Live While we're Young

by The Blue EM2

Last Minute Replacement on the footplate

"Thanks for turning out at such short notice," Ian Riley said, as he prepped the Black 5, 44871, for running at Settle station. "Again, I'm sorry for calling you out so suddenly, but the dedicated fireman fell ill a few hours before the run was due to start and we rather need something or someone to light the fire to see the way."

"No problem," Smoulder replied. "I'm a dragon. I know a thing or two about keeping things hot."

"I should hope so too," Ian said, glancing at the gauges again. "We need to keep boiler pressure as high as possible, and that means having as much steam pressure being produced by a hot fire as possible." He looked out of the window. "12 coaches with a single Black 5 isn't going to be easy either. We should've had a second engine, but that failed too."

Smoulder studied the fire closely. "So, how far do we have to get this thing?"

"The relief fireman is waiting at Dent station, about 15 or so miles from here. It's going to be a very slow climb, so be sure to maintain the fire temperature without it getting too hot. We don't want blowback in here!"

"Blowback?"

"Basically, the fire ejects hot air into the cab, which can result in nasty burns... if you're lucky."

Ahead of the gargantuan train, the signal turned from red to amber. "We're being held here until the light is green to give us a clear run. Brakes are still held on, boiler pressure is at 224 psi, water is steady. There's a standby water tender should we run out of water or get dangerously low."

Suddenly, there was a loud whistle, and another steam special flew past on the other line. This was being headed by 46115 Scots Guardsman, which whistled loudly as it vanished into the distance.

"I wasn't expecting another steam trip out today," Ian noted. The guard then walked up the platform to see him.

"Sir, we secured a banking engine at short notice. L92 is here and ready to assist."

"Now, I wasn't expecting that, but I guess we have to work with what we've got."

Smoulder had an inkling as to who 'L92' really was, but kept it to herself. Moments later, the guard's whistle blew.

"Right, away we go!" Ian called, and pulled down on the whistle chord. With a loud boom from the Stanier hooter, the passenger train finally got underway and began to bite as it hit the steep hill out of Settle, the loud exhaust echoed by the booming of the Pannier's steam release from its own chimney.

Smoulder looked in the firebox. Her scales were fireproof, so the head couldn't hurt her, but she shot some flames into the firebox to try and keep the temperature up, which seemed to be working. The coal was burning white hot, arranged into fancy lumps that focused the heat in such a way that the engine was able to produce almost infinite levels of power.

"Keep it up!" Ian called, glancing back to the gauge. "We're holding at full pressure with plenty of water on the gauge, and we're gaining speed!"

Smoulder took a quick glance at the speedometer on her side of the cab. The speedometer was reading 30 miles per hour. "Is 30 good?" she asked.

"With this load, you'd normally be looking to do 20 with a standing start. Good news is that we're coming up on a flat section."

The train continued to climb, spectators turning out to see not only the spectacular sight of a pair of steam engines ascending the climb up to Dent, but the incredibly loud sound of two steam engines thundering away, the volume and noise mistaken for a volcanic eruption by those who were too far away to witness it.

Partway into the climb, the grade got a little easier on the two engines, and some good speed was made as they passed Horton in Ribblesdale, which was about halfway.

"Halfway there!" Ian called, and sounded a whistle sequence (short long short) on the whistle. It's not clear what else he could have sounded it on. Anyways, the Pannier tank on the back responded with the same sequence. Through it all, the fire continued to burn white hot, producing such incredible levels of heat that the boiler pressure gauge hadn't even budged an inch since departure, still at 224.

Ian glanced down at the fire in amazement. "How are you keeping it so hot? None of my usual fireman can keep the fire this hot!"

"I'm assuming that most of your usual firemen or women aren't dragons."

"Good point. Although steam engines were frequently compared to dragons in literature owing to the amount of smoke and steam they produce whilst on the move." The train passed over Ribblehead viaduct and clatted through the Blea Moor freight loop, the line having been cleared for the train to pass.

Smoulder slammed the firebox doors shut as the train stormed into Blea Moor tunnel, the volume of the engine's exhaust suddenly amplified by several hundred decibels. Smoke and steam pooled inside the tunnel from the amount of effort the engine's were producing, with the sound once more audible for miles.

Emerging from the tunnel, a spectacular jet of steam shot upwards into the sky as the train cleared the climb and was onto level ground at last. It was wasn't fire to Dent now, and the train at long last came to a stop at the highest railway station in England. Smoulder hopped off the footplate and handed over to the relief man, who seemed stunned at the engine's perfomance. "Ian, maybe you should replace all of us with dragons!"

"Wouldn't dream of it, mate!" Ian replied.

Smoulder stood on the platform and saw the support engine drop off and back up into the engineers' siding. Leaning out of the cab was Aristate.

"So, the engine wasn't a Changeling," Smoulder noted. "Very funny."

Author's Note:

44871 is the other major Black 5 in the Ian Riley collection. One of the last steam engines in revenue earning service, having hauled 1T57 in 1968, it is a common sight on railtours across the country.

As ridiculous as it may seem, Pannier Tanks have worked on the mainline in preservation, though due to their small size they are normally restricted to branch lines and the Met.

Comments

[Wessexbrony]

I think Hellifield would be a better option to start from, as Settle is a two-track station.

[Late_Night]

so when's this gonna get back to slice of life with the student six and stop with the train stuff
cuz i'm getting rather tired of the latter rather quickly

[SuperSonicHeroes]

Okay, wasn’t expecting this. Still interesting for Smolder to get a solo chapter.

[Yoshifan30]

Oh so your going one by one with the young six about train ok interesting i guess

[Yoshifan30]

[The Blue EM2]

10470935
But I'm not sure the Pannier would have had the water supply.

[The Blue EM2]

10471005
This is the last one with any 'train stuff'.

[The Blue EM2]

10471011
I couldn't neglect the dragon for some solo development, could I?

[The Blue EM2]

10471095
Yup.

[Mlpzootopia19]

Okay wow another train story I mean it's an interesting information about them but it feels kind of taken away the story of the young six I mean no offense bro