Chapters Welcome back, everybody! It is wonderful to see you all again.
A number of changes have occurred since we last caught up with the engines of this little railway. One morning Scootaloo rolled out of her shed to be greeted by Ocellus.
“Good morning!” the Changeling called.
“Morning,” Scootaloo groaned. “Don’t you have any idea what time it is?”
“The others have already gone to work,” Ocellus told her. “And you have a goods train to take up the line.”
Scootaloo immediately forgot to be grumpy, and set off for the yard.
Amongst the many changes was the acquisition of new carriages. In addition to the old four-wheel carriages, there were now open-air bogie coaches, which had been converted from old flatbeds. There was even a new guard’s van, from which tickets could be sold on the move, eliminating the need for ticket staff on some days.
Scootaloo gently backed up into the yard, and rolled onto the slate wagons. The impact was suitably gentle, and she was hooked up in no time. With a gentle application of the regulator, she was soon away and up the line.
“It’s a lot smoother than I remember it,” she thought. "They must have fixed all the bumps in the rails. But I don’t recall there being a maintenance train!”
She got her answer at the first station. Pulling into the platform, she noticed that a passing loop had been added, as well as signalling and a signal box.
A loud beeping suddenly distracted her thoughts, and a train rolled into the siding with a diesel at either end.
The first diesel was very squat. It had 4 wheels, connecting rods, a long, flat bonnet, and a squat cab. It was painted blue, with orange lining.
The other diesel was noticeably larger. It had 6 wheels with connecting rods, a bonnet and engine cover that extended from one end of the engine to the other, a cab positioned about ¾ of the way down the engine, and a large funnel mounted to the front. It was painted yellow (or was it umber?) with blue lining.
“Hello!” said the first diesel.
“Who are you?” asked Scootaloo. “I’ve never seen you two before!”
“I’m Snips!” said the first diesel.
“And I’m Snails!” said the other. “We pull the maintenance train. It’s thanks to us that the track is nice and smooth around here!”
“So, you’re the engines that cleaned up the track!” Scootaloo exclaimed. “Nice job guys, it was getting a little bumpy.”
“A little bumpy?” asked Snips.
Just then, the guard’s whistle went. “Gotta go!” said Scootaloo. “See ya!”
The passenger train rolled into the distance.
“Who was she?” asked Snips.
“Go back to sleep,” Snails replied. The signal shifted and away they went, the two diesels making quite the noise as they did.
Scootaloo rumbled up the line, still smiling at all the beautiful sights along the line. At the lakeside station she noticed yet more changes. A railway vanished off into the forest, running parallel with the quarry line for a few hundred yards before vanishing into the undergrowth. Some sidings had also been built to accommodate...something.
The old tank engine’s attention was distracted by a whistle. Coming down the line with a passenger train was Apple Bloom. “Howdy Scootaloo!” the chipper yellow tank engine called, her tanks gleaming and her nameplate shining in the sun. Safe to say, following naming, Diamond Tiara had stopped bothering her.
“How was your run?” Scootaloo asked.
“It’s been good thanks,” Apple Bloom smiled. Her face then changed to a frown. “But we got a problem.”
“What sort of problem?” Scootaloo was nervous.
“We got a couple of new engines. One of them is called Babs Seed. She worked in a factory in Manehattan, and her language can be rather strong.”
“She won’t give me any nonsense,” Scootaloo said optimistically.
Suddenly, there was another whistle. It echoed across the valley from the treeline.
Progressively, a loud rumbling noise could be heard. It got louder, and louder, AND LOUDER.
Then it emerged from the trees and onto the line. It was the strangest engine that Scootaloo had ever seen.
It was a very long engine. It had 3 bogies, atop which sat a very long, offset boiler, a running board coated in ash, a large funnel that reminded Scootaloo of a coffee filter, and 3 cylinders. But these were not arranged like those on most steam engines. They were positioned vertically, underneath the cab on the right-hand side. These connected to a series of gears along the side of the bogies, which span round as this engine rolled backwards. The cylinders roared round and round, as the engine worked double time. The noise being produced was worthy of a mainline engine going 5 times the speed.
This engine was pulling 5 cars loaded with logs. He stopped in the platform on his side, then changed course and moved forward to push them into the siding. He was uncoupled, and backed up again, in order to have a long drink.
