• Published 16th Dec 2020
  • 2,017 Views, 165 Comments

Night Train to New York - jz1



During a diplomatic mission to Earth, Princess Celestia goes out in search of pizza and adventure.

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All Aboard!

The locomotive’s cab was simultaneously very large, but also very cramped. It was a physically large space, but almost every available inch of it was taken up with a chaotic warren of pipes, dials, levers, cabinets, and fixtures. All of these seemed to center around the two seats in the cab, one on each side. It was purposeful chaos, Celestia observed, as she settled into a space between the unoccupied left seat and a stand covered in levers and dials. This was clearly not a space meant for ponies, but she wasn’t really in a position to be picky.

She also didn’t care. New York City here I come!

“You keep on shaking your tail like that and it’s bound to come off,” Charlie wryly observed from the other side of the cab.

“I’m sorry,” Celestia said, more out of habit than anything else - she certainly didn’t mean it. “But I’m quite excited.”

“S’not a problem - just reminds me of my Daschund. I say the same thing to him and he don't listen either.”

Celestia snorted, but kept her eyes out the front window. She could see a signal light in the distance, and while she didn’t know much about trains, she knew enough to know that they could go when it turned green.

“You ever been in one of these before?” Charlie inquired from across the cab.

“Many years ago - when they were first invented.” Celestia remembered that day well - one of the locomotives had belched smoke all over the royal party and coated them in soot. It was the most fun she’d had in ages.

“Well I imagine that this is a mite different from what you’re used to, so just to make things clear - don’t touch anything unless I say you can. We don’t need you hitting the emergency brake while we’re at speed.” Charlie’s tone was serious - he knew his job well. “Also, I see you flapping those wings of yours - just be careful with where you put ‘em. There’s enough electricity running through this thing to cook your goose in a flash. Don’t go poking at anything that says ‘High Voltage’ on it.”

Celestia nodded gravely. She might be immortal, but if human electricity was anything like the lighting back in Equestria, it would hurt and then keep hurting for a good time thereafter.

Charlie’s face then softened. “But other than that, just stay there and enjoy your ride - provided we don’t get caught up against the train ahead of us, we should be cruising into Sunnyside in just about 2 hours time. If we do, it’ll be a bit closer to 3, but I think we can make up the time.”

“You sound so certain - is this a fast locomotive?” The engine looked like it was designed for speed, but it was so large that Celestia couldn’t know.

“One of the fastest. We got almost 9,000 horsepower here, and no train to weigh us down. If this had wings we’d probably beat the Pan Am Shuttle!” Charlie patted one of the levers proudly. “I’ve been driving these since ‘49, and let me tell you - there is not a better engine on any railroad anywhere.”

Celestia, only vaguely aware of human measurement standards, was still very impressed. The locomotive was apparently so large because it had very powerful motors. If it ran off of electricity instead of steam, then it must use an enormous amount of power.

As she thought this, Charlie began going through the steps required to turn the engine on. Celestia jumped as the locomotive suddenly came to life with a roar of fans and creaking metal. A low buzzing sound came from above the cab roof, and several clicks and pops emanated from the dials and indicators.

It was like the engine had come alive under Celestia’s hooves. What had previously been an inanimate lump of metal was now a living machine, brought to life by Charlie.

She turned to Charlie, and saw him grinning back at her. “She’s quite a machine, isn’t she?”

“She?”

“Absolutely. You work with these long enough to realize that each one’s got a personality all their own. Some are more laid back, some are a bit high-strung and finicky, and some -” He reached outside and patted the side of the locomotive. “Are just eager, like a greyhound waiting for the gate to open. She knows that we got a special job tonight, and I reckon that she’s just as eager to get to Sunnyside as you are.”

Celestia looked down at the metal plating beneath her hooves, feeling the mechanical vibrations, and wondered whether Charlie was being facetious, or if humans knew something about magic that she didn’t. “Well, I guess I’ll have to save a slice of pizza for her then!” She said finally, raising her voice to be heard over the chorus of mechanical noises that were filling the cab.

“I reckon that she’d be pleased by that!” Charlie called back.

At that moment, another mechanical whirring sound filled the air for a moment, before everything settled down into a low hum.

Celestia got the distinct feeling that the engine agreed with that assessment.

“Hey Charlie? You’re good to go!” Squawked the radio just as the signal, which had been showing three lights arranged horizontally, now changed to show three lights in a vertical arrangement.

“Roger that” Replied Charlie as he advanced the lever. The big engine barely shuddered as the quiet hum slowly grew into a loud whirring noise. Celestia looked out the window to see the platform bench receding into the distance. The engine was on the move.

