Thomas and Friends: Legends of Strasburg

by The Blue EM2

Prologue-Living in Another Time

The storm boomed all around one cold night a long, long time ago. Rain poured down from seemingly bottomless buckets and kept the landscape saturated with wetness. Everywhere you looked was wet, wet, wet.

But the cold and the rain didn't mean that work stopped. Even out here the freight had to be kept moving. At a coal loader, the workmen were filling the last hoppers with coal. This was a priority shipment that needed to be taken away as soon as possible.

"Here's the last load!" called the foreman, who walked over to an engineer and handed him a document. "Your orders are to take this to St. Paul to be martialled into a train for the B&O."

The engineer nodded. "Any chance of another engine? I don't think we have enough brake force for this train on one engine."

"You're to set retainers before you start the descent to Dante," the foreman reminded him. "Keep an eye on the line and ensure you don't exceed the speed limit. You've got at least 1,500 tons of coal behind you."

"That's precisely what's concerning me," the engineer replied, but climbed into the cab nontheless. "Come on! Let's go!"

"Right away!" the engine replied, a female voice coming from the smokebox. With a blast of the whistle they were on their way down the line. Eventually, they turned off the branch and onto the main line towards their destination.

The run was smooth and fairly routine up to that point. But as they entered a loop before the main descent, the line dipped down into a steep drop. The engineer applied the brakes, but nothing happened.

"We have no brakes!" he shouted. "The train's too heavy for us to bring to a stop!"

The engine said nothing, but in her mind she knew this probably wasn't going to end well. The train roared down the hill, gathering speed as it did so. Speed continued to climb, Forty, fifty, sixty... the speedometer was reading this, but that was the highest possible figure it could produce on the display.

Suddenly, they flew towards a bridge which curved around to the right. "We're not going to hold the bend!" the engine cried.

And she was right. With a lurch the train left the rails and tumbled into the ravine below. The screams from both the engine and her engineer were audible all the way to the bottom of the creek bed. Coal hoppers piled up behind them, compacted into a space far shorter than designed, and coal flew everywhere.

When all was said and done, you'd have been hard pressed to tell what was once freight car, engine, or even a person. The disaster had claimed three lives and caused thousands of dollars in damage. The resulting fire took hours to put out, and blocked the line for weeks.

There were no survivors... at least of the conventionally living kind. Many years later, another freight was making its way up the line, and paused in the loop before the bridge to let another train pass. The engineer heard interference on his radio, and so went to investigate.

What he saw shocked him. A ghostly engine was running across the bridge, whistling fit to burst and apparently on the verge of exploding. But it never reached the other side.

The story of this ghost engine soon began to spread, to the point it was seen on other railways far from the accident site. The engine was firmly cemented into legend, the subject of spooky stories told around a campfire and of tales told to children by parents to ensure they behaved.

And every night, on the date of the accident, the engine runs again, as a warning to others. Plunging into the gap, shrieking like a lost soul.

---

Sunny suddenly jolted awake in her bed, and shook her head. "Huh? What's going on?"

There was banging on the door. "Sunny? Are you up yet?"

"Yeah, I think so-" Sunny looked over to her clock. "Oh no! I overslept!"

The door opened, and Goldie stepped through. "Not to worry," she smiled. "I made sure to built lots of spare time in just in case this happened. Your father's down at the station getting the tickets checked, so we'll have plenty of time to pack your case properly."

Sunny nodded, and put the case on her bed. "Should I shower first?"

"That's a good idea," Goldie replied. "I'll put some of the items in like washing supplies which pack near the bottom."

Sunny nodded, and opened the door- and stopped in confusion. "Huh?" she asked. "What are you doing here?"

The door was suddenly forced back, and Opaline stepped through. "Miss me, Sunny?"

"N- no! There's no way! We defeated you!"

Goldie looked over. "Who in the blazes are you?" she asked, and walked over. "I'm going to ask you to leave or else I'll be calling the poli-"

She never finished her sentence. Opaline's arm suddenly glowed with energy, and with an animalistic roar plunged it straight into the woman's chest.

