Chasing Sunshine Round the Bend
After a short drive through the streets of Strasburg, the bus pulled up outside a row of houses that sat on an unnasuming street near the main road. Strasburg, like so many American towns, was built on a grid model, with a long street in the middl with other streets spiralling off it.
The doors opened, and the driver looked back. "Have a nice time!" he called, as the passengers dismounted from the bus. He followed them a moment later, and stepped down to open the luggage compartment underneath.
Izzy leaned in to pull her bag out. "That was fun!" she said. "Especially all the bumps in the road!"
"Not on my back it wasn't," Lord Haven complained. "But it was that or walking, I will admit."
Argyle looked inside the cargo bay. "Alright, who brought six cases?"
Zipp walked over. "That's our pile. And Pipp only brought two cases, which is an unusually low number for her."
"Hey!" Pipp snapped, as she pulled one of hers free. "I couldn't decide between the Casa Cheval or the Sassy Saddles lines! So I brought both! Is it a crime to want to wear clothes that make you feel good?"
Isaac snorted. "The struggles of the upper classes. Trust me, my line of work doesn't give me many chances to pull my suit out of storage."
"Engineering tends not to," Argyle added. "Mind you, the University has a fairly informal dress code for its staff."
"I," Pipp said, "for one, am looking forward to a relatively normal, relaxing trip, with no crazy phenomena whatsoever. The last year, whilst fun, has been a bit crazy for my taste. I mean, globetrotting, Opaline, talking engines- it sounds like a fanfiction series on the internet!"
"You missed a few things, but you got the jist of it," Izzy replied, as she dragged her case out. "Besides, who wouldn't want some excitement in their lives."
Zipp had finally finished fishing through the case piles for her own, and glanced to Pipp's pair. "I'm surprised that those two got through the weight limit," she said. "They must be quite heavy."
"15 and 10 kilograms respectively," Pipp replied. "One basically has nothing but clothes in it. I hope the house has an ironing board, although I do wonder who will iron our clothes for us."
"I just wonder what engines out here are like," Zipp said. "As far as I know diesels which cabs at both end are very rare. Which isn't a very efficient layout, when you think about it, as it means you have very poor visibility when driving backwards."
"Or going forwards," Argyle interrupted, having overheard the conversation. "Some early adopters of diesel had the cabs built the other way round so the long hood was leading. It was a recipe for poor visibility."
"I heard tank engines are relatively rare around here," Izzy said. Just as she said that, a lorry suddenly rumbled past with a flatbed- and a blue tank engine was on it.
"What's Thomas doing here?" Hitch asked.
"I don't know," Sunny said. "But I'm pretty certain he doesn't have outside cylinders."
Once they were done getting things moved, they headed next to the depot of the Strasburg Railroad. This was a nicely preserved structure built in the early 20th Century style, with several recreated buildings doubling as candy stores, model railroad shops, and the ever familiar gift shops which permeated every rail operation in the United States.
"So, where's your dad?" Hitch asked Misty.
"He's a bit busy, so Lord and Lady Haven offered to look after me whilst I was here," Misty replied.
"Dear, there's no need to be so formal," Lady Haven said, who was behind her. "You can call me mom if you want to."
"Really?" Misty asked. "Thanks, Lady Ha- I mean, mom! Still feels a little weird saying it."
At last, they arrived at a shed, but not before briefly glimpsing a strange man standing in a flowerpot. Nobody was quite sure what to make of that!
But they were in the shed, and several lines of engines stood there. Between them were two people. One of them was a woman with lightish pinkish skin and purple hair. In keeping with the warm weather she was dressed somewhat casually, in a yellow summer shirt and blue jeans coupled with shoes.
The other person was a man, with a similar shade of skin and green hair. He was dressed very differently to her, in a boilersuit with steel toed boots. He seemed to be friendly, but also a bit tense.
"Good afternoon, everybody!" the woman called. "Welcome to the Strasburg Railroad, the USA's longest continually operating shortline!"
"That's a branch line in UK parlance," Sunny helpfully clarified.
"I'm Gloriosa Daisy, the General Manager, and on behalf of my team here I would like to thank all of you for agreeing to participate in this crew exchange. I'll mostly be in my office or interacting with the passengers, so please pass any locomotive concerns to my brother, Timber Spruce!"
The man waved his hand. "Timber Spruce, chief engineer. If anything goes wrong with any of the engines, let me know and I'll take a look." He glanced at Gloriosa. "Provided we have the time, that is."
Sunny looked at Izzy. "Something's not right here."
"I know," Izzy replied quietly. "There's some sort of tension."
"Anyway," Gloriosa said, taking the reigns once more. "The engines behind us are the ones being operated for the season."
