That mask needs to be one sided only.........yeesh protect the kid more than this.
Adorable pic!🤗🤗🤗🤗🤗🤗
The World is my Layout [Worm AU/Alt Power]
- Thread starter GeneralPatt1000
- Start date
That mask needs to be one sided only.........yeesh protect the kid more than this.
Adorable pic!🤗🤗🤗🤗🤗🤗
I suspect the fact that she's normally ethereal would have an effect, too. It makes subtle details less noticeable and mutes colors somewhat.
@GeneralPatt1000 - This is another very good chapter you have given us. Keep up the good work. I am looking forward to reading the next chapter.
With the introduction of train spirits, this story just got weird in a good way.
With the introduction of train spirits, this story just got weird in a good way.
Ah ... Come on, what is the worst that could happen.
GreekPerseus
The Happy Ending
- Pronouns
- Masculine
That Taylor commission is adorable!
No murderTaylor here, only a super adorable munchkin.
No murderTaylor here, only a super adorable munchkin.
- Location
- Somewhere
Hmm, could work. He'd be owned by the National Railway Museum if Bet hasn't caused too many ripples.
Doubt the National Railway Museum would go for that, they don't restore her to keep her with as many record breaking parts as possible
Might not happen, ripples could mean Tornado hasn't been built yet, got cancelled, etc.
Too big for the rails there. It'd be in a museum in California in 2011.
But as for other UK locomotives, a pair of 4-6-0s have been to America
LMS 6152/6100, Royal Scot. She has been the America, Chicago World Fair in 1933
GWR 6000, King George V. He attended the B&O's centenary in 1927.
and her cape persona and civilian persona are too similar.
- Location
- United States
She will probably get training for that from her mother and probably Emma.
Because I bet Taylor will tell Emma that she has powers once they meets in person again.
Just to let you know British steam loco or any vehicle for that matter is gendered female even If the name references a male. There are a few male named steam locos that are called s/her. Prince of Wales, Duke of Gloucester, all the locos named after the king's from king George the 1st to king Henry the 8th and everyone in-between, and cannot forget about king Arthur, his wife and his Knights.
LInk to the site with every named Steam Locomotive.
- Location
- Seattle area
Dragon suits I'm going to say no. Any other normal vehicles will be able to be manipulated by Taylor as long as it's not occupied. If you mean can any other vehicle gain its own projection. No, only trains and only certain ones.
So am I. I hope it turns out well.
No she didn't. It's thrown her off a lot. She could tell what was happening at the time but not why.
Squealer will be missing in action for a couple days in universe and several chapters in our time.
The physical hull. No models because they wouldn't have the same character or history as the real thing. I know British locos are female but I don't intend to get any. Any locos that get their own projection will have a chance to be male or female based on their name, class and roles. Or complete randomness could decide it. Think of it as the Island of Sodor with projections instead of faces.
It's closer to a Kancolle-esque vibe, though with the spirit having a full size body and not merely rigging.
Trainwreck is planned down the line but will have a different name and most definitely a better life. He's come up before in conversation. I have good plans for him, worry not.
Am I the only one who looks at her and thinks she looks closer to seven than 13? Also, that it looks like she has oddly growing horns instead of it being a scarf or bandana or whatever it's called.
- Location
- The Midlands.
No, but in my case that might be because anyone under 18 looks like a little kid to me these days.
- Location
- Frozen Winterland
So, with that in mind, how many will have a resemblance to either Ringo Starr or George Carlin, as both have been involved with Sodor? (Narrator of early episodes and host of 'Shining Time Station', which was the bookend show around Thomas the Tank Engine when it was aired in north America)
- Location
- Somewhere
like GeneralPatt1000, I'm considering this like Sodor, so the engines can have different genders. as far as I'm aware, most countries tend to refer to ships/locos as female
Yay! (I was in fact worried)
That's where your wrong. Big Boy UP 4014 was restored from 2016 to 2019 and moved by itself on May 1st 2019. Since then it's been doing excursions across the Union Pacific line along with UP 844.
It would really be interesting to see UP 844's spirit show up since it's only been retired for one year in 1959 when it went from revinue service to an excursion train in 1960. The only other times I can find that it hasn't been running as an excursion train was when it was in for repairs.
Also if Taylor reaches the point of working with the cargo ships in the bay are we gonna get a stealth crossover with kancolle with ship spirits?
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I was talking about in universe, which should have been clear from the rest of the comment
- Pronouns
- Mr
Hey, @GeneralPatt1000, how do you think the chapter is coming? I'm not asking for an update or anything, just how you feel it's shaping up. I know some people prewrite chapters before they post them, some plan them then write them, etc. I'm hoping you're the second, so we can have more discussion in the thread.
Question to whoever can answer, is it possible to take down polls after the voting time is up, or do they just stay there forever? I'm thinking the OP can remove them, but I've seen a few where even after what was voted on shows up in the story, the polls stay up, so it could be that they can't be removed by anyone except a mod or admin. Sorry if that's a derail, but I figured I'd ask just in case. I like hoarding knowledge, in case it wasn't obvious.
Question to whoever can answer, is it possible to take down polls after the voting time is up, or do they just stay there forever? I'm thinking the OP can remove them, but I've seen a few where even after what was voted on shows up in the story, the polls stay up, so it could be that they can't be removed by anyone except a mod or admin. Sorry if that's a derail, but I figured I'd ask just in case. I like hoarding knowledge, in case it wasn't obvious.
