Tales from the rails

The Express Engine

"Well, what did I say?" Said Eddy's fireman as he walked into the station one morning, seeing the driver. "Yeah yeah, okay. Well, this is serious, we got to get Eddy ready." "What's happened, has there been an accident?" Asked a now very serious fireman. "Yes, it's very serious, the Grand Gap is in need of major repairs, some runaway trucks damaged a pillar in the bridge, now one of the lines is sagging." Said the driver as he put on his blue driver's cap. They ran to wake up their engine, "Eddy! There's an emergency!"

Liz was taking the express. "Thank you again, Jojo my dear." She said as she looked over at Jojo. "No problemo." Said the tender engine as Liz departed. She hurried down the line, a little slower than what she wanted, but she was keeping good time. The troubles happened when she was climbing the Lickey Incline. She heard a Click and a Clank in her pistons. "Oh my, I don't feel right!" She said as she went down the hill. Weashing loudly, she chuffed on, but she began to slow down, 50 miles an hour, 40 miles an hour, then 30. She couldn't speed up, and then she saw the Grand Gap. She slowed even more, trying to speed up. "Driver! Speed up!" She screamed as she waited for a response. She felt her fire grow cold as the sky turned gray. No response, her crew was missing. They had been jumped off the train, the click and clank were them trying to stop the train so they could deal with their attackers. They could only slow down the train, but not enough. The train stopped on the sag of the bridge. Liz was terrified. No fire, no crew, and her brakes softly on.

"Jojo!" Screamed his driver as they ran up to the engine "W-What is it?!" Asked the startled engine "The express is going to go off the rails, we need you because other engines that are strong enough to help are off working, you're their only hope. POP PIEEEEEP PEEP!" They thundered down the line, gaining speed for a race against time. Tracey was sitting at a station with a slow goods, the signal was red. The one on the left changed to green. "What the?" Suddenly, Jojo raced past! The green engine startled Tracey. "Jojo?!" She yelled as she watched him charge over the hill. He slowed down as he saw the express, buffering up to the train. 

"Don't worry Lizzy! I'm here, tell your crew to open the regulator and I can start to help!" He called out. "I can't, my crew is missing, I think they're down the line!" Liz called back. "And it would take too long to build up a proper fire!" Jojo then looked at the brake pipe. "Driver, hook me up to the brake pipe, that will loosen the brakes on the coaches, so I can do all the work." He said, "And throw the regulator, don't get in my cab. Get off the bridge." The crew obeyed. They opened the regulator was thrown open with the reverser on full throttle. The engines began to slowly move. Jojo began to do something he had never done. "Please God, don't let these passengers be harmed." He prayed as he began to add more pressure to his pistons. They began to shake from the pressure, and his wheels began to slip. Liz began to reach a stable area on the bridge.

The express made it onto a much safer section on the bridge, however, Jojo would not be so fortunate. The rails snapped under the pressure as rain pelted down on him, his wheels slipped again and again, but it was no use. The bridge cracked underneath him. The passengers, the crew, and Liz watched as the engine disappeared from view. His tender remaining. "JOJO!" Screamed Liz as she began to cry tears of sadness. Then Tracey raced to the scene with a winch in tow. "Tracey? What are you doing here?" Asked Liz, then Liz saw her crew run over to the engine. "Come on, we have to get these passengers to safety." Said her driver as he hopped into the cab. "What? Wait, what about Jojo?" She asked frantically. "There is no more time, Eddy isn't here yet and the bridge is getting worse and worse from the weather. The express was on time that day thanks to Jojo.

"Come on, Jojo, work with me!" Tracey called as she began to pull. Suddenly, they heard a, "Pip Pop PEEP!" The tracks rumbled as a Sir Nigel Gresley A1 pacific thundered down the line. It was Saint Mungo, a recently newly founded A1, who was thought to have been scrapped a long time ago. He silently buffered up to Tracey, coupling up to her and beginning to pull the engines back onto the rails. Jojo's cab was suddenly visible, his wheels spinning forwards. His crew ran to make him reverse. "Jojo!" Called his crew as his wheels spun backwards. "AHHHHHHHHHH!" Screamed the engine as he stared at the drop, seeing himself moving. Jojo, Tracey, and Saint Mungo rolled back down the track after getting the Express engine back on the track. They panted and wheezed as they began to roll down the track up the hill. Eddy came in the other way, watching them roll away, as he began set to work. "I hope they're all safe." He said to himself.