STEAM TALES

Chapter five- siding sliding

SEAN POV-
1971-

In case our last few stories haven't explained it enough, I'll explain it again.
Trucks. Are. Trouble.
They may be essential for a railway that carries goods, but some days I would rather stuff coal and crates into the coaches.
At least they come quietly, without fuss.

Thank the lord I'm not a large engine, like Luce. It must be hard for the old engine to carry those noisy things around all day. I'm amazed they haven't begged the controller to stick them on permanent passenger services.

Now, not every van, tanker, and open wagon is a bother. That's because a lot of them don't have faces and it's quite tricky to be annoying when you don't have any sentience. Some faces match the colour of the truck, while others have grey faces like us engines do.

I've often been asked why the trucks are so devilish, and while I never have one true answer, I do have a couple of ideas as to what drives them to be the way they are.
First off, it must be frustrating not being able to move. I mean, you're already restricted by rails. No engine to move with would dampen anyone's spirits.

Secondly, they're often rusty and filthy. Trucks don't get as much maintenance and care as locos and coaches do, so they probably feel left out.
Though that doesn't stop me from thinking it's silly.

I mean, you're a truck. Chances are you're going to be covered in coal dust by the end of the day. Why bother adding a bright coat of paint. It's just more trouble than it's worth, not to mention how long it would take to polish and repaint every truck in the yard.

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I hope you enjoyed my little rundown of the trucks we have here because today's story features them heavily. It was a chilling January morning. The snow had started to melt but it would be quite the wait before it was all gone.

A great deal of snow remained on the rails, which is why the mainline engines were fitted with ploughs at their buffer beams. While they looked silly, they were essential when winter came around.
While I'm talking about how winter had affected the railway, I should probably bring up the roads and towns as well.

The poor buses and lorries had trouble keeping on the tarmac as they swerved and skidded about. See? That's something great about rails. They may be restricting, but at least I've never fallen in a pothole.
One morning, as I was arranging the last few wagons, a horn sounded in the distance.

My face showed a smile, as the horn belonged to Julie. Julie's a British Rail class 14 and a fun one at that.
She's often rowdy, excitable and rather easily distracted.
"Morning, Julie!"
I greeted with a grin as the small diesel oiled into the yard.

"Heya, red."
Julie chuckled back.
"What are you doing down at Merrybrook?"
I queried.
"Oh, you know I don't get out much as there usually isn't much for me to do, so Petey sent me to shunt here for a few days."
"Petey?"

"Your controller, silly. ...don't tell him I called him that"
I couldn't help but laugh. A visit from Julie always is good for your mood.
"Understood. Right now I don't need much help, though. Just a couple more trucks to go and I'm done for the morning."
The diesel sighed in disappointment.

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"Aw, that bites. I was looking forward to some work."
I felt sorry for Julie. Suddenly, an idea came to me.
"Tell you what. I've got a train of coal headed for a few stations. Conby, Reckby, Wofford, Y'know, the ones with big towns."

Julie cocked an eyebrow.
"And?"
"If I pretend to be ill, Mr Peterson won't let me pull it. You can fill in for me."
I finished, feeling a little proud of myself for my whit.
"That's not half bad, red. It might just work"
We chuckled in unison.

Later that day, I put my plan into action. As I shuffled about the yard, I made sure to huff extra hard and move at a snail's pace to be convincing, then when Mr Peterson came to me with the coal orders, I put on my best act.

I just managed to pull through, convincing our controller to give me a rest.
"Thanks a ton, and get well soon"
Julie chucked and set to work, shunting open wagons back and forth until they made a nice long line.

JULIE POV-

"Come along, don't be difficult!"
I ordered while bumping them about the sidings. The trucks groaned and whined as they got shunted together.
"Leave us be! Leave us be!"
They complained childishly.
I just ignored them. Sean had told me about how much of a racket trucks can be.

Even when they were all in order, they still barked insults at me.
"Come on, you horrid lot."
I could feel my engine arguing with the cold weather as I pulled away with the train.

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Trucks sometimes like to make up annoying jingles about the engine they're mocking. I was unlucky enough to get a front-row seat to one about me.
"Julie Julie, she's oh so slow. So slow she'll leave us stuck in the snow."
It didn't get to me, but I'd still be bumping them extra hard for it.

An hour or so later, I was making my way back to Merrybrook with the empty trucks in tow. By now, the trucks had seemed to simmer down and weren't causing any trouble.

As I neared Gronk, it happened.
"Go on! Go on!"
Cheered the wagons as they surged forward and shoved into me.
"Hold steady girl!"
Shouted my driver as he caught himself from falling out of my cab.

I fought hard for any grip I could gather but it was a fruitless effort with the rails all slippery from the frosty weather.
There wasn't much I could do other than keep my brakes on and push back with all my might.

A short distance down the line lay a junction, where the signalman was bound to set me onto a relief siding.
"*If I can't stop them before the junction, I'll be sent right through the buffers!*"
My wheels began to gain more grip as I fought harder, the trucks tried to keep their momentum, but I knew I had them.

As I reached the junction, I blasted my horn to alert the signalman, who threw a lever back and sent me slipping into the siding.
I clenched my eyes tightly and waited for the impact... but it never came. When I opened an eye I found that my buffers were inches from the ones in the siding.

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"Phew.. is everyone alright back there?"
My driver was fine, though quite shaken. He clambered down from my cab and ran up to the signal box, asking him to let us back onto mainline territory.
While he was busy, I gave the trucks a stern bump.

I would say "that'd teach them" but I knew they'd be right back to their ways soon.
When my driver came back, I was allowed to reverse out of the siding and continue for the big station.
I'll leave out the rest of the journey as it was uneventful, but you can believe I gave the trucks a thrashing when I shunted them back into their proper sidings.

Once I had ripped them new frames, I rolled wearily off to the sheds, longing for a smidge of warmth. My engine never did enjoy getting frosty. Sean jolted awake when I shoved him back to make room for me. My driver was a little cranky about being shaken in my cab, but red and I had a good laugh.

That's pretty much where our tale ends. I'll give the voice back to Sean here, or else my colleagues gonna have a go at me for being late. again.

Hey! Don't blow your whistle at me- I'm on my way you grump!

End of chapter 5-

Authors note-
well, this got done faster than expected huh?
Hope you liked it! And I hope you like Julie too. I've got plans for her as you probably got from the ending