"You'll have two main duties during your time here," Timber added. "These are passengers and freight. Although tourists constitute the bulk of our income, we do still transport a fair bit of freight for the local farmers."
"Are they the fellows in the hats?" Pipp asked.
"Yes. They're called Amish," Gloriosa told her. "Very nice bunch."
Timber once more spoke again. "Unlike in your country, American locomotive builders rarely distinguished between passenger or freight types and built most engines to be able to do both. As a result, you'll be working both types of working with one engine- sometimes at the same time!"
"How would that work?" Zipp asked.
"All of our stock is air braked," Timber helpfully clarified. "Now then, these are our engines. It was a day off for them today as we had the diesel out doing the freight. They are Valentina, Denver, Mastadon, Sherman, Jennifer, and Marilyn. I'll hand out your allocation cards now."
Sure enough, he did this, and the drivers walked off to meet their engines. "What's this, visitors?" one of them, a small tender engine, asked.
Another tender engine looked over. "Keep it down, Valentina! We're all next to each other!"
A tender engine on the other side looked over. "Try to show some cheerfulness to the visitors, Mastadon."
Sunny stopped in front of the small tender engine. "Hi! I'm Sunny, and apparently we're working together."
"Glad to hear!" the tender engine said, with a distinct Canadian twang in her voice. "I'm Valentina."
Meanwhile, Hitch stopped in front of a truly huge engine. "And I thought Rebecca was large."
"Is that how you limeys say hello?" the engine said, with a jokey tone on his voice. "I'm Denver. I'm from Colorado originally, but have lived here for decades. As they say, there's the Great Western Way or the Wrong Way."
Meanwhile, Zipp was with the grumpy engine. "Four leading wheels and eight driving wheels? That's highly unusual."
"For your country and its toy trains, perhaps," the engine replied. "Hopefully you can reach the whistle chord."
"You must be Mastadon, then," Hitch said, based on the markings on the cab.
Elsewhere, Misty had stopped in front of a small green tender engine. "They weren't kidding when they said these engines were big," she said.
"Nope, I'm pretty small in the scheme of things. Then again, you rarely needed anything bigger than me for mule work."
"You pushed mules around?" Misty asked, a bit confused.
"I believe you call them station pilots," the engine said. "I'm Sherman, by the way. US Army. I'm visiting from Steamtown to help cover a loco shortage."
Misty shook her head. "Truly are we two countries divided by the same language."
Pipp, in the meantime, was looking at a black, red, and orange streamliner. "This is stunning!" she said.
"Well, of course I would be!" the engine replied. "Premier passenger demands premier engines, and no doubt the visitors will appreciate such a fine engine. Jennifer, by the way."
"Pipp," Pipp replied. "And it looks like we share the same taste in aesthetics!"
Finally, Izzy was talking to a very brightly painted engine, who spoke with a distinct west coast accent. "Although it's a little smaller than my usual stomping ground of the west coast, I certainly appreciate the change in scenery. Marilyn's the name, and my owners suggested that if we go to where the people are it would make it easier for people to see us!"
"Great idea!" Izzy said. "We have a similar idea with visiting locos for steam galas!"
Sunny, whilst familiarising herself with the cab controls, briefly saw Gloriosa arguing with a man in a suit, before the man in the suit walked away. Gloriosa was quick to take command, however. "Your first full working day is tomorrow, so take the rest of the day to get your things put away and report back to the Pennsylvania State Railroad Museum at six for a guided tour!"
As they trooped out, Sunny found her parents in the yard. Argyle was taking photos of the rolling stock whilst Goldie was checking her phone. "Looks like I'll be remote working a few mornings this week," she said. "Good thing I packed my suit."
Sunny spoke up. "Stunning collection, huh?"
"I know!" Argyle replied. "I had no idea they had some of this stuff!"
Goldie pointed to an electric locomotive. "And I remember seeing those on the Northeast Corridor. That does make me feel old."
"I know how that feels," Argyle said. "Come on. Shall we get set up in our home away from home?"
The other two nodded, and they followed. "Are you sure you're OK?" Goldie asked her daughter.
Sunny nodded. "Mom, I'm fine. It was just a bad dream. I've had plenty of those."
Goldie nodded, but couldn't help but feel something wasn't quite right around here.
Hello everybody, and welcome to another story in the Thomas and Friends world. This time, we pack up from our previous UK setting and travel across the Atlantic to Strasburg, Pennsylvania. Whether it or the Puffing Billy Railway was the third preserved railway in the world is still a topic of some debate, but there's no denying the Strasburg is a significant player in American locomotive preservation, not to mention being home to a stunning collection of vintage coaches and stock.
A long hood forward is a type of diesel engine where the rear hood faces the same direction as the engineer. The experience is somewhat similar to driving a Class 20 in reverse, as visibility is very poor.