In what seemed like no time at all, the locomotive had cleared the station, rolling over the spiderweb of tracks and overhead cables at the station throat. Celestia stared out the side window, astounded at the scale of the human’s transportation infrastructure. Canterlot’s station was a small backwater halt compared to this. They rolled by a long line of engines - some were like the one she was riding aboard - black and aerodynamic, but others were different - square and silver, like the coaches parked on tracks behind them.

“What are those?” She asked, pointing to them. “Are they different kinds of engine?”

“Yes ma’am.” Charlie said, taking a brief glance outside. “Those silver ones are the E60s - they were supposed to be the new and modern thing - to replace these old beasts, but they’re just as bad as the Metroliners.”

“Why is that?”

“They don’t work! I don’t have anything against modernity, but these new trains they’ve been bringing out just don’t do the job as well as an old G like this - always breaking down or speed restricted or something.” It was clear that Charlie had strong opinions on these new trains.

“G?”

“It stands for GG1 - that’s the type of engine this is.” Charlie said as he guided the engine through the edge of the yard and onto the main line. “They built ‘em back in the thirties - almost a hundred fifty of ‘em. They’ve been going up and down The Corridor ever since.” He paused to tap at a gauge. “Been through three railways now, well into their 50s - which is old for an engine, let me tell you.”

Celestia tilted her head in confusion. “Why would the railway try to replace a proven and working locomotive? Surely age doesn’t matter for a machine.”

“These engines are like me - they aren’t spring chickens anymore.” Charlie said simply. “Newer stuff works better ‘cause they haven’t been out on the rails for half a century. Well, provided that they’re built properly - which the ‘60s aren’t. Right now the G’s are just getting a stay of execution until the new engines come in from EMD. One of them’s over there now actually.”

Charlie pointed to the very edge of the yard, where a much smaller engine was visible. It was wrapped in a tarp, but from what Celestia could see, it looked like a much smaller version of the E60s she’d asked about. Even from this quick look, she could tell that both of those engines seemed much more… lifeless than the GG1s sitting next to them. Even sitting still, the GG1 seemed almost organic with its curved metal and flowing lines. By comparison, the newer engines looked like a brick that had been enchanted to fly - very square, with little regard given to aerodynamics.

“I see. And then what will happen to these?” She said cautiously, not liking the answer she was imagining.

“I dunno. Probably a few’ll go to Jersey Transit - they got a few already from Conrail, 'cause they're gonna axe the rest of their electrics sooner or later. Few museums maybe. The rest’ll get turned into razorblades I guess.” Charlie said with remarkable nonchalance. “It’s what happens, unfortunate as it may be.”

“I thought as much.” Celestia said, more than a little sad. She’d only been with this engine for a few minutes, and she was already growing attached to it. “What will you do?”

“Retire, honestly. I’ve given thirty years to this line - first the Pennsy, then the Central, and now I’m Amtrak’s problem. Driving G’s the whole time - I’m not interested in doing anything else.” Charlie looked wistful. “I might move to Florida like my wife’s been wanting to - she leaves real estate listings from Tampa and Boca Raton where she thinks I’ll see ‘em - but I’ve always wanted to go out and travel. Who knows? Maybe I can score myself a tourist visa and come visit Ponyland.”

“Equestria.”

“What?”

“My land is Equestria. Ponies live there.”

“My mistake.”

“No problem.” Celestia smiled to herself. Charlie would definitely be on the fast-track - pun very much intended - for a tourist visa once the diplomatic affairs were settled.

Underneath her hooves, Celestia could feel the locomotive as it rocked gently over track switches and glided around curves. From the lack of noise it was making, it was clearly not under any strain. Celestia would have almost called the pace ‘slow’, if they weren’t already going faster than any train in Equestria could as they rolled over the vast river that ran through Philadelphia.

“This is quite fast,” she remarked to Charlie, who was so unphased by the speed that he had pulled an official-looking sheet of paper from his pocket and was idly filling it out.

“This?” he said, glancing up from the paper to note a passing signal. “We’re only doing about 50 right now. Wait until we go through the curve at Frankford - after that we can really stretch our legs.”

Celestia blinked. “It can go faster?” She muttered under her breath as she stared out the window. The trackside buildings were already starting to blur together - how much faster could they go?

Beneath her hooves, the GG1 rumbled almost impatiently - it seemed to know that Charlie was holding it back, and wanted to run free.

Charlie however kept a firm hand on the throttle as the train sailed down the line. Celestia watched as houses and a station blurred past her window, the name just visible in the platform lights - North Philadelphia.

