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Memories of Yesteryear1,815 words
A New Resolve1,502 words
The Shed Yields Wonders...1,558 words
How does a Torque Converter work again?1,511 words
First Run1,586 words
A duty for the Western1,582 words
An Ill Presage1,518 words
Not all is right1,552 words
Exposing Svengallop1,515 words
The Magic Inside1,348 words
Credits42 words

First Run

By the time that Rumble, Chrysalis, Thorax, and Ocellus had got to the shed where Western Champion was stored, they found it had already been put back inside and some panels had been removed from the engine casing. Behind the sleek metal and the windows that revealed the twin Maybach engines, a maze of pipes, cables and wires existed, alongside a mass of gears, cogs, and pistons, totalling thousands of moving parts inside the locomotive. Pip was looking closely at the engine in concern, a frown upon his face as he looked closely at it.

"It seems to be in good order," he said, finally, after several minutes of silence. "Most of the parts are there, at least according to the plans we have here. But I would still feel more comfortable with a second opinion on this machine, given I've only previously worked on steam engines and small mechanical shunters."

"You really want a second opinion?" said Button, emerging from the interior of the locomotive, his face covered in oil and his clothes greasy. "We seem to have a leak in one of the torque converters. Who could have known diesel locomotives could have been so messy?"

"If you're used to working on diesel electrics, then yes," Pip replied, stepping forward to climb onboard. "There's a lot of hydraulic fluid in these machines to keep them running."

"You don't say," Button replied, hopping out. "I can understand why BR withdrew these things; they must have driven the engineers at Swindon absolutely nuts!"

"And they lacked the heating systems needed to power Mark 2 coaches," Pip added. "I wonder how long it has been since this engine last run?"

"Who knows?" said Mr Squeak. "This loco last appears in the California Coast Railroad logbooks back in the 1980s. So, at the very least, it has acquired 30 or so years of neglect. But you'd be amazed at how dependable the 1st generation diesels can be. One preserved line pulled a Class 101 DMU out of storage a few years ago after years out of use. And the engine ran perfectly."

"In fairness," Button replied, "diesel mechanical is a lot less complex than diesel hydraulic. We've got two engines to deal with here!"

Just then, Pip noticed that Rumble had returned. "Hey Rumble!" he called. "Did you get the extra help?"

"Yep!" Rumble replied. "I hope Ocellus and her brother will be of great help."

"And me," Chrysalis added, as the family stepped into the shed. Ocellus' jaw dropped at seeing Western Champion in front of her.

"I knew these things were pretty incredible, but to actually see one in real life? This is pretty incredible!"

"It's not every day you find an old British diesel in a shed in town," Thorax laughed. "I imagine this is a dream come true for you, Celly!"

"You bet?" his sister replied. "I can't wait to look inside! Just imagine what wonders we shall find inside!"

"Now wait just a moment, young lady," Chrysalis said sternly to her daughter. "You need a responsible adult with you at all times inside that machine. And I intend to be there at all times whilst you take a look inside."

Ocellus' face fell. "OK mom," she replied. "But can we go in?"

Chrysalis sighed. "Whatever am I going to do with you?" she asked rhetorically. "Of course dear, let's go. No point in delaying any further." And so, the two of them climbed in through the access hatch in the side of the engine, and moved off to the left, walking past the core of the engine and toward the cab of the locomotive, pausing every now and then to look at a part and comment on it.

"Hmm," noted Ocellus. "Looks to be in good order."

"Looks to be?" Chrysalis said. "That's not good enough for getting this engine running again. If we want it to run, we have to ensure it is in good order."

"Noted," Ocellus said, and they stepped into the cab via the access door. Ocellus'e eyes darted through the dimly lit cab, and she switched on a torch to look about in more detail. The controls looked to be in good order, and they were all there; reverser, throttle, brake handles (both the locomotive and train brake handles), as well as the parking brake wheel. She shook her head upon seeing it, recalling a time when a student in her year had asked her if it was a steering wheel. Seriously, why would a diesel locomotive, a machine designed to run on rails, have a steering wheel? The rails determine where it goes, and having a steering wheel would thus be pointless! She dismissed the thought from her mind, and walked over to the other side of the cab, where the controls for the steam heating boiler sat.