- Location
- Seattle area
@havefeith
I'd like to get a backlog going, but it hasn't worked out that way yet. I just don't have the time with a 40 hour work week and other interests taking my free time up. I usually write by the seat of my pants as it were. Making up a small outline in my head of how I want the chapter to go then following that. I don't always know what the chapter after that will be until the one I'm working on is finished. Most writing gets done during breaks and commuting to and from work.
To answer your question more directly, I've barely started this week's chapter.
As for the poll, I haven't figured out how to remove it yet. I've tried but no method has revealed itself.
I'd like to get a backlog going, but it hasn't worked out that way yet. I just don't have the time with a 40 hour work week and other interests taking my free time up. I usually write by the seat of my pants as it were. Making up a small outline in my head of how I want the chapter to go then following that. I don't always know what the chapter after that will be until the one I'm working on is finished. Most writing gets done during breaks and commuting to and from work.
To answer your question more directly, I've barely started this week's chapter.
As for the poll, I haven't figured out how to remove it yet. I've tried but no method has revealed itself.
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- Pronouns
- Mr
You might have to ask a mod about how to remove it... It would suck if the only way to remove a poll is to just start a new one. Thanks for the other answers by the way. Here's hoping things get a little less busy for you soon. Not in the sense that you get laid off, or anything, but in the sense of less life related things pop up. Either way, I'm looking forward to the next chapter, whenever it may come.
Chapter 2.6
- Location
- Seattle area
Chapter 2.6
Worm is owned by Wildbow
Thanks to @DrYuriMom for beta services
9:00 am
Brockton Bay NH
Barnes Family Car
After hearing the news conference broadcast on the car radio, Emma was feeling torn. On the one hand, she wanted to get home as soon as possible to see Taylor. On the other hand, a brand new cape was in town, and they could control trains and train-related projections! How cool was that? After a few minutes of internal debate, she decided that Taylor could wait a few more minutes. She wanted to see this new cape if she could.
"Dad, can we roll by the Trainyards to see if we can spot the new cape?" Emma asked politely, though she couldn't keep the anticipation out of her voice.
Her mother Zoe turned to face her from the front passenger seat, then looked back at her husband Alan, who was driving the vehicle. "I don't know honey, your Dad and I wanted to get home early, so we didn't have to spend all day unpacking. And I thought you wanted to see Taylor."
"Yes, but we have an opportunity to get on the ground floor for autographs. We can even get one for Taylor as a get-well present," Emma argued animatedly.
"Hmm, that is true. What do you think, dear?" Zoe asked of Alan.
"The crowd that was likely to be there probably hasn't broken up sufficiently yet," Alan reasoned, "How about we go home and unpack, and then I'll drive you over there afterward?"
Emma considered that. The delay in unpacking the car would annoy her and keep her away from Taylor longer, but then she and her parents would get their way in her Dad's proposal. "I suppose that'll work. Thank you, Dad."
The second the Barnes family car was parked in their driveway a few minutes later, Emma took her seatbelt off, unlocked her door, and bolted for the trunk. She bounced up and down in place, waiting for Alan to pop the trunk.
Her older sister Anne laughed gaily as she got out of her place in the vehicle's back seat. "Emma, one would think you hadn't seen Taylor in at least a solid month the way you are acting." Anne took out her house keys and went to unlock the front door.
Emma scowled, "It certainly feels like it. We went to school orientation last Saturday after I stayed with her overnight. Afterward, Taylor went home with her mom, and you guys picked me up to go camping. The next thing I hear from her on Monday was that she was laid up at home with a broken leg, and her mom is in the hospital. I've been losing my mind in worry all week long!"
Alan popped the trunk then got out of the car. Zoe followed. Each moved to where Emma was waiting behind the car. The redhead immediately grabbed as much of the camping supplies as she could, then dashed for the front door. She ignored Zoe's call to be careful and blew past Anne and into the house.
This process was repeated three more times before the car was unloaded. The rest of the family only managed to make two trips each in that time. When Zoe noticed that Emma had piled all of the stuff she had carried in the middle of the living room floor, she prevented her daughter from leaving the house to wait in the car.
"Emma, I know you are in a hurry, but you can't just dump things in the middle of the floor and make others clean up after you. Help me organize this pile, and then you can go."
Emma was about to complain, but Alan made sure to be obvious about locking the car. She groused at nothing in particular but obeyed. Zoe decided to turn this into a lesson that slowing down to organize and keep safe was a good thing. Alan and Emma didn't leave the house again till 9:20.
9:00 am
Brockton Bay Trainyards
Roundhouse
Taylor stared at the projection for perhaps 30 seconds. Maybe it was better to call it something else? Like form, personification, or manifestation? She wasn't sure, but it, or was it a he, was sure stunning to behold.
The firefighters stared another 30 before their squad leader remembered himself and yelled at them to get back to minding the hose filling the tender.
"Well, lass, are you going to introduce yourself, or are you going to keep staring?" The projection asked with humor in his voice.
Taylor shook herself out of her stupor and smiled shyly. "I'm sorry, I didn't expect this to happen this morning. I'm barely a day into using my power, and it's escalated way beyond any control. The railroad police titled me The Dispatcher, and I decided to take that up as a name." She shrugged, "It was as good a name as any."
"Aye, that certainly fits your abilities." The man in front of her sized her up and seemed to approve of Taylor. "Young lady, you may call me Roger. Back in my day, I helped pull the express trains between Boston and Brockton Bay. They retired me in 1958, but the company kept me on as a special excursion engine."
The man scowled fiercely. "Then the whole post-Leviathan panic crisis happened. International shipping ceased almost overnight. Ships from all over the world got stuck in every port the Boston and Maine called at. All freight traffic to and from those ports either piled up because it had no place to go, or the yards were emptied of all product and became ghost towns."
