Unnatural Disasters of Sodor

The Prologue

'Hello my name is...'

"Alex, can you shovel some more coal into the fire please!", Yelled a male voice outside the cab.

"Sure!", I yelled back. I set down the dirty, grime covered book to the side as I grab the shovel and begin shoveling coal in from the bunker. The subsequent loud scarping and tinging of metal on metal and coal on metal reverberating in the cab. I throw three heaping shovel fulls of the dark dirty substance into the fire which had lowered and dimmed slightly from the time before eagerly accepting the new food and roaring back up again. The clunck of the firebox door signaled I was done as I stood up. "All good Zeph", I called out of the cab before receiving a thank you. The clanking of gears and the soft creak of metal began to fill the air once again as I picked back up the book, flipping to the back quarter and continued my writings. 'Alex. I'm the fireman of the kind crane engine, Harvey. Though tomorrow I'll be the driver and crane operator. Me and Zeph who, today as I'm writing this, is the current Driver and Crane Operator, switch places each day so neither of us get burnt out. I'm currently writing this in the back of the Crash Log book. We write down who crashed, what caused it, how long it took, etc. Right now we are helping Edward back on the line. His front bogey jumped the track from their being a large rock hidden under the snow. He wasn't hurt, thankfully.'

I look out the cab window at the blue 4-4-0 tender engine. Him and Harvey chatting away as Zeph worked away at his controls, lifting Edwards front back onto the line.

I was envious of the engines as I shovel another shovel full of coal. Most of them didn't mind working in this weather and were happy to have warm boilers. Considering it was currently high twenties today and snow all over, even by the warm, flickering fire I was a little cold.

After nearly an hour of getting Edward on the rails and his crew and us checking him and the troublesome trucks, who weren't actually that troublesome, over and making sure they were ok; we let them leave under their own power. Both engines giving a blast of their whistles. We finished cleaning up and checking the line before we headed back to the sheds where Harvey rested. We let his fire cool naturally so the hard working engine could stay warm longer. Despite being in a very well built brick building, the cold seemed to seep in through the walls and shut doors, nipping at us and the engine.

Zeph sighed as we relaxed in the chairs with the TV on. We had, with the Fat Controllers permission, outfitted the shed with accommodations so we could stay here if need be. Nothing fancy, just beds, heater, tv, some chairs, fridge and stove...just enough that if something happened we could stay here with our engine for several days.

He appreciated it, of course, as most days he rested alone, an empty berth beside him. Zeph yawned and said goodnight as he left to go home. I nod and relax on the bed, watching the TV, which was at the front of the shed so Harvey could watch to if he desired, though right now he was resting with his eyes closed. I could tell he was still awake, but was nearing sleep.

As I watched the TV, drifting in and out of consciousness  I heard the news anchor talk about a huge storm that would hit that night. I was worried, but more about the engines...then I drifted off to sleep next to the slumbering engine.