“Good morning!” he said. “You’re Scootaloo, I take it?”
Scootaloo couldn’t help but be charmed by his friendliness. “Yup!” she replied.
“That sounds like somethin’ that 9F would say!” Apple Bloom called. “What’s his name...Big...Whopper? No, that ain’t right...” she went on puzzling out this engine’s name.
The big engine continued speaking. “I’m Rumble,” he said. “Apparently I got the nickname because I make the rails shake. I was originally used by a logging railroad in Vanhoover, but when that closed down, I came here to work the new logging line.”
“I've never seen an engine like you before,” Scootaloo said.
“I’m a Shay. Named after my inventor. There’s another Shay here, called Pipsqueak, and a Climax called Featherweight.”
Just then the foreman appeared. “Babs has derailed on the quarry line just outside the tunnel. She’s jammed in one of the tunnel portals.”
Scootaloo looked forward. “Nice meeting you Rumble,” she said, “But I’ve gotta go now. See you soon!”
“See ya!” he replied, as the smaller tank engine puffed away.
Apple Bloom was still figuring out this engine’s name. “Mighty...tugboat?” She finally got it. “Big Mac! That’s his name, Scootaloo!” But then she noticed Scootaloo was gone. “Aw dangit.”
Scootaloo passed through the top station and proceeded onwards to the quarry line. The run was fairly easy with her empty train. Sure enough, she came to the tunnel. An engine was poking out of the other end. It had 4 driving wheels, a very narrow boiler, a pair of tanks mounted right next to the cab, and no bunker. She was painted umber, with ruby red lining. She looked very cross, and was arguing loudly with the guard.
“Listen up, cuz!” she said, in her thick Manehattan accent, “You should build tunnels properly, or else not build them at all!”
“We know full well you can fit through this tunnel, Babs Seed!” the guard snapped. “If you didn’t insist on rocking about, we wouldn’t be in this mess!”
“And I wouldn’t be stuck here if you’d done that gauging run properly!”
Scootaloo pulled forward. “I’m here to help,” she said.
“Good riddance,” said the guard. He coupled Scootaloo up, who pulled Babs back with her. Sweetie Belle was being sent up to retrieve the trucks.
Babs sulked the whole way down the line. When they returned to the shed, Miss Cheerilee was not pleased.
“Babs Seed, Babs Seed, what are we going to do?” she asked.
“It ain’t mah fault I don’t fit in a stupid tunnel,” Babs snapped back.
“You ride too roughly,” Cheerilee replied. “If this doesn’t improve, I’ll have you painted pink.”
Babs simply scowled at her.
Ocellus got Babs up early in the morning. “Come on fusspot,” she said. “It’s time to go.”
“Go away,” the old engine replied.
“If you come out today,” Ocellus told her, “I’ll give you a polish, and won’t you look smart.”
Babs was out of the shed in a flash!
Babs lugged the coaches down the line. She wasn’t built for this sort of work, and the coaches were extremely heavy for her. “Didn’t have to pull this weight in Manehattan,” she grunted.
At last, she arrived at the first station. She scowled in the platform and saw a larger engine pull into the platform. “Hello!” she called.
“What do you want?” Babs snapped.
“That’s no way to speak to a lady!” the larger engine replied. “I’m Rarity, and I think you look magnificent!”
Babs’ expression softened noticeably. “Hey, thanks,” she answered. Just then, the guard’s whistle went, and she blasted away.
Babs thundered up the line. Due to being underpowered for the run, she produced an absolute din running down the line. The passengers felt the coaches rocking, but payed no mind. This was the narrow-gauge after all.
At the lake station, Pipsqueak was trying to position a truck with a pumpkin float on top of it. Diamond Tiara rolled by on the return run and began laughing. “That looks so lame!” she laughed.
Babs rolled forward, and uncoupled from her train. As Pip backed off of his truck, she charged forward and slammed into it. The load fell off and tumbled into the lake.
“Looks like somebody’s pumpkin just got squashed!” she laughed.
Pip looked completely hurt, and ran off (well, ran is debatable) off up the line crying.
“Yeah, run ya crybaby!” Babs yelled after him. “You wouldn’t last a second in Manehattan!”
