Railway Alive: Full Steam Ahead (Rewritten)

Chapter Two: The Southern Pacific Daylight

The switch tower was old like the rest of the town. Painted white with a faded purple trim and a tall staircase of the same color leading up to the office. Occasionally the wind would cause the old panes of glass on each side of the tower to rattle loudly. A vintage cast-iron wood stove with fresh pine logs and old wood offcuts stacked next to it crackled and smoked keeping the place warm.

The switch levers would move from Madeline and the lumberyard changing tracks on the ground. There were dusty yellowed maps of Oregon's train routes on the wall with pins of locations and for engines. Jane didn't worry about having to act as a switch operator as the tracks were set up for trains going down from Washington rather than coming up from California as they usually did. It was a hands-off system unless she needed to switch tracks.

Most trains ignored the twisty and windy coastal route completely preferring the straight shot through the major cities of Oregon like Eugene, Salem the state capital, and Portland. Mostly due to time as well as it was RailCo Trackage. The trackage around Ducks Peak and the other small towns such as Gold Beach for example were all privately owned by the lumber industry. Thus railroads that wanted to use their tracks as a shortcut or a scenic route had to pay a pretty penny and railroads if history remembers correctly are pretty stingy. The same goes for most corporations that want to do only the bare minimum. 

But from time to time they had to bite the bullet and shell out the cash for say unavoidable maintenance on the mainline causing all trains to be rerouted or stuck. Which was one of the few times the small towns would get a sudden cash flow in their local economy. But in this case what usually is a negative turned into a positive as Madeline would finally meet her pen pal. 

Jane poured herself a cup of coffee from an old blue camping coffee pot and set it back on the stove.

"Let's get back to work." She said walking to her desk and putting on a pair of old headphones plugged into her radio. Turning it on and tuning it to the operator's network. The most important tool of all railroad operations. (Next to train girls of course). While modern engine tracking and computers are the norm operators were still trained to use radio as it was often more reliable. Just like telegraphs of old, they could talk to engines, stations, and other operators to plan the best routes as well as gossip and workshop ideas on how to handle their engines. It also helped with switching and other dispatching duties.

"This is Ducks Peak switch house. Operator Number Forty-Four Sixty-Eight calling out to Southern Pacific. What's the status on your engine Forty-Four Forty-Nine do you copy over?" She said, taking a sip of her coffee, waiting to be connected. Moo jumped up onto her lap and got his head scratched.

"S.P. connected over. We here hear you loud and clear, Operator. Engine status." The operator on the other side paused. The sound of fingers on the keyboard clacking each key and the muffled chatter filled Jane's head from the background noise. The person on the other end spoke once more. 

"On route to your location. I can connect you if need be or I can relay a message to all locomotives in the area." The radio replied.

"Connect me please." Jane said.

"Stand by please." The voice said and suddenly the radio switched with static and a beep before it was replaced with wind and panting.

 "This is Daylight! Talk to me. Over!" A cheery young woman's voice spoke over the radio, she panted and grunted before talking more. " These grades are getting pretty steep. But the view of these mountains sure is something else."

"I'm Operator Jane, You probably heard about me from Madeline's letters." Operator Jane smiled as she set Moo on the desk. "What's your current ETA? Over."