#northern railway tenders

[bidhelp]

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[sylusvrse]

𝐒𝐎𝐍𝐆𝐒 𝐈 𝐀𝐒𝐒𝐎𝐂𝐈𝐀𝐓𝐄 𝐖𝐈𝐓𝐇 𝐇𝐈𝐌: love&deepspace edition !!

feat. xavier, zayne, rafayel, sylus

note: little to no explanation for individual songs + plus this is my music taste. there will be reoccurring artists. this is also my way of sharing some bangers. enjoy, my loves. mwah. (divider creds: @/cafekitsune)

XAVIER

xavi is someone that would put down his life for you. he is yours, in every sense of the word. he’s also the type to be your best friend, even while dating. he has a real comfy vibe that puts anyone at ease. sending some real fun, cozy friends-to-lovers moments here.

track 001. it’s yours by destin conrad

track 002. coming home by beabadoobee

track 003. dancing in the rain by rad museum

track 004. shinunoga e-wa by fujii kaze (holy throwback?)

track 005. northern lights by kennie

track 006. ceilings by lizzy mcalpine

ZAYNE

tender love and careful affection. he’s been through enough. i suppose this goes for both dawnbreaker and doctor zayne. destined to fall for you in every possible lifetime just to forget you. to dawnbreaker, all he sees is a man with his face, his voice, his heart, living a life he should’ve gotten. maybe he’ll get it right this time.

track 001. ivy by frank ocean

track 002. love you anyway by the marías

track 003. touch by cigarettes after sex

track 004. promise by laufey

track 005. try again by jaehyun feat. d.ear

track 006. vanilla baby by billy marten

RAFAYEL

is there bias here with the songs i chose… yes. rafayel’s love is something that can only be described as playfulness and mischief with a hint of intimacy. he’s the type to love every single damn thing about you. every breath you take, every memory you make, he’s there cherishing it.

track 001. sexy to someone by clairo

track 002. juna by clairo

track 003. touch tank by quinnie

track 004. red with love by pom pom squad

track 005. homesick by wave to earth

track 006. risk by lace

SYLUS

definitely not trying to stereotype his character with the “sexy” songs, but i have to… his love is deeply addictive and sensual, with undertones of longing. longing for a simpler life, something domestic, maybe. neither of things seem to be in the cards for the both of you. you tread a thin line of vulnerability and commitment with him. pray this doesn��t end with someone getting hurt.

track 001. unconditional by jaehyun

track 002. slow down by chase atlantic

track 003. railway by bangchan skz

track 004. been like this by doja cat

track 005. california by beabadoobee

track 006. take a bite by beabadoobee

[thethirdromana]

Happy Train Fiend Day to all who celebrate!

Let's have some sexy Victorian trains, all photos and descriptions courtesy of the National Railway Museum in York.

Steam locomotive and tender, London & North Western Railway, 2-4-0 No 790 "Hardwicke", designed by F.W.Webb, built at Crewe in 1873, withdrawn 1932. (source)

Steam locomotive, London & South Western Railway, 2-4-0WT No 298, 'Beattie Well Tank', designed by W.G. Beattie, built in 1874, withdrawn in 1962. Renumbered 30587 by British Railways. (source)

Steam locomotive, London & South Western Railway, M7 class 0-4-4T No 245, designed by Dugald Drummond, built at Nine Elms in 1897, withdrawn in 1962. (source)

If we take a 1897 setting for Dracula, then this would be the kind of brand new train that Mina would get very excited about.

Steam locomotive and tender, No 3, 'Coppernob', 0-4-0, for Furness Railway, designed by E Bury, built by Bury, Curtis and Kennedy in 1846, withdrawn in 1900. (source)

Steam locomotive and tender, London & North Western Railway, 2-2-2 No 3020 "Cornwall", designed by Trevithick, built at Crewe in 1847, withdrawn in 1927 and components. (source)

Steam locomotive and tender, London Brighton & South Coast Railway, 0-4-2 No 214, "Gladstone", designed by William Stroudley, built at Brighton in 1882, withdrawn 1927. (source)

Steam locomotive and tender, Great Northern Railway, 4-2-2 No 1, designed by Patrick Stirling, built at Doncaster in 1870, withdrawn in 1907. (source)

[20th-century-railroading]

Lehigh & Hudson River Railway Baldwin (built 1929) 2-8-0 Consolidation steam locomotive 93 leads an EXTRA (with white flags flying) manifest freight train out of the New Haven Railroad Yard at Maybrook, New York, ca 1940's

Lehigh & Hudson River Railway Baldwin (built 1929) 2-8-0 Consolidation steam locomotive 93 leads an EXTRA (with white flags flying) manifest freight train out of the New Haven Railroad Yard at Maybrook, New York, ca 1940's. These Consolidation steam locomotives were among the largest and most powerful of this type of steam locomotive with 71,500 lbs of starting tractive effort. The Western Maryland had the most powerful of all Consolidation classes that produced 74,000 lbs of starting tractive effort. Just look at the width of the oversized giant Wooten firebox provided for burning anthrecite coal. You can see the fireman in his cab window looking ahead. The two tracks that turnout from the yard lead to the Lehigh & Hudson River right-of-way. You can see many long gone railroad names of the freight cars, such as the Northern Pacific boxcar behind the tender, and to the left a ERIE hopper car along with a Southern Pacific - T&NO boxcar.

[hazel-of-sodor]

Day 2-Exiles

Day 2-First Light

Other Stories

Other Days

Scotsman pulled into the Union Pacific yard tiredly. While his tour of America was exciting, he was exhausted, both physically and emotionally. Runs on the American railroads were often far longer than those on the railways in Britain. The discovery that so many of his kind had in fact escaped to America was wonderful, but it had taken a toll on him as strong as any express run.

He was uncoupled from his coaches, softly wishing them a good night as he rolled forward. He ached from his frames to his firebox, he hadn’t felt right since his last overhaul under the other railway. He did his best to hide it from the other engines, they didn't need to know how tired he really was, they needed confidence that everything would work out. He could take worse than this if it meant any comfort for the other engines. Peglar had promised him a proper overhaul once he returned to Britain, but right now he could feel every one of the miles between him and home.

He was so tired he almost didn't notice the engine in front of him. A line of engines sat side by side, facing away from him…engines of British loading gauge and buffers on them. He rolled forward, telling himself he hoped to surprise them with his arrival even though they were probably waiting on him, but in truth he was just too tired. Besides, at least one had a corridor tender and he loved sneaking up on…

That was a corridor tender. 

He froze, barely hearing his driver asking what was wrong, his ears ringing as he stared at the tender.

That was a LNER corridor tender.

He looked further along, his eyes sweeping along, hoping and fearing in equal measure as he laid eyes upon the engines’ running boards.

Scotsman’s wheels shrieked as they spun, his driver yelping as the Pacific surged forward.

The handful of engines jumped at the screech of Scotsman’s spinning wheels, but he couldn't have cared less as he pulled alongside and found a line of startled LNER Pacifics staring back at him…Gresley pacifics.

Royal Lancer smiled sheepishly, “surprise?”

Scotsman couldn't keep his gaze from whipping back and forth to the engines on either side of him.

Royal Lancer, Gay Crusader, Call Girl, Spearmint…

“You're all alive?” Scotsman could hardly bring himself to hope this wasn’t all a dream.

“There's a few of us that couldn’t make it,” Call Girl said gently, Scotsman noting she finally had got to replace the Call Boy nameplates. 

Spearmint nodded, “I know Flamingos undergoing overhaul down in Florida.”

 Tears began tracking down Scotsman’s cheeks, “there's more of us?”

“We keep finding more of us.” Lancer said, “we’ve heard Sandwich ended up in Australia. Then we heard Great Northern escaped to Sodor.”

Scotsman let out a wet laugh, “She did. Gordon cracked the frames of a diesel who tried to grab her.”The other A3’s cheered for their eldest sibling, and Scotsman couldn’t help but burst into  laughter at the sound even as his fears fell freely. They were alive, so many were alive.

[redwryvernwrites]

TRAINTOBER | Day 31 - Lights Out

Flying Scotsman meets the City of Truro for the first time. It doesn't go well. 

~~~

“The LNER bought the City of Truro?” The young Jubliee class at the other platform was stunned. “Did the Great Western not want to save such a special engine?”

“He wasn’t even bought, he was donated to the museum,” the B12 next to her responded to her. “The Great Western didn’t want to spend money to preserve them.”

“Oh that’s a shame, Truro’s such a pretty engine!” The Jubilee cooed sweetly but there was a humph from the platform across the way. The Jubliee and B12 looked over to find a Gresley Pacific A3 with a sour look on his face.

“What’s the matter Solario? Can’t handle the fact that your twin got beat by a pretty little Great Western,” The B12 jeered and Solario snorted in response.

“City of Truro’s record is a fraud, the only official record is held by Scotsman,” he snapped annoyed. “We should never have allowed that engine into the museum.”

“You Gresley engines are all the same pompous snot-nosed gits," The B12 scoffed and Solario smirked. 

"Our arrogance is not without precedence," Solario preened. "If even a wimpy engine such as my brother could outclass the rest, then what does that say about the rest of you?"

"Such a horrible thing to say about your own brother! He’s your twin! You should be close!" The Jubilee exclaimed horrified. 

Solario rolled his eyes at her. The LMS engines and their undying loyalty to family did not breed success, it was childish and it was absurd.

“My brother is a foolish and weak-willed engine,” Solario scowled. “He does not deserve the time of day from me or our other sibling and especially Sir Gresley.”

The Jubilee was about to retort when the loud wheesh of an engine departing the station suddenly echoed through the station. The engines looked several platforms over the find the one and only Flying Scotsman departing the station, his expression unreadable and blank.

The B12 smirked but the Jubilee looked back at Solario angrily.

“For ones who pride themselves on being hospitable to your passengers, you’re real pieces of work you know that!” She snapped at them and Solario just huffed steam in response.

“The price of success demands it so, as Great Northern says,” Solario snapped back and without another word the Gresley A3 was gone, following his twin brother out of the station.

“Great Northern is a fool, everyone knows that!” The B12 sneered at his retreating tender but there was no response, the A3 long gone.