"Then the Dockworkers rioted," Taylor added quietly, knowing the local history quite well thanks to her Dad's experiences.
The locomotive's projection practically exploded in a fury. The fire in the firebox roared higher in sympathetic reaction. "Aye, then the Dockworkers rioted! Some of it was peaceful, but then the few crazy ones proceeded to sink that 700-foot container ship in the shipping channel as an act of protest. The daft idiots didn't realize until it was too late that their actions would permanently shut down the port."
Everyone nodded, including the firemen. They knew that action had doomed the city to decades of economic turmoil and hardship. The ships had stopped coming, and the trains stopped moving. The lack of freight movement had cost thousands of jobs and livelihoods. Trucking had picked up some of the slack, but not enough. Formerly hard-working men had turned to crime and the gangs to make ends meet while others lived paycheck to paycheck and working multiple jobs. Others even left town entirely to seek work and better lives elsewhere.
The personification of Roger's Rangers went on speaking. "Things eventually got bad enough that the Boston and Maine went bankrupt. They sold off a lot of their assets. The Mainline between Boston, here and Portland went to Amtrak. The yard, facilities, and locomotives here went to an independent company that organized them into a railroad museum. Still, they spent too much money on the project and went bankrupt themselves."
"I had figured that much out myself," Taylor admitted, "But I hadn't figured out if anyone still owns the property and other assets." She raised an eyebrow at him. "Besides, how do you know all this history? Until a few minutes ago, you were merely an old steam locomotive."
"Any documents pertaining to ownership should be in the office safe. As for the rest of it," Roger's voice took on a professor's lecturing tone as he began to explain. "Because I lived through all of it. I gained a consciousness passively as I worked throughout my career and my crew's care for me and events in the world allowed me to coalesce more quickly. But it was not enough. I could gather information about the world but not influence it. When I sensed your power working in the other engines, I knew I had finally found the source I would need to cross the threshold to full personhood. The act of lighting my fire allowed me to latch onto your power and finally cross that threshold."
Taylor considered that. She had felt the tug on her power, of course, and it seemed to be sustaining the locomotive's form now. She turned to look as the fireman projection shoveled more coal into the firebox. The fire within was roaring now, and the wood was mostly gone. "Do you need my power to continue to live? I don't mind supporting you, and I'm happy you've found a way to live; I'm just curious."
Roger smiled kindly at her, "You do not have to worry about my death. Now that the threshold has been crossed, I will live until I am broken up or otherwise destroyed. Only my ability to project this form depends on anything. Either a fire going in my firebox or me borrowing power from you. If neither is happening, I can speak in your mind like Yardmaster. I can also appear in your pocket dimension on command."
Taylor smirked as she thought of a joke. "Another voice in my head, huh? Well, I'm sure Yardmaster won't mind the company. Rent is 500 dollars a month, and utilities are free."
The human form of Roger's Rangers burst into laughter. "Hahaha! Young lady, I think we're going to get along just fine."
A shout from the firemen revealed that they were finished filling the tender. Taylor thanked them profusely and had the Corporal hand off the promised charity donation plus an extra two hundred dollars. The officer had wandered up with a couple of other men sometime during the conversation. The fire truck drove away containing a happy but weirded-out fire crew.
As the truck disappeared, Taylor turned back to Roger, "Do you have enough steam up to go for a short spin? I'd like to see if everything works."
"As the spirit of this locomotive, I can personally tell you if anything is out of whack. At the moment, though, I don't sense anything wrong, though I could use a bit of grease on my wheels. It's been a long time since I last moved, and there is liable to be a little rust and such down there. As for steam, I have enough for maybe 15 miles an hour right now," The locomotive explained.
"Awesome! Let's get moving then." Taylor let the building excitement that she had contained for the last few minutes out of confinement. "Engineer, if you can take care of the grease, we'll move out of the roundhouse, across the turntable, through the fuel depot and the switching junction, and onto the passenger platform. Once there, we will reverse down the passenger line and back onto the Mainline. From there, we'll switch into the locomotive facilities and check to make sure everything survived."
"That sounds like a plan, Ma'am," Roger said, an eager smile on his face. "I haven't gotten any exercise in 20 years or so. It'll be good to get even a little in."
A few minutes were spent checking over grease and sand dispensers to ensure they weren't clogged and were topped off. Taylor was about to pop out of her projection form to manipulate the turntable into position when Roger stopped her. "I don't recall the city ever turning the power or water off for our facilities. The connections should still function normally."
And so they did. Taylor sent the corporal out to the cab on the turntable to check the controls. The Corporal flipped a switch to power the mechanism then pulled a lever to start it up. There was a loud groan before the turntable bridge began to cycle. Taylor whooped with glee as it turned to align with the steam engine's stall. It shuddered to a stop a little inelegantly before it ended up in line with the right tracks.
"Either the system is old and was complaining there, or a Railroad Police officer is not skilled in controlling turntables," Taylor commented.
"Probably a little of both, Ma'am," Roger remarked, then moved on to the next subject. "If you would like, Ma'am, I will allow you to do the honors of piloting me out."
Taylor's eyes widened in surprise and excitement. "You would let me do that?"
"Of course, lass. I owe you a debt for painting me, cleaning up and refilling my tender, and starting me up. I would never have awoken otherwise. The least I can do is let you take the controls and guide me out on my first run in 20 years. Now," Roger motioned, "Go on, hop in the engineer's seat, and I will guide you through the process."
Taylor made another exclamation of excitement and did as instructed. Giving commands and watching trains or crews follow them was one thing. Controlling them was quite another.
Roger came up behind her and began pointing out controls. "That is the regulator. It controls your speed. This is your brake and emergency brakes. There's your water gauge and water-pump controls; always keep an eye on that. There's your speedometer and grease and sand dispensers. Oh, and the whistle and bell cords. That's all the important things."
Taylor nodded as he mentioned each control or gauge, memorizing their positions and roles. She could barely contain her excitement. She reached for the regulator. Then halted abruptly as he made a clucking sound.
"Release the brake first, Dispatcher. Then add speed. We can't go anywhere if you still have the brakes on."
"Yeah-h. I'm sorry, my excitement is getting to me." Taylor apologized as she released the brakes. There was clunking noise as she engaged the control.
"Don't worry about it, Ma'am. Everyone gets first-day jitters one way or the other. Believe me; you are not the first to get over-excited. Now you may add power."
Taylor nodded and carefully pulled on the regulator bar. Slowly but surely, she brought the locomotive to five miles per hour. And for the first time in 20 years, Boston and Maine 3716 Roger's Rangers crept out of its place in the roundhouse and into the bright morning sunlight. As it did so, Taylor got a massive grin on her face. Now, this was totally awesome. As she brought Roger onto the turntable, the spirit reached up and blew the long-silent steam whistle.
(See 7:00 to 7:20 of the following video to hear a sample of the whistle. K&L Trainz owns this video )
--------
9:30 am
Brockton Bay Trainyard
Passenger Station
Emma was surprised to see the steam train out and about. She had learned of its existence through the press conference, of course, but she wasn't prepared to see it puffing through the passenger station under its own power. She and her father were driving past the station on their way to the engine facilities.
Seeing the locomotive reverse effortlessly up the line with smoke streaming from its stack and spent steam venting from various valves stirred something in her that she couldn't immediately identify. A couple of moments of consideration revealed it to be a mix of awe and anticipation. There was awe at the locomotive and anticipation of potentially meeting a new young hero of her age.
The locomotive was suddenly slowing to a stop. A few other cars were parked at the station, and people were standing on the platform waving excitedly. Emma wasn't sure who they were. They could be either railfans or cape fans. Whatever, she didn't care. She didn't want to miss this chance. "Dad, park here, park here!" she yelled.
"I'm parking, I'm parking," Alan replied, practically throwing the car into the station lot and parking in the spot closest to where the engine was stopping. As soon as the car had stopped, Emma was out the door and running headlong for the nearest ramp. "Emma, wait up!" Alan called, but the redhead was too focused on her goal to hear him.
----
Cab of the 3716
Everything was going well on this little trip so far, Taylor decided. The locomotive, Roger, was performing nicely for sitting in place for so long. It helped that he had gotten an overhaul before being abandoned, and he hadn't sat out in the elements since then.
After rolling off the working turntable, the engine had proceeded as Taylor had ordered, making a quick stop at the coal and water towers. Taylor then discovered that the water tower drew directly from the aquifer beneath Brockton Bay and filtered the water before dispensing it. In addition, the coal tower, though looking a little rickety, held some coal still, probably from whatever batch was leftover from the days of the B&M excursions.
Taylor got to watch the coal tower in operation after a couple of workers climbed up to operate the tower. Following the quick top-up, they had continued on her set course. As the locomotive passed through the switch junction, Roger had let her pull the whistle cord to greet the distant GP units now sitting idle in the Classification Yard, their work complete. They tooted back with their own diesel horns.
They had gone down the passenger station access line then began reversing down the passenger platform. As they moved down the tracks, Taylor had noticed a small knot of people gathered on the platform. Several held cameras while others clutched pads of paper and pens.
Taylor wasn't sure what to do at first. Should she stop or keep on going. She obviously had fans already, and she didn't want to disappoint them. Because of how roads and rails worked, these people had tracked her progress and decided to attempt to stop her for autographs and pictures. "Do you mind if we stop Roger? We seem to have acquired some fans already."
The spirit shrugged. "I don't see why not."
"Okay, awesome. Let's do it then." Taylor proceeded to close the regulator, cutting off the steam flow to the pistons, then pulled the brakes. There was a little screeching, but otherwise, they stopped smoothly. Almost immediately, a few people began snapping pictures.
"Found the train nerds," Taylor said with a chuckle. She moved to the cab ladder. More pictures. Half a dozen boys and several men of various ages had stars in their eyes as they examined the locomotive. Other people, both men and women, boys and girls, looked to her expectantly. Kids and their parents. She noted one very familiar redheaded girl and her father add themselves to the back of the group.
"Good morning!" She called, "Does anyone want a photo with me and the engine or perhaps an autograph? I must say, I wasn't expecting a signing event so quickly." I'll have to change my handwriting on the fly here, so Emma doesn't recognize it.
The small crowd went nuts. Taylor climbed down to meet them and, with the help of her steam engine crew, organized them into a proper line. Roger stayed in the cab. He didn't feel comfortable revealing himself yet.
The impromptu event took approximately 15 minutes. Emma and Alan were the very last in line. Standing in front of the locomotive on the platform, Taylor watched her friend approach. Would she be recognized? She dearly hoped not. She wasn't ready for the conversation that would probably ensue.
"Good morning. How can I help you today? Picture or autograph or both?" Taylor asked.
-----
Emma held out a pad of paper and pen, her hands shaking with both nervousness and excitement. "Two autographs and a photo, please." Waiting 15 minutes had not done her nerves any good. It had given her time to examine the slightly ethereal young cape. Some part of her mind had immediately tried to identify Dispatcher, but she had squashed that hard.
Dispatcher kindly took the paper and the proffered pen with a smile, "Okay, who should I make them out to?"
"The first one is for my best friend, Taylor Hebert. Her leg was broken in an accident. If you could offer her some well wishes, I'm sure she would appreciate it."
Dispatcher nodded, scrawling out a message in flowery script. "I'm sorry to hear that. I hope she heals quickly." She flipped the page when she was done and asked, "And the other?"
Emma motioned to herself, "To Emma Barnes. It doesn't have to be anything special."
"Nonsense. If I did that for every autograph, they'd all be too samey." Dispatcher took a few moments to write something for Emma.
The cape, who was around Emma's own age, soon finished writing the second note. "Here you go. Now, picture time. I'm sorry to rush you, but I need to get back to this test run." She wrapped an arm around Emma and faced Alan, who held Emma's smartphone up.
"Smile!"
------
A few minutes later, Emma and Alan were back in the car heading home, and the locomotive was back on its test run, whistle calling a farewell and bell chiming gaily. Emma was happy with the encounter, and so was Taylor. The latter hadn't been recognized, and she had set up a great future prank, even if she didn't think of it like that. The former was happy to get the autographs and pictures for Taylor. They would make great souvenirs for the pair of them in the future.
Taylor hurried as quickly as it was safe to return Roger to the roundhouse. She apologized that she hadn't taken him for a proper run, but he understood her hurry and didn't mind. It had been a pleasant time, and he was glad to have made her acquaintance.
It turned out that she left her trance just in time. Coming to, she heard her Dad calling through the portal. "Taylor, come here!"
"I'm coming. I'm coming," Taylor replied, turning away from the layout, which now featured a happily puffing 70-year-old steam locomotive, its smoke rising from the model and creating a little cloud above the roundhouse.
Stepping through the portal and closing it behind her, Taylor immediately noticed two things. An ambulance parked in front of the house, and two attendants were helping a woman in a wheelchair out of the back via a ramp.
"Mom?!" Taylor rushed for the front door, past her grinning father, and out to the sidewalk as fast as her cast would allow.
Annette Hebert looked up at Taylor, the two attendants standing behind her with their grins. A happy motherly smile crossed her face as Taylor approached and carefully hugged her. "Taylor, my Little Owl."
"Mom, I thought you were coming home tomorrow." Taylor was slightly confused but happy nonetheless.
"The doctors and I had a talk about that, and we decided my recovery wouldn't be hurt by going home early," Annette explained. "Something came up." She gave her daughter a knowing look. You have a secret that I know about. You're going to spill as soon as we are in private.
Taylor nodded happily; her eyes practically glowed in excitement. "Yes, Mom, I have so much to tell you. Come on!"
Worm is owned by Wildbow
Thanks to @DrYuriMom for beta services
9:00 am
Brockton Bay NH
Barnes Family Car
After hearing the news conference broadcast on the car radio, Emma was feeling torn. On the one hand, she wanted to get home as soon as possible to see Taylor. On the other hand, a brand new cape was in town, and they could control trains and train-related projections! How cool was that? After a few minutes of internal debate, she decided that Taylor could wait a few more minutes. She wanted to see this new cape if she could.
"Dad, can we roll by the Trainyards to see if we can spot the new cape?" Emma asked politely, though she couldn't keep the anticipation out of her voice.
Her mother Zoe turned to face her from the front passenger seat, then looked back at her husband Alan, who was driving the vehicle. "I don't know honey, your Dad and I wanted to get home early, so we didn't have to spend all day unpacking. And I thought you wanted to see Taylor."
"Yes, but we have an opportunity to get on the ground floor for autographs. We can even get one for Taylor as a get-well present," Emma argued animatedly.
"Hmm, that is true. What do you think, dear?" Zoe asked of Alan.
"The crowd that was likely to be there probably hasn't broken up sufficiently yet," Alan reasoned, "How about we go home and unpack, and then I'll drive you over there afterward?"
Emma considered that. The delay in unpacking the car would annoy her and keep her away from Taylor longer, but then she and her parents would get their way in her Dad's proposal. "I suppose that'll work. Thank you, Dad."
The second the Barnes family car was parked in their driveway a few minutes later, Emma took her seatbelt off, unlocked her door, and bolted for the trunk. She bounced up and down in place, waiting for Alan to pop the trunk.
Her older sister Anne laughed gaily as she got out of her place in the vehicle's back seat. "Emma, one would think you hadn't seen Taylor in at least a solid month the way you are acting." Anne took out her house keys and went to unlock the front door.
Emma scowled, "It certainly feels like it. We went to school orientation last Saturday after I stayed with her overnight. Afterward, Taylor went home with her mom, and you guys picked me up to go camping. The next thing I hear from her on Monday was that she was laid up at home with a broken leg, and her mom is in the hospital. I've been losing my mind in worry all week long!"
Alan popped the trunk then got out of the car. Zoe followed. Each moved to where Emma was waiting behind the car. The redhead immediately grabbed as much of the camping supplies as she could, then dashed for the front door. She ignored Zoe's call to be careful and blew past Anne and into the house.
This process was repeated three more times before the car was unloaded. The rest of the family only managed to make two trips each in that time. When Zoe noticed that Emma had piled all of the stuff she had carried in the middle of the living room floor, she prevented her daughter from leaving the house to wait in the car.
"Emma, I know you are in a hurry, but you can't just dump things in the middle of the floor and make others clean up after you. Help me organize this pile, and then you can go."
Emma was about to complain, but Alan made sure to be obvious about locking the car. She groused at nothing in particular but obeyed. Zoe decided to turn this into a lesson that slowing down to organize and keep safe was a good thing. Alan and Emma didn't leave the house again till 9:20.
9:00 am
Brockton Bay Trainyards
Roundhouse
Taylor stared at the projection for perhaps 30 seconds. Maybe it was better to call it something else? Like form, personification, or manifestation? She wasn't sure, but it, or was it a he, was sure stunning to behold.
The firefighters stared another 30 before their squad leader remembered himself and yelled at them to get back to minding the hose filling the tender.
"Well, lass, are you going to introduce yourself, or are you going to keep staring?" The projection asked with humor in his voice.
Taylor shook herself out of her stupor and smiled shyly. "I'm sorry, I didn't expect this to happen this morning. I'm barely a day into using my power, and it's escalated way beyond any control. The railroad police titled me The Dispatcher, and I decided to take that up as a name." She shrugged, "It was as good a name as any."
"Aye, that certainly fits your abilities." The man in front of her sized her up and seemed to approve of Taylor. "Young lady, you may call me Roger. Back in my day, I helped pull the express trains between Boston and Brockton Bay. They retired me in 1958, but the company kept me on as a special excursion engine."
The man scowled fiercely. "Then the whole post-Leviathan panic crisis happened. International shipping ceased almost overnight. Ships from all over the world got stuck in every port the Boston and Maine called at. All freight traffic to and from those ports either piled up because it had no place to go, or the yards were emptied of all product and became ghost towns."
"Then the Dockworkers rioted," Taylor added quietly, knowing the local history quite well thanks to her Dad's experiences.
The locomotive's projection practically exploded in a fury. The fire in the firebox roared higher in sympathetic reaction. "Aye, then the Dockworkers rioted! Some of it was peaceful, but then the few crazy ones proceeded to sink that 700-foot container ship in the shipping channel as an act of protest. The daft idiots didn't realize until it was too late that their actions would permanently shut down the port."
Everyone nodded, including the firemen. They knew that action had doomed the city to decades of economic turmoil and hardship. The ships had stopped coming, and the trains stopped moving. The lack of freight movement had cost thousands of jobs and livelihoods. Trucking had picked up some of the slack, but not enough. Formerly hard-working men had turned to crime and the gangs to make ends meet while others lived paycheck to paycheck and working multiple jobs. Others even left town entirely to seek work and better lives elsewhere.
The personification of Roger's Rangers went on speaking. "Things eventually got bad enough that the Boston and Maine went bankrupt. They sold off a lot of their assets. The Mainline between Boston, here and Portland went to Amtrak. The yard, facilities, and locomotives here went to an independent company that organized them into a railroad museum. Still, they spent too much money on the project and went bankrupt themselves."
"I had figured that much out myself," Taylor admitted, "But I hadn't figured out if anyone still owns the property and other assets." She raised an eyebrow at him. "Besides, how do you know all this history? Until a few minutes ago, you were merely an old steam locomotive."
"Any documents pertaining to ownership should be in the office safe. As for the rest of it," Roger's voice took on a professor's lecturing tone as he began to explain. "Because I lived through all of it. I gained a consciousness passively as I worked throughout my career and my crew's care for me and events in the world allowed me to coalesce more quickly. But it was not enough. I could gather information about the world but not influence it. When I sensed your power working in the other engines, I knew I had finally found the source I would need to cross the threshold to full personhood. The act of lighting my fire allowed me to latch onto your power and finally cross that threshold."
Taylor considered that. She had felt the tug on her power, of course, and it seemed to be sustaining the locomotive's form now. She turned to look as the fireman projection shoveled more coal into the firebox. The fire within was roaring now, and the wood was mostly gone. "Do you need my power to continue to live? I don't mind supporting you, and I'm happy you've found a way to live; I'm just curious."
Roger smiled kindly at her, "You do not have to worry about my death. Now that the threshold has been crossed, I will live until I am broken up or otherwise destroyed. Only my ability to project this form depends on anything. Either a fire going in my firebox or me borrowing power from you. If neither is happening, I can speak in your mind like Yardmaster. I can also appear in your pocket dimension on command."
Taylor smirked as she thought of a joke. "Another voice in my head, huh? Well, I'm sure Yardmaster won't mind the company. Rent is 500 dollars a month, and utilities are free."
The human form of Roger's Rangers burst into laughter. "Hahaha! Young lady, I think we're going to get along just fine."
A shout from the firemen revealed that they were finished filling the tender. Taylor thanked them profusely and had the Corporal hand off the promised charity donation plus an extra two hundred dollars. The officer had wandered up with a couple of other men sometime during the conversation. The fire truck drove away containing a happy but weirded-out fire crew.
As the truck disappeared, Taylor turned back to Roger, "Do you have enough steam up to go for a short spin? I'd like to see if everything works."
"As the spirit of this locomotive, I can personally tell you if anything is out of whack. At the moment, though, I don't sense anything wrong, though I could use a bit of grease on my wheels. It's been a long time since I last moved, and there is liable to be a little rust and such down there. As for steam, I have enough for maybe 15 miles an hour right now," The locomotive explained.
"Awesome! Let's get moving then." Taylor let the building excitement that she had contained for the last few minutes out of confinement. "Engineer, if you can take care of the grease, we'll move out of the roundhouse, across the turntable, through the fuel depot and the switching junction, and onto the passenger platform. Once there, we will reverse down the passenger line and back onto the Mainline. From there, we'll switch into the locomotive facilities and check to make sure everything survived."
"That sounds like a plan, Ma'am," Roger said, an eager smile on his face. "I haven't gotten any exercise in 20 years or so. It'll be good to get even a little in."
A few minutes were spent checking over grease and sand dispensers to ensure they weren't clogged and were topped off. Taylor was about to pop out of her projection form to manipulate the turntable into position when Roger stopped her. "I don't recall the city ever turning the power or water off for our facilities. The connections should still function normally."
And so they did. Taylor sent the corporal out to the cab on the turntable to check the controls. The Corporal flipped a switch to power the mechanism then pulled a lever to start it up. There was a loud groan before the turntable bridge began to cycle. Taylor whooped with glee as it turned to align with the steam engine's stall. It shuddered to a stop a little inelegantly before it ended up in line with the right tracks.
"Either the system is old and was complaining there, or a Railroad Police officer is not skilled in controlling turntables," Taylor commented.
"Probably a little of both, Ma'am," Roger remarked, then moved on to the next subject. "If you would like, Ma'am, I will allow you to do the honors of piloting me out."
Taylor's eyes widened in surprise and excitement. "You would let me do that?"
"Of course, lass. I owe you a debt for painting me, cleaning up and refilling my tender, and starting me up. I would never have awoken otherwise. The least I can do is let you take the controls and guide me out on my first run in 20 years. Now," Roger motioned, "Go on, hop in the engineer's seat, and I will guide you through the process."
Taylor made another exclamation of excitement and did as instructed. Giving commands and watching trains or crews follow them was one thing. Controlling them was quite another.
Roger came up behind her and began pointing out controls. "That is the regulator. It controls your speed. This is your brake and emergency brakes. There's your water gauge and water-pump controls; always keep an eye on that. There's your speedometer and grease and sand dispensers. Oh, and the whistle and bell cords. That's all the important things."
Taylor nodded as he mentioned each control or gauge, memorizing their positions and roles. She could barely contain her excitement. She reached for the regulator. Then halted abruptly as he made a clucking sound.
"Release the brake first, Dispatcher. Then add speed. We can't go anywhere if you still have the brakes on."
"Yeah-h. I'm sorry, my excitement is getting to me." Taylor apologized as she released the brakes. There was clunking noise as she engaged the control.
"Don't worry about it, Ma'am. Everyone gets first-day jitters one way or the other. Believe me; you are not the first to get over-excited. Now you may add power."
Taylor nodded and carefully pulled on the regulator bar. Slowly but surely, she brought the locomotive to five miles per hour. And for the first time in 20 years, Boston and Maine 3716 Roger's Rangers crept out of its place in the roundhouse and into the bright morning sunlight. As it did so, Taylor got a massive grin on her face. Now, this was totally awesome. As she brought Roger onto the turntable, the spirit reached up and blew the long-silent steam whistle.
(See 7:00 to 7:20 of the following video to hear a sample of the whistle. K&L Trainz owns this video )
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9:30 am
Brockton Bay Trainyard
Passenger Station
Emma was surprised to see the steam train out and about. She had learned of its existence through the press conference, of course, but she wasn't prepared to see it puffing through the passenger station under its own power. She and her father were driving past the station on their way to the engine facilities.
Seeing the locomotive reverse effortlessly up the line with smoke streaming from its stack and spent steam venting from various valves stirred something in her that she couldn't immediately identify. A couple of moments of consideration revealed it to be a mix of awe and anticipation. There was awe at the locomotive and anticipation of potentially meeting a new young hero of her age.
The locomotive was suddenly slowing to a stop. A few other cars were parked at the station, and people were standing on the platform waving excitedly. Emma wasn't sure who they were. They could be either railfans or cape fans. Whatever, she didn't care. She didn't want to miss this chance. "Dad, park here, park here!" she yelled.
"I'm parking, I'm parking," Alan replied, practically throwing the car into the station lot and parking in the spot closest to where the engine was stopping. As soon as the car had stopped, Emma was out the door and running headlong for the nearest ramp. "Emma, wait up!" Alan called, but the redhead was too focused on her goal to hear him.
----
Cab of the 3716
Everything was going well on this little trip so far, Taylor decided. The locomotive, Roger, was performing nicely for sitting in place for so long. It helped that he had gotten an overhaul before being abandoned, and he hadn't sat out in the elements since then.
After rolling off the working turntable, the engine had proceeded as Taylor had ordered, making a quick stop at the coal and water towers. Taylor then discovered that the water tower drew directly from the aquifer beneath Brockton Bay and filtered the water before dispensing it. In addition, the coal tower, though looking a little rickety, held some coal still, probably from whatever batch was leftover from the days of the B&M excursions.
Taylor got to watch the coal tower in operation after a couple of workers climbed up to operate the tower. Following the quick top-up, they had continued on her set course. As the locomotive passed through the switch junction, Roger had let her pull the whistle cord to greet the distant GP units now sitting idle in the Classification Yard, their work complete. They tooted back with their own diesel horns.
They had gone down the passenger station access line then began reversing down the passenger platform. As they moved down the tracks, Taylor had noticed a small knot of people gathered on the platform. Several held cameras while others clutched pads of paper and pens.
Taylor wasn't sure what to do at first. Should she stop or keep on going. She obviously had fans already, and she didn't want to disappoint them. Because of how roads and rails worked, these people had tracked her progress and decided to attempt to stop her for autographs and pictures. "Do you mind if we stop Roger? We seem to have acquired some fans already."
The spirit shrugged. "I don't see why not."