"Steam heating boiler controls?" Chrysalis asked, looking at the control panel in confusion. "Why would a diesel engine have a boiler on board? I thought only steam engines had those!"

"In the early days," Ocellus explained, "before the introduction of electric train heating, carriages in Britain were still fitted with steam heating. As the old steam engines were being withdrawn, this meant that there was no way of heating the trains whilst the diesel was attached to it. Then somebody came up with the bright idea of fitting steam heating boilers to diesel locos. This, incidentally, is why diesel locos from this era have a dedicated fireman position, to operate the steam heating boiler. Of course, this became redundant when electric train heating came in, which partly sparked the downfall of these engines as they couldn't mount the generators needed for it, whereas the later Class 50s could. That, and ASLEF demanded it."

"ASLEF?" Chrysalis asked.

"Associated Society of Locomotive Engineers and Firemen," Ocellus explained. "The main union for railway employees in Britain alongside the Union of Railway, Maritime and Transport Workers, or RMT."

Chrysalis sighed at this information. "If you're going to use acronyms, explain what they mean first. Otherwise, people will have no idea what you're talking about."

Ocellus nodded. "OK. Well, that's the cab checked out. Shall we go and check the other one?"

The rest of the inspection took a few minutes, and after those few minutes had ended, passing on into eternity, Ocellus and Chrysalis hopped out of the access hatch and onto the workshop floor.

"Well?" Pip asked. "How is it?"

"I imagine you got very excited in there," Thorax said, with a grin.

"And what is that supposed to mean?" Ocellus asked.

"Oh, nothing."

Ocellus turned to Pip. "To answer your question, the locomotive looks to be in surprisingly good shape. The controls are all there, and I couldn't see much corrosion upon initial inspection of the engines and mechanical equipment."

"And?" Rumble enquired, a look of surprise on his face.

"I'd still advise completely stripping the thing down and checking all the parts to be absolutely safe," Ocellus continued, a gleam in her eyes. "These things are pretty complicated."

"You can say that again," Button said, remembering his earlier trip inside Western Champion.

"These things are pretty complicated-"

"Not literally!" Button interrupted.

"We have a crane here, and plenty of hands to do this work," Thorax said, glancing about at the workshop and shed in which they currently stood. Or were currently standing, whichever is grammatically correct.

Mr Squeak put his hands together. "Let's get to work!" he said, with a smile.

Several weeks passed by, and work continued, parts being repaired and overhauled as work progressed. Machinery was shipped in and out as the locomotive was stripped down and fixed, with new coils, engine cylinders, fan belts, and even a replacement torque converter being fitted (that last one was especially challenging, given the manufacturer had gone out of business many decades earlier).

One evening, Apple Bloom was out walking in town. The Apple harvest was nearly over, and she was just enjoying being out in the air. Her body was dripping in sweat from the strenous work and the heat, and she wiped some of it off of her palms and onto her jeans to make her hands less slippery. She was walking past the shed when suddenly she heard a strange sound.

There was a long, loud humming noise, which went up and down in pitch every few seconds or so. It was interspersed every few minutes with a beeping sound, when suddenly a loud roar of an engine engaging caused her to jump. "What the heck was that?" she cried.

Just as suddenly as it had begun, it cut out. And then suddenly cut in again, and it began to rev at a stable volume. The noise seemed to be coming from the shed, and the doors were swung open a moment later. The engine note rose in pitch, and Apple Bloom's jaw nearly fell off when she saw the mighty diesel emerging out of the shed and into the glorious California sun. The red paintwork gleaming, the engine roaring majestically, and the note of the twin Maybach's a wondrous sound to hear, the 52 rolled forward for a short distance, and then stopped. Pip opened the cab door to shout to somebody.

"It works!" Pip shouted to Rumble. "It works perfectly!"

"Yes!" Rumble cried. "Mainline workings, here we come!"

Apple Bloom couldn't believe what she had just seen. "So, that's what he was up to," she said calmly. "If only Ah'd known, Ah'd have loved ta help."

Author's Note:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FgcVqv-GLp4

If you want to hear the full startup of a Class 52, click the link above.

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