~~~

Flying Scotsman made his way to the museum. He didn’t really know why or what he was doing but he just knew that Solario’s words had stung him quite badly.

He had heard of the City of Truro. Great Northern railed at length against the engine, considering him a fraud, a phoney for even daring to try and claim ‘their’ record. Scotsman frowned, it wasn’t North’s record, it was his record. It certainly wasn’t that boastful child that was Papyrus’s record. 

Scotsman rolled his eyes at the thought of his sister. She was boastful and entitled and demanded respect yet failed to have it because of the way she acted. A horrid and cold engine who found complaint in anything anyone did. She made even Great Northern seem like a saint by comparison.

Scotsman was the judge of who and what could lay claim to his record and it surprised him that after all this time he had never met the Great Western’s famous engine.

Solario’s words had spurred him on. He had met Great Western engines before, the wonderful Pendennis Castle whomst they had hosted on their railway for the exchange trials. Then again he had met him in person at the Empire Exhibition. Pendennis had been nothing but lovely and charming. 

Scotsman found himself admiring and befriending the Castle Class. He wished he could see more of the handsome and beautiful engine.

He hoped that Truro would be the same. 

He liked the Great Westerns, admired them even. Their smart green and gold lined liveries. They appeared delicate yet strong and powerful. He liked that. He liked that a lot. 

He knew that Sir Gresley appreciated them too. Although he didn’t agree with certain aspects of their design, he remember Sir Gresley being very pleased and gave his approval to Pendennis Castle, a high appraisal indeed.

“Is something wrong, my good engine? May I assist you in any way?” A voice asked and Scotsman jumped and looked down to find a Steamworks engine, barely as tall as the average man.

“No, why do you ask?” Scotsman eyed the little engine, slightly annoyed at being startled.

“Your cheeks are red,” the little engine mumbled, Scotsman huffed embarrassed and glared at the engine who then seemed to notice his nameplate and squeaked. “I meant no offence Mr Flying Scotsman sir!”

“It’s okay,” Scotsman gave the little engine a comforting smile. “What’s your name little one?”

“Hendrick, sir! Hendrick the Steamworks Engine! If you have any faults come to me and I’ll get them fixed just like the day you rolled out of the works!” the little Wren peeped and Scotsman chuckled. 

“I’m certain I will if the need arises,” Scotsman smiled. He glanced around at the museum, searching for the engine he was looking for. “Is- is City of Truro here?”

Hendrick gazed at the big engine suspiscously. 

“I don’t want to start anything, I just want to meet him,” Scotsman assured the engine. Hendrick didn’t look convinced but he wasn’t exactly about to talk back to the railway CME’s favourite engine. 

“This way, Flying Scotsman,” the little wren lead the large engine deeper into the facility where other engines sat. Some unnervingly had no faces which irked him. 

"Why do some of these engine not have faces? What happened to them?" Scotsman asked and Hendrick seemed scared. 

"I don't like to talk about it Mr Scotsman sir," Hendrick explained. "But those engines suffered from Cold Iron Sleep and died from it."

"What is-"

"No more questions please, I'll get into trouble with the engineers!" Hendrick begged the Scotsman and the A3 Pacific pressed no further. 

They came to an alcove where a shining, polished Great Western engine sat, proud and glossy. The gold on its trim reflected the lights upon it, giving it a dazzling glow. 

"This is the City of Truro!" Hendrick squeaked as the said engine turned its attention to the Flying Scotsman. 

Scotsman looked the engine up and down. Though he was very impressed with the look of the engine, he found himself… disappointed. 

"You are quite the handsome engine I must say! Though, I apologise if I sound rude but I thought that you would be larger," Scotsman remarked quietly and the City class turned a disapproving eye to Scotsman. 

"Ah yes, another one of Gresley's fat, cumbersome engines come to try and pick a fight with me I see," City of Truro snapped at him and Scotsman was taken aback. 

"Fat? Cumbersome?" Scotsman was deeply offended. "I am neither of those things!"

Truro eyed him disparagingly with distaste in his gaze. 

"You are clunky and don't think I didn't hear you squeaking! An engine like this steals my record from me, how appalling! How embarrassing!" Truro hissed and Scotsman blasted steam in anger. 

"I did not steal your record! You never had it in the first place!" Flying Scotsman snapped back, incensed by this engine. 

Truro's eyes widened and he glanced down at Scotsman's number, painted on his buffer beam.

"Ah," Truro's expression turned sour. "So it's you. My rival."

"Rival? Rival!" Scotsman thundered furiously. "You? You! A simple goods engine?! You are NOT my rival I assure you! I'll have you find that Pendennis Castle is my rival, not some riff-raff like you!"

"This 'riff-raff' made 100 mph before you were even drawn!" Truro spat back angrily. 

"You don't even deserve the dignity of being melted down to be the tracks under my wheels!" Scotsman snarled. 

"Good because your heavy lard ass would just stress the rails so hard that you'd flatten them to sheet iron!" Truro shrieked. 

"Stop calling me fat!" Scotsman exploded. "You are an uncouth and nasty little engine!"

"ENOUGH!" A voice suddenly shouted and they both turned to find one of the LNER directors striding towards them angrily, his face a picture of fury. "Scotsman! You are usually one of the best behaved and gentlemanly of engines! I am surprised at you, acting like a child!"

Scotsman looked at his buffers shamefully. He didn't know how or why but Truro had somehow antagonised him. He did not like it in the slightest. 

"I am sorry sir. This is not like me, I know," Scotsman apologised profusely. "I just wanted to meet City of Truro. I had no intention of-"

"Stop. That's enough excuses. Sir Gresley will hear about this," the director snapped. "You will go back to your shed and you will not pull any trains for the rest of the week."

Truro chuckled and the Scotsman threw a glare at him. 

"But sir!" He implored but he was ignored. 

"Go!" The director snapped, pointing at the exit and Scotsman took his leave, feeling humiliated as Truro laughed at him. 

Hendrick’s basis - a 0-4-0T Beyer & Peacock ‘Wren’ 

~~~

The City of Truro was displeased to find that he had been taken out of the shed at the last minute to stand in for a failed rail tour engine. There is something about a lack of maintenance on one of the Stanier 8F’s and its replacement also failing.

Truro was displeased. Not because he had been pulled out of the sheds but because he knew that the Stainer 8F deserved so much better. They were one of the hardest working engine classes in the British Isles, nay, the entire world. The fact that it’s replacement had failed was even more of a concern to Truro.

It saddened Truro greatly, the lack of respect towards the working iron horses these days. It was depressing. 

“Thank you for saving our skins, City of Truro!” The Heritage controller thanked him. “It’s unprecedented that two engines would fail simultaneously.”

“Perhaps you need to keep a closer eye on maintenance,” Truro advised. “We Steam Engines are fussy things. We demand a lot more than a diesel or an electric engine.”

The controller seemed offended that Truro had chastised him but said nothing. Truro winched, wondering if he was turning bossy and pedantic like Coppernob. Maybe that was just what happened when one got to this age.

“Well, the Stainer 8F had a good maintenance record but Flying Scotsman did just return from Australia so we’re unsure what her condition is,” The controller remarked and Truro was surprised. 

“Flying Scotsman is here?” He asked and the Controller nodded. 

“You can see her if you like,” he offered and Truro thinning his lips in contemplation. 

“I’ll think about it,” Truro finally spoke and the controller nodded before offering a parting word.

~~~

The rail tour itself went smoothly and Truro found himself in a pleasant mood. Maybe it was a good thing that both engines had failed that day. He so rarely got to do a proper run these days and he felt good for it. 

He thanked the 8F and paused in the yard, contemplating whether to both his ‘rival’. Of course, Flying Scotsman never saw him as a rival, that position was reserved for Pendennis Castle. 

A dark cloud darkened his mind and he frowned. He didn’t know why but seeing Pendennis and Scotsman together made him angry, it had always made him sad. 

It shouldn’t have. Pendennis was a close friend, and he wanted to be happy for him and yet… when Scotsman had broken off the relationship, Truro had felt a sort of sadistic glee that made him feel ashamed.

He glanced over at the sheds and found the doors to Flying Scotsman’s berth closed. He contemplated leaving, he didn’t want to start a fight with her but he, despite himself, really wanted to see her.

Why? He had no clue.

Biting the bullet he approached her berth and waited for the crew to open the doors. Inside he found Flying Scotsman, asleep, her face pale and not looking all that well.

He was about to change his mind a leave her to rest when she stirred, groggy and extremely lethargic.

“...City… Truro?” She weakly croaked as she laid her eyes on him.

“You need your rest, I apologise for waking you, I’ll be going,” Truro tried to beg her pardon but Scotsman seemed to shake her frames to wake herself up in response.

“No, no, it’s alright, stay,” Scotsman gave him a weary smile. “I’m awake now anyway.”

“Quite,” Truro murmured and focused on her appearance. “You don’t look at all well.”

“I feel even worse,” Scotsman chuckled. “The Australian Outback did a number on me I think. I’m not used to such a harsh environment. What are you doing here?”

“Covering for you,” Truro smirked. “Did you enjoy Australia at least?”

“That I did,” Scotsman smiled. “Pendennis sends his regards.”

“Oh,” Truro looked away with a huff. “Are you two still, you know, together?”

“We talked about it,” Scotsman hummed to herself. “I decided not to pursue a relationship any longer. I didn’t see a future with him, even if we were still in England.”

Truro suppressed the sudden smile that came to his face.

Why was he glad that they had broken up?

“I’m going to wait a while before I consider a relationship with anyone else though,” Scotsman continued. “I need to get my smokebox in the right place first.”

“Of course, of course,” Truro mused. “No need to rush into anything. But if you were, did you have anyone in mind?”

Scotsman raised an eyebrow. 

“Didn’t think you would’ve cared about my love life, City of Truro,” Scotsman smirked. 

“I just want to know if you’re going to chase any of my colleagues,” Truro retorted and Scotsman gave a snort of mirth. 

“So you can chase them away and claim me for yourself?” She sneakily suggested and City of Truro turned bright red. Scotsman smirked at his reaction.

“What on Earth makes you think I would do something like that?” Truro scoffed a bit too quickly.

“No reason,” Scotsman smirked but the look in her eyes suggested that she very well knew the reason. “No reason at all.”

Truro felt his face burn with heat and he jolted himself backwards in a hurry to leave. 

“Right, well, I best be going,” Truro cleared his smokebox. 

“Of course, of course, good talk, Truro, good talk,” Scotsman’s expression became conceited and smug, she had the audacity to give him a flirtatious wink.

Truro humphed in response. He knew exactly what she was insinuating and he had a very good idea that Scotsman and Pendennis had discussed him at length in Australia.

“You are appalling,” Truro huffed and Scotsman laughed. “You and Pendennis both!”

“Oh, we know,” Scotsman extolled. “But I’ll come to you first when I'm ready to date again, yes?”

Truro turned completely red.

“Is that a threat?” He scoffed, flummoxed.

“No. It’s a promise.”

With that, Scotsman seemed to grow weary again, her eyelids growing heavy.

"Now if you'll excuse me, I'd like to rest," she murmured and Truro took the hint that she wanted to be left alone.

"Very well, rest easy, Flying Scotsman," he wished as the crew flicked the lights back off in her berth.

"I'll try," Scotsman smiled and gave him a wink.

Truro felt his cheeks burn red hot but before he could answer, the doors to her berth shut in his face.

~~~

Flying Scotsman departs Kings Cross, 1967.

The City of Truro and the AUDACITY of this bitch. 

Scotsman has a type and that type is Great Western 👀 He thinks they’re pretty.

The little Wren, Hendrick is Dr Hendrick who appears in Young Iron and deals with Gold Dust issues and problems. Great Northern brought him back as a Gold Dust construct to be his assistant however Hendrick decided to study medicine and became a certified Doctor.

[charlesandmartine]

Thursday 5th December 2024

As automobiles became more widely available, a motorist, J.M.Harkness, discovered this place in 1926 and named it Dingo Beach after the wild Australian dog that roamed the area. Clearly, hitherto, it had not existed, Burke and Wills had not been here, or Captain Cook for that matter. By 2021, according to the census, 159 people had been happy to call it home. Initially, the town was used as a resort by people from nearby Proserpine and Bowen. It certainly is an extremely fetching place; quiet, not too remote, and attracting retired folk to live here.

The properties in this remote area have no mains water. Instead, vast water tanks harvesting rainwater adorn each building, accumulating thousands of litres of usable water each, but of course, dependent upon the heavens opening during the wet. It must be a delicate balance of supply and demand. They are not pretty, and many show little attempt at disguise, but ultimately essential. I assume there is no natural bore water within reach.

Today, we set off for Airlie Beach, a major holiday location 45 minutes away. We had been there before 8 years ago, so we have memories of the town. The purpose of the visit was to book a tour of the Whitsundays, most of which depart from Airlie. Driving there, the countryside changes quite markedly from the treeclad hillsides around Dingo Beach, gradually changing to the sugar cane fields, with their little narrow gauge railways; track no wider than a fairground ride, meandering across the highway to collect the harvest, and then, with the fields turning to cultivated gardens, residential housing and finally opening out into retail parks, Bunnings Warehouse and finally Airlie Beach, with its shops, Marina's, and loads of tourists, and worse still, cruise ship shore visitors!

It was really quite a shock to find ourselves in such a busy town again, after all the tiny quiet places we visited in the past few weeks. The tourist information centre was fully occupied with travellers seeking the joys of Airlie. There was even a tour to Dingo Beach. We've just come from there, we explained. Are you cruise visitors they asked. There's a P&O cruise ship in port. Clearly, these people need attention fast because, pretty much no sooner have they arrived on a tender than they require scooping up and sending back to the ship and their feeding trough. They calmed down a bit when we told them we were around for a few days, and soon had us fixed up with a couple of trips, the first tomorrow.

Just hoping the weather improves along the lines the forecasts suggest. While we were in Airlie, we had to shelter in a hotel carpark, keeping a discreet distance from torrential rain!Returning to Dingo, we checked into the bar for a couple of schooners of Great Northern, enjoying a comfortably warm and dry evening.

Useful day. We look forward to our trip tomorrow, which is a light aircraft flight over the Great Barrier Reef from Airlie Beach Airport. We are told the views of the Reef are absolutely stunning!

ps. The frog came out of hiding, and now is enjoying a new life in the garden.

[cerenemuxse]

The engines as different basis (EoSR but built different) - 1

(Tender engines as tank engines, vice versa)

From No. 1 - 6 (Thomas, Edward, Emily, Henry, Gordon, James)

NWR 1 Thomas (formerly LBSCR 307, SR 2307)

Class: London, Brighton, and South Coast Railway (LBSCR) Class C3 Horsham Goods

Previous Owners: London, Brighton, and South Coast Railway; Southern Railway; British Railways (Southern Region)

Built: August 1906

Real-life Withdrawal: May 1949 (never received a BR number)

Designer: Douglas Earle Marsh

Builder: Brighton Works

Bio:

Thomas is the first tender engine purchased by the NWR, after the withdrawals of the original NWR 1 - 6 (the last one being in 1925). The NWR had believed that they wouldn't need any tender engine power until the withdrawal of NWR 1 in 1925.

NWR 2 Edward (formerly W&SR 5)

Class: Dublin, Wicklow and Wexford Railway (DW&WR) 52 class; North Western Railway (NWR) Class S-W52

Previous Owners: Wellsworth & Suddery Railway

Built: 1893

Real-life Withdrawal: n/a

Designer: William Wakefield

Builder: Sharp, Stewart and Company (Glasgow, Scotland)

Bio:

Edward was commissioned by the Wellsworth and Suddery Railway. His design was altered so that he could run on standard gauge rails. When the merger occured, he was passed down to the NWR, along with Emily, and the NWR attempted to rebuild him so he could handle the new jobs. This did not work out, resulting in Edward having poor steaming issues. He was swapped with Emily, working lighter and fewer jobs.

NWR 3 Emily (formerly GNR 1009 and W&SR 6)

Class: Great Northern Railway (GNR) Class H1 Stirling Tank; North Western Railway (NWR) Class S-S1 Stirling Tank

Basis (Inspiration): GNR Stirling Single A3, GNR G1, and B&ER 4-2-4 tank engines

Previous Owners: Great Northern Railway; Wellsworth and Suddery Railway

Built: 1882

Real-life Withdrawal: n/a

Designer: Patrick Stirling

Builder: Doncaster Works

Bio:

Emily is an experimental tank engine version of the GNR A1, A2, and A3 Stirling Singles, with a wheel config of 4-2-4T. While she did perform decently, she did not perform as they expected so she was withdrawn. The Wellsworth and Suddery Railway took interest in Emily. They purchased her from the GNR before she could be sold to a scrapyard. She worked welled on the W&SR, able to be passed down to the NWR in 1915, along with Edward. She ended up replacing Edward on the express passenger service when the latter's rebuilds proved to worsen his performance.

NWR 4 Henry

Class: North Eastern Railway (NER) Class F; North Western Railway (NWR) Class S-S5 (4-6-4T) Black Five Tank

Basis (Inspiration): NER Class D (pre-1935); LNER Class A2 (pre-1935); LMS Class 5MT Black Fives (post-1935); LMS 4MT 2-6-4T (two-cylinder) (post-1935)

Previous Owners: Unknown

Built: 1920

Real-life Withdrawal: n/a

Designer: Vincent Raven; Henry Stanier

Builder: Unknown

Bio:

Henry was built from stolen duplicates of Vincent Raven's plans of a 4-6-2T, which were derived from the NER Class D (4-4-4T). Unfortunately, these duplicate plans were the discarded designs due to uneven weights on the chassis and the use of a Schmidt boiler. He was under-powered and a hazard to operate. Sir Louis Topham Hatt I was swindled to buy Henry in 1922 when promised that Henry would be the next best thing for railways. This was when the NWR believed that they wouldn't need tender engines to run the railway. After the Flying Kipper crash, Henry was rebuilt into a new class of his own, the LMS Class 5MT Black Five Tank.

NWR 5 Gordon

Class: Great Northern Railway (GNR) Class B1; North Western Railway (NWR) Class S-G1

Basis (Inspiration): GNR Gresley Class A1, GNR Gresley Class A3, and GNR Gresley Class N2

Previous Owners: Great Northern Railway

Built: 1920 - 1923

Real-life Withdrawal: n/a

Designer: Nigel Gresley

Builder: Doncaster Works

Bio:

Gordon is an experimental tank version of the GNR Gresley A1s, in hopes of surpassing the capabilities of the Gresley N2s. This did not work out but served as a basis for the LNER V1s. He was sold off to the NWR, replacing Emily on heavy passenger duty, which was the express service for the NWR.

NWR 6 James (formerly L&YR 506, LMS 11546)

Class: Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway (L&YR) Class 24; NWR Class S-A25

Previous Owners: L&YR, LNWR, LMS

Built: 1919

Real-life Withdrawal: 1959 (BR number would've been 51546)

Designer: John Audley Frederick Aspinall

Builder: Horwich Works

Bio:

James was bought as he was originally built in 1925. However, Sir Bertram Topham Hatt II ordered for James to be rebuilt into a 2-6-2T. This took well over a few months until they finally came up with a decent design. Unfortunately, James' great performance came at the cost of James' loosing his memories.

[supertrainstationh]

Belfast & Northern Counties of Ireland Railway - 4-4-0 steam locomotive Nr. 55 "Parkmount" (Beyer Peacock Locomotive Works, Manchester-Gorton 1898) by Historical Railway Images Via Flickr:

Not long since we had occasion to refer to the admirable train service of the North Of Ireland Railway, in which two railway companies are concerned, the Great Northern of Ireland (from Dublin to Belfast) and the Northern Counties of Ireland, from Belfast to Londonderry.

Theses engines are chiefly employed for fast train and express passenger service between Belfast and Londonderry, and Belfast und Portrush. The trains are frequently made up of rolling stock equal to about twelve six-wheeled coaches, averaging about I3 tons 10 cwt. each - a gross weight behind the tender of about I62 tons.

[zalabratart]

Can you give us lore on your oc's, and why is that one diesel engine unarmed? I need to know that are the shunned or just nameless?

ok here we go just fair warning some character are more developed then others

it long you been warned

zeppelin/ experiment Z-1/6722 was an 0-6-0 tender engine build by the New York century railway in 1918 (the real photo is for reference) under 6722 who time under the nycr was not very interesting wasn’t until he was retired 1958 was when when thing started to happen zeppelin was perched by a man in 1974 who told him he was going to Bring steam back to power he didn’t think much about it at the time but now he wishes he did in 1975 the man started his rebuilt plan on Zeppelin and for 15 years they ripped pock replaced rearranged, added without green water (green water is kind of like horse tranquilizer for engines) to the point where he lost most of his memories. right at the start of the 90s his owner moved to Britain first shipping over the engine to the nearby heartfelt railway as the new mansion didn't have an engine shed but then his owner was arrested for reasons now in days zeppelin is haling trains and trying to get his rock band off the ground

Atticus/ Atticus is a stern 4-6-0 industrial class steam locomotive built in 1919 and work on the heartfelt railway in somewhere, England he was built and operated by Dalton and Sons, ship building yard or how it’s going to be known pier 32 which he is still operated by to this day over the summer he loses he’s arm and eye in the cobblestone rail explosion of 1956 where he was decommission for a good few years before pier 32 repair him and is currently in a relationship with zeppelin

Panther-panther was built in 1943 as W.D. Engine 594, in 1944 he was shipped to Central Europe to pull supplies trains for the allied powers where he stay until the war ended and afterward he was moved around from yard to yard, panther got his name from his unusual yellow eyes and black coat of paint, at the entirety of his service was pledged with ptsd causing him to become closed off from most people and engines. In 1952 he was transferred for the last time to a colliery near Northern Ireland where he met Crystal(later phoenix) who ran a name train known as the black diamond they were close friends until 1960 When Crystal was withdrawn and then in 1961 panther was withdrawn from service and had excepted his faith and be reunited with his friends until the heartfelt railway save him from scrap with him current condition worsened due to thinking he survived and she didn’t (but don’t worry they be reunited eventually 😉 )

phoenix/crystal-so phoenix is aforementioned girl she is an S&DJR class 7F steam engine built in July 1925 and spent most of of her career pulling a named coal train (the black diamond) for a shipping yard and for most of her life was spent with coal (more on him later) until 1955 an panther start at the colliery in 1960 the black Dimond was discontinued and 4 years later she was withdrawal from server she store on a siding right next to the ports station where she sat for 36 years until 1999 where she was attack by a steam hunter who destroy her side rods and her voice block acre making her paralyzes and mute and after that she was rescued by the heartfelt

Artemis-she is a BR stranded 9F steam engine an 92166 a month after her brother Murdock both they careers was spent haling heavy goods trains around Ireland until 1964 where she was sold to a private collector in Auston Texas she was told she was to leave tomorrow she said bye to her brother knowing this would the last time they see each other. she took her last train to Liverpool where she was loaded on to a ship descend for the states witch the ship made it without a hatch and made it to he ranch where she was treated a member of his family as he didn't have a wife or kids (he as secretly gay) along with all the other non faceless engine he brought they were happy Artemis even got to pull some rail excursions and started dating a diesel an Santa Fe EMD FP45 class named hawks (more on him later) but soon the old man got vary sick and so he died and will stated that ever thing was to go to the engine as they were his children but his sister (Artemis's surgent aunt) was able to have the will voided (she use plot convenient) but he had a plan for the engine, he had gotten other heritage lines to take them Artemis was suppose to be sent to a private railroad in Ohio but she couldn't levee hawks in Texas so she decided to just send her engine and buy a ranch with hawks but hawks sold her out to the steam hunter marking her for death unlike phoenix managed to get away mostly unsaved physically beside a bullet that graze her cheek that was shot by hawks but she was destroy mentally having boarded a ship being hulled to pier 32 scrapyard

Hartland point- Hartland point is an LBSC H1 class steam engine built in 1906 (making her the third oldest engine on the railway) she ran express duties until 1926 where she was reassigned to the cobblestone and harden fell branch line at this time there where three non faceless engines those benign Atticus Ham and Excalibur but mostly Excalibur Hartland and Cali hit it off immediately and soon became an unofficial couple and ran mixed traffic trains until 1960 when the harden fell Brach was close and the two lover were sent to pier 32 with at this time had a class 08 diesel locomotives the two were ready to face death together until they found out that the heartfelt railway was to reopen and they had being persevered now in day Hartland point help out with finances and her and Excalibur are now married

Excalibur- Excalibur is an LSWR N15 Class steam engine build in augest of 1918 and spend all of his career as a passengers trains until 1927 when he was transfer to the cobblestone and heartfelt branch line. despite being name after the fame sword of king Arthur he is a scarred cat especially towards faceless engine itis so bad that having to sleep in a shed with one can cause him to have sever panic attacks and the heartfelt roster at the time was made up of 5 lbsc a1 class tank engines (terriers),an lbsc L class tank engine (who was away on rebuild and replace by Excalibur), an lbsc e1 engine 120, an H1 Atlantic name Hartland Point, and ham a nelson 0-4-0 box tank engine who works at the tea plant, Atticus an 2-6-0 industrial class tank engine who work at pier 32. the last of the two are even apart of the railway and Hartland point would take night passenger train to Brighton, so his mental state was S>%t and sleep non nonexistent (me fr :D) so he turn to writing to clam himself down eventually he was move to a smaller two engine shed with Hartland point and this is when they kind of be can an unofficial couple and ran mixed traffic trains until 1960 when the harden fell Brach was close and the two lover were sent to pier 32 with at this time had a class 08 diesel locomotives the two were ready to face death together until they found out that the heartfelt railway was to reopen and they had being persevered now in days Excalibur (when ever he not pulling trains) is a fantasy writer with a diagnosed sleeping disorder and is now marred to Hartland point

ivy-Ivy is a British rail class 07 who was build in 1962 as D2990 and replace engine 32106 an E2 class tank engine (remember this ;) ), she (or at the time he🏳️‍⚧️🏳️‍⚧️) ran under the name Archibald or archie for short she eventually had it put on a name plated something she come to regret doing (🏳️‍⚧️🏳️‍⚧️🏳️‍⚧️) in the 80s she was purchase by the heartfelt a it second diesel and new maintenance engine. when she first arrived she was not the nicest engine and almost got sent away because of it (like she was repressing feeling 🏳️‍⚧️🏳️‍⚧️🏳️‍⚧️🏳️‍⚧️) in 1992 she finally relived that she was in fact a girl (🏳️‍⚧️🏳️‍⚧️🏳️‍⚧️🏳️‍⚧️🏳️‍⚧️) and started to get her act together. as a maintenance engine she had a lot of free time so she took up gymnastics and acrobatics during this time coal griffin arrived on the heartfelt and she fell for him and he fell for her

griffin coal-(ok right before i started witting this i change his backstory and class and is name is subject to change his name is now griffin) is a LSWR M7 tank engine more prosaically engine 255 he was build in 1897 (making him the second oldest on the line) and was almost immediately reassign to the London necropolis railway as it main locomotive he still did shunting but multibed time a day he pull funeral trains and morbidly he enjoy these trains more then his other and was (and still is) fanatic by death and the hole in bombing process he happily continued until 1930 when he was sold to a colliery in north of England he work here by himself (beside crystal/phoenix) until 1952 when panther arrived immediately he try to make friends with little to no sasses but he evenly got him work with the colliery until 1960 when it closed and he was sold for scrap he ended up bounding between scrapyard until 1993 when he ended at the heartfelt railway and ramet panther and meet and fell for ivy and evenly ask her out (but that is a story for another day)

THE ONE YOU HAVE BEEN WAITING FOR

THE ONE

THE ONLY

🥳!!!!!! THE UNNAMED DIESEL !!!!!!!🥳

so the hole reason he was named that is not as excising he was name that case i had given him a name but now he has a story ( actual he had no story until yesterday may 29 2024) he is an BR class 28 (metro Vick type 2) he was build in 1959 a work for BR until 1964 when he as withdrawn from services for defying BR and protesting what was happing to the steam engine and was sunder by the other metro Vicks so he hide his engine on what he though was an abounded branch line and became an nomad engine traveling the world and picking up odd jobs. from time to time he pop into the heartfelt where his engine is preserved and tell fascinating stories to the other engines of his travels and he ends up spending a lot of time with royal crusader and his name is Compass the nomad engine

Riley- Riley is a GWR Hall class steam engine as engine 5973 Under the name Rolleston hall younger sister of olein hall she was build in 1937 and ran mixed traffic trains along the border of the LNER and GWR and anticized the LNER engines mostly an A4 known as sparrow hawk who ran the express in the region nothing intersecting happed in her career she was withdrawn in 1962 and was preserve in 1975. riley any chance she got was spent in libraries learning but she let the fact she book smart go to her head and boosted about it any chances she gets

Alex- Alex is a GWR 14xx tank engine build in 1933 as engine 4817 as so as he was fire up he left the works and made his way to the cobblestone and harden fell branch to work and still works to this day as the G&S tea company as it second engine he is a vary loyal and optimistic chape and a cinnamon roll who has an unhealthy obsession with reptiles

Ethan-Ethan is an E2 class tank engine build in September 1915 as LBSC engine 106 he work at Brighton until the 1950 when he and the other 8 e2 were sent to Southampton docks at Southampton was renumber 32106 (ringing any bells ;) ) and he fell off a pier he worked a Southampton until 1962 when he was sent to berry's scrapyard witch he was at for 5 years before going to a heritage railway close to London known as the pine field railway (this is not a real heritage line) he ran on this line for 8 normally around this time a little engine on sodor was making waves it was his younger brother 108 or Thomas as he was known now in 1975 he went in for a repaint and when he awoke he hear people screaming his brother name "THOMAS! THOMAS! THOMAS!" soon he started to move but not by his own strength and his was different and then he finally saw his refection he was no longer in BR black he was instead in a lite NWR Blue with red linin and a number 1 where the BR crest used to be and he lost his s*&t for a week it was nonstop children everywhere, torching everything, adults blithering him for things he didn't even do the hell he was in last two day and they put him in a small shed and lock the door all this was cause by that blue bastard he call a brother he life was this for 10 years, 10 long agonizing years until he company decided to replace him "For something the look more like Thomas the tank engine" so Ethan ran, ran as far away as possibly and was caught stealing coal from the heartfelt but instead of sending him back to the pine field they took him in and clean him up and repainted him

Ham- Ham is an nelson class 0-4-0 box tank engine build in June 1856 for the G&S tea company as engine one and is the oldest engine on the railway he a vary old kind soul

Luanne-basic run down

her basic back story is this song i was listening to in engineering class when i should have been working but instead was drawing

now the long version is that Luanne is not an engine she a ghost possession a locomotive more pacifically L&N engine 295 a K5 class steam locomotive how you may ask well (lady felt cute mite being a dead girl back to life later) for the most part Luanne has no memory of her past life 295 was build in April of 1925 and awoke in 1927 an Luanne and pull passenger trains around new Orlans to Louisville she was streamlined in 1945 and ran like that until augest of 1953 when she was retired and sent to a breaker yard she was unstreamlined and put on static display in a public park and stay there until she meet the six idiots and follow them to make sure the the didn't get f&*%$^g murdered and she went back to the heartfelt with them

