Gallus was in the hospital laying down on the bed, still healing up from his injuries from his friends’ misadventures. While the new gemstones helped heal him faster, it still took a long time. It wasn’t that bad, Smolder and Ocellus were in the same room as him so they could keep each other companied. Their friends would come in to check on them occasionally, with Silverstream usually visiting and staying the longest to make sure that Gallus was feeling okay.
One day, during his recovery, Doctor Horse walked inside the room holding while gazing at his clipboard. “How was it, doc?” the injured griffon asked.
“Well, kids, I’ve got some good news,” the doctor responded. “Since your injuries are healing up more swiftly than we expected, we’ve decided that you’re all free to go.”
Gallus and the girls were happy to hear about this though he looked like he had some more time to recover. Smolder and Ocellus on the other hand had minor injuries in comparison. A wheelchair had been brought in to help transport Gallus out of the hospital.
“Is there anything we should be aware of?” Ocellus asked.
“For you, Miss Ocellus, I already mentioned that you wouldn’t recommend shapeshifting or flying for about a month. As for you, Mister Gallus, I recommend that you should take physical therapy to deal with your injured limbs.”
“Uh-huh, I will,” Gallus responded. “Thanks a lot, doc.”
“Anytime, I’m just doing my job.” The doctor and the students helped Gallus out of his bed and into his wheelchair. It was a little bit painful, but the griffon was able to get into a comfortable position. “You three take care of yourselves.”
“Bye,” Gallus, Smolder, and Ocellus said with their waves. He and the girls left the hospital and made their way back to the school.
They were glad that they’re out of the hospital almost recovered from the events that happened before. For Gallus, he couldn't stop thinking about his biological parents, Glynn and Gadget, he discovered when plotting a plan to destroy the Gold Gang; now that he has a family, he now doesn’t consider himself an orphan anymore. He smiled as they trotted along.
When they arrived back at school, there appeared to be a celebration for their recoveries. It wasn’t as big as one of Pinkie Pie’s usual parties but this was more of a calming occasion. They mostly just stood around and talked about things they had missed, like the hole in the wall caused by Trud.
The Young Six sat together at one of the tables while they had some delicious chocolate fudge brownies. “So, you’re saying that was caused by a novel that depicts terrifying and disturbing images of Equestria in ruins?” Smolder questioned.
“Yes, apparently,” Sandbar responded. “They should’ve just returned that book, and everything will be fine.”
“I kind of want to know what was in that book,” Gallus admitted.
“Judging by what Kelpie said was in it, you wouldn’t because he got a nightmare on that.”
“Less Yona knows, better,” Yona spoke.
“Exactly,” Sandbar stated. Gallus, Smolder, and Ocellus decided to take their word for it.
“Anything else changes while we were gone?” Ocellus asked.
“Hmm, we’ve heard that most of the minotaurs from the mines are heading to Terry’s village to start their new lives," Sandbar noted.
“Yes. Yona wants to see them again,” Yona spoke.
“Maybe I could visit with you if I want to,” Gallus said. He looked at his sling knowing he still had some more time to heal before he could anywhere.
“So, what happened to Quartz?” Silverstream asked. “I haven’t seen him in a while.”
“I think he said he was going to Canterlot for his new leg,” Ocellus remembered. “Gadget and Glynn are there right now.”
“I get why Gadget’s there,” Smolder commented. “But why is Glynn there? He’s only a medic, right?”
“I don’t know, but maybe he’s still feeling guilty for what they did before.”
“It wasn’t as bad as what others did,” Silverstream reminded. She shuttered a bit thinking back.
“Let’s drop that subject,” Gallus affirmed. “Anything that does have to do with you know who?” Judging by his tone of voice, Gallus wasn't liking the memories being brought up. “What else has happened here?”
“Nothing too major,” Sandbar informed. “Most of us have been given a few days off to recover from what happened.” Gallus just sighed before he had one last bite of his brownie.
“Did Trud do any damage to my room?” Sandbar shook his head left and right, telling him that’s a no. “Okay, good. I just want to lie down and rest.” Sandbar understood and wheel the injured griffon to his dorm room. The friends could tell how he was feeling with his injuries and his parents. They knew they wanted to see each other, but things were a little complex at the moment and out of their control.
Sandbar got Gallus to their dorm, he helped the blue griffon lie down on his bunk. “You need anything else, Gallus?” the colt asked.
“None. I just want some alone time.” Sandbar just nodded before he walked away to give his friend some alone time. Gallus just sighed as he couldn’t understand why his parents, who were overjoyed to be with him again, had to be in Canterlot. They didn’t do anything as bad as other gang members, so it wouldn’t make sense if they were punished. Gadget at least would be helpful with some reconstruction, but Glynn was a medic. Maybe he would be helping to treat some of the creatures that were injured in the rescue attack.
The blue griffon, with his broken bones, sat there all alone. He couldn’t go anywhere until his injuries were healed up and he wished the gemstone that was left for him would work faster. Gallus now wished he stayed with his friends. After a couple of minutes, he was starting to get bored. He was thinking about going to sleep when he saw somecreature flying into the room, Silverstream.
The hippogriff managed to raise Gallus’s spirits. He was surprised to see her bringing in her saddlebag. “Hey, Gally,” Silverstream said, standing beside him. “I thought I’d help keep you entertained with some books.” She opened up her bags and showed him some books she had borrowed from the school library.
“Thanks, Silvy,” Gallus said, “I was kind of getting bored.” Silverstream smiled as she showed a couple of books that she could read.
There were a lot of options to choose from, and both of them were having a hard time picking one. Eventually, the one that caught Gallus’s eyes was the one that had a steam engine on it. It didn’t look like the Friendship Express they were more familiar with.
This engine was missing a cab, had only one set of wheels connected to the pistons’ two wheels in front and behind it. “What kind of engine is this?”
“Who knows. Let’s check it out.” With that being said, Gallus handed over the book to Silverstream, and she sat at the end of Gallus’s bed so she could start reading.
The steam engine is one of the most powerful devices built in Equestria. It has gone through many different changes throughout the years since the foundation of Ponyville. Since the number of products being sold between Ponyville and Canterlot had increased, traveling by hoof was proving to be not only unprofitable but dangerous too.
Ponies still needed goods from different cities. With other locations such as Manehatten and Fillydelphia, a solution needed to be developed. Princess Celestia had ordered a group of ponies to come together and try to think of something new. The head of this group was a stallion named Steamed Ash.
“That’s a history book,” Gallus commented not too impressed.
“It’s an interesting one,” Silverstream noted. She found it fascinating to learn more about different species’ history. Wanting to know more, she kept reading.
Ash and his crew tried a couple of ideas to power modes of transportation. However, a few problems made more of a hindrance than a help. The machines would often wear ponies out faster, they couldn’t maneuver around easily, and they were just like ponies pulling carts but with extra steps.
With no reliable method of steering, the idea of an alternate mode of transportation seemed to just be a dream at this point. Fortunately, a solution would be found when a pony by the name of Side Line got brainstorming when she saw droplets of water sliding down the grooves in her roof tiles.
Bringing up the idea with the team, they decided to test this out by changing the wheels on a cart and lying it on some metal poles. When they pushed the cart, it rode along the pole better than the other attempts they had made. They knew they would need more than just poles for their new creations since they could tell the poles were struggling to hold the cart alone.
To counter this, new rails were being built. To keep them straight, they began lying some planks underneath. These tracks were quickly taking shape, as was the engine. While the rails were easy to build, as they were a loop, the locomotive was an issue in itself. There were plenty of things they needed to keep in check. They had to keep the steam pressure in the right spot if it was too cold, and the engine wouldn't move, and if it was too hot, they had a risk of a boiler explosion.
“How often do you think that happened?” Gallus asked.
“Maybe it’s pretty… often.”
“Then I hoped they got lucky when that happened.” Both griffs shuddered thinking what would happen if a creature got caught up in. Brushing that aside, Silverstream saw a picture and showed it to Gallus. There was the first locomotive that looked like a balcony on wheels. A boiler stuck out in the middle of it with some levers behind it and a pony at the controls.
“I think this was the first successful train,” Silverstream guessed.
“Looks like a stove you can move around easier instead of a train,” Gallus commented.
“Well, it was the first one.” She looked at the paragraph under the photo and continued reading.
The first model, they had named ‘Rolling Hoof’, managed to reach a decent speed of 15 mph. With the success of their first locomotive, they now had to build a track leading from Canterlot to Ponyville. The process took nearly three years.
Along with the tracks they needed to build, they needed to construct bridges, tunnels, and rolling stock for Rolling Hoof to pull. The first rolling stock, that would be finished, would be coaches, as more ponies wanted to travel in between small farm towns and big cities.
Soon, after three coaches were built, Rolling Hoof was ready to roll. They looked up the coaches with some equipment to simulate a fully loaded train. Once everything was prepared, they set off.
Rolling Hoof was slow already as it was, but now with the extra weight of the coaches, it crawled along the track. However, the trip from Canterlot to Ponyville was mostly downhill. It would be the return journey that would be a pain. The return journey to Canterlot was mostly uphill, slowing Rolling Hoof down even more. They were moving at least 6 mph now, but this is still better progressed than ponies would achieve on foot.
After a couple of hours of traveling and keeping the steam pressure in the sweet spot, they finally made it back to Canterlot, where a celebration was being held. Over the years, steam travel improved to make them stronger and faster into the transportation we have today.
Silverstream was amazed by what she had read. “Wow, I didn’t know that steam traffic was this interesting,” she gasped.
“It does sound kind of cool,” Gallus commented. “But… how come we only see passenger trains?”
“What are you talking about?”
“That book said that the railroad was built to transport cargo, right? So how come we’ve only seen passenger trains.”
“Huh. You’re right. I mean, there’s gotta be some big stuff that has to be transported that way. Then again, we don’t see too many bits of cargo being transported that much. I think we haven’t seen one yet.”
“Well, if you want to find more out, you could ask Rusty. He told me that he’s a huge fan of trains.”
Silverstream gasped in excitement. “I’ll go find him!”
With that being said, the excitable hippogriff took off like a rocket to find him. Gallus just sat back as he was happy his girlfriend was back to her normal attitude. Rusty was at downtown’s store, looking around for a model kit that he could buy someday. He was thinking about which model he could buy if it wasn’t for a hippogriff flying up behind and surprising him with. “Hey, Rusty…!”
The colt nearly dropped the model he was looking at and luckily caught it before it smashed on the ground. That would’ve been something that would take him a while to pay off. He glared at Silverstream who promptly apologized for the scare. “Hi, Silverstream. What’s with all of your excitement?” Rusty asked.
“Gallus told me that you know about trains, so I want to know more about Equestrian locomotives. I just found a book about Equestria’s first train, Rolling Hoof. But I’ve only seen the engines that are a part of the friendship express and they all looked the same. Plus, Gallus said there were only passenger trains. Not everything can be handled by pegasi, how...?"
“Take it easy, Silver! I’ve got some history books, and I also have my uncle who works on the railroad too. I’ve got plenty of knowledge on Equestria’s railroads.” The two walked away from the store and head down the street while exchanging information about the Railroads.
After some time passed, they had gotten some books from Rusty’s place. One was a guidebook about the Friendship Express, another was about the shunting yards and how they worked, and a third was about what Silverstream had been looking for, goods trains. They took them back to the school of friendship and decided to share them with. Gallus is glad to see her again.
“What did you find?” Gallus asked. He was shown the three books they had gotten. He looked at the one about the Friendship Express. “They made a book about that train?”
“Actually, it’s the name of the company,” Rusty noted. He opened the book up to the page that explained what he was talking about. Silverstream read it out loud.
After more powerful engines were built, other cities like Manehatten and Fillydelphia wanted to be connected like Ponyville and Canterlot. A new company was forged to help keep these cities connected, it was called The Friendship Express.
A set of 4-4-0 locomotives were built for the future lines between Manehattan and Fillydelphia, some of which were built with tenders to have longer journeys without the need to refuel.
“Wait, I haven't seen one with a tender,” Silverstream commented. “And who do those fours and zeroes mean?”
“It shows the wheel configuration,” Rusty explained. He pointed to the engine in the book that was the typical class of engine they had seen pulling the trains. “It works like this: the first 4 shows how many unpowered wheels are at the front that isn’t powered. The middle 4 is how many drive wheels the engine possesses, and the zero is for how many training wheels it has. So with an engine like this, these engines are 4-4-0s.”
“Oh, that makes more sense.”
“Hey, could you pass me that book, please?” Gallus asked. He pointed to the book showing goods trains. Since they weren’t usually scened he wanted to know more about them. Rusty handed him the book and he took a look.
Freight trains are made for transporting cargo that's too far to travel on hoof and goo heavy to transport by flight. Most classifications that fit this are minerals and logs. Most engines at this point would have to double or even triple-head these trains as they weren't built for such heavy cargo.
One of the best class of engines was one nicknamed the hippos. Whilst they were slow, they more than made up with their immense strength. With these engines, they helped transport Equestria's freight to and from different towns. Major towns like Canterlot and Manehattan had marshalling yards built.
"What's a marshaling yard?" Silverstream asked. Gallus turned the book around to show off a map of the yard, which had lots of tracks. The mainline was shown as two white lines at the bottom. Tons of lines could be seen above the mainline in different colors.
Rusty started pointing out what the different tracks were. “Those tracks are goods coming in. The tracks above them are for coaches. That top line is for sorting the rolling stock,… oh and those tracks over there are the roundhouse,” he explained. “There’s a turntable that the engines use so they can face the other end of the train. There’s also a water tower and coal shute for refueling.”
“Wow… That sounds amazing!”
“That doesn’t answer my question of why we haven’t seen these engines or places before,” Gallus said.
“It’s likely that there’s another line that only workers on the railroad are allowed to use,” Rusty guessed. “My uncle also said that civilians aren’t allowed on railroad property. Aside from the passenger stations.”
“Do you think there’s any chance we can see a freight train?” Silverstream asked.
"Hmm, at the stations were allowed at, not likely.” The hippogriff sighed in disappointment. Rusty then looked at Gallus, who had something to say.
“Couldn’t you write a letter to your uncle?” the Griffon asked. “Maybe he can explain better.”
“…I’ll try.” The colt walked out of their dorm room to write the letter for his uncle as the two griffs looked at the book about shunting yards. They might be only gotten some information about them from the goods book but this would likely give more details. Silverstream picked it up and read the details.
With goods needed to be sent some way, the railroad companies need to keep their efficiency if they want to stay in business. One of the most efficient ways of sorting different types of rolling stock is having a hump yard.
The picture shown of a hump yard was a tank engine pulling some freight cars up a hill.
Using the gravity of the hill, along with careful control of the brakes, some say this style faster than just moving one set of cars at a time, putting the ones at the front on right siding, uncoupling, reversing, and repeating.
This style does require a lot of teamwork. Somepony has run alongside the cars to put their brakes, another pony has to be in the signal box and change the points. And of course, the tank engine needs a driver and fire pony to keep it going.
“Wow, this sounds complicated,” Silverstream noted, “And dangerous too.”
“Maybe if the creature responsible for the brakes could fly, it'd be safer,” Gallus guessed.
“I think being the switch pony would be harder. How many tracks were on that map? And all those cars... That’s almost too much for me to process.”
“I'm sure his uncle will help explain that crystal clear.” Gallus took another look in the book about freight trains to see if there was any other cargo that got transported. “Ooh, sometimes you transport food in refrigerator cars.” Silverstream was curious and flew beside her boyfriend to take a look.
“Hey, it says that bigger creatures get transported too.” The two love birds carried on reading the railroad books amazed at the information they had found out.
Later that evening, Silverstream wheeled Gallus into the cafeteria. The two got their food and met up with their friends. “Where’ve you been lately?” Smolder asked Silverstream.
“Gallus and I learned about the railroad,” Silverstream replied cheerfully. “Did you that Friendship Express is a company name?”
“Really?” Sandbar asked. He had known a lot more culture than his friends but like most others, he thought Friendship Express was the name of the engine.
“Yeah! Pretty amazing right? Plus, Rusty said that he has an uncle who works on the railroad. He said he sent a letter to try and contact him.”
“I’d hold your excitement, Silver,” Ocellus said. “I’m not sure how much more you’ll learn only through a letter.”
“You'd be surprised,” Gallus remarked. He looked around until he saw Rusty. The injured griffon flagged him down. “Yo, Rusty, over here!”
Gallus groaned in pain after making his arm wave. Rusty stopped by their table and placed his tray down. “Are you okay?” he asked seeing.
“Yeah... Just a little sore.”
“I hope you feel better soon. Anyways, what are you guys talking about?"
“Railroads, of course,” Silverstream responded. “Did your uncle receive your letter yet?”
“I'm not sure. Since he travels around Equestria so much, it’s unlikely he’ll get it tonight… or tomorrow.”
“What’s your uncle like?” Sandbar asked.
"Oh, he’s a fun guy. His name is Copper Whistle. He enjoys a conversation with the fire pony since they have long journeys.”
"Are there any other kinds of workers on the railroad?" Ocellus asked.
“There is the guard who sits in the caboose,” Rusty informed. "He rides along in case there’s a derailment, the load shifts into an unsafe position, or there’s a hotbox."
“What’s hotbox?” Yona asked.
“It's when an axle on an engine or rolling stock begins to overheat. It happens when the axle hasn’t been maintained properly.”
“And how severe is that?" Smolder asked.
“My uncle said the worst-case scenario was the freight car catches on fire.”
“Ugh!” Smolder shivered. “That was painful.”
“Thankfully, this is a rare occurrence. It could be worse depending on the cargo.”
“Yeah,” Silverstream agreed. “I mean, what gets carried into those barrel cars?”
“You mean the tanker?” The hippogriff nodded in confirmation. “Uh-huh, those things generally carry milk, molasses, bottled water, or other liquids. I don’t know how many flammable liquids are filled in it though."
“You ever think they can carry lava?”
"I doubt it. Unless a new kind of tanker can be built."
“I don’t see what you’ll be able to do with lava,” Smolder commented. “Even if Dragon Lord Ember lets you have any for random purposes.” Her friends did know that the underground lava rivers were important to the dragon eggs.
“I guess that’s a good point.”
“And what happens when trains come off the tracks?" Silverstream asked. "Not all unicorns can be that strong, right?”
“Doubtful. That’s why crane gangs exist. They’re a group of ponies who have special cars which are cranes on wheels.”
"Have you ever seen one up close?"
“Only once. You should’ve seen them.” The colt and hippogriff were excited about talking about the railroads while their friends enjoyed their meals while listening in.
Just before they went to bed, Smolder listen to her bubbly roommate until she passed out. It took about ten minutes for Silverstream to realize that Smolder had gone to sleep so she thought she would do the same thing.
A few days later, Silverstream would accompany Gallus to physical therapy. Gadget and Glynn still weren’t around yet, which was irritating to the young griffon. “They can’t be staying in Canterlot that long?” Gallus complained.
“I don’t know what’s going on with that,” Silverstream sighed. “Maybe they’re helping to rebuild Griffonstone. They wouldn’t leave you if it wasn’t for a good reason.” The griffon sighed as he knew she was right.
At physical therapy, Gallus was given a small weight for his injured arm to lift. The green crystal had heeled him up quite a bit, but his muscles still needed to get their strength back. He struggled quite a bit and Silverstream was tempted to help him, but Gallus refused her help. This was something he had to do himself.
After a couple of lifts, Gallus was worn out and, so Silverstream began wheeling him back to school on his wheelchair. Along the way, they saw Rusty, who was just about to leave the school when he saw them. “Perfect timing, guys,” he called, “Come check this out.” Curious, the two griffs followed him inside. They headed over to the bulletin board where a note had been posted.
Ride on the railroad on the last day before class resumes. After what you’ve been through, you deserve one more bit of entertainment before we catch up with our lessons. We’ve been informed about an employee from Grounded Goods that arrangements could be made to show what goes on a railroad. For those who want extra credit, you may write a report of what you learned on the trip.
Silverstream’s eye lit up when she saw the note. “A railroad field trip?!” she beamed. Gallus chuckled at his girlfriend’s excitement. He looked at the students that had signed up, including Rusty. There was still plenty of space for them to sign up. Silverstream wasted no time doing this. Gallus wