#ellie the sw7

[esquimaltnanaimo]

It's almost time for the mun and I to leave Winnipeg. We're excited to get on the train tonight, of course, but we've both enjoyed our stay so much that we almost can't bear to leave. Thank you @ellie-does-stuff for showing us the sights and the history! We've had a wonderful time. ^u^

[inala-live-blog]

INALA TO PLAY ROYAL ALBERT HALL FOR ONE NIGHT ONLY

INALA TO PLAY FOR ONE SPECTACULAR NIGHT ONLY AT THE ROYAL ALBERT HALL, Wednesday 23 October 2019, to Celebrate World Ballet Day and Black History Month.

With Special Guest Dancers from the Royal Ballet and Rambert.

INALA, the critically acclaimed South African Dance-Musical sensation, will celebrate World Ballet Day on Wednesday 23 October with a concert spectacular at the Royal Albert Hall, bringing together the South African choral legends, Soweto Gospel Choir with multi-award-winning choreographer Mark Baldwin OBE in this unique artistic collaboration.  A celebration of South Africa today, INALA delivers all it promises; an uplifting cultural experience, powered by an explosion of live music, song and dance.

Following INALA’s smash hit run at the Peacock Theatre earlier this year, INALA was performed at HRH Prince Harry’s Hampton Court Palace Sentebale Concert in June, as well as in Singapore at Marina Bay Sands.   The production, which premiered at the Edinburgh International Festival in 2014, has now also enjoyed a sell-out run at London’s Sadler’s Wells, two UK tours and a Royal Variety Performance appearance, in the presence of TRH The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.

The three-time Grammy® Award-winning Soweto Gospel Choir will return to London with a company of 16 singers, joining the nine-strong band and 13 international dance stars on stage.

INALA, meaning ‘abundance of goodwill’ in Zulu, was originally conceived and developed to mark 20 years of South African democracy with a glorious collaboration by four-time Grammy® Award-winning South African choral legends Ladysmith Black Mambazo, the British composer Ella Spira and former First Artist of the Royal Ballet Pietra Mello-Pittman.  The music for INALA was recorded at Abbey Road Studios and was Grammy® Award nominated in 2016 for Best World Music Album.  Baldwin, who headed Ballet Rambert for 15 years winning a host of awards, was subsequently awarded an OBE for Services to Dance.

Blending the intricate rhythms and infectious harmonies of Soweto Gospel Choir’s native musical roots with live percussion, piano and strings, Mark Baldwin’s choreography unites Zulu traditions with classical ballet and contemporary dance.

Featuring world-class international dancers, the production embraces an exhilarating fusion of South African and Western cultures live on stage, to create a unique and vibrant immersive experience.

Confirmed dancers for INALA at the Royal Albert Hall include BBC Young Dancer 2017 winner Nafisah Baba (Chrysalis London, Phoenix Dance Theatre), Elly Braund (Richard Alston Dance Company), Joshua Harriette (Michael Clark Company, Ballet Black, Matthew Bourne New Adventures, Richard Alston Dance Company), Sharia Johnson (Michael Clark Company, Richard Alston Dance Company, Rambert), Nahum McLean (Richard Alston Dance Company, West Side Story tour), Hicaro Nicolai (Voices of The Amazon, Hoje é Dia de Maria Musical, É Proibido Miar The Musical, Ballet Jovem Minas Gerais, Voices of the Amazon), Yasmin Priyatmoko Bohn (ŻfinMalta Dance Ensemble), Nicholas Shikkis (Richard Alston Dance), Adelene Stanley (Frontier Danceland) and Jason Tucker (DeNada Dance Theatre, Arielle Smith Company, Richard Alston Dance Company) and Ashleigh Wilson (Peter Schaufuss Ballet/International Arts Collective),

INALA’s costumes are designed by acclaimed designer and former taxidermist Georg Meyer-Wiel, and the show has sound design by Adrian Rhodes and lighting by Ben Cracknell.

INALA has a dynamic social impact and schools programme and has drawn in audiences who number an average of 37% first time theatre attendees.

For the Royal Albert Hall performance, with the added relevance of falling in both Black History Month and on World Ballet Day, the producers are offering 1,000 tickets free of charge to London communities who would not normally have the opportunity to attend a ballet or West End show.

This initiative to ensure their audience is representative of the diverse, multicultural makeup of the capital city mirrors their work – their outreach programme at The Peacock, partnered with Mosaic, a Prince’s Trust initiative, saw around 1,000 secondary school students schools from under-privileged areas of London to attend to the performances free of charge. The young people had opportunities to meet and ask questions of the cast as well as use the visits to develop artistic ideas in their schools. Many of the attendees had never before had an opportunity to see any form of live theatre, dance or music. The programme was a great success and the impact evaluation saw teachers and students feeding back a range of benefits, including improved wellbeing, a greater interest in pursuing creative subjects and also an improved connection to other cultures:

‘I would watch INALA again due to the fact that it separated us from the outside world and words would not be able to contain how I really feel about the show other than it was AMAZING’. – Student, Lambeth College

Performance Date(s):

Wednesday 23 October 2019

Performance Time(s):

7.30pm

Address:

ROYAL ALBERT HALL

Kensington Gore London, SW7 2AP

Box Office:

020 7589 8212

URL:

https://www.royalalberthall.com/tickets/events/2019/inala/

[brfdaily-blog]

Wednesday 1 May 2019

Her Excellency Ms Saida Muna Tasneem was received in audience by The Queen today and presented the Letters of Recall of her predecessor and her own Letters of Commission as High Commissioner for the People’s Republic of Bangladesh in London.

Mr Tauhidul Chaudhury was also received by Her Majesty.

His Excellency Mr Jaime Marchán Romero was received in audience by The Queen and presented the Letters of Recall of his predecessor and his own Letters of Credence as Ambassador from the Republic of Ecuador to the Court of St James’s.

Mrs Rocío Barahona Riera was also received by Her Majesty.

Sir Simon McDonald (Permanent Under-Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs) was present.

The Rt Hon Theresa May MP (Prime Minister and First Lord of the Treasury) had an audience of The Queen this evening.

The Prince Charles, Duke of Rothesay, President, The Prince’s Foundation, this morning opened the Granary, Castle of Mey, Thurso, and was received by Her Majesty’s Lord-Lieutenant of Caithness (the Viscount Thurso).

His Royal Highness later received His Excellency Sheikh Nasser Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah (First Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister of the State of Kuwait) at Dumfries House, Cumnock, Ayrshire.

The Prince Charles, Duke of Rothesay, President, The Prince’s Foundation, this evening held a Dinner for supporters at Dumfries House.

...

The Duchess of Cornwall, Royal Colonel, 4th Battalion The Rifles, this afternoon attended a medals parade at New Normandy Barracks, Aldershot, Hampshire.

...

The Duchess of Cambridge, Patron, Anna Freud National Centre for Children and Families, this morning opened the new Centre for Excellence, 4-8 Rodney Street, London N1, and was received by Colonel Jane Davis (Vice Lord-Lieutenant of Greater London).

The Duke of York, Royal Patron, Fight for Sight, this morning received Ms Michèle Acton upon relinquishing her appointment as Chief Executive and Ms Sherine Krause upon assuming the appointment.

His Royal Highness this afternoon visited the Children’s Air Ambulance at Lambeth Palace, London SE1.

The Duke of York, Grand Master, the Honourable Company of Air Pilots, later received Mr Colin Cox upon relinquishing his appointment as Master and Mr Malcolm White upon assuming the appointment.

His Royal Highness, Royal Bencher, this evening held a Dinner at Buckingham Palace for the Honourable Society of Lincoln’s Inn

...

The Earl of Wessex, Trustee, The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award, this morning attended a Meeting at the London Regional Office, Victoria Charity Centre, 11 Belgrave Road, London SW1.

His Royal Highness, Chairman of the Board of Trustees, The Duke of Edinburgh’s International Award Foundation, this afternoon attended a Meeting at Halcyon Gallery, 144-146 New Bond Street, London W1.

The Earl of Wessex, Chairman of the Trustees, The Prince Philip Trust Fund for the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead, later chaired a Meeting at Eton College, Windsor, and this evening attended a Dinner at the College.

...

The Countess of Wessex today carried out the following engagements in Mumbai, Maharashtra, India.

Her Royal Highness this morning laid a wreath at the 26/11 Memorial, Taj Palace Hotel, Apollo Bandar, Colaba.

The Countess of Wessex afterwards visited the Sassoon Dock, Sassoon Dock Road, Azad Magar, Colaba.

Her Royal Highness later visited the Ambedkar Nagar Community, Kurla West, Kurla.

The Countess of Wessex, Vice Patron, The Queen Elizabeth Diamond Jubilee Trust, this afternoon visited Sir Elly Kadoorie School, Shivdas Champsi Road, opposite Chaitya Temple, Tadwadi, Mazgaon.

Her Royal Highness, Vice Patron, The Queen Elizabeth Diamond Jubilee Trust, afterwards visited the Padmanagar Apalya Health Centre, Road Number 14, Govandi Slums, Indira Nagar, Kamala Nagar, Govandi East.

...

The Princess Royal, President, the City and Guilds of London Institute, this morning visited UKFast.Net Limited’s offices and education centre, Birley Fields, Manchester, and was received by Her Majesty’s Lord-Lieutenant of Greater Manchester (Mr Warren Smith).

Her Royal Highness, President, the Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce, this afternoon received Miss Victoria Heywood upon relinquishing her appointment as Chairman and Mr Timothy Eyles upon assuming the appointment.

The Princess Royal, Patron, this evening presented the Whitley Fund for Nature Annual Awards at the Royal Geographical Society, 1 Kensington Gore, London SW7, and was received by Sir Michael Dixon (Deputy Lieutenant of Greater London).

...

[esquimaltnanaimo]

Oh my stars, what a wonderful stay this has been so far here in Winnipeg. I’ve met some truly wonderful engines, on top of seeing a beautiful Prairie city!

This morning, Ellie and her best friend, Duncan, took me to meet an engine I truly owe my entire existence to. She is the engine responsible for the construction of the line I was built for, worked upon, and called home for more than four decades: Countess of Dufferin. I can honestly say I have never been more honoured and happy to meet somebody - especially since she knows who I am! She said my reputation precedes me, and that she was happy to see that I escaped the scrapper’s torch. She also said she was honoured to make my acquaintance, and if I ever visit Winnipeg again, she would love to talk more about our respective times in service - I won’t lie, I almost squealed like a young girl! Had I a safety valve and functioning boiler in my current form, I guarantee I would’ve been releasing quite a bit of steam just out of excitement. Ha ha ha…

Anyway… on the track next to Countess sits a very friendly diesel, the likes of which I’ve seldom seen. He goes by the name Greg, and he is a General Motors model GMD-1 - a class of engines that were unique to Canadian National and Northern Alberta Railway. He has a very stylish ‘hat’, as the mun calls it, over his front, similar to the GM-built switcher diesels I’m more familiar with. It was a shame we couldn’t talk longer… He was apparently pilot at the station the Museum is in before he was retired, and according to the staff in the museum he remains entirely operable to this day! I would love to hear more of his stories in future.

Rewinding just a bit to yesterday, Ellie took me to meet another engine, one key to the history of Manitoba. He is called Walschaert Schmidt - I believe he took his name from the valve gear style both he and myself have - and he was the first engine fully built in western Canada, at CN’s Transcona Shops. He’s outside in the elements right now, unfortunately, but there is an effort spearheaded by the Transcona Museum to give him a shelter and cosmetically restore him, much like my friend Spot back home in Squamish. I do hope that effort comes to fruition, as a kind, tired engine like him definitely deserves better than his current situation. Come to think of it, he reminds me quite a bit of a close friend of mine…

The other two photos in this set are from the area around The Forks in Winnipeg - an area that used to be CN’s shops, in fact. The buildings are now a very unique shopping centre, festooned with memorials of its former railway purposes. I must say, it’s very refreshing to know a city exists in Canada that is proud of its railway heritage - unlike Vancouver, for instance, where the entirety of the Yaletown area - which used to house Drake Street Roundhouse, one of my former home terminals - has been converted to trendy, unaffordable apartments and stores. I have a strong dislike for those who would rather forget history - it seems to me like they don’t care at all for the work myself, my family and my railway did to make their city exist.

… I apologize. I don’t understand why I keep going on these tangents. Anyways, the mun and I are on our last day in Winnipeg tomorrow - The VIA Canadian stops here tomorrow night, and we’ll be boarding to head on our way to Toronto. I hope the train doesn’t end up too late!

[esquimaltnanaimo]

Royal Rescue Ch.5 - Reunion

"124… the heck? CHLOE?!"

The approaching engine screeched to a stop next to Ellie, slowly ambling forward alongside Chloe. They were another GP9, just like Chloe and 119, but they were numbered 135 and painted with a red circle logo and "SRY Rail Link", instead of Chloe's white stripes and E&N logo. As soon as the islander Geep saw them, she immediately forgot about the situation. "Ohmygosh, Sis!!" she chimed, smiling brightly. "Gosh, it's been--" "Sis, what the hell are you doing back here?" asked 135 suddenly, cutting Chloe off.

"…Jeez, nice welcome party," said Chloe, smiling at her sister engine jokingly. "A-are you friend or foe?" squeaked Ellie, from behind. 135 didn't hear her. "OK… sorry, sorry," said 135. "It's great to see you, Chlo, but… seriously, you gotta get back to the Island. How'd you even get here?" "Ferry," said Chloe simply. She took a breath to continue, but 135 cut her off again. "OK, obviously, ferry. That was a dumb question," said the SRY Geep. "But seriously, you gotta get out of here. You aren't registered to Southern anymore, and 119's gonna shove you around if you try to move from the shop." "119… Carla, Jules, she has a name," said Chloe, in an accusatory tone. "What's up with her, anyway?"

Jules…? thought Ellie.

135 sighed. "Chloe, that isn't Carla anymore." "She's a cyborg… isn't she?" asked Ellie, quietly. Chloe opened her mouth to speak, but 135 finally noticed Ellie before she could. She rolled backwards to see the smaller engine. "…Jeez, I didn't even notice the switcher," they said. "Sorry I just blew right past you. What's your name?" "H-hi," squeaked Ellie nervously. "I'm Ellie. I'm not even Canadian…" 135 chuckled. "Julie," she said with a smile, "but you can call me Jules. And don't sweat the non-Canadian thing, none of us are. Save for the switchers. And the SDs, but they're assholes." "Okay," replied Ellie quietly. She wasn't really sure what else to say, as Julie rolled forward again to continue talking to her sister.

"Anyway, Chloe," began Julie. "About 119. Long story short, just… things have gone totally off the rails here since you left in '04." "What… happened?" asked Chloe, worried. Duncan looked sad. "Presumably some real bad shit," he put in. Julie sighed and said, "OK, everyone, this is gonna get really heavy. You might want your handbrakes on." Ellie looked worried. "Sh-should I be human for this, Duncan?" "No… that might freak people out. And draw more attention." "Wait, what?" asked Julie, looking surprised. "…It's a joke," said Ellie, quickly. She gave a half-fake-sounding laugh, hoping she'd save face. "Yep. Inside joke," added Duncan.

Julie looked confused, but she decided to not ask questions. "…OK, whatever," she said, looking to her sister. "Anyway… Chloe, you remember our switchers, right? The 900's?" Ellie perked up at the word 'switcher', looking terrified. "Of… course I remember them," replied Chloe. "Well… we're down one." "Oh, gosh… Sold?" "No. Killed." "What??" Ellie's engine backfired. "Wh-what??" she squeaked. "Oh my gosh… Was there a derailment? Were they… What did I miss??" stammered Chloe. "Well, you saw the slug coupled to 119, didn't you?" asked Carla, serious. "The what…?"

Ellie froze, putting two and two together about the strange car coupled to the cyborg Geep. "Slug…? Diesel tender… Switcher trucks… switcher…" Julie stopped, and was about to ask if Ellie was alright before she was cut off by the sound of the little switcher throwing up. Both Geep sisters winced. "Jeez… Are you OK?" Julie finally asked, after a moment. Ellie was still recovering, so Duncan stepped in. "She's… from preservation. We're totally out of the loop…" he explained, rubbing Ellie's side as dark brown engine oil spread across her pilot. Julie felt awful. "…Yikes, I'm sorry. I should've warned you." "It's… ugh." croaked Ellie, tears rolling down her face. "That's so inhumane!" she cried, sobbing. "That poor engine… Oh, Watty Piper, if I ever get out of here, I'm going to pray every Sunday like a good little diesel…" "…Don't mind her," said Duncan, apologetically. "She's still pretty young minded." Julie cracked a small smile at Ellie's praying, then sighed. "It's OK," she said.

Duncan proceeded to look for some shop towels to clean the oil off of Ellie's pilot, while Carla continued her explanation to her sister.

"So…" began Chloe, quietly. "Who was it…? The… slug." "Tamara," replied Julie. "The one the managers bought surplus from the pulp mill in Squamish." "Great rails above… That's so awful." Duncan had found some towels, and climbed back up onto Ellie's front platform. "I'm sorry for your loss, Julie," he said. "Thanks," replied the SRY engine. "We're pretty much used to it at this point, but… thanks." Ellie was repeating something quietly to herself, while Duncan cleaned up the mess on her pilot. "Still… it's fucked up," he said. "I'm afraid it… gets worse, actually." replied Julie. "How could it possibly get worse?" asked Chloe, in disbelief. "Don't say that," said Ellie, quietly. "When you say that, it gets even more worse."

Julie went on. "Well… You guys saw 119. Before Carla was sent off for her… rebuild, I guess, she was derated to a master engine." "Master engine?" asked Chloe. "It means…" began Julie, sighing. "It means she's perma-coupled to the slug out there, and half her generator's energy goes to the slug's traction motors. It's called 'master and slave' by the railway. 119's the master, and the slug is the slave." Chloe recoiled in horror. "That's disgusting!! What an awful name… so half her power's getting sucked off by… Tamara's body?" "Basically." Chloe was horrified. "I'm… at a loss for words," she said. Ellie sobbed. "…If it makes you feel any better," said Julie, "Carla doesn't feel it. She's gone." "Oh, right… the rebuild…" "Yeah. It's why we call that thing 119 instead of our sister's name." "R-right…"

"Anyway, speaking of… Before Carla got sent away, when she first got mated to the slug, she was still herself," continued Julie. Chloe looked worried. "And…?" "Well… She started complaining about hearing voices, and… how she couldn't get the slug to pull all the time, and how she didn't want to be a master, so…" As Julie trailed off, the only sound was Ellie retching again. Duncan rubbed the side of the little switcher's hood, trying to help her feel better. Chloe and her sister looked at each other, then back at her. "…I know I asked before, but are you OK?" asked Julie, concerned. "I'm sorry… this is just so gross to me," said Ellie weakly. "And she heard a voice of the fallen… that's…" she trailed off, shivering in fear and horror. "That's what the rest of us thought, anyway," said Julie, sighing. "We never really got a chance to find out for sure, before… well…" Chloe shuddered, remembering what Jordan had told her before she left the island with Ellie. "Her rebuild... the ECO program?” "Yup." said Julie simply.

The three engines were silent. 119 came into view again, continuing to shunt freight cars in the yard robotically, with the slug engine that used to be Tamara coupled to its rear.

Chloe looked at 119's face. She looked at the blush marks on its cheeks just like her own, the once-bright, unblinking eyes, the number boards, the paint patch over where "CARLA" used to be written… and remembered.

She remembered back before she moved to the Island, when she still belonged to SRY. She remembered how often she would team up with Carla, and how well they worked as a team on light transfers and industry runs.

She remembered Montana, the day all the Rail Link engines got their five-chime horns, and how Carla picked the wrong one just because she liked the sound better.

She remembered when she was still in Burlington Northern green, sitting nervously in the repair shop as her high short hood was chopped down, with Carla being there through the whole process to comfort her.

She remembered when she met Carla for the first time, both sisters fresh from the factory, coupled face to face as helpers on a Northern Pacific heavy freight train.

"Sis…"

"…Yeah?" said Julie, looking at Chloe, who was silently watching 119. "…I'm sorry I left." Julie recoiled. "Don't you dare," she scolded. "You're E&N now, you belong there. And it wasn't your choice, either way." "Still," began Chloe, but she trailed off. "Think about it, Chlo," cut in Duncan. "What if it was you who got rebuilt like 119?" Chloe blinked. "I'd… rather not." "Duncan!" cried Ellie, starting to tear up again. "Don't say that…" "Yeah, that wasn't cool to bring up," agreed Julie. Duncan felt awful, and apologized, while Chloe was silent again. She was thinking about a lot of things at once. "I miss home," said Ellie suddenly, quietly. "I just wanna save Gloria and get back home to where I can't get turned into a slug, or a re-power, or… put in a museum…" "Save-- what?" asked Julie. She looked to Chloe. "OK, let's drop the horrific explanations--" "Please," replied her twin. "…Yeah, let's do that. What's going on? Save Gloria?" Chloe looked at her sister, serious. "It's why I came back," she said, sounding determined as she remembered her and Ellie's mission. "We're going to save an engine." Ellie perked up. "Gloria, the last running Royal Hudson," she added. Julie blinked, and immediately looked doubtful. "You're joking, right? She's all the way in Squamish." "We're not kidding," chided Duncan. "And… how in the hell do you plan to do that, exactly? You'd have to go through the city, and there's at least three yards between here and the outskirts!" "Illusions," said Ellie, simply. And with that, she shut her eyes and focused, just as Julie looked back to ask her what she meant. Her eyes met not a small bright-blue switcher, but an even smaller, black, ancient-looking steam engine.

Julie's jaw almost hit her pilot. Chloe giggled as Ellie quickly changed back, and Duncan breathed a silent sigh of relief about how Ellie could still focus and hold an illusion spell even when she was distressed. After a moment of speechlessness on Julie's part, Chloe began to explain briefly. "Duncan gave us magic crystals that we can use to disguise ourselves as different engines," she said. "Like, ones that wouldn't get caught." "And, record for most words I've never heard together in a sentence, broken," deadpanned Julie. "No words." Chloe couldn't help but giggle some more. "By the way!" added Ellie, feeling a lot better now that they had changed subject. "You know the joke I made about turning human earlier?" "…It wasn't a joke, was it-" began Julie, but she was cut off by the switcher, who now stood behind Chloe as a short, blonde, soft-looking human girl, wearing a blue jersey emblazoned with a large white "2", a pair of dusty jeans, and heavy-duty work boots. "It wasn't a joke!" she chimed with a big smile, doing a small 'ta-da' pose between the rails.

Julie now truly had no words. "I know, right?" laughed Chloe, again seeing her sister's expression. "OK, so… you have magic illusions and transformation powers now, OK. I'm guessing you can do the same stuff, huh Chloe?" "Yup! I'm not as good at it yet, but I can do it!" replied Chloe, shutting her eyes and preparing to use her crystal as well. Julie made a strange sound. "N-no, that's OK! I'm gonna save the questions, that's enough weirdness for one lifetime. Day. I mean day." "…You OK, sis?" "Yeah, fine, just… Suddenly my sister and her new friend-" "Cousin!" corrected Ellie cheerfully. "…Cousin have magical transformation powers," said Julie. "It's weird, and it's a lot to process. And on top of that, you're going to rescue a steam engine? What're you even rescuing her from?" "Becoming stationary," explained Duncan, standing next to Ellie. "Like, no steam, ever again." "Oh god, they're de-comming her?" asked Julie, gaining a look of fright. "Isn't she in pretty much perfect condition?" "It's what she said in her letter to Jordan…" said Chloe, sadly. "Yeah. Perfect shape or not, it's what the museum people want to do," said Duncan. "But we're gonna… 'borrow' Gloria. Forever. Like, forever-forever, so they can't do it," added Ellie, in a determined tone. Julie looked thoughtful. She hadn't thought her sister and the newcomers were serious at first. "…Well, jeez. Crisis all of a sudden," she said. She felt bad for doubting her sister, but decided to move on rather than apologize. "Do you guys need some help?" she continued. "I can round up the others, and we might be able to get you across town on a transfer or something…" "Wait. You guys still do the Downtown run?" asked Chloe, surprised. "I thought that ended before I left." "It started back up after CN reopened the Burrard Inlet line. We run stacks to Port Metro and back here now." Chloe looked confused. "…Stacks? Containers? Gosh, things have changed." Julie laughed. "It has been a while since you've been here, huh?" she teased. "Yeah, we started running stack trains. Trading tonnage with CP and CN, mostly." "Ahh, gotcha," said Chloe. "Well… Gosh, if you could get us across the city on one of those, it'd make the first part of our trip a whole lot easier." "Well, I'll talk to the others and see what we can do," said Julie. She looked out of the shed, spying 119 again. She frowned, then looked back to her non-rebuilt sister. "Sis, Ellie, Duncan, you three stay here, okay?" She was met with agreement from all three other parties. "Like, seriously, don't bother leaving. 119's still out there, it'll just come and shove you right back in if you even try to turn a wheel. I'll see if someone else can come and see you, and maybe keep watch." "You're the best, Jules… Thanks," said Chloe. "'Course, sis," replied Julie, as she started to roll forward out of the shop building. She stopped short and looked back at her sister. "Oh, and…" "Yeah?" The mainland Geep smiled. "Good to see you again, Chlo. Seriously, it is." The island Geep smiled right back. "Same to you, Jules… I'm glad you're doing OK." "That's a word for it," chuckled Julie, as she revved up her engine and rolled away, into the yard.

Chloe sighed as her sister left, smiling to herself. Ellie, on the other hand, was remembering the conversation at length and looked distraught. "…I need marshmallows," she said, quietly, and Duncan began to rifle through his messenger bag. Ellie's stomach gurgled after a moment, prompting her to look worried. "Or… m-maybe not," she said, and Duncan stopped. The comparatively enormous GP9 looked back at the human couple. "You okay, you two?" she asked, concerned. "I'm shocked, honestly," said Duncan. He didn't show it, but he was still trying to process all he'd seen and heard. Ellie, meanwhile, approached Duncan and pulled out a bright blue The Little Engine that Could plush from his messenger bag. Hugging it closely, she quickly, wordlessly climbed up onto Chloe's pilot. "Ellie? What are you…" began Chloe, surprised, as her cousin laid down on the cold metal and curled up into a ball in front of her face, shaking like a leaf.

The big Geep sighed gently, unable to really do anything to comfort her cousin. Fortunately, Duncan was on the scene and climbed up after his girlfriend, sitting next to her and gently stroking her back.

Silence reigned once more, for what felt like a long time.

--

(mun’s note: i moved chloe’s memory lane trip to this chapter! it was more fitting here, i thought. sorry this took so long, btw! it was a lot of stuff to edit XD)

[esquimaltnanaimo]

Royal Rescue Ch.4 - Making Port

"Everything ship-shape back there, you two? You're awful quiet."

Chloe woke suddenly at the sound of her radio. She had dozed off on the barge as they crossed the Strait of Georgia, the sounds of the waves and Riley's rumbling engines putting her to sleep. Next to her, Ellie had tears rolling down her face. The little switcher was afraid of what might happen when they made port, but fortunately Duncan was there. Gently hugging her face, he spoke to her softly. "If – IF – anything bad happens, I promise until you feel better I'll buy you a stuffed animal a week, and a bag of marshmallows every day. And if you want, I can get you a Dreamcast." "A Dreamcast...?" "Yeah, with any games you'd like." "Okay… Can it be the rare blue one?" "I'll… see what I can do." Ellie smiled wide, silently. Chloe cracked a smile too, then clicked on her radio. "We're OK, Ri. Thanks," she finally replied to the big tugboat. "Just makin' sure!"

Chloe looked off the sides of the barge, and finally it occurred to her they were no longer in open water. Riley was leading them down a wide river, underneath a huge suspension bridge. Industries and warehouses occupied one side, with houses on the other. "…Where are we, Ri?" asked Chloe, radioing the tug ahead again. "Just under the Alex Fraser," replied Riley. "Almost in New West." "…Wow, how long was I asleep for?" "Must'a been a couple hours, if the last thing you remember is the Strait." Chloe was surprised.”Huh. Well, cool!"

The Geep looked over at her cousin, smiling again when she saw Duncan still hugging her. "How're you two holding up?" she asked. Ellie's expression fell. "I'm… still really scared," she said, as Duncan pulled away to let her speak. Chloe sighed, looking ahead down the river. "It's… I am too, you know? I don't know what we're in for, but… I know that if we stick to the plan, we'll be okay," she said, after a brief silence. "Okay…" replied Ellie, quietly.

A few minutes later, Riley had detached her tow rope and was now gently nudging the ferry against its berth. Once it was in place, the dock's ramp fell with a clank, locking into the rails on the deck of the barge. The ramp led to a small, yet busy-looking railway yard on the banks of the Fraser River, with the city of New Westminster just east. The high-rise buildings and three bridges of the downtown area stood tall against the darkening late-afternoon sky. "Oh, waves below," said Riley suddenly. As she held the barge in place and her deckhands moored it to the dock, a familiar-sounding engine could be heard approaching. "What's up, Ri?" asked Chloe, looking ahead past the freight cars on the barge. "It's 119… I forgot it's on barge duty on Tuesdays." "119-" said Chloe, before her face lit up with surprise. "Carla!" she exclaimed, finally seeing where the familiar engine rumbling was coming from. A GP9, all but identical to Chloe herself, smoothly rolled their way onto the ramp track, heading straight for Chloe. While she wore a bright smile, happy to see one of her sisters, the new Geep's face was completely devoid of expression. They stopped suddenly, staring directly at Chloe. Duncan looked up to see the newcomer, and immediately went wide-eyed. "Carla?" asked Chloe. "What are you-" The Geep numbered 119 suddenly spoke, cutting their sister off. “Ａｌｅｒｔ： Ｕｎａｕｔｈｏｒｉｚｅｄ ｌｏｃｏｍｏｔｉｖｅｓ ｄｅｔｅｃｔｅｄ ｏｎ ｐｒｅｍｉｓｅｓ. Ｅｓｃｏｒｔｉｎｇ ｔｏ ｌｏｃｏｍｏｔｉｖｅ ｒｅｐａｉｒ ｆａｃｉｌｉｔｉｅｓ ｆｏｒ ｉｎｓｐｅｃｔｉｏｎ.”

"Cyborg!" yelled Duncan. But before he could do anything, the new Geep powered forward to Chloe, who yelped as her coupled locked against theirs. 119 proved to be quite strong as they pulled her off the barge with ease, even with Chloe’s wheels sliding against the rails as she dragged her handbrake. "Hey-- Carla! Stop- What are you doing? What's with your voice??" stammered Chloe, utterly confused. With her engine off, she was helpless.

"Let go of my cousin!!" cried Ellie, as Duncan clambered into her cab and started her engine. As soon as her big V12 was running, she took off after the two Geeps, coupling onto Chloe's rear and pulling back with all her might. It proved to be a fruitless effort, as the strange Geep didn't even flinch. They simply continued to pull them through the yard. Ellie honked her horns loudly, trying to pull back until her traction motors ached. Chloe had already given in, having released her brakes, so she gave up too. "We're dead. We're dead! They're gonna… they're gonna rebuild us! We're gonna… Oh Gawdry, oh Watty Piper, oh…" "You don't know that!" cried Chloe. "We- Carla, seriously, what are you doing? You're freaking me out!" "Damn it," cursed Duncan, simply holding onto Ellie's control stand.

119 wordlessly pulled Chloe and Ellie across a number of switches, then abruptly reversed direction and backed the two cousins into a large shop building. Once they were stopped, with both engines inside, they uncoupled and reversed direction again, backing back down the track and rolling smoothly away down another, away from the shop. As the tracks curved away, an odd looking freight car with diesel-like bogies was visible, coupled behind the strange Geep. Duncan went pale as a ghost when he saw it.

"…What just happened?" asked Chloe, still endlessly confused. "And… what's that?" added Ellie, as she saw the strange car coupled to 119. Duncan was quick to cut in. "It's… a tender! A tender for diesels," he lied.

A silence reigned for a few moments, until 119 was out of sight. "That was… exactly how they acted in the movie." Chloe blinked, looking at Duncan. "The movie… you mean the rebuilt engines?" "The cyborgs, yeah," he replied. "Carla was probably weak minded… So the cyborg format totally took her over." Chloe made a small sound. "And they gave her a slu-- er, diesel tender," went on Duncan. "It helps the rebuilt engines be stronger." Chloe sadly looked out of the shed doors, spying 119 and their 'tender' shunting the cars off the ferry barge. "So… Carla's…" she began, hesitating. "…Not Carla anymore." said Duncan, sadly. "I'm sorry, Chloe."

The little Geep was silent.

Ellie, meanwhile, was thinking about how insignificant and weak she felt sometimes, being the smallest diesel on her home railway. "Duncan, can I have a--" "NO, YOU DO NOT WANT A TENDER!!" shouted Duncan suddenly, startling Ellie so badly her engine backfired. "Because you're… fine as is," he concluded, after a moment. Ellie was confused, but stayed silent.

Suddenly, the sound of another engine approaching from the other end of the shed made everyone freeze.

"124… the heck? CHLOE?!"

[esquimaltnanaimo]

Royal Rescue Ch.3 - The Plan

Everyone had headed back inside the diesel shop, and the four engines and the warlock made a plan. The EMD cousins Chloe and Ellie would work together, and Duncan would aid them on the journey. The three would take the railcar ferry across the water from Nanaimo to New Westminster, a city on the mainland. Chloe knew they'd be safe there, as the yard the ferry would arrive in was her old home yard, where the rest of her family lived.

"So that takes care of you getting there," said Jordan, looking over the map on the shop's wall. "But how do you get to Squamish? There's the BN yard at Braid, and then there's the Lynn Creek and Lions' Gate CN yards. You wouldn't roll fifty feet through any of those without raising some kind of attention." Chloe hummed thoughtfully. "I guess we couldn't just… go to Squamish on a rail barge, huh," she said. "No, Riley has a set route…" said Abigail softly. "If she deviates from it, the Coast Guard will come to inspect her and set her back on course…"

Duncan was looking over the map, and upon seeing a part of the line through the city, he snapped his fingers. "An illusion spell." "Huh?" "Cloaking you as another engine, Chloe," said Duncan, turning to the Geep. "It'd get us through those yards." Chloe was silent for a moment. "So, like… Another engine?" "A CN one, probably," cut in Jordan. "Yeah. I remember running the Lynn Creek transfer through the city there. CN engines run all over the place, no issues." "But what about Ellie, though…?" asked Abigail gently, causing the small switcher to perk up. Duncan and Ellie looked at each other, then Jordan cut in again. "Wait," he said suddenly, "You're all going to the museum." Duncan looked at the big SD. "Yeah?" "Well, perfect. What if Ellie cloaked up as one of the Crown engines?" Ellie looked confused. "Why?" she asked. "Hear me out," said Jordan, "Little EMD's like you are few and far between on the mainland now, since all the switching and stuff is done by bigger engines." "Meaning…?" said Duncan. "Well, the Squamish museum would be a perfect place for a little switcher like you to end up, 'specially if you were in the Crown colours. You'd be part of BC's history."

Ellie's eyes widened. "But I'm not," she stammered. "I'm not… part of…" Abigail blinked. "Are you OK…?" "I don't wanna be a display!" blurted out Ellie, her radiator kicking in noisily. "Whoa, whoa, let me finish," said Jordan. "I didn't mean-" "I don't wanna be in a museum… I want Tillie-Senpai!" cried Ellie. Duncan gently shushed her and hugged her face. "It's OK, that's not what he meant…" Chloe was at a complete loss for words, and Jordan looked exasperated, muttering something about switchers under his breath. Abigail gently rolled forward, towards Ellie. "Jordan didn't mean you'd actually be given to the museum as a display, Ellie…" "Yeah," said Jordan, "I just meant you'd disguise as an engine that would be." Ellie took a deep breath, calming down. "OK…" Jordan went on. "It'd just be a ruse so you'd be let through, like… say if Chloe turned into a CN Geep or something, and you played like you're being taken by her to the museum." "That's actually… brilliant, J," said Chloe, cracking a small smile. "What do you think, Ellie? Duncan?" Duncan hummed thoughtfully. "Well, here…" he began, pointing at the map where he saw before.

Duncan explained his idea, and why he brought up a disguise spell to begin with: The line between Braid and Lynn Creek went through a tunnel halfway, which would be a perfect hidden place to cast one on both engines. That only left Braid to get through, but Chloe assured everybody that they'd be safe for that. She was still in her old home line's colours, after all, and engines that wore the same paint passed through BN territory every day to get into Vancouver. As long as the cheery Geep was leading for the trip through the city, they'd be fine.

Shortly afterwards, after Abigail and Jordan had said goodbye and wished luck to the three adventurers, Chloe led the way to the rail-ferry slip. As they rolled behind the Nanaimo yard's outbuildings and into view of the dockside, Chloe smiled. "Looks like we have perfect timing!" she said, spying the bright red smokestack of a familiar tugboat. She was just tying herself onto the ferry barge, getting ready to head across the Strait of Georgia to the mainland. "Riley!" called Chloe, blowing her whistle loudly. The tug looked over, and smiled wide. "Hey there, Clo!" she chimed as the two engines approached. "And well, float me in the water, if it ain't Ellie the switcher too! What brings y'all over here?" "Just wondering if you've got room for two more," said Chloe, looking at Ellie as she stopped next to her. "We need to save an engine," said Ellie, serious. "Oh ho, goin' on another rescue mission, eh Clo?" "Yeah," said the Geep, smiling a bit. "Duty calls, as they say." She giggled. Ellie was surprised. "Another?!" "Well, yeah, ol' Chloe here brought home a certain rainbow engine from Alberta once," said Riley, smiling. "Oh, right," said Ellie. "Well, engine needs savin', I'm glad to help. C'mon aboard, there's room at the back!" Chloe smiled, releasing her brakes and gently ambling onto the ramp track. There were rails embedded in the barge's deck, which were already loaded with several freight cars bound for the mainland.

Ellie lagged behind for a moment, and Duncan appeared on her walkway next to her face. She stood still, simply breathing for a moment. Duncan broke the silence, with a sigh. "Are you sure about this, Ellie?" "We have to try," replied the little switcher, trying to sound determined. Tillie wouldn't be proud of me if I didn't try, she thought, finally releasing her own brakes and trundling onto the barge next to her cousin. Chloe offered her a reassuring smile as she pulled up. "You OK?" "I'm really scared," said Ellie quietly, as the dock workmen milled around, preparing the barge for departure. Riley was preparing herself for the voyage, as well. "Well… like I said, we'll be arriving in my old home yard. My family's all still there, so we'll be safe," said Chloe, reassuringly. "Still… there's so much that could go wrong… Like what Duncan said, you could be caught and you could get cyborgified, or… I could get locked away in a museum, or… scrapped…" she said, trailing off. Duncan appeared again, gently placing a hand on Ellie's hood panels. Chloe didn't know what to say that could help.

As the two cousins talked, Riley's workmen finished untying the barge from the dock, and the ferry was underway. With two short toots of her cute two-chime whistle, she gave her big twin engines a mighty rev and pulled away into the harbor.

Chloe and Ellie were silent for a moment, both feeling worried. The Geep broke the silence. "We're gonna be OK…" she began. Ellie made a small sound. "We'll ask my family in New West for help, too. If we tell them everything, I'm sure they'll help… They're a good bunch." "OK… I hope so," said Ellie, quietly. "I'm here too, remember," chimed in Duncan reassuringly. Chloe smiled. "That's right… We're a team, cous. We just gotta stick to the plan, and we'll be safe."

Riley pulled the barge, laden with the two cousins, out of the mouth of the harbour. She paid out her tow line as she entered open water, cheerfully powering through the calm sea. The mainland's mountains were visible in the distance, under a darkening early evening sky, as the Nanaimo docks grew further and further away behind them. Duncan returned to Ellie's cab, and Chloe tied on her handbrake, settling in for the short voyage.

"I think I can…" whispered Ellie.

[esquimaltnanaimo]

Royal Rescue Ch.2: Cause for Alarm

"No!" cried Ellie. "That's awful! Can we… can we do anything?" A silence reigned for a moment, before Jordan cut back in. "Well�� the hell could we even do? She's done for… Even after all she's done for rail preservation and tourism in this province, they're gonna disable her for the rest of her life as a static display." Abigail made a small sound. "Well, hang on," said Duncan, "You're talking with a warlock, and his diesel shunter girlfriend." "…your point being?" asked Jordan, looking empty. "Well, I'm sure we can do something." The big widecab looked at Duncan. "…OK, I know you can do portals and shit. But there's no place we could take her with a portal, even if you can make one big enough. She's a giant steam engine with a huge tender." Ellie's face brightened. "We could take her to Sodor!" Another silence, as the four looked thoughtful. Ellie sighed. "I know it's far, but…" "Wait," said Jordan, "That's Britain, isn't it? Loading gauge, man." "Fudgecicles!" cursed the little switcher. "And if I take her to the FVR, she might get sent back." "What the hell do we do…" "I wish Tillie was here…" said Ellie quietly. "She'd know what to do." "It's--"

A loud, dischordant horn startled the two GMs, their two-stroke engines backfiring. "Fuck--! Christ's sake, Abigail, why don't you just fucking say something?" grumped Jordan, calming his engine back down. "I've been trying to…" said Abigail calmly, "but you all kept talking." Ellie recovered, staying quiet. "Anyway…" began Abigail, "What if we brought Gloria here…? To the island?" "You mean, like, on the E&N?" asked Jordan, surprised. "You can't be serious, we don't have any oil or water supplies." "I didn't say we need to run her here…" went on Abigail, "We just need to keep her safe, until we find a better place for her to go." Jordan looked thoughtful. "That's… actually a pretty good idea," he said. "Yeah," chimed in Ellie, "And even if she ends up staying in one place for a while, she won't be permanently disabled!"

Duncan, meanwhile, was lost in thought about Gloria's fate. God, that'd be like if someone broke my kneecaps, he thought. "I mean, I guess it could work… But how would we even get her here?" asked Jordan. Duncan snapped out of his thoughts. "Oh, uh. Ellie and I." Abigail looked concerned. "Goodness… are you sure? You don't know your way around the mainland… do you?" "I have no idea," said Ellie simply. "I'm sure we'll be OK, though." "We'll think with portals," said Duncan with a smile, drawing a giggle from his girlfriend. Just then, the sound of a familiar engine approached, accompanied by a distinctive electronic bell. Abigail looked up, and her expression lightened. "Oh, Chloe…! Welcome back," she said, with a small smile. "Hey, Abs… what's everyone gathered out here for?" asked Chloe, rolling to a stop next to her switcher cousin. "We need to save Gloria," began Ellie, but her boyfriend cut her off before she could explain why. "They're gonna break her kneecaps," he said. Chloe blinked. "We need to save… wait, what?" Duncan shook his head. "I mean, uh… they're going to make her static." Chloe was still confused. "Hang on… I can explain," said Jordan. Chloe looked at him. "You remember Gloria, right Clo? The Royal Hudson, over on the mainland?" he asked. "Of… course I do, yeah," said Chloe, "I worked with her once." "You know how she's in a museum?" "Yeah…?" "Well… she said in her letter today…" Jordan went on to explain the situation more thoroughly. Gloria, the Royal Hudson, was in a museum that was very possessive of her. The staff there didn't have enough money to return her fully to steam, but they didn't want anybody else to have the chance to either, in case she ever changed owners. So, the plan was to decommission her, and keep her as a static display so nobody else could have the pride of an on-site Royal Hudson. Chloe was horrified. "No… You're kidding." Jordan looked grim as ever. "Fuck, Clo, I wish I was." "Duncan and Ellie said they'll try to save her…" said Abigail gently. "Wait, how?" asked Chloe. "Portals and the cloak of nighttime," said Duncan. "You know… magic and illusions," added Ellie, smiling. "With… a giant tender engine." "Yes." "…Look, Duncan, no offense, but… that doesn't sound safe," said Chloe, concerned. "I can make portals big enough for the biggest steamies on the FVR," replied Duncan, reassuringly. "So you'd just… portal there, pull her out of the museum, and portal back here or something?" "Exactly." "Okay, interrupting here," said Jordan suddenly, "But do you actually know where 'there' is?" "Well… not quite," said Duncan, "I don't know Gloria personally, so I can't lock onto her location." Abigail looked worried. "She's all the way in Squamish," she said quietly. "Well, then Ellie will have to take me there first." Ellie looked determined. "And he'll lock on here after we save her, and we'll bring her through!" "Safely, and not broken," concluded Duncan, with a smile. "OK, let me rephrase my question," said Jordan huffily, "Which you didn't answer, by the way. Do you know where Squamish is?" The switcher and her boyfriend looked at each other. "…No," they answered, almost in unison.

Abigail chimed in quietly. "I know how to get to Squamish…" Ellie looked over at the old ALCo. "Would you be able to tag along, Abby?" "I…dunno." she replied gently, looking unsure. "It's a long way, on a big mainline, and… I dunno if I can do that anymore." Ellie was about to reply, when Chloe revved her engine. "I'll go," she said confidently. "You sure?" asked Duncan. "Sure I'm sure," said Chloe with a smile. "We've got a map of the railway lines in the shop, we'll find our way somehow." "Fuck, Chloe, are you sure you want to go back to the mainland?" asked Jordan, looking surprised. "Why wouldn't I be? There's an engine on the line, here!" "You're a Geep, though. Haven't you heard what's been happening to Geeps?" Ellie made a small sound. "Uh… Not really." Jordan sighed. "You haven't heard of the ECO program, huh…" Duncan thought for a moment, swearing to himself that he'd heard that before. "ECO?" asked Chloe. "ECO, like… Economic?" That did it. Duncan snapped to attention. "Cyborgs," he uttered. Chloe looked over. "Cyborgs?" "Okay," said Duncan, "This is going to sound crazy. Like… tinfoil hat stuff." Jordan looked at him flatly, but Abigail shot the big SD a glare before he could say anything. "I watched a horror movie once. One made in Ellie's world, and… well." Everyone listened closely. "Diesels get rounded up, and… like… They get gashed open and their innards are taken out, while still awake, with no anesthetic." Abigail's old ALCo engine backfired with a loud clatter, and she looked deeply shocked. "Wh… what?" she squeaked. Across from her, Ellie began to cry. "It got worse. Their engines, generators, and… everything that kept them alive, really… were replaced with machine parts." Jordan looked sad, while Abigail wore a look of abject horror. "So they're… made into machines?" asked Chloe slowly, looking afraid. "Basically," replied Duncan, looking grim. "I didn't want to think about it, but… I sort of figured it wasn't just a made-up thing in the movie." "That's so awful…" whispered Ellie, tears rolling down to her pilot. "So, wait…" said Chloe, "That's actually happening?" Jordan sighed. "Ask any GM-looking engine that looks like it's got a new coat of paint, Clo." Duncan sighed as well. "It's not just the rebuild that happens," he said. "The engines that get… selected… lose the ability to move themselves. They can't control their own engines, and… they lose their memories. Of what they were, who they knew, what they've done… gone.” "So…" began Chloe, after a moment. "…My family. On the Southern… are they…?" Duncan shook his head. "I don't know," he admitted. There was silence for a long time. The only noise from the four locomotives were their idling diesel engines, and Ellie's gentle sobbing. Chloe suddenly released a loud blast of air from her compressor, and everyone snapped to attention. "We have to focus," she said, uncharacteristically serious. "We have an engine to save."

[esquimaltnanaimo]

Royal Rescue Ch.1: Island Morning

It was a spectacular February morning in Nanaimo. The engines of the E&N were all warmed up and ready to roll for the day's work, just poking their fronts out of their shop bays. Abigail's engine burbled, Chloe's air compressor thumped and Jordan's turbocharger whined as the trio awaited the morning work meeting with their yardmaster.

A set of footsteps signaled her approach. "'Morning, engines!" she sang cheerfully, stopping in front of the shop doors. "All set for today?" In turn, the three engines sounded their whistles as an enthusiastic "yes", all smiles. "Alrighty," began the yardmaster. "Abbie, you're on the refinery road-switcher job today. Jordan, you're on the barge run, and Chloe, you're on Comox supplies. Big shipment today, they've got a new log truck on one of the flatcars out there. Plus the usual stuff for the logging camp, of course." "I can handle it!" chimed the blue Geep cheerfully, revving her engine. "I know you can," said the yardmaster with a smile. "That's all, off you go!"

 One after the other, the three diesels set about their work. Within five minutes, Abigail was gone south to the refinery, whistling for the crossings through town, and Jordan and Chloe were fetching their respective trains from the yard. Chloe's was twelve cars of mixed freight, destined for the logging camp in Comox. Her load was was quite substantial compared to Jordan's train, which was nothing but eight empty boxcars for the rail ferry. The big SD40 rolled away with them without a care in the world, just as Chloe coupled up to her train.

Suddenly, a portal appeared to the Geep's right, and out rolled a bright blue EMD switcher. Chloe was just about to get her train rolling, and faltered out of surprise with a yelp, her wheels slipping on the rails before she could calm her engine down. She recovered and looked to her right, and smiled with surprise. ”Oh, hey, Ellie!" she said, happy to see her cousin. "What brings you here?" The little switcher responded with a cheerful "Hello!" and a cute smile. "Just wanted to stop by and see if you need any help!" "Well, you have perfect timing," giggled Chloe. "I was just about to get rolling," she went on, looking back along her train. "Ooh! Can I help?" "'Course! C'mon and couple on, you can lead us to Courtenay!" said Chloe, shoving her train back a good twenty feet so Ellie could clear the switches. The little switcher trundled forward, changing to the proper track, then backed down in front of her cousin and coupled on. Her engineer, Duncan, climbed down and coupled the two engines' air hoses together, exchanging greetings with Chloe as he did so. Afterwards, he climbed back up into Ellie's cab and pulled out his guitar, leaning back in his seat. "I'm excited!" giggled Ellie. "I've never led a train on this line before!" "Hey, me too!" said Chloe. "I almost never get to run the supply train, and here I've got my cousin helping me out. Best day ever, you ask me!" "Any day's the best day if I get to help my friends out!" sang Ellie, giggling. "Well, if you're ready, I'm ready. Let's get a move on!" said Chloe, giving her big five-chime whistle a toot. Ellie replied with a honk of her own British-style two-tone horns, and the two cousins revved their engines and got the heavy supply train rolling northwards.

The train passed through town, the two cousins gently pulling it out of the yard. Their Electro-Motive engines sang together as they throttled up, accelerating the train onto the mainline. "So, anything new around here?" asked Ellie, once they passed the first level crossing. "Not really!" replied Chloe, a smile in her voice. "Just business as usual! But Felicia's been saying she's trying to get us more work, and the regular stuff's picking up again, which is great." "That's awesome, yeah!" agreed Ellie, smiling as she led the way. She honked her horns twice and revved her engine, wanting to pick up speed a bit more, and Chloe responded with two honks of her own before opening her throttle. Ellie backed off shortly after, eliciting a giggle from her bigger cousin. "It's forty-five mile-an-hour track here, Ellie! You can open us up more, if you want!" "I know, but this is good for now!" "Well, you're the boss!" "Not really—well, OK, maybe I am this time." Chloe laughed.

The train rocked and rolled along the E&N mainline, scampering north out of Nanaimo along the gorgeous eastern shore of Vancouver Island. Ellie led the train into a loose right-hand curve, and a sign reading "PARKSVILLE" played across her vision. Chloe saw it, too. "Parksville coming up!" she sang. Sure enough, up ahead a small station came into view, and the trees thinned on each side of the tracks as the train rolled into town. The ocean was over to the right, sparkling blue, with the mainland's mountains visible across the Strait of Georgia. Ellie blew her horns for a level crossing up ahead, smiling at the passengers on the Parksville station's platform. Chloe smiled too, whistling a cheerful hello to the ones waving as they passed.

After clearing the station, the train rolled through a large, open area covered in track ballast. A single passing track headed left off the mainline, with a pair of switches leading into a small two-track engine shed, and another single track making a sweeping curve to the west – but just at the edge of the ballasted area, the tracks were fenced over, barbed wire and all. Ellie was curious, looking over as they rolled by. "What's over that way?" "That's the old line to Port Alberni," said Chloe. "We're not allowed to go that way anymore… it's abandoned." "Oh…" replied Ellie. "It'd be cool to check it out sometime with portals! Hey, Duncan?" Duncan leaned forward in her  cab. "It's all fenced off, Ellie… jail wouldn't be worth it." Chloe laughed. "It's not illegal! The tracks are just really old, they can't support engines." Ellie perked up. "Then we could go in as humans!" "Oh, good idea! We could!" Duncan's magic had given the two cousins the ability to change form temporarily – both of them had taken a liking to a human-like form, though Chloe had not had the chance to experiment with it aside from first learning how to assume it. Ellie, on the other hand, was quite experienced with it.

The train rolled out of Parksville, still heading northwards. "Chloe, how far are we going?" asked Ellie. "End of the line!" chimed her cousin, smiling. "We're taking this train to the Crown engines up in Courtenay, that's as far north as the tracks go."

The rest of the run, through Qualicum Beach and past Denman and Hornby Island, was uneventful, but beautiful. The train entered the Courtenay yard limit, and the two cousins braked gently, slowing the train. They broke through the treeline, rolling through the sleepy town of Courtenay and into the yard proper, which barely even qualified as a yard. There were only five tracks, and two of them had short cuts of empty freight cars in them. As Ellie lead the train in, she saw a familiar shape through an open boxcar's door, coloured bright orange and white, much like Abigail back in Nanaimo. Chloe saw, too. "Oh, the Crown engine's here already! Awesome, they're probably waiting to take the supplies."

Bringing the train to a perfect passenger-train stop at the far end of the yard, Ellie uncoupled herself from Chloe, pulling ahead to loosen her air hose from her cousin's. "Did I do OK?" she asked, worried. Chloe smiled. "You did perfect! Nice work, cous." Ellie smiled as Chloe went on. "You can go turn on the wye and get ready to head back… I'll shunt the empty cars for us to take with us," said the Geep, uncoupling herself from the train. Ellie trundled off to the end of the yard, finding a wye track. She made her turn, and rolled back through the yard facing south. Chloe was already busy shunting the empty train together, so she pulled to a stop out of the way at the other end of the yard.

A familiar engine sound approached her from the side, accompanied by a ringing bell. It was the orange and white shape from before, rolling backwards along the track beside where Ellie sat. They were an engine almost identical to Ellie, in size and shape. "Hey," they said simply, "I'm sorry to just appear and start talking to you, but your voice sounds really familiar—" they began, coming to a stop in front of Ellie on the next track over, completely losing their train of thought as they saw her. They were an SW7, just like Ellie – complete with freckles. The blue switcher blinked. "…I'm… familiar? I don't know, I can't remember a lot… But my name is Ellie." The orange switcher did a double-take. "Ell… Ellie??" they said, their face lighting up. "Like, ELLIE Ellie? Oh my gosh, I haven't seen you in years!!" Ellie looked overwhelmed for a moment. "Oh my gosh, please tell me you remember me! Kelly, from Atlantic Coast! Your sister!!" Ellie blinked. "I… I have a sister?" Kelly's expression fell. "…You don't remember?" She was too excited to hear Ellie the first time. "I'm sorry that I don't. I really wish I did…" Duncan exited Ellie's cab, going onto her side walkway to talk to Kelly. "Don't be too upset," he said. "From what I heard, Ellie was still a baby when she was Atlantic Coast." "Oh, well…" said Kelly, "that's OK. It's been years, anyway." Ellie grinned from headlight to pilot. "I have a sister!" Kelly smiled. "You have lots of sisters, El'!" "I mean… I know there's, like, more SW7s," said Ellie, "but I mean ones who knew me back then. Did I really say 'honk' instead of honking?" "Yeah! And it was the most adorable thing. You never grew out of it, even after me and the others did," Kelly said, smiling in memory. "I'm just gonna stop you for a sec before you go on though, and say I'm really happy you're OK." Ellie looked confused. "Well… when you got sold off to that rail services place, we kinda freaked out. We didn't know if you were gonna get resold, or… worse." Ellie laughed a bit. "Oh, well… They didn't want me after a while, so I got adopted by a preservation railway." "Preservation railway? Wow, lucky you. Which one?" "The Forest Valley. I'm Number 2 on the roster there." "That's so cool… You're better off than me, I'm stuck logging!" said Kelly with a laugh. "These people at Crown are gonna run me into the ground, I swear." Ellie looked worried. "Oh, no… I'm sorry to hear that." "Hey, though, it's all good," said Kelly with a smile. "They keep us in working order, at least." "That's good," said Duncan, leaning on Ellie's handrail. "It's good to be running hard all day, anyway," continued Kelly. "Keeps the oil flowing, after all," she said, with a wink. Ellie smiled. "Duncan checks me over every morning… then he kisses all my freckles," she said, giggling. Duncan smiled. Kelly looked back and forth between her sister and the human for a moment. "So… wait, you're in a relationship with your engineer?" "Yes, since last August." said Duncan, still smiling. "Oh, that's so cool! Congrats!" said Kelly, smiling in return. "Thanks!" sang Ellie.

After a short silence watching Chloe switch the train together, Kelly looked at Ellie. "So, sis, how's the preservation life, anyway?" "Oh, it's great! And I know someone really, really, really important! I mean… besides Duncan." replied Ellie. Kelly looked interested. "Well, she's known around here as the Queen Anne, but I know her as Tillie Senpai. She's so pretty and smart, and nice… and without her I probably, well… I wouldn't be here." "Well… wow. I don't actually know who that is, but that's awesome," said Kelly. "Oh! Duncan, show Kelly a picture of Tillie!" said Ellie excitedly. Duncan did so, pulling out his smartphone and walking over to Kelly, climbing up on her pilot to show her. "Oh, she's a… steam engine. Neat."

Before Ellie could tell her long-lost sister more about her Senpai, another engine sound approached. "Oh my god, is that Baby Ellie?!" said an unfamiliar, deep voice. "Oh, hey Bob! When'd you get here?" said Kelly. "Just did," said the other engine, rolling to a stop in front of Ellie on her track. He was an older model of switcher, an NW-2, painted in the same colours as Kelly. He looked a lot worse for wear, but he was just fine with that. Ellie looked confused. "Baby Ellie…?" Bob gave her a look, then his expression softened. "…You don't remember, do you?" Kelly cut in. "Hey, don't sweat it, B. She doesn't remember me either, and I'm her sister!" Bob laughed. "It's alright. Maybe she can make it up to us by honking." he said, looking at Ellie hopefully. Kelly's expression brightened. "Ooh, yeah, like on ACL! C'mon, say 'honk'. For old times' sake!" "…Alright. You wouldn't want to hear my actual horn, anyway…" said Ellie, trailing off. "Hey, why not? Could be fun to compare horns, see who's got what all this time later!" "It's not right to pester, Kell—" "HONK!" yelled Ellie, interrupting, startling her sister and cousin. Bob recovered, laughing. "There's our Ellie!" "Yes, oh my gosh!" said Kelly, laughing as well. "You even sound almost the same still, that's awesome…" "Ding ding ding!" Ellie sang loudly, giggling with her family's laughter.

Chloe rolled by on one of the other tracks at that moment, tugging a cut of boxcars behind her. "Ellie, what in LaGrange are you doing?" she asked, laughing a bit. Kelly looked over. "Chloe! Oh my gosh, stop for a sec!" she said enthusiastically. Chloe braked, looking over. "She's doing what she did when she was still a brand-new diesel," said Bob. "Heck, she's barely aged." Chloe uncoupled from the boxcars. "Brand-new diesel?" she asked, approaching. "What do you mean, brand-new diesel?" Kelly was all but jumping off the rails with excitement. "Chloe, you won't believe this. Ellie's my sister!!" "Wait, seriously?" asked Chloe, surprised. "Mm hmm!" giggled Ellie, smiling cutely. "Yeah!" said Kelly, excited. "We were part of the same EMD order, like… YEARS ago!" "That's right," added Bob. "She's Atlantic Coast, same as us. Well, former." Chloe looked at Ellie, then Kelly and Bob. "You're kidding… that's awesome!" Kelly started to laugh in agreement, but stopped almost immediately. "Wait. It just occurred to me." "Huh?" said Chloe. Kelly looked to the older switcher to her left. "Bob, you were built at LaGrange, right? Back before GM bought Electro-Motive?" "Guess I was, yeah." "And I know Chloe was, and I was, and Ellie was, too… So this is, like, a family reunion!" Ellie honked her horns cheerfully, smiling wide. "…Wow, that's new," said Bob, surprised. "Oh my gosh, that's so cute! Where'd you get that horn?" asked Kelly. "That's, like… British, isn't it?" "Mm hmm!" chimed Ellie. "At our railway you have to be really kid-friendly and non-threatening… This was a hand-me-down from an engine in Britain. Another shunter, a Class 04." "Huh… no way," said Kelly. "I'd ring my bell, too, but…" "But what? …It's not broken, is it?" asked Kelly, worried. "…Duncan accessed my records," said Ellie. "Apparently I liked to ring it too much, so they cut the power to it…" Chloe went wide-eyed. "…Rails above, and you were leading on the way here. We broke CROR." Duncan was shocked. "Wait, your bell is actually broken? We didn't get it fixed??" "Yeah… why else wouldn't I ring it?" "Excuse me," said Duncan, casting a portal open next to him and pulling an electrician's tool kit from it. Kelly and Bob watched, incredulous. The tall Scot quickly climbed onto Ellie's hood, approaching her bell and opening the metal panel close to it. "…Wait, shit," he said suddenly. "…What is it?" asked Ellie, looking up. "Your bell is air powered… It's not electrical," he said, looking around at the other three engines. "Does anyone here know how to fix a cut air line?" Chloe moved forward a bit. "The shop guys in Nanaimo can fix it!" Duncan was serious. "I need to help my girlfriend. Like, now." Kelly chimed in, choosing to not ask questions about the portal. "Oh, the machine shop in Comox! I can take you there with the supply train, they can fix your bell!" "Wait," said Chloe, "aren't the rails on your branch line super light? I thought only switchers can… wait. Ellie is a switcher." Kelly and Bob shared a laugh.

Meanwhile, Ellie was panicking. "Oh no… Oh no, I broke the law! I broke the rules… I'm gonna go to train jail!" Bob looked at her. "…Ellie, there's no such thing as train jail." "Yeah, it's no biggie! We just gotta get you fixed up, sis," said Kelly, laughing a bit. "But your boyfriend up there might end up paying a fine." said Bob. "Fuck," said Duncan simply. Chloe cut in. "Hey now, that's only if we got caught! And I don't think there's any RAC inspectors on Vancouver Island this week," she said, with a cheeky smile. "We're gonna be fine, so long as it's working by day's end." "…Okay," said Ellie, calming down. "Thanks, guys…" said Duncan. "No worries, friend!" chimed Kelly, smiling. "Nobody's going to jail, yay!" said Ellie cutely, drawing a giggle from her sister.

Bob lead the way to the front of the supply train. "Right then, little Ellie, let's go get your bell fixed," he said. "Then you won't have to say 'ding ding' like the old days." Ellie smiled, following her older cousin. Chloe honked her horn behind her. "Hang on a sec, Ellie!" Ellie stopped, looking back as Chloe rolled to a stop beside her. "Oh, yeah, Chloe?" "I'm gonna get the empties back to Nanaimo, since they have to go on the ferry soon… You gonna be OK to run back on your own later?" "Yeah," said Ellie, "I'll be OK!" "OK, awesome. See you in Nanaimo!"

After a short run down the branchline and what seemed like no time at all in the shop, Ellie's bell was repaired. The shop crew at the Comox logging camp had installed a brand new air line and cleaned out the motor, and now the little switcher's old steel bell rang with a bright, steady rhythm, good as new. After a cheerful send-off from her Atlantic Coast family, she departed south, heading back down the eastern shore of Vancouver Island as light engine.

When she arrived in Nanaimo, she couldn't see Chloe anywhere, but Jordan the big SD40 and Abigail the RS3 were idling on the shop leads. Jordan looked like he'd seen a ghost, and Abigail wore an expression of pure worry. "Oh no… something's wrong." thought Ellie, hurrying over to the shop tracks. "Jordan! Jordan, what's wrong?" she called, concerned as she rolled to a stop before the other two engines. They looked up, the older ALCo surprised to see her. "Ellie…? When did you get here…?" she asked. "Earlier, before Chloe left," replied Ellie. "I re-met Bob and Kelly!" "Oh… the logging switchers, yes… you know them?" asked Abigail, gaining a bit of a smile. "They knew me when I was a baby," said Ellie happily. "Oh, and they fixed my bell!" she went on, giving her bell a few rings. Abigail smiled. "Oh, that's wonderful—" she began, before the bigger diesel to her left cut her off. "Abigail, we have more pressing matters than Ellie's little trip down the Memory Subdivision here," he barked. "Oh… goodness, right, I'm sorry…" apologized Abigail. "Sorry… Okay, what's wrong?" asked Ellie, looking at Jordan. Now that she was closer, she could see the unfolded letter on his pilot. Jordan looked grim. "It's… Fuck. It's Gloria. Over on the mainland,” he said, looking down at the paper. Ellie looked worried. "…What's going on?" she asked. "The steam engine I worked with at Expo, the last working Royal Hudson, they're…" "They're gonna scrap her??" assumed Ellie, looking shocked. "Ellie, don't assume," said Duncan quietly. Abigail sensed that Jordan had just trailed off. "Well… you're half-right, Ellie…" she said, expression falling. "They're going to decommission her.”

~

[esquimaltnanaimo]

“At the Quayside”

During her visit to the Esquimalt & Nanaimo Railway, Ellie the SW7 (@ellie-does-stuff) met a tugboat for the first time! Riley, our ocean-going tugboat who usually runs our rail-ferry service, stopped by the Duke Point quayside just as our RS3u, Abigail, was finishing a job with the visiting EMD.

(Based off a roleplay with @ellie-does-stuff!)

[esquimaltnanaimo]

Hey Gloria! It's Ellie! We should chill some time during your journey! What say you? -Ellie the EMD SW7

I think that's a wonderful idea, my dear Ellie! I'll be getting off the train in Winnipeg with the mun for a few days, so that would be easy. I look forward to seeing you!