sparrow hawk- sparrow hawk is a LNER A4 class steam engine build in November 1937 and ran express trains around the border of the LNER and the GWR interacting with riley who was sort of an rivel on an intellectual level (he had wisdom, she had intelligent) in 1962 riley was withdrawn from service and he throw a party at the LNER sheds and had the best year of his f#&$()g life until he was withdrawn in 1963 and was placed right next to riley it was the worst ten years for they both kept each other company but the heartfelt came to buy s sparrow hawk but he had a change of heart (no pun intended) and beg the senior director to save riley with they did and now both are good friends

the royal crusader- royal crusader is a Peppercorn A1 build in 1949 and ran express trains for the LNER and BR until 1962 when she was privately sold to a family who live out by heartfelt (this is a different family from the main family who own the Alex and ham) an there private engine with she still dose to this day

pastor- pastor is an BR stranded black five in 1954 and ran good trains on the heartfelt branch line until 1964 when he crashed in a field of a vicarage BR came and collect the tucks and cargo and left he had hope they come back for him (spoiler warning they never did) evenly the vicar took pity on the poor engine a put a tarp over him engine and invited him inside where he became part of the church and evenly is ordain as a pastor but when he found out that the heartfelt railway was reopening he went to talk to them to rescues his engine and they did, he still preachers at the church

hawks- hawks is a Stata Fe Fe EMD FP45 build in 1967 to run passage for the Santa fe railway in 1980 he stated dating an steam engine named artemins in 1987 him and artemins planed to run away together, none knows why he sold her out (ha i know but i ant telling) but he did and has regeared it everyday

a that it for now rat will be getting his own post and the other are d&d ocs and I'll put them in a another post

see ya✌️

[scattered-sense]

Suddery Branch Line

The Suddery branch line is a somewhat divisive one. It's one of the older lines, and it wears quite a bit of history on its sleeve with stations done up inside and out as accurately to the 1890s as they can legally get away with. Additionally, much of the daytime rolling stock, too, is from the period -- Edward (or Alice, I'll get to that in a bit), Emily, and Pauline all come from a three year period of the mid-1890s, and their coaches, rolling stock, and paintwork (a special scheme done to be reminiscent of the W&S's old livery of deep ultramarine blue with chocolate frames and white linings applied to all Suddery-based engines) reflect that.

However, the engines and rolling stock decidedly aren't W&S in origin, and as a region where that was a major industry, that does get to some people's senses of regional pride a bit. There was a major incident in 1986 where a trainspotter north of Brendam became a nuisance to the public and the railway with complaints and attempts to disrupt train service in protest of this fact, and of "modern engines" (i.e. diesels) in general. He was brought on as a driver for two weeks to demonstrate how much more difficult heavily rebuilt and refurbished examples from the 1890s were compared to well-behaved diesels, let alone poorly maintained, ill examples from the 1870s.

Still, seeing the 4-4-0 pulling through Suddery's middle track with a mixed goods train as one of the two sisters idles at the painstaking recreation of an 1898 photograph, paints gleaming, bees buzzing, and vivid flowers swaying in the wind is quite the experience, and the trip from any one point on the branch line to another is never more than a twenty minute one, making it both practical, leisurely, and an experience.

Emily and Pauline were the first NWR assignees to the branch line, being displaced from their main-line services in 1919. They were bought indirectly through a scrapyard, right from the Great Northern Railway, and are both the later Ivatt modified design with larger cylinders and a domed boiler, however keep the Sterling cab; and owing to the low mileage on the branch line, use Crovan's Gate-fabricated Sturrock-pattern tenders as was formerly on the No. 1. Both are a bit... traumatized from the GNR's strictness, and are as such seen as a bit uptight. But they do have their differences:

Emily is the more confrontational, brash one, and that can often turn into bossing things around as she always has a plan for everything, no matter how much she actually knows about the subject matter. Everything must be proper, but with that properness comes levity, and a little freedom to not work quite as hard. She's quite focused on still getting good speed on her fairly short trips, and often goes above the speed limit of the line.

Pauline is the more level-headed of the two. She is a little condescending, occasionally acting like a patronizing motherly figure, but generally means well. Her crew regularly read to her, or tell her little factoids they pick up; she requests this of all new crews. Since 1894, she's accumulated quite a bit of knowledge, and can be said to know her stuff. Naturally, a lot of it is railway practices, safety, and her own limitations, but a surprisingly frequent object of her study is the progression of and many individual pieces of popular music through the 18th, 19th, and 20th centuries. And, in two years, the 21st.

Edward is also an elderly engine, a K2 with a bigger boiler and cylinders surpassing a hundred years old, but is still younger than either Stirling sister. Wise, kind, and a better mentor than Pauline, Edward really doesn't have anywhere to go. 104 is far too old to be immature on the level of someone like Thomas, so that self-improvement drive and inquisition is turned inward. Though even as early as 1926, Edward had some suspicions, and asked the crew to start saying "Alice" instead, unstatedly as a test run. Engines could at the time be an authority on their own identity, but only the first time.

It went well, but the climate of the time wasn't quite there yet. That almost got reconsidered in the '70s and '80s, but even now owing to societal pressures, the blue engine still goes publicly by Edward and he/him pronouns; privately, between trusted friends, and among the other Suddery engines when just NWR employees are present if that, the Alice identity comes out. She chose the name after Alice Liddell, from Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, which her crew read to her in late 1915 for its 50th anniversary.

BoCo really hasn't changed much from canon.

Terry is a British Rail Class 25/3. Brought over in the 1980s, Terry quickly struck up a rapport with the regular crew with bright attitudes and plenty of laughing. When being read a book in 1984, the diesel was intrigued by the use of singular "they", talking with the driver and reader, John Hall, about when it might be used. After thinking things over, Terry decided they didn't really like the thought of being seen as either gender, and adopted the use much more publicly than Alice did hers.

They quite enjoy discussing gardening, visual design, and other such creative endeavors. Often, instead of singing, the usual way to keep trucks occupied on the line, they'll be heard telling grandiose stories of high fantasy lands to the trucks, and John makes sure to bring his tape recorder along for these; with their editorial review, John is working to turn it into a book series. Often, Terry will be lost in thought, even when moving. It's caused one or two close calls, but it still happens regardless.

Barry is a regular on the line, thanks to his low axle load. He's a hard worker and grateful for his second chance, but quite young and inexperienced with goods, as he typically pulled passengers in his service life with British Rail. Still, he's been getting the hang of it. He's also quite protective of his friends, and will be the first to speak up for them, especially Terry who often gets the brunt of it as the only engine on the line to be publicly 'out' with something not well understood by the rural Sudrian public.

One event in 1989 ended up in burns to a protestor and shocked sensibilities at how foul-mouthed the young-for-a-steam-engine was towards a man who was standing outside the Wellsworth station with a hateful sign. He apologized, but not fully sincerely, teeth were gritted. He's just waiting for the day he needs to put Bill and Ben in their place.

However, either way, generally things go quite smoothly whenever the Suddery line is involved, it's one of the most reliable branch lines on the NWR, and certainly the most historic.

Dotted down the line are a few industries, mostly agricultural -- orchards and pastures, but also a cotton mill and a textile factory, a brewery where some local apples are taken to make cider, and a creamery in Suddery. As well, there are scrapyards in each city, with rail connections and their own private trucks. Alice's driver was once a sorter for the Brendam scrapyard, and met her that way as she came to pick up a train once in the 1960s, a bit before her famous Exploit.

Sodor China Clay

Bill and Ben work for the Sodor China Clay company, which is not owned by the NWR in any way. They do partner with them, and Bill and Ben are often seen at Brendam's station with trains for one of the bigger engines to take to Killdane for the pottery and dinnerware businesses there, to Barrow to go onto the mainland for paper production and application, or down the branch line and along the way to Tidmouth as whitewash material.

They're much the same as they always have been, but the fact that they always have a different target whenever they want to really hasn't been a help at all to anyone, if you consider "help" to solely mean "not being terrible".

[happyspookysteamer]

Letters to a Friend

Chapter 5

At Elsbridge, James pestered Wallace about the letter again. They had just dropped off their train, and both crews brought their engines to an empty siding for their next job. The signal man ran down to tell them that they would be waiting a while to proceed to their next job because an engine came to a standstill on their line, probably because of the frost. Until the line is cleared, they won't be going anywhere.

It wasn't as cold as it was in the morning, but frost still covered the land. Bored and curious, James wanted Wallace to finally read the letter. He didn't have to tell the young man twice, as he was dying of curiosity as soon as the letter was given to him. He had skimmed through it, but when he got it from the station master, he really wanted to read the whole thing through with Vance and James. Wallace clambered clumsily off of the red engine’s cab and stumbled all the way to his front. This was quite normal for Wallace, so James and Vance were not surprised in the slightest. Vance sat on James’s buffer, and Wallace stood in front of the two. Holding the letter as if it were some sort of scroll that had a decree from the royal family or something.

He was about to start when he stopped and looked to the back of Edward’s tender that was parked in front of them. He pointed in a questionable manner, as if asking, 'Is he allowed to listen?' Before James or Vance could respond, Edward answered for them. Well, gentleman, if I am invading your privacy, I could move to another siding, but I can't help but be curious as well after you have told me about your endeavour, but I will respect your wishes either way". Wallace was startled; he couldn't find out how he knew what he was doing, and he looked around Edward’s tender, looking for another pair of eyes that the old engine may have hidden. Vance just facepalmed, and James tried to contain a wheeze. The driver looked at his engine and nodded. He doesn't mind Edward listening. James looked between him and Wallace for a moment. If an engine could shrug, he would have, but instead he asked, "Edward? Would you like to know what is in the letter?". The old engine responded politely. "I would be delighted. Thank you, James." With that, Wallace sat on James’s other buffer and read the letter to Vance and the two engines.

