The shed was quiet, desolate even, despite the many locomotives that resided in it. Canterlot depot was normally a hive of activity, but today, this morning, it lay quiet and still. For today was a sad day, and many of the workers were yet to come into the shed and fire up their locomotives for a day of work.
One of the engines that resided in the shed was a single machine. It was long, and was sat upon two four wheel bogies that ensured a smooth ride as it flew along the line. The bodywork was smooth and long, and the front end was painted yellow. However, the front end was angled up at a most unusual angle, to the point it was nearly vertical. This had two windows set atop one another. The engine was painted a solid grey, with a large blue panel on the side that ran from just behind the cab to the back of the engine where the connecting corridor at the rear sat. The machine sat there, silent, and still, as today was a sad day for it indeed.
This was 41001, the prototype High Speed Train. Built in the 1970s as the predecessor to all of the legendary Class 43s to follow, it had had sat dormant for many years after its original testing cycle in Britain, and had subsequently been stored in a museum where all could see it, point at it, and wonder what it must have been like to travel behind it. That was until five years ago, when the engine was restored to full working order, shipped to the United States, and run on the California Coast Railroad from Canterlot and Crystal City on high speed passenger turns at speeds of up to 125 miles an hour. This was a popular service, usually operated with a Class 47 diesel on the back to tow it to Canterlot station. Many came from all across the world to see 41001, and savour the sound of a Paxman Valenta screaming as they flew along the line.
But no more. The National Railway Museum (or the Railway Museum, as it insisted on calling itself) had decided that, midway through the engine's operating loan, that it wanted to cancel the loan, stuff and mount the engine, and entomb it in their museum for another twenty years. The operating group and the California Coast Railroad had desperately tried to keep the engine running, so much as begging the National Railway Museum (sorry, Railway Museum) to let them keep running it, knowing it would just be dumped at Shildon and left to rot alongside the other diesels they did not care about for it was not the Flying Moneypit. But the nihilistic naysaying ninnies at the National Railway Museum said no. They cared not about diesels, and as such 41001 was condemned to a fate worse than death. A complete lack of love and care.
And today was indeed sad, as I have endeavoured to tell you. This day was to be the engine's final run on the heritage set of MK3s kept specially for it. It would be doing a trip to Crystal City and return, and then that was it. It was all over.
Lightning Dust entered the depot that morning to start 41001 up. The tears in her eyes were clearly visible as her father, Wind Rider, accompianed her to the locomotive. Lightning swung open the door, climbed into the cab, and closed it behind her as Wind Rider stood off to the side and switched on his radio.
"41001, do you read me, over?"
Lightning picked up the in cab radio. "Roger that, loud and clear, over. Preparing to start engine, over."
"Copy that, out."
Lightning's eyes scanned across the console in front of her, and she pushed in a green button marked ENGINE START. There were a few clicks as compressors started and the engine started to rumble, followed by a quiet ticking noise as the spirax valve engaged. Moments later, there was a loud roar, and smoke and gas surged from the engine unit and into the air as the engine roared into life, creating a smoke screen as it do so. Anybody viewing it from nearby would have assumed they had just started up a steam engine in there.
"Engine is running. Preparing to engage starter key and release brakes."
"Roger that, you have clearance into the yard. Out."
Lightning turned a key on top of the reverser handle, which was used to select the direction in which the engine was to go, and move the handle out of OFF to ENGINE ONLY. There was a moment's silence before a loud beep sounded in the cab, and Lightning hit a button on the console marked AWS CANCEL. A few seconds later, and the sound stopped, followed by the AWS sunflower resetting to normal. Lightning pulled back the brake handle, and there was a whooshing noise as the brakes came off. After putting the reverser handle to the REVERSE position, she then engaged the throttle to first notch. The engine began to back out of the depot for the final time, making a satisfying hum as it did so. There was no need to apply much power, as the speed limit around here was only fifteen miles an hour or so.
