Rails Of Ironback: Ericka And Chase

Ericka

Ericka is a Southern Pacific class GS-4 Northern. 1 Of 6 in existence. Ericka was discovered in an underground tunnel that was abandoned by the SP in late 1943. The SP wasn't very lenient on the steam engines during dieselization, and that was nothing compared to what happened to Jake and Gus, but thats another story. On June 13th 1947, Ericka was pulling an Express that ended up turning into a nightmare. It was a crystal clear night, and Ericka was running along the rails. She was enjoying the scenery, The hum of the rails beneath her wheels, and the feel of the cool air moving around her skyline casing. Suddenly, Ericka was switched off the main line By accident and was sent into the tunnel. She Smashed through the blocked up tunnel entrance with a crash. She locked her brakes but couldn't stop before crashing into a collapsed section of the tunnel. The entrance to the tunnel was blocked By an avalanche. Ericka was stuck with no where to go. No one knew what happened that night. Jake went out looking for her with Daniel(an older GS-3). Neither of them found A trace of Ericka. Ericka sat in the tunnel fearing her end was near. She blew her whistle as loud and as long as she could, but no one answered back. She closed her eyes and waited. She remained in the tunnel For over 4 Decades. Ericka started to fear the worst as she noticed her drivers had become rusty. In August 1971, Mr. Clinton had heard Jake talking about Ericka and her mysterious dissappearance. Mr. Clinton decided to find her and bring her back to life. He did months of research, and finally managed to pinpoint Ericka's location in July 1973. Mr. Clinton flew out to the rocky desert mountains of Nevada. After landing, he located the tracks of the former Passenger route. He then followed the tracks of the forgotten SP trackage. After several miles, He eventually found an old switch and followed it to the collapsed tunnel entrance. "HELLO!" he shouted. "Is anyone inside there?!". No one responded. Mr. Clinton ran back to his chopper. He radioed the yard dispatch back at the museum. "Richie, its Clinton." "Tell the crew to get Brian ready with a couple heavy flat cars, a sleeper, and a replacement crew." "We're gonna move out when I get back there." With that he set off for home. Once he returned, he wasted no time climbing up into Brian's cab. "Where are we going, sir?" Brian asked. "Nevada." Clinton repliedas he cracked the throttle open. Brian's massive drivers began to turn and the crew was on their way.

After 4 days of traveling, the train finally reached the tracks of the Former Southern Pacific mainline, and the old tunnel. The
Crew stopped just short of the switch. Mr. Clinton stepped down out of the crew car, and made his way .to the tunnel. Soon the heavy machinery was clearing away the rocks, Mr. Clinton began to get more confident when he found the Remains of an Old SP Observation Car. He saw there was A whole train in front of it. He ran along the train and was amazed with what he found. There, at the front of the train, was an old, rusted out, 4-8-4. Mr. Clinton was in Total Shock. He studied the old engine, It was rusted in several Places, and was derailed and leaning on its side. The streamline case was smashed in several places and there was a sharp rock stuck in the side of the engine's boiler. Mr. Clinton emashed the rock with a pickaxe He Found laying on the Side of the tunnel. The Rock Crumbled to Pieces and Water Poured out of the Engine's Boiler.