Diamond looked at her. “Wow, brutal!” she said. “You really showed that Blank Tank who’s boss.”
“I don’t put up with any nonsense, and that includes stupid engines,” Babs snorted, with a massive smirk on her face. Just then, the whistle went, and Babs set off with her train.
Babs suddenly heard a loud rock tune being played, and instinctively began to rock back and forth. She was a very rough rider, and the carriages began to shake as well.
“Look out!” called the guard. But it was too late. There was a crunch, and the train came to a sudden halt.
“This sucks!” Babs shouted. “I’m off!”
Back at the depot, Snails was moaning.
“I warned her not to rock and roll,” he complained. “But no, she wouldn’t listen and had to block the line!”
Ocellus was desperately turning the starter key. “Come on, start up!” she said.
“Nope!” Snails told her. “She deserves to sit there and rust.”
“I don’t believe this!” Silver Spoon said. “What about her passengers? Should they just sit there and rust?”
Snails looked shocked. “I forgot about them,” he said, and his engine roared into life. He went and collected the breakdown train, and coupled Snips to the other end. He roared up the line to the site of the crash.
Snips remained with the breakdown train, whilst Snails went and recovered the coaches. He then came back up with a piece of rail, which they wedged under Babs. The team slowly, but surely, lifted the engine back onto the track.
Snips took the train up to the top station, whilst Snails hauled Babs back to the shed. Cheerilee was not happy.
“You are unbelievable!” she shouted. “Not only do you bully the other engines, you put your passengers at risk as well! You’ll be going to the quarry for this!”
“Good,” Babs growled. “At least trucks don’t complain all the time.”
The other engines got sick of Bab’s behaviour, and decided to pay her out. One day, Scootaloo, Apple Bloom, and Sweetie Belle were at the quarry, watching Babs slamming several slate wagons together. She seemed angrier than ever.
“Hey, Babs!” called Apple Bloom.
“Yeah?” replied Babs, in her characteristic disinterested manner.
“Why not push a train up that incline?” she suggested. “That way, every engine would know how strong you are!”
Babs began pushing the trucks toward the incline, which had a winding drum coupled to the top. In the mixup, she was coupled to the wagons.
The foreman wandered over. “Thanks for being so accomodating,” he said. “Babs has found it hard adapting to life on this railway, not to mention the bullying she suffered in Manehattan.”
“What?” the 3 narrow gauge engines cried.
“Turns out she was bullied because she was a Blank Tank.” The foreman walked away.
Sweetie Belle had turned pale. “Maybe that’s why she bullied us!” she said. “So, we wouldn’t bully her!”
There was a loud yelp as the drum started up. Babs was being dragged up the incline with the trucks. “Hey! What gives?”
The foreman sighed. “You stupid engine!” he shouted.
The winding drum could only take so much. The cable snapped, and Babs and the trucks shot forward and roared off down the hill.
“What are we waiting for?” Scootaloo shouted. “Let’s go!”
Babs shot forward uncontrollably down the hill. Her eyes were jammed shut, as she was flying toward her certain doom.
But 3 whistles sounded behind her. “BABS!” shouted a distinct country voice. “APPLY YOUR BRAKES!”
Bab’s brakeblocks slammed on, producing a horrible screeching noise that could be heard for miles, as well as throwing up a shower of sparks.
She checked her speedometer. She was slowing down, she was winning! But up ahead was a tight curve. “Oh no! I’m gonna wreck!” she cried, closing her eyes.
Then a sudden lurch pulled her backwards. She checked behind her, and saw the 3 engines coupled to the back, braking with all their might. They slowed down, and slowed down further...
...and stopped, just as they got to the curve.
Babs let out the breath she’d been holding in for the last minute. “After all I did to you guys, you saved me!”
Scootaloo looked immensely guilty. “We wanted to pay you back for the bullying.”
“But we didn’t know you were only doin’ it because you had been bullied yourself.” Apple Bloom looked equally miserable.
Sweetie Belle chirped up. “And all this time, we were the bullies! Argh, why does life have to be so ironic?”
They got the load down the bottom station, and backed into the depot. Cheerilee was waiting there. “Good job, you three!” she said. “Babs, how are you feeling?”