The coaches and the support diesel were already waiting in the platform. The intention was to let 41001 do the bulk of the work to Crystal City, and then be towed by the 47 back to Canterlot. It seemed as though the entire town had turned out to see 41001 off on its final journey, and there was not a dry eye on the platform as the engine reversed onto the coaches. The couplings engaged with a soft clunk, and the brake needle reset to indicate that the air brakes were now active throughout the entire train. That way, if they needed to stop, they could do so relatively quickly, the emphasis being on 'relatively'.
The door on the left of Lightning opened, and she glanced over to see Rainbow Dash there. "Hey Dash," she said quietly. "Quite a day, huh?"
"I never imagined so many people would turn out for a diesel," Rainbow admitted. "We normally get these sorts of crowds for the steam engines. I'll be acting as the guard on this run, as well as entertaining the passengers, so if you see me around, don't worry."
"Of course," Lightning replied. "Here's to it being a good run."
"To a good run," Rainbow replied. "Just to let you know, a reporter from the CHS Chronicle is here to record the final run. Her name is Cozy Glow. I believe you two have worked together before?"
"Yes, during the APT incident," Lightning sighed. That had been quite the fiasco, and one she was not keen to repeat. "She can join me in the cab for the outbound run."
Rainbow Dash nodded, and stepped back to let Cozy through.
"Hi!" the younger girl said, her camera already in her hand. "I'll be taking some pictures, if that's OK. Rumble has done some exterior filming, so I'll record from the cab."
"That's fine," Lightning replied. "Just don't touch anything, OK? This machine is priceless."
Cozy simply set her camera up, and then sat down in the second chair that faced a panel of technical displays.
Twenty minutes later, the signal in front changed from red to green. Moments later, Rainbow Dash blew the whistle and waved her green flag, before ducking back inside the train, closing the guard's door, and pressing the READY TO DEPART button on her console.
In the cab, two beeps sounded, and Lightning responded on the centre console by pushing the ACKNOWLEDGE button twice. She took the brakes off, and opened up the throttle. As the train began to move away, the people on the platform waved them goodbye, knowing that this once common sight would now never be seen again. As the train rolled onwards, Lightning opened up the throttle even further, and the engine note soon changed from the dull thud to the distinctive high pitched scream that so many from across the world had come to experience.
In the carriages themselves, painted grey with a blue stripe to match 41001, people drank beer, reminisced about the old days, and purchased a bite to eat from the onboard restaurant car. The 125 group were also selling merchendise, as they aimed to purchase a replacement power car to succeed 41001.
Many others had stuck their heads out of the windows as the train roared into the curved just beyond Halfway, where the terrain was enclosed and provided a superb place to hear the power car running at full power, and many more had taken recording equipment with them to record the power car running, as this would indeed be there last chance. As the line speed limits were so high, the engine could more or less be left at full power for the entire run, barring starting out of stations or slowing down for stops of any description.
The run was completed in record time, and the 47 towed the train back to Canterlot. But just as they entered the station approaches, Rainbow Dash switched on her radio. "NOW!"
Lightning shunted the engine on 41001 to full power, and the engine roared into life. The scream from the Paxman Valenta was so loud it shattered windows and people turned heads to try and figure out what on Earth was making all that noise. The train pulled into the platform, the passengers got off, and everybody said their goodbyes and thank yous to the crew for such a wonderful run.
After uncoupling from the stock, Lightning moved 41001 back into the shed, switched off the engine, and headed away. Although the day was sad, the last run had been a good one.
All in all... a worthy end.
Author's Note
This story was written for the Quills and Sofas Speedwriting Contest on 18th October 2019, to the prompt 'A Worthy End'. I got the idea after learning about the NRM's decision to retire the prototype HST power car and put it into storage, after all the effort to restore and run it for the last five years.
Given the machine does not appear in their operating strategy, it will be at least 20 years until it will even be considered for restoration again (by which point, I will be in my fourties and I suspect this website will no longer be here). As such, this is my tribute to the 125 Group and the superb job they have done in keeping 41001 running these last few years.
Rest in peace, 41001...