"Okay, awesome. Let's do it then." Taylor proceeded to close the regulator, cutting off the steam flow to the pistons, then pulled the brakes. There was a little screeching, but otherwise, they stopped smoothly. Almost immediately, a few people began snapping pictures.
"Found the train nerds," Taylor said with a chuckle. She moved to the cab ladder. More pictures. Half a dozen boys and several men of various ages had stars in their eyes as they examined the locomotive. Other people, both men and women, boys and girls, looked to her expectantly. Kids and their parents. She noted one very familiar redheaded girl and her father add themselves to the back of the group.
"Good morning!" She called, "Does anyone want a photo with me and the engine or perhaps an autograph? I must say, I wasn't expecting a signing event so quickly." I'll have to change my handwriting on the fly here, so Emma doesn't recognize it.
The small crowd went nuts. Taylor climbed down to meet them and, with the help of her steam engine crew, organized them into a proper line. Roger stayed in the cab. He didn't feel comfortable revealing himself yet.
The impromptu event took approximately 15 minutes. Emma and Alan were the very last in line. Standing in front of the locomotive on the platform, Taylor watched her friend approach. Would she be recognized? She dearly hoped not. She wasn't ready for the conversation that would probably ensue.
"Good morning. How can I help you today? Picture or autograph or both?" Taylor asked.
-----
Emma held out a pad of paper and pen, her hands shaking with both nervousness and excitement. "Two autographs and a photo, please." Waiting 15 minutes had not done her nerves any good. It had given her time to examine the slightly ethereal young cape. Some part of her mind had immediately tried to identify Dispatcher, but she had squashed that hard.
Dispatcher kindly took the paper and the proffered pen with a smile, "Okay, who should I make them out to?"
"The first one is for my best friend, Taylor Hebert. Her leg was broken in an accident. If you could offer her some well wishes, I'm sure she would appreciate it."
Dispatcher nodded, scrawling out a message in flowery script. "I'm sorry to hear that. I hope she heals quickly." She flipped the page when she was done and asked, "And the other?"
Emma motioned to herself, "To Emma Barnes. It doesn't have to be anything special."
"Nonsense. If I did that for every autograph, they'd all be too samey." Dispatcher took a few moments to write something for Emma.
The cape, who was around Emma's own age, soon finished writing the second note. "Here you go. Now, picture time. I'm sorry to rush you, but I need to get back to this test run." She wrapped an arm around Emma and faced Alan, who held Emma's smartphone up.
"Smile!"
------
A few minutes later, Emma and Alan were back in the car heading home, and the locomotive was back on its test run, whistle calling a farewell and bell chiming gaily. Emma was happy with the encounter, and so was Taylor. The latter hadn't been recognized, and she had set up a great future prank, even if she didn't think of it like that. The former was happy to get the autographs and pictures for Taylor. They would make great souvenirs for the pair of them in the future.
Taylor hurried as quickly as it was safe to return Roger to the roundhouse. She apologized that she hadn't taken him for a proper run, but he understood her hurry and didn't mind. It had been a pleasant time, and he was glad to have made her acquaintance.
It turned out that she left her trance just in time. Coming to, she heard her Dad calling through the portal. "Taylor, come here!"
"I'm coming. I'm coming," Taylor replied, turning away from the layout, which now featured a happily puffing 70-year-old steam locomotive, its smoke rising from the model and creating a little cloud above the roundhouse.
Stepping through the portal and closing it behind her, Taylor immediately noticed two things. An ambulance parked in front of the house, and two attendants were helping a woman in a wheelchair out of the back via a ramp.
"Mom?!" Taylor rushed for the front door, past her grinning father, and out to the sidewalk as fast as her cast would allow.
Annette Hebert looked up at Taylor, the two attendants standing behind her with their grins. A happy motherly smile crossed her face as Taylor approached and carefully hugged her. "Taylor, my Little Owl."
"Mom, I thought you were coming home tomorrow." Taylor was slightly confused but happy nonetheless.
"The doctors and I had a talk about that, and we decided my recovery wouldn't be hurt by going home early," Annette explained. "Something came up." She gave her daughter a knowing look. You have a secret that I know about. You're going to spill as soon as we are in private.
Taylor nodded happily; her eyes practically glowed in excitement. "Yes, Mom, I have so much to tell you. Come on!"
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Honorguard Ra
(Verified Lizard Dude)
It's really easy to imagine Taylor excitedly bouncing in the Engineer's seat, with Roger smiling over her shoulder. This story really is a joy to read. I've got this image in my head of Taylor telling all the train engines on the layout goodnight when she goes to bed. Thank you for sharing.
- Pronouns
- Mr
Heh, this should be fun either way. Seeing the interaction between Taylor and her mother, and the results of the "prank" should be fun, I mean. This was a good read, even if it felt a little short. But that's probably just because I read fast. I mean, I once read Harry Potter 5 in about 6 hours, and that book has over 1k pages. You see what I mean, though? Takes something like 10k-20k words for me to feel it's not short. Still, I don't mind this, because at least it's going somewhere. No offense to Mp3.1415player, but I'd prefer to see where the ride is going, not just meander about until it gets there. This one has tracks to follow, so I'm almost certain I'll enjoy the ride.
HarakoniWarhawk
Striking from the Skies
- Location
- Holy Terra
- Pronouns
- She/Her
Can I just say it's wonderful to see so many people enjoying a good train story. I grew up watching Fred Dibnah as a kid and that made me love steam engines.
Seeing this story flourish makes the part of me that's still that kid really happy.
Seeing this story flourish makes the part of me that's still that kid really happy.