“Better than this mornin’,” she replied. “Look, Miss, I’m sorry about my attitude.”
“Not to worry, at least you learned your lesson.”
Just then, Diamond Tiara backed into the shed. “Look at them-”
Babs cut her off. “Keep it down you, or do you want me to tell them yer attitude stinks?”
The other engines burst out laughing.
Rumble and the Rollercoaster
Rumble lives up at the sawmill. He awoke one morning to the smell of pines and freshly chopped wood. “It’s just like home,” he smiled.
“There’s more trees than Trottingham,” Pip admitted. “I was used on an oil line.”
“I’m from here,” Featherweight told them, “and I can tell you that it used to be lot more forested.”
The factory whistle blew. “Time to work!” shouted the foreman.
Whilst the others were busy shunting the wagons, Rumble headed down the line to collect the log wagons. He ran down the line tender first, in order to reduce wear and tear on his axles, and reached the station at the bottom in around an hour. He backed into the loading platform as Apple Bloom puffed by with a slate train. “Mornin’!” she exclaimed.
“Nice to see you!” Rumble replied. He moved forward onto the siding and coupled up to the trucks. Backing up again, he waited for the points to be changed and then rolled forward, producing a colossal din as he did so.
The run up the valley was nice. It was punctuated by trees, and had some excellent views on the way. It was also very steep, so Rumble had to concentrate on his way up.
He arrived at the sawmill with the wagons, and shunted them into the sawmill for Pip and Featherweight to handle. He then backed up, and ran into a siding.
After a few minutes, the return train was ready. Rumble coupled on, only to feel another engine buffering up behind him. “Pip?” he asked.
“This train is heavy,” Pip explained. “They wanted two engines on it to get it down the hill.”
The two engines backed up and rolled along the track. The gradient was fine at first, but they got to the steepest part of the line. “Hey, Rumble, are we slowing down?” asked Pip.
“No, speed should be constant.”
There was suddenly a loud bang, and the weight of the trucks surged against them. “That doesn’t sound good!” Pip cried.
They were zooming down the hill and untold speed, racing underneath waterfalls, thundering through tunnels, and flying over bridges. All the while they were rocking from side to side, taking bends way too fast.
Both engines’ brakes screeched as they flew down the line, trying their very hardest to slow down. They flew round the bend leading to the lake, and began to tip over.
“This isn’t good!” cried Rumble.
“You think?” answered Pip.
The brakes finally began to have an effect, but the two engines whistled frantically. 4 short, sharp blasts.
The signalman, hearing the signal, threw the switch and ran the engines onto the mainline. He was most shocked when two Shays roared past, with a full train in tow.
He grabbed his radio. “Clear the line, it’s a runaway train!”
As they screeched down the mainline, the two engines braked hard, the noise terrible. They thundered through the first station, past an extremely surprised Silver Spoon.
As they came onto the final part of the track, the two engines started to slow down. They flew through the platform, and were diverted onto a siding.
At the end lay a barber’s shop. Rumble set his cylinders to run forward to try and slow them down.
It was too little, too late. The two engines and their heavy train smashed into the building, completely flattening it.
The breakdown train arrived, hauled by Gilda from the mainline with the cranes. “You got yourself in quite a mess, eh?” she asked. “Luckily, that barber shop was empty at the time you crashed into it.”
Once the two engines were lifted onto the track, and Featherweight had taken the trucks away, Cheerilee came to speak to them.
“Miss Cheerilee, it wasn’t our fault-” Pip began.
“I know, don’t worry. The brakes on those wagons were faulty. You two can return to work whenever you wish.”
And so, the 3 logging engines continued to work together up at the sawmill, though the rollercoaster was never brought up again.
Groups of visitors came, with cameras and easels. They took pictures of practically everything, the engines, the stations, even the rails. This confused Apple Bloom to no end.
“Why are they photographing the rails?” she asked. “They’re lines of metal!”
“Maybe it’s for a book,” Scootaloo suggested.
Snips and Snails rolled past with a train loaded with scrap parts. Just up ahead, they saw Sweetie Belle looking glum.
“What’s wrong?” Scootaloo asked.
“It’s happening again,” Sweetie Belle whispered.”