Hello and Good day from France!

My name is Andreas Stark; I am 15 years old and live in France. I want to introduce myself, Mr. Marshall, who is a 45-year-old driver originally from Marquise in the northern part of France, and my father, Claus Stark, who is 38 and is also the fireman of our old engine named Leonhard. Leon is a large black 0–10-0 goods engine called the K.BAY.STS.B. class G5/5. He is partially blind in one eye from the First World War, but he is really friendly and would not harm a fly. He likes to work hard, but that often leads to him overworking himself. We all work on a railway in the southern part of France in a place called Belfort, which is close to the Swiss border.

The circumstances under which your letter fell into our hands were completely coincidental. We took a mail train that day, and your letter has fallen out of the bag and onto the floor of the mail van. When I saw the address, I first brought the letter to our administrative office. They threw the letter away, but I picked it up. I don't know why, but now I am glad I did. When I read your letter, I was very pleasantly surprised and couldn't wait to show Leon and my father the letter. Leon was as happy about the letter as I was. I immediately asked my father if we could write you a letter. Getting paper and a pen was the easiest part. My father and I also speak pretty good English, and so does Mr. Marshall, but Leon does not, but he still helped with writing by coming up with ideas of what we could write.

When we finished the letter, the biggest problem was finding a way to mail it. That is where Mr. Marshall came in. Being good friends with a postman, he managed to get some stamps and an envelope in return for a favour in the future. Mr. Marshall also came with a camera that he owns and took a photo of us after we gave Leon a wash-down, which we attached to the letter before we mailed it. If you would like to send us letters in the future, we have put down Mr. Marshall’s address so that we can get the letters directly.

We really loved hearing about you and hope to get to know each other better. Leon wants to say that he would really love to be friends with you, and so would I. We don't have that many friends anymore due to us having to flee our home, and your letter gave us something to look forward to. The days can be quite hard and repetitive, but this is something new and nice for a change. We can't wait to hear from you, and we hope the three of you, Mr. Wallace Peterson, Mr. Vance Jordan, and Mr. James, have a wonderful day.

Sincerely,

Andreas and Claus Stark, Mr. Marshall, and Leonhard

"What a lovely letter," said Edward. Wallace was giddy, happy that his idea paid off and that he has a pen pal now. Even Vance had a soft smile. He took the letter from the jumping fireman. In the envelope was a black and white photo of a large goods engine as well as two men in the cab that he assumed were the driver and fireman, Mr. Marshall and Mr. Stark. Standing on the tender of the engine stood a boy, probably Andreas, waving his arms around from the looks of it. Vance held the picture up to James’s face. The red engine cracked a smile as well. ‘They look like a nice bunch,' he thought to himself.

Vance got up and gave Wallace the picture. The ecstatic fireman takes off with the photo to show it to Edward. James and Vance heard Edward chuckle. Vance looks up at James and says, "So, what do you think? Up for another letter tonight?" James thought for a moment. At first, he didn't think much of his fireman’s idea; it was just a way to pass the time, or so he thought. Now, miraculously, it actually has someone’s attention in southern France. They wrote back… So maybe they are genuine in their interest in a new friendship? He would just have to see. To him, it's still just a letter, but he is curious about them and would like to see where this goes. "Why not? I know Wallace would be upset if we didn't," said the red engine. "We would have to see about potentially getting stamps for our new friends over in France; they seem to have difficulties in that regard," noted Vance. James had no idea where to procure stamps, but Edward suddenly spoke up. "Howard collects stamps; I’m sure he has a few extras to spare if you ask." "Thanks Edward! I’ll be sure to ask when he is back!" shouted Vance to the front, so Edward could hear him while also making the red engine wince at his volume. James thinks that wasn't that necessary since he really believes that the old engine hears better than a bat.

After some time, Edward’s crew returned with food. Vance asked Howard about some spare stamps while the crew all headed inside the station to eat. Leaving the two engines alone outside in an awkward silence. For James, it had seemed to get a little colder. The cool breeze made the red engine shiver in his frame. James looked around, unsure of what to do, and the silence started to make him a bit uncomfortable. James, I can literally hear you tense up. What's wrong? Talk to me," said Edward gently, unable to look directly at him because of the way they were arranged. James stuttered for a moment, looking at Edward or his tender. "W-well I guess I am not used to the silence," he said, more unsure of himself than usual, which did not go unnoticed by Edward.

"You never had a problem striking conversation with engines in the past; what is so different now?" said the old engine, trying to get to the bottom of the red engine’s recent strange change in behaviour. "I have had a lot of things on my mind recently. I have been having a hard time with many of the drastic changes that have happened recently. I don't really understand what is wrong with me recently or what it is that I am feeling. I’m just still trying to find my footing, Edward, nothing else'. James finished with a sigh, as if he had been holding his breath. Edward decided it would be best to leave it at that for now…

There was a bit of silence again; the only thing you could hear if you listened closely was the sound of engines in the distance, the low howl of the wind, and yard workers talking to each other further down the line. Edward, in an effort to break the silence, spoke again. "What do you think of the young boy who sent you and your crew the letter?" Edward asked instead. "Hmmm… Hm! W-what?" "In your own world, James?" he teased lightly. "N-no just… Whatever, what was the question again?" James asked, turning red at being caught zoning out. "I asked what you think of the lads in your letter." James muttered a quiet ‘oh’. "I- I think they seem like the nice sort; I’m not entirely sure what to make of them though based on that one letter; I mean, it's just a letter, right? I would hardly consider this a way to make a proper friend, not like a friendship that we have, for example, at least". " Letters have helped maintain contact with people across the world for ages. It can help form all kinds of relationships, but only if you want to. Remember James, there is a person on the other end who wrote it. Much like meeting new people, you barely know anything about them; these were more like introductory letters. Over time, you can get to know each other better and form a friendship that can last a lifetime, much like old Turner and his friend in America; he goes to visit him every year now. I don't see why you can't do the same James." Edward told the red engine. "Well, I can hardly just travel to France whenever I feel like-" "You know that is not what I meant James, give it a shot; maybe you’ll be surprised." James paused. "I guess you're right," he said, slightly resigned.

James and Edward’s crew returned shortly after having finished their meal. Wallace ran up to his engine and said, "Guess who is getting a washdown today!" James smiled widely at this news. "We’ll be taking a nice picture of you to send to Andreas." Vance followed up after catching up with his energetic fireman and trying to warm up his fingers by rubbing them together and blowing on them, causing him to puff similarly to an engine. That made James let out an amused snort. Vance continued to follow Wallace, and they climbed back into their engine’s cab. Howard and Edward’s driver stood close to the station, talking to the signal man. Howard was then the first to go over to Edward. He told both engines that the obstruction had been cleared and that it was safe to proceed to their next job. Edward was to leave for Hackenbeck, and afterwards James was to head for Knapford for another goods train. The signal went down, and Edward whistled a goodbye to James, "See you in the sheds tonight James," and he slowly steamed away. James followed soon after.

The rest of the day was rather uneventful for James, who just pulled trains back and forth, to and fro, round and about across the island for the rest of the day. As evening pulled in, James returned to Tidmouth, and the crew stopped their engine on a siding to wash him down. Men were already standing with buckets of water, soap, rags, and polish. His crew also got out to help wash their engine. James usually doesn't let just anybody close to his face after all, especially in the area where he has his scar. Wallace and Vance took off their jackets and rolled up their sleeves. For a winter day, it wasn't that cold. The sun shone softly, and the frosty rails shimmered lightly. A light, warm breeze brought in nice fresh air for James and the men. Vance wet a rag and soaped it up a bit. He climbed up to his engine’s face and started cleaning. He was especially gentle around the scar, watching the engine’s face in case his expression changed or showed any kind of discomfort. When he finished, he rubbed his engine's nose affectionately, much to his annoyance. Vance then dried off his face before climbing back down. The red engine enjoyed his washdown very much, feeling like it was a much-needed massage for his sore joints.

When the crew finished cleaning and polishing James, Vance put his jacket back on as it was getting colder again, as if Wallace’s shivering and complaining were to go off of. Remembering the picture he wanted to take for the letter, he climbed back into James’s cab to grab the camera that he had stored there during one of their stops before coming here. He was able to dash home real quick, grab some more food, greet his kids, and find his camera. He climbed back down with his camera in hand. Wallace finished with the final touches before putting his stuff back on and trying to make himself look a little more presentable. Vance asked one of the workmen to take a photo of them. He explained how the camera works and quickly rushed over to James and Wallace, who was still trying to figure out a good pose. The workman directed the men into the proper position before asking the two men and James to smile. What followed was a bright flash and a whirring sound. The workman handed the camera back over to Vance, and he thanked the workman for doing him this quick favour.