“See that?” Said Charlie. “Last stop before Frankford.”

The GG1 shuddered in what must have been excitement. There was a station first - and then the curve - and then they were free to go faster.

Looking forward through her window, Celestia could see the light of a distant oncoming train slowly appear, the lights on the coaches visible as they rounded the upcoming curve.

The curve drew closer and closer, and the locomotive seemed to grow more and more excitable with each passing moment. They flashed through the dim lighting of Frankford Junction station, the curve now moments away. The oncoming train, headed by another GG1, passed by with a honk and roar just a few hooves from Celestia’s window, and when it passed the curve was visible, looming up out of the locomotive’s headlamp. The engine was almost vibrating with excitement as it leaned into the curve - so much so that Charlie grumbled something about bad track as the GG1 screeched through the corner. Celestia was impressed that the humans had managed to create a curve big enough to allow a train to pass at speed - the Equestrian railway network could take many lessons from the humans.

After what seemed like an age, but was actually only a few moments, the locomotive was out of the curve. The GG1 was practically shaking with a poorly repressed desire for speed, reminding Celestia of a certain blue pegasus back home. Looking over at Charlie, who seemed to be in no hurry to advance the throttle despite his train’s protestations, Celestia began to realize that Charlie might not know exactly how ‘alive’ his machine was.

After almost a minute had passed without Charlie advancing the throttle, Celestia turned to him questioningly. “I thought you said we could go faster?” she said, ignoring the GG1’s increasingly desperate rumblings beneath her horseshoes.

“We will,” He said, the light of a passing signal streaming through the window. “But why don’t you come over here? I wanna show you something.”

Cocking her head in confusion, the Pony Princess made her way across the cramped cab. Charlie’s instrument panel was different from the one she had been sitting at. There were more levers, dials, gauges, and controls here - clearly this was the seat of power on the locomotive.

“See that?” He said, pointing to the steel pedestal with the throttle lever sticking out of it. “That’s the throttle. Push that forward and we go a lot faster. Pull it back and we slow down.” He motioned to a cord hanging down from the roof of the cab. “This is the horn - you use it to tell people to get out of the way, or to make a lot of noise just because you can.” He smiled conspiratorially at her. “Why don’t you give it a yank?”

“Really?” Celestia looked at him in astonishment.

“Yeah!” he said, eye twinkling. “But first let’s open up the window and hear it properly.”

For the second time that night, Celestia had wind rushing through her mane as Charlie slid open the cab’s side window, allowing the wind from the train’s passage into the cab.

“Ready?” he asked.

She nodded, grabbing the cord with one wing - some things you just had to do physically - and yanked down on it.

The GG1’s horn blared through the night sky, a long deep note that bellowed from the locomotive like the call of a wild animal. Beneath her hooves, Celestia could feel the engine’s glee - it liked making noise and being heard just as much as it liked going fast. The parallels between this engine and Rainbow Dash grew with each passing minute.

After a long moment, Celestia silenced the horn, turning to Charlie expectantly. “We still aren’t going fast.” she said as the GG1 rumbled its agreement.

“Oh we will,” said Charlie mischievously. “But I think that you oughta do it.”

“What?”

“Well, I can do this whenever I want to, so it only seems fair that you get to do it on your first ever ride.” he said, motioning her hoof to the control pedestal. “Just grab this lever, and shove it as far forward as you can. You won’t break it, I promise.”

Doing as she was told, Celestia wrapped her hoof around the GG1’s throttle. The engine’s excitement became even more apparent the instant her hoof hit the controls. Whatever connection she’d had with the machine before was now greater. She could almost hear the engine urging her to push the throttle forwards. To take control, and let the locomotive truly run to its limit. The feeling was contagious, and a small part of her mind noted that Charlie must have no idea about the GG1’s true inner spirit, otherwise he would not be so calm in carrying out his duties.

With an excited smile plastered across her muzzle, Celestia took hold of the throttle and pushed it to its stops.

The GG1’s electric motors whirred in approval as the engine began to rapidly build in speed. The engine, now free of any constraints except the laws of physics, surged ahead.

Still at the controls, Celestia could feel the engine’s delight at being allowed to run free. The wind roared in through the cab window as cars on the nearby roadway receded into the distance - the engine passing them like they were standing still. Another GG1, this one leading a freight train, gave a short honk as it passed in the other direction. Celestia gave a long sustained blare in reply.

In the engineer’s seat behind the pony, Charlie watched in amusement as Tacony station came and went in just seconds. If she kept this up they might break the speed record into Sunnyside.

Actually, they might just break the speed limit on the main line altogether.