Rail Tales: Old Steel, New Fire

This story is rated T for "I Tried."

A darker, grittier, more realistic take on the "living vehicles" formula of universes like Thomas the Tank Engine and Tugs. Set in 1970s America, the railroad industry is modernizing rapidly. For over a century many machines and constructs created by humans frequently "awaken" shortly after completion, and exist as sapient beings with human intelligence and substantial, some would say unnatural, control over their artificial bodies. Even so, in almost all legal systems, these constructs are not recognized as living beings, and a sapient car or railroad locomotive has about the same legal rights as, at best, wild animals. In the best cases, it's illegal to scrap them or start taking them apart without first humanely euthanizing them, and some kind of anesthetic must at least be offered before major, invasive work is done. Steam locomotives, along with many other literally living pieces of history, are dying races, being scrapped by the hundreds to make room for callous forward progress and for the measly rate of $47 USD per metric ton of reclaimed steel.

In early December of 1970, a natural disaster in Washington state leaves several towns in a secluded valley largely cut off from the outside world. The only immediate solution available is a small local railroad company which operates engines saved from the cutter's torch.

With some hastily scraped-together cash and dreams of giving more constructs the second chance that society denied them, can they hold things together over the Christmas rush and come out the other side a successful company and refuge for those deemed obsolete? Or will they break under the pressure of the falling snow and the fierce competition and end up as just another grim funeral train heading off to a steel mill for recycling?