Goldie coughed in confusion and looked down, seeing her body start to crumble to dust. "Wha-?" she asked, her mouth frozen in an expression of shock, before her body was seemingly erased. As if she had never been there.

Sunny screamed and backed up towards the wall. "No! This can't be happening!"

Opaline laughed, and closed in on her in a manner reminiscent of a serial killer. "Oh, it is. I've been waiting for this moment for a very long time, Sunny. Seeing as you won't accept your birthright to rule over these pathetic humans, I'll just have to eliminate the competition!" She lunged for Sunny.

Sunny screamed, and covered her face. "STOP! SOMEBODY HELP ME!"

"We can't stop now!" Izzy said. "We're nearly there!"

Sunny looked around her in confusion. She wasn't in her room. She was in a bus. On a road. Somewhere far from home. She looked over to see Argyle and Goldie looking at her concerned.

"Are you OK, sweetie?" Goldie asked, putting her arm around her daughter.

Sunny nodded weakly. "Yeah. Just a nightmare, that's all."

"Is everything OK back there?" asked the driver.

"Yes sir!" Argyle replied. "Just a bad dream!"

"What about this are you guys looking forward to?" Izzy asked. "I've heard they do amazing smores here!"

"It's a working holiday, remember?" Zipp said. "That means we can't be goofing off all the time."

Izzy nodded. "So we only goof off some of the time? Gotcha!"

Sunny looked out of the window, as the bus rolled past a town sign.

Welcome to Strasburg, Pennsylvania. The heart of Dutch Country.

Fimfiction Proudly Presents

A Story by The Blue EM2

Sponsored by the Guild of Equestrian Railroaders

And Based on an Idea by Thomlight Sparkle

THOMAS AND FRIENDS: LEGENDS OF STRASBURG

Starring the Voices of:

Vanessa Hudgens

Kimiko Glenn

Sofia Carson

Liza Koshy

James Marsden

Bahia Watson

Jane Krakowski

Michael McKean

Tara Strong

Enid-Ray Adams

Brian Doe

Costas Mandylor

Chloe Moretz

Robert Duvall

Michael Rooker

John Tuturro

Amy Adams

Jody Benson

And Melissa McCarthy

Animation by Boulder Media and Arc Productions

Model Effects and Sequences recorded at Ellstree Studios

A Hasbro and Mattel Co-Production, Copyright MMXXIV

Comments

[ScisetShimmerEvan]

The storm boomed all around one cold night a long, long time ago. Rain poured down from seemingly bottomless buckets and kept the landscape saturated with wetness. Everywhere you looked was wet, wet, wet.

I can tell the dialogue is sumiyto the opening of Toby and the flood, especially the last sentence.

What he saw shocked him. A ghostly engine was running across the bridge, whistling fit to burst and apparently on the verge of exploding. But it never reached the other side.

Sounds like something straight out of Duncan gets spooked.

[The Blue EM2]

11822690
1. That was derived directly from the narration.

2. Indeed. It's inspired by a scene in a fanfilm.

[shining paladin]

great start mate keep it up

[The Blue EM2]

11822706
Thanks!

[Thomlight Sparkle 1]

Crikey! What a prologue!

Pardon me for use of vocabulary, but that was one Hell of a dark backstory you made. Utilizing the 1989 Runaway on Calhon Pass with Ducan gets Spooked and The Ghost Train all in one? Man! That is both clever and cunning! And then Sunny's nightmare really made it worse!

[The Blue EM2]

11822863
I'm wanting to experiment with darker influences in my writing, and mixing together bits of several runaways and Halloween Thomas episodes seemed to sit well. I actually combined two different Cajon Pass incidents there; there's a bit of 1994 in there as well.

As for the nightmare... well, LoE gives me loads to work with. In terms of content it's the darkest of the EqG movies, not least as it's the only EqG production in which characters are killed onscreen. Admittedly it was a nightmare, but still...