The engines introduced in this chapter are based on a number of different prototypes.
Valentina is based on CN No. 89, a 2-6-0 originally built for Canadian National. The main engine of the railway right now, it was the engine running when I visited the Strasburg in 2023.
Mastadon is based on Norfolk and Western No. 475, a 4-8-0 built in 1906. The character's name is an allusion to his wheel arrangement, which was rare in the UK but common in the US. 475 also has a connection to Thomas and Friends; the engine played the Indian Sun in Thomas and the Magic Railroad, which was partly filmed at the Strasburg Railroad.
Denver is based on Great Western Railroad No. 90, a 2-10-0 built in 1924. The Great Western, not to be confused with the British company of the same name, was a regional railroad in Colorado that largely served the sugar industry. Although often referred to as a decapod, No. 90 actually has 12 wheels; the equivalent UK nickname is Spaceship, an allusion to the 9F.
Sherman is based on Baldwin Locomotive Works No. 26, the resident operating steam engine of Steamtown National Historic Site in Scranton, Pennsylvania. Although the engine spent much of its career working for an iron ore company in Ohio it currently wears a US Army livery. The character is named in reference to General William Sherman, a Union officer in the American Civil War.
Jennifer is based on Norfolk and Western No. 611, a J Class locomotive built in 1950 to work express passenger trains. Like many later era steam engines, 611 had an absurdly short working life, being withdrawn from service in 1959. It enjoyed a mainline career between 1982 and 1994, but was then sidelined until 2015 when it returned to steam. As of 2024 it has continued to operate on the main line, making visits to Steamtown and Virginia.
And last, but most certainly not least...
Marilyn is based on Southern Pacific No. 4449, a GS-4 built in 1941. Built to work SP's flagship 'Daylight' passenger train, it ran until 1956 before being plinthed in Portland, Oregon. In 1976, it returned to steam to work the American Freedom Train to mark the USA's bicentennial, and has been in intermitent railtour service ever since. The character is named in honour of an American relative of mine.
But what shall befall our characters next?
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in the middle with other streets spiralling off it.*
Because it is.
That's because it's not him/the one you know...
Mr Conductor?!
And here I thought only Duck would say that.
If there's 1 thing I didn't expect in this chapter it's that there'd be 3 more engines that don't work on Strasburg. I'm referring to Baldwin 26, 4449, and 611. Although she has operated there in 2019, and again between 2021-2023, I wasn't expecting this at all. But if there's 1 thing I'm glad 89 is still seen as when LOE came out in 2016, she was out of service for a rebuild, and wouldn't be back til late September 2017. Which, happened to 475 2 years later following a 9 month rebuild that was completed in time for the N&W reunion of steam event.
awesome chapter mate keep it up cant wait for the next chapter
11822708
1. Fixed. My E key was playing up when I wrote this story, so it may randomly vanish,
2. Seems Izzy's weirdness is rubbing off on Pipp.
3. Indeed.
4. Kinda had to reference that. (Yes, I am aware the exterior shots of the station were filmed at Castletown on the Isle of Man).
5. Seeing as the engine worked for the Great Western Railroad, it kinda had to be in there.
I added the visiting locomotives as the Strasburg at the moment has only three operating steam engines. As you acknowledge it has had visitors, so adding two mainline performers seemed obvious.
11822722
Glad you enjoyed.
11822733
It's a good thing this doesn't take place in 2024 as 90 recently went down for her 1472. Plus, there have been many rumors that Strasburg might be close to finishing 7312/31 but I'm still taking it with a grain of salt.
The roaster of Engines is quite nice.
I'm surprised you made an OC based on The Daylight. But it is a welcome one. But it leads me to ask, since this is clearly an OC, does it have a different road number or is it going by 4449? Cause even with The Daylight being the only running GS4, there's no law that says there can't be more than one.
And I guess I'm not the only one who made an OC based on the N&W J 611.
And I don't know about you, but I already can feel something ain't right.
Moreover, it doesn't surprise me Pipp had more than one luggage, however the reason why is rather unique compared to how I'd expect it.
11822874
Marilyn is intended to be 4449; I partly incorporated the engine as I know you have a soft spot for the GS series engines. I am aware a GS-6 survives in St. Louis, and a tender from another can be found in Portola.
The J Class is an immensely popular loco online, and a member of the class is a central character in KaneFan701's The Clinchfield Curse (which serves as a spiritual sequel to Ghost Train).
You are entirely correct that tension is in the air.
The joke about Pipp's cases is inspired by a Jinglemas story from last year, where Pipp takes hours to decide on a dress to take with her to Zephyr Heights for a theatre visit. She ends up taking most of her wardrobe with her.
11822903
Oh yes, I see the 1994 one now.
