake her from her slumber.” The veteran looked up at him. “C’mon, get to work!”
Featherweight passed some extra components forward and got to work on cleaning up the connections in the traction motors.
Meanwhile, Silverstream and Raindrops helped out with the bodywork, cleaning the pantographs on the massive electric locomotive.
Another engineer looked at them. “Have you worked on a locomotive before?”
“Only a miniature one in my local park,” Silverstream admitted.
“You ought to fit right in,” he smiled. “Can you get to work on the switches?”
Raindrops took a rag and began cleaning the switchboard, and spraying it with rust remover to clean up the controls. Silverstream, meanwhile, got to work on the power transmission systems.
Elsewhere, Babs was being run through the power control systems of the locomotive.
“These locomotives were built before synchromesh was introduced,” Jeffries told her. “As a result, the power trucks are not always synchronised. The lever on the left controls direction. Push it away from you to go forward, and pull toward you to go backward. Pull the throttle toward you to accelerate, and push it away to brake.”
“What about brakes?”
“These engines have continuous air and loco brakes on them. These things are powerful, so go easy on the throttle.”
Meanwhile, Tender Taps had a paintbrush in his hand, and set about repainting the bodywork of the GG1. Off came the old flaking paint of the museum, and one went a fresh coat of Swindon Green, with yellow stripes running up and down the bodywork. The frames looked as if they had just rolled off of the production line.
“How are the motors coming along?” he called to Featherweight.
“Power systems and bogies are almost ready and prepared!” Featherweight called back.
The crane roared into life, and the bodywork and frames were reunited. It had taken them 7 solid hours of work, but now the moment of truth had arrived for the crew.
Jeffries and Babs took up positions in the front cab, and Raindrops and Silverstream in the rear. Another engineer took position in the generator room.
Jeffries took up the radio. “Preparing for hook-up.”
A diesel locomotive backed into the shed, and the knuckle-eyes engaged with a clunk. With a rattle and a roar, the formation moved forward and under the overhead wires, where the diesel uncoupled and moved away.
Jeffries threw a switch. “Best cover your ears,” he smiled, as the pantographs rose into the air and made contact with the overhead power system. He then threw another switch, and a loud bang and pop sounded as the transistor valves engaged. These bangs were promptly replaced by a loud roar, as the traction motors kicked in. A loud whine echoed through the cab, confirming that they indeed had power.
Babs took her seat at the controls, and flicked the drive switch into the forward position. She released the brakes and pulled the throttle lever toward her. With a groan, and a rumble, the massive electric engine began to move forward and onto the mainline.
They had done it. For the first time in over 30 years, a GG1 was fully operational and running on America’s railway lines. Radio messages echoed up and down the locomotive as it rolled along.
“Readings on amp gauge?”
“Clocking in at 200, over.”
“Current flow from main pantographs?”
“25 kV AC, over.”
The engine rolled over the junction, and then when the switch had changed, began to reverse into the station.
The engineer in the traction room picked up his radio. "Boss, is it true we’re running to New York...non-stop?”
“Sure looks that way.”
He paused. “Holy shit!”
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9412324
OK then. New chapter has arrived.
Oh I'm going to like the last chapter for sure :D
9413805
Yep. About time somebody revived the GG1s.
Did you spot the movie reference?
9413859
yep, I guess you could say this story involves all 3 modes of Transportation in reserve order: Air, Sea, and Land :3
9413872
Sea? Are you referring to the submarine sequence?
And yes, the reference is to Battleship.
This reminded me, I did the math once a while back and a 14-inch gauge (1/4 scale) GG1 would be about an inch and a half short of 20 feet long.
10647662
Interesting.
Forgive my ignorance, O mighty author, but how much of the route they’re taking is still electrified?
Go figure.
Plus it's electric, there's no lines in Louisiana that have lines that are electrified. It's pointless to even try...
Talk about perfect timing!
That's insane!