Afterwards, the men slowly backed their tired engine into his spot in the sheds. It was dark now, and the skies were clear. The crescent moon and bright stars visible in the sky are the only sources of light besides the shed lights. Gordon, Henry, Edward, and Emily were also in the sheds, having finished their duties earlier than James. Edward was the only one to greet him at first, as Gordon and Henry seemed to be either having a really loud conversation or arguing about something. Emily keeps dozing off, but she did notice James. She greeted him before yawning and finally falling asleep. She had long mastered the art of cancelling everyone’s voices out when she wanted to sleep. Henry and Gordon put a halt to their conversation when they heard Emily greet him. "Oh, hello James, how was your day?" said Gordon. "About as good as yesterday… and the day before that, and the day before that," responded James. "Well, at least the weather wasn't so bad today, and you look like you just had a washdown," noted Henry with a smile. "Thank you for noticing Henry. It was still rather chilly today, and I have been told it is going to get worse. By the way, what happened up the line in Elsbridge, where Edward was headed? We were told the tracks were blocked," asked James, to which Edward responded, "Turns out Thomas came off the rails; nothing major; they were able to get him on the rails again. He’s a bit cross, but he’ll be fine".

As the engines talked about the day's events, James’s crew dropped his fire and got him ready for the night. Vance strode up to his engine, patting him on the buffer. "Looking good Jim. Have a good night." "You too Vance, get home safely," the red engine responded. "Looking good? He’s gorgeous!" Wallace yelled, running after Vance after he had turned off the shed lights; now the moon was the only source of light aside from James's face, which was practically glowing red with embarrassment.

Henry howled in laughter, and Gordon grinned mischievously. "Well well my good engine I was not aware that we were in the presence of ultimate beauty." "Oh, leave me be Gordon," grunted James. Henry howled even louder, waking Emily. "Really? Do you have to be so loud?" she yawned tiredly. "James is gorgeous, apparently," came from the end of the shed. "Wow, what did I miss?" said the Stirling single, still a little dazed. Even she chuckled a bit. Henry was still wheezing uncontrollably, and Gordon continued to mock the red engine between his own laughter. The red engine had a grimace etched onto his face from the somewhat expected relentless teasing.

The only comforting voice came from the blue engine next to him. "There is nothing to be embarrassed about; you can just ignore their teasing; you know they just want to get under your paint." "I know Edward; I just know I won't hear the end of that one for weeks. Thanks, Wallace... He really just had to say that, didn't he? You know, I often feel like he just says things without thinking." "Well, I’m sure he did not mean to embarrass you in front of the others; from my perspective, Wallace is just a very passionate, albeit somewhat all over the place, kind of man, and I’d say you and Vance are the most important faces in his life." Edward smiled when James nodded knowingly. "You know, he once told me he does not have family anymore; he didn't tell me what happened, but he said it's kind of why he always goes out of his way to be around Vance and me. It kind of makes sense though, when you think about it. He goes home every night to an empty apartment, with no one to greet him when he gets back or someone to talk to. I remember what it is like to feel alone, so I feel for him." The thought of being alone brought memories from the red engine's past to the surface. He was not very close to his siblings on his old railway, or anybody else for that matter, but he remembers the emptiness he felt when he got the news that his class was being retired. He shook in his frame, not keen to remember those times.

"Well, let's think of it this way. I think you and your crew have a very special kind of relationship. I’m close to Howard and Robert, yes, but they are more like good friends. We still try to remain professional, and I am not that knowledgeable about their past or personal lives, though they have been my footplate crew for many years. I only know that Robert has three grandchildren, a son, and a wife. Howard is married but has never had any children; he lives in a small cottage with his wife and his nephew. Now look at Gordon's crew. Charlie is always arguing with Gordon. Or Henry's crew; Francis is still rather new as a driver and has been given an engine that needs a little more finesse while handling. Emily’s driver is a rather distant and not the most talkative man, which has led to miscommunication on quite a few occasions. From my standpoint, I believe that You, Wallace and Vance, have a unique understanding of each other's strengths and weaknesses; you work well together, and you look after and respect each other. You are more at ease with those two than you ever have been with any crew before. It's something to cherish." Edward finished.

While they spoke, the snickering from the other engines gradually died down. While Henry, Emily, and Gordon had fallen asleep, Edward and James were still up. For a while, they just looked at the night sky together, enjoying the peaceful silence. It did not make him as anxious as it did in the morning. Perhaps because James was preoccupied with thinking. He thought over Edward’s words. The red engine was remembering things again. He thought about his footplate crew. The day they met, the times they fought, the times they comforted each other, the way they would laugh together... he thought about how he absolutely loved Vance and Wallace. They treated him as a unique individual and not just another engine. They treated each other like family. Those two special men treated him better than his actual so-called family ever did. Almost everyone on this railway treated him better than the people and engines on his old railway, he thought. Especially Edward… James looked over at the blue engine and thought for a moment. He thought about how the old engine said his relationship with his crew was something to cherish. It made his thoughts wander to the engine next to him.

"Edward?" "Hmm?" the old engine looked over to James. "Do you have anyone that you especially cherish? Like with any of your footplate crew in the past or any Engines?" The old engine stared out at the sky for a moment. "Hmmm… well. I really love the many people and engines on this railway. I always felt that Thomas was like a son to me. Same with Bill and Ben. I am also especially grateful for my relationship with Sir Topham Hatt and his family. And I would like to think that The engines of this island are good friends to me. But I am closest to Gordon, Henry, Percy, Toby, and of course you, James." Edward finished with a smile. James blushed a bit and averted his gaze, which was directed intensely at the blue engine.

"But I guess you already knew that. You want to hear something different, right? I believe you want to know about those who had a significant impact on my life in my younger days, perhaps?" James nodded slowly. Edward looked up again; he seemed lost in thought. "I was once very close to a man named Johnny Bay. He was a fireman back when I was still working on the Furness Railway. I had multiple different crews depending on shifts, but John was special because he always had some snacks for the engines he was assigned to. He was closer to the engines than he was to other people. He also gave us nicknames."

"What did he call you?" smirked James. Edward laughed. "He called me Toffee." James went wide-eyed and tried to contain his laughter. "It's alright; it was meant to be funny. I used to love Toffee, and he especially got Toffee for me. There was an engine I worked with that he nicknamed Scone; another he called Pudding; another was called Tart… See a pattern? My favourite was our old shunter that he nicknamed Whisky, though that nickname was a little more problematic as a tipsy locomotive was a bit counterproductive. So John only gave him candies with small amounts of whisky. But John always loved to spend time with us; he loved to sing us drinking songs, tell us tall tales, play the occasional prank on other footplate crews, etc. He was quite agile for an old man. Every engine loved that man, and he was never unhappy, even when everyone else had no reason to be happy. He absolutely adored us engines the most. I remember a time when we were in our sheds during a particularly nasty storm. He came in completely soaked with a basket. We had a picnic of sorts. He spread a blanket on the shed floor for himself and spread some food around. He had many exotic things for us to try. Whisky apparently had a severe dislike of mangoes." Edward laughed at the memory before his smile fell. He sighed before he continued.

"I had a younger brother. Everyone called him Jr. He was named after one of our predecessors, a K1 Seagull named George. He followed me around like a lost puppy. It used to annoy me, but now I look back on those times with great fondness. He was the kindest engine in our yard, helpful, eager, smart… He was truly the best of us; he still had our typical shy steaming troubles, but he rarely ever let them show, which often led to him overworking himself, and he would also take any job given to him without complaints."

"He sounds a lot like you," smiled James. "Well, I do try to be as hardworking as he was when he was alive. I admit that when I was young, I was cocky, arrogant, and very impatient... I felt that what prompted me to change was when I had already been on Sodor and was told Jr. was in an accident and was being sent away for scrap. That really stirred something within me. I remember thinking, ‘Why him?’ He was a hard worker; why him and not me?" James looked down, and Edward sighed. He had a tired smile, and his eyes showed his age.

"Do you still feel bad?" the red engine asked carefully. "No, not that much anymore." James raised a brow in question at the response. Edward chuckled at his expression before looking back up at the starry sky. "I got to see him before they took him away, thanks to Sir Topham Hatt letting me take a train to Barrow in Furness so I could go see him before the scrap train left. He wasn't upset that he was being scrapped. He told me the only thing he regretted was not being able to spend more time with his favourite big brother." The old engine choked out the last part. He took a deep breath in an attempt to hold back the tears that threatened to fall. James grew concerned; he was unsure of what he should do, but he felt he should not say anything and interrupt his train of thought. If Edward didn't want to continue, he was sure he would say so.

"You can imagine how hard I cried," Edward said with a half-hearted smile. "I’m not even ashamed to admit it... He told me he had already come to terms with being scrapped, and he spent most of the time trying to console me. I remember constantly apologising to him for the times I mistreated or ignored him, and he just laughed it off like it was nothing; he wasn't the type to hold grudges, I guess. But before he left, he did make me promise him one thing, one thing as his last wish." "And what's that?" asked James cautiously. "He made me promise him to live a long, happy working life, find new friends, and find a new family... I promised... Then the train took him away."

The sheds were silent. Edward sighed in relief, his tense expression easing from his face. "I’m sorry, Edward." James spoke quietly; the heartbreaking story had made him emotional as well. For a while, the only thing that could be heard between the two engines was a soft, cool breeze through the yards. "Don't be! We have known each other for years now, and I do consider you to be my family. Understand that that is why I worry about you and occasionally tease you or am strict with you. I enjoy your company, and I enjoy working with you. To me, it was no big deal to tell you a personal story, especially since you asked and I trust you, so I was more than happy to share with you." He had no words for Edward's admission. To James, what he had just said was a really big deal, but he couldn't come up with anything to say. He awkwardly cleared his throat and contemplated for a bit. "I, um… I appreciate the sentiment." Edward’s expression fell a bit at that, like that was not what he was hoping for, but was quickly replaced with a smile again.

"Well, James, would you want to share anything about your past crew or your siblings?" asked the old blue engine. "Oh, well..." James tried to recall. "I was kind of an oddball amongst my siblings, and they treated me as such, either downright insulting me or ignoring me. I have had many crew members who liked me, but they were always more like colleagues than friends. Lawrence I had the pleasure of calling a friend. The war did make it so we had to trust each other, and it made me upset when I saw what it did to him. Then came Vance and Wallace. I remember at first I couldn't stand Vance; he would just bark orders and didn't consider my wishes… When it came to goods trains… Anyway, Wallace at the time was new to the yards over here, and I just remember thinking of him as a bit of a scatterbrain. He didn't annoy me as much as he did Vance… We really gave Vance a hard time, now that I'm remembering… but one night we got stuck in a siding as the switches broke and were stuck against me. Instead of just finding a place to stay, Wallace decided to stay. Vance went to find a place but then came back because he either couldn't find a place or because he felt bad. I think he felt bad because he wasn't gone for long. We just talked… all night. Vance told us about his family: his wife and kids, his parents, his siblings, yknow. Wallace told us about his travels and his difficult upbringing. He was always much more open, probably because he didn't have much to lose. I told them about the Lancaster and Yorkshire Railway, about my time on Sodor, my crash, my paintwork, and so on. We talked well into the morning when workmen came to fix the points. After that day, we had a sort of understanding, and over time, that developed into a bond, I guess... Beyond what Lawrence and I had."

Edward smiled. "Thank you for sharing with me." O- oh sure, you know, we should maybe… talk… like this more often?" The red engine stuttered, looking away. "I’d like that," said Edward with a smile. "And thank you, Edward, for sharing. I’m actually grateful," said the red engine. "Of course James, anytime. I thank you for listening. I appreciate it. Anyway, we should get some sleep. We’ll be up early again." "Yes, you're right… Goodnight Edward" "Goodnight Gorgeous." Edward snickered, backing into his sport in the shed, leaving James a spluttering mess. James just grunted in the end and backed into the shed as well. Before falling asleep, he just watched the stars for a little while longer, sighing deeply before slowly drifting off to sleep.

[grantgfan]

Hey, Max. Did you know that in October 1962, Union Pacific conducted an experiment?

They made a GTEL of their own, which was meant to run on coal, to see if it’d be better than gas.

They use a modified ALCO PA-1 as the cab…

The chassis of a GNR W1 class electric locomotive, which was bought for scrap from the Great Northern Railway, for the B unit (which carried the main power plant for the turbine) (and this unit carried the turbine prime mover from either a 1st or 2nd gen GTEL)…

And the tender of 4-6-6-4 Challenger #3990…

all this ended up with a wheel arrangement of A1A-A1A+2-D+D-2, which translated to 18 axels (which 12 were powered)

Once put together, the set up had 7000 horsepower and was originally numbered 80, but was changed to 8080 later, in order to avoid confusion with EMD DD35 booster units that were being introduced.

But this thing didn’t work well at all. The blade erosion and soot buildup, which was already kinda an issue with the earlier with the gas-burning GTELs, was WAY worse when using coal. If that wasn’t enough, grinding coal into particles (to avoid as much erosion as possible) was a pain. As a result, this experiment was declared a failure, and 8080 was scrapped after 20 months of service.

But fun fact; during that time, 8080 was the heaviest locomotive ever, weighing at 661 TONS.

max: wow

[brookstonalmanac]

Events 11.12 (after 1970)

1970 – The Oregon Highway Division attempts to destroy a rotting beached sperm whale with explosives, leading to the now infamous "exploding whale" incident. 1970 – The 1970 Bhola cyclone makes landfall on the coast of East Pakistan, becoming the deadliest tropical cyclone in history. 1971 – Vietnam War: As part of Vietnamization, U.S. President Richard Nixon sets February 1, 1972 as the deadline for the removal of another 45,000 American troops from Vietnam. 1971 – Aeroflot Flight N-63 crashes on approach to Vinnytsia Airport, killing 48. 1975 – The Comoros joins the United Nations. 1977 – France conducts the Oreste nuclear test as 14th in the group of 29, 1975–78 French nuclear tests series. 1979 – Iran hostage crisis: In response to the hostage situation in Tehran, U.S. President Jimmy Carter orders a halt to all petroleum imports into the United States from Iran. 1980 – The NASA space probe Voyager I makes its closest approach to Saturn and takes the first images of its rings. 1981 – Space Shuttle program: Mission STS-2, utilizing the Space Shuttle Columbia, marks the first time a crewed spacecraft is launched into space twice. 1982 – USSR: Yuri Andropov becomes the General Secretary of the Communist Party's Central Committee, succeeding Leonid I. Brezhnev. 1990 – Crown Prince Akihito is formally installed as Emperor Akihito of Japan, becoming the 125th Japanese monarch. 1990 – Tim Berners-Lee publishes a formal proposal for the World Wide Web. 1991 – Santa Cruz massacre: The Indonesian Army open fire on a crowd of student protesters in Dili, East Timor. 1995 – Erdut Agreement regarding the peaceful resolution to the Croatian War of Independence is reached. 1995 – Space Shuttle Atlantis launches on STS-74 to deliver the Mir Docking Module to the Russian space station Mir. 1996 – A Saudi Arabian Airlines Boeing 747 and a Kazakh Ilyushin Il-76 cargo plane collide in mid-air near New Delhi, killing 349 in the deadliest mid-air collision to date. 1997 – Ramzi Yousef is found guilty of masterminding the 1993 World Trade Center bombing. 1999 – The 7.2 Mw  Düzce earthquake shakes northwestern Turkey with a maximum Mercalli intensity of IX (Violent). At least 845 people are killed and almost 5,000 are injured. 2001 – In New York City, American Airlines Flight 587, an Airbus A300 en route to the Dominican Republic, crashes minutes after takeoff from John F. Kennedy International Airport, killing all 260 on board and five on the ground. 2001 – War in Afghanistan: Taliban forces abandon Kabul, ahead of advancing Afghan Northern Alliance troops. 2003 – Iraq War: In Nasiriyah, Iraq, at least 23 people, among them the first Italian casualties of the 2003 invasion of Iraq, are killed in a suicide bomb attack on an Italian police base. 2003 – Shanghai Transrapid sets a new world speed record of 501 kilometres per hour (311 mph) for commercial railway systems, which remains the fastest for unmodified commercial rail vehicles. 2011 – Silvio Berlusconi tenders his resignation as Prime Minister of Italy, effective November 16, due in large part to the European sovereign debt crisis. 2011 – A blast in Iran's Shahid Modarres missile base leads to the death of 17 of the Revolutionary Guards members, including Hassan Tehrani Moghaddam, a key figure in Iran's missile program. 2014 – The Philae lander, deployed from the European Space Agency's Rosetta probe, reaches the surface of Comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko. 2014 – An Armenian Mil Mi-24 attack helicopter is shot down by Azerbaijani forces, killing all three people on board. 2015 – Two suicide bombers detonate explosives in Bourj el-Barajneh, Beirut, killing 43 people and injuring over 200 others. 2017 – The 7.3 Mw  Kermanshah earthquake shakes the northern Iran–Iraq border with a maximum Mercalli intensity of VIII (Severe). At least 410 people are killed and over 7,000 are injured. 2021 – The Los Angeles Superior Court formally ends the 14-year conservatorship to pop singer Britney Spears.

[20th-century-railroading]

Lehigh & Hudson River Railway Baldwin (built 1925) 2-8-0 Consolidation steam locomotive 91 leads a manifest freight train along the main line in New York State, 1940's

Lehigh & Hudson River Railway Baldwin (built 1925) 2-8-0 Consolidation steam locomotive 91 leads a manifest freight train along the main line in New York State, 1940's. Check out that large Wooten firebox for using anthracite coal. You may observe the engineer looking ahead in his cab window. A Great Northern boxcar is following the tender. Then next car appears to be an interesting B&O round top (Wagon Top) boxcar with the outside ribs.

[irra496]

Lucknow: A Cultural Gem in Northern India

Introduction

Lucknow, the capital of the north Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, has been a cultural hotspot for centuries. Known for its Nawabs, Kababs, and rich heritage, this city is a delightful blend of history, art, and mouthwatering cuisine. Whether you’re a history buff, a foodie, or simply seeking an authentic Indian experience, Lucknow won’t disappoint.

Ambedkar Park

A Brief History of Lucknow

Lucknow was the heart of the Awadh dynasty, ruled by the Awadhi Nawabs. These kings left behind a legacy of magnificent monuments, music, dance, poetry, and, of course, delectable food. Despite losing many heritage sites during the British colonial era, Lucknow continued to thrive as a center of education, revolution, and urbanization. Today, it stands as a rapidly growing planned city that cherishes its past while embracing modernity1.

How to Reach Lucknow

By Flight: Chaudhary Charan Singh International Airport connects Lucknow to major Indian cities and international destinations. Flights from Delhi, Mumbai, and Bangalore take 1-3 hours.

By Train: Lucknow has well-connected railway stations.

By Road: Road trips to Lucknow offer scenic views and a chance to explore nearby towns.

Things to See in Lucknow

Rumi Darwaza: An imposing gateway that transports you back in time.

Bada Imambara Complex: Explore the grand Imambara and its intriguing Bhool Bhulaiya.

Aasifi Mosque: A stunning example of Mughal architecture.

Chhota Imambara Complex: Admire the intricate designs and the stunning Shahi Baoli.

Ghanta Ghar: The iconic clock tower in the heart of the city.

Nibu Park: A serene green space for relaxation.

Dilkusha Kothi: A historic mansion with a fascinating past.

Ambedkar Memorial Park: A tribute to Dr. B.R. Ambedkar.

Delicious Delights

Lucknow’s culinary scene is legendary:

Biryani: Lucknow’s version of Biryani is a fragrant blend of spices, saffron, and tender meat.

Kebabs: Seek out the famous Tunday Kababi for melt-in-your-mouth kebabs.

Street Food: Don’t miss the chaats, samosas, and kulfi falooda.

Where to Stay

Lucknow offers a range of accommodations, from luxurious hotels to budget-friendly guesthouses. Choose one that suits your preferences and budget.

Best Time to Visit

Visit between October and March when the weather is pleasant. Avoid the scorching summer months.

Safety and Dress Code

Lucknow is generally safe for tourists. Dress modestly, respecting local customs.

Itinerary: 2 Days in Lucknow

Day 1

Morning: Explore Rumi Darwaza and Bada Imambara.

Afternoon: Savor Lucknow’s famous Biryani and Kebabs.

Evening: Visit Ghanta Ghar and Nibu Park.

Day 2

Morning: Discover Chhota Imambara and Aasifi Mosque.

Afternoon: Stroll through Dilkusha Kothi and Ambedkar Memorial Park.

Evening: Indulge in street food delights.

Budget

Lucknow is affordable. A moderate budget of Rs 2000-5000 per day should suffice.

In Conclusion

Lucknow, with its rich history, delectable cuisine, and warm hospitality, promises an unforgettable experience. So pack your bags, hop on a flight, and immerse yourself in the magic of this cultural gem! 🌟

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