True there. It kinda erks me that the show didn't do anything like that. (G4 Pony setting, I mean)
11822917
I do appreciate that, although, I've normally portrayed the Daylight as male myself in my settings of where it's a character, and always called it Daylight. But one of my friends has an OC based on it too, but she's got a Henry style character arc to her.
I haven't seen it yet, (let's just say a former comrade of mine got too obsessed with Timothy the ghost engine and kept bugging me about it so much I had to step away from it, so I never watched it)
It definitely sounds like something Rarity would do. But I can imagine that would end up coming back to bite her in the end, somehow.
11822923
Thunderbolt Siren 1000 Productions' video on it is heavily referenced in other videos; the dramatisation of the radio calls between crews was used in TSC rail disasters' video on the incident owing to how well acted it was.
Indeed.
That makes sense. Choosing loco names can be tough, given TTTE uses a mix of human given names and class allusions; Derek was originally going to be called Paxman, for instance, as an allusion to the Paxman Engine Company. Similarly, BoCo is a nod to his odd bogie configuration.
Sorry to hear that.
A common pratfall in that sort of scenario is a lack of wardrobe space.
11822938
I know the videos you’re referring to.
Well, when it comes to me and the Famous Daylight Engine. I noted how Flying Scotsman is portrayed in The RWS when in real life, many people address it as female. But to me, it is and always will be male. Moreover, since 4449 already has “Daylight” on it, it makes sense just to call it as is. Or in other cases, it remains a faceless NPC style character. But if I were to make an OC based on it, I think for my case, it would be colored differently, and have a different road number back when it was still running. (Since Bachmann makes 2 different GS4 engines for their stock. Both the Daylight itself and another one, 4454 (or some other number)
Yeah, I can’t tell you have many users I’ve had to deal with who let obsessions cloud their judgment.
Yeah, there’s that, but there can also be that the extra luggage becomes too much weight.
11822964
OK.
Referring to railway locomotives with female pronouns is a holdover from nautical culture, where ships are referred to using female pronouns, with one notable exception; the Bismarck. This particular ship is referred to exclusively using male pronouns. When it comes to locos something similar can be observed; UP 4000 Class engines are often referred to using male pronouns, which is often not extended to the 3900s. Faceless characters also intrigue me, as it led to a debate in the fandom as to precisely how sentience works; how are Duck and City of Truro able to have a conversation if the latter has no face in the episode? (The book avoids this by having Truro facing away from the viewer in his only appearance.)
My time on the internet has only made me too aware of this.
The weight of cases gag made its way into TYT; in Sisters Take Flight, Thunder and Zoom are struggling to remain aloft under all the weight.
11823023
I gotcha. But in my opinion, I think it’s rather unneeded to stick to just one pronoun for any vehicle.
I hear you there. However, I didn’t mean the Daylight could speak while being faceless, I meant that it isn’t sentient. Yes, I have non-faceless engines, but I like to throw in a few nonsentient ones. But they are still named. I have a fleet of 4-4-0 steamers that are all named for a certain railway company but are not sentient.
Yeah, you already met one of the guys that gives me trouble.
And they’re both royal guards so I can see how they would struggle. Yes, a guard is trained to carry heavy weight, but not like that. If anything, I’d like to see Rarity or Pipp have to be the ones to carry their heavy gear and get the point of why packing heavy is a bad idea. (Not to mention have Rarity get a taste of what she made poor Sweetie Belle go through in the first camping episode)
11823069
True. And it's rather a moot point with NFVs as they have established genders anyway.
Ah. I had misunderstood.
That would be a fun idea. Pipp isn't the most muscular of ponies.
11823080
Quite right.
No worries.
Aye, I still remember that one bit where she was struggling to lift that one box. I can imagine Rarity isn’t as muscular as most either. Yes, she is a unicorn, but her magic isn’t that strong. I mean, with how she hates most physical labor, I could imagine she’s not the best with muscular lifting. (Now I have an image in my head of Rarity and Pipp have to work together to carry something.)
11823086
You know, that could make for a fun short story or a skit.
I know this was just a funny skit and nothing will come of it, but it would be awesome if Twilight showed up here alongside Thomas. That could set the Timber/Twilight ship going (is it a ship when it involves trains...or is it a loco?
)
YAY! You put it in! How wonderful!
This will be interesting to see the differences between American and British trains, as well as cultures.
11823201
I agree.
11823505
1. OK, I'll say that's a pretty good joke.
2. I thought it was a superb idea, old bean. And I do look forward to comparing American and British operation.
11823670
I'll see if there's an obivous way to fit it in.
11823705
Knowing how well you produce your stories, I know you’ll get it figured out.
11823706
Thanks.
11822738
That is true. We'll just have to wait and see.