“What’s happenin’?” Apple Bloom asked.
“We haven’t photographed this one yet,” said one of the men, lining up his camera. Sweetie Belle just blew steam in his face.
“You ruined my picture!” he said. “Now I’ll have to-”
“No!” Sweetie Belle shouted. “I don’t want my picture taken, just LEAVE ME ALONE!” Tears running from her eyes, she charged into the distance.
Babs pulled up. “What was that all about?” she asked.
Sweetie Belle ran along the line until she came to a siding. She backed into it and sobbed for several minutes.
Presently, Scootaloo came by. “Hey, Sweetie-”
“What do you want?”
Scootaloo said nothing more, but let Cheerilee get off.
“Sweetie Belle, can you explain what’s going on?” the manager asked. “You seem to be really upset.”
“You’re selling us, aren’t you?” the white tank engine asked, tears still leaking from her eyes. “That’s what happened on my railway. Men came with cameras, photographed everything, and then they sold us off. They sold him off.”
“Who?” asked Scootaloo.
“No engine is being sold,” Cheerilee explained. “They are here to help commemorate this railway’s 100th anniversary.”
Sweetie Belle sighed. “If that’s the case,” she said. “But I am NOT going back to the scrapyard, understand?”
“I would never sell an engine for scrap,” Cheerilee reassured her. “Now, to the shed, we have planning to do!”
The engines gathered at the shed, when Cheerilee began issuing them instructions.
“Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, I want you to pull the camera train. They will be broadcasting this on the EBC as part of a special program on us.”
The two tank engines smiled.
“Silver Spoon, I want you to pull a demonstration goods train.”
“I won’t let you down, Miss Cheerilee.”
“Snips and Snails, you will be demonstrating recovery of a derailed locomotive.”
“Yes ma’am!” the two diesels chorused.
“Babs Seed, you will be pulling the train with the dignitaries on board. They are to be interviewed, so give them a smooth ride.”
“Shouldn’t that honour go to Scootaloo, ma’am?”
“I have a special plan for Scootaloo. That leaves you, Diamond Tiara.”
“What do you want me to do, Miss Cheerilee?”
“I want you to be the engine they recover on film.”
We shall leave Diamond Tiara’s reaction to charity.
The great day arrived at last. The passengers all dressed in the clothing of the 1880s, and the guests sat down to a grand breakfast, prepared by the catering team of the railway.
When breakfast was concluded, the passengers boarded Babs’ train. She whistled, and pulled away, much more gently this time than previously.
Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom pulled away a moment later, the camera crew filming everything.
First, they came to the first passing loop, where Silver roared by with a goods train, making a good deal of noise and whistling profusely so as to make a good picture.
Next, the camera train pulled up at the ‘derailment site’, where Snips and Snails were powering the twin cranes used for recovery.
Diamond Tiara did not enjoy their visit!
After a brief pause at the lakeside station to watch the logging engines out, the train proceeded to the top station. Babs had already offloaded the passengers, and moved into the siding to clear the route for the other engines. The filming train steamed in triumphant, stopping in the platform.
The dignitaries all gathered on the other platform, when a loud whistle was heard.
In steamed Scootaloo, with a happy smile on her face. Behind her were the vintage coaches assembled for the day specifically.
“Hello Scootaloo,” said the first interviewer. “I am Chancellor Neighsay, of the Equestrian Education Authority. We thought it fitting for the sake of educating our youth to make a film about this railway. Now, how does it feel to be 100?”
“It’s odd really,” the engine replied. “I sometimes feel I should be doing this with my brother.”
“You mean to say there are more engines like you?”
“Yes!” Scootaloo said. “I have a brother. His name is Winifred, and was built at the same time as me. He lives a long way away now, but he would appreciate a visit if you could do so.”
“We shall make sure to do so!” said the Chancellor. “I have to say; you and your friends make this line a national treasure. There will never be anything quite like it anywhere in Equestria. Long live the Equestria Narrow Gauge!”
His words were drowned out by a chorus of whistles and great cheers from all concerned.
If you enjoyed these stories, you may want to consider a visit to the Llanberis Lake Railway in Wales.
Cast-in order of appearance
Author's Note
This concludes the 2nd volume of these tales. Here are some images of the new engines:
