Fiery Steel: Rivals Joined By Rail

Impenetrable Conflict?

The year is 1947, when it was still the early days of recovery after the Second World War. Railroads were in fierce competition with each other over the growing revenue in postwar times. From east to west, the thousands of miles of steel that bound America together were carrying vast amounts of goods and passengers while rebuilding the economy. One such hotbed of railroad activity lay in the northeast where two major railroads were battling each other for supremacy over the other. The New York Central made a landmark achievement in passenger travel when they developed their flagship streamliner, the 20th Century Limited. The route from New York to Chicago allowed passengers to travel in luxury, while being directly transported to city centers over the entire route. One of the highlights was the side by side with the rival Pennsylvania Railroad's streamlined, The Broadway Limited. With both trains and railroad being similar, they often crossed paths and butted heads which resulted in a division between the two lines. But that was all about to change, due to an unlikely scenario.

One day, a New York Central Dreyfuss Hudson named Christian was scheduled to pull the 20th Century Limited on the westbound run to Chicago. He was stopped at the station in Crestline, Ohio cause he had to wait for passengers on the Pennsylvania Railroad's local. That train was being pulled by Sam, a massive T-1 Duplex locomotive, which had been relegated to this section of the railroad due his sheer size.

"Hurry up you lumbering gigantic slug", Christian snapped impatiently. "How am I going to get to Chicago on time if you make me wait!" Sam felt disgusted at what Christian said and responded, "You New York Central engines think so highly of your selves. If you learned to have your engineer blow your boiler out more often, no one would have to listen your complaining!" Christian had to leave, but he was fuming as he hissed out of the station. "Stupid caterpillar", he muttered. As Sam was uncoupled from the coaches in the yard, he had to ready himself for a long fast freight. He found the cars and started off with a slip and a hiss of the steam from his cylinders. When he got on the mainline, there was a problem. The dry pipe had collapsed, which meant that his crew no longer had control of the train. Sam started to go faster and faster. "Help! I can't stop", he cried.

While Christian was resting in Elkhart, he got news of the runaway and that Sam was on the train. "Serves him right", he said grandly. All of a sudden, he had a thought of what would happen to Sam if he had wrecked. He started to get worried and wanted to help. His crew agreed and they started off for the mainline. Christian was going 70 miles per hour when he could see Sam creeping up behind him. The engineer slowly applied the brakes little by little, until Sam coupled on to Christian. At that point, Christian's fireman helped Sam's crew shut off steam to the cylinders regaining their control. When they arrived in Portsmouth, Christian uncoupled from Sam without a word and went over to the yard to rest. He came to visit Sam later in the evening.

"Hey Christian, I just wanted to say thank you for saving me", said Sam. "Why did you do it?" "I suddenly realized that it didn't matter that we are from different railroads, cause we are both steam locomotives. We are the same thing", Christian replied. Before Sam could reply, Christian had to head back to Elkhart. The two engines are now good friends and often whistle to each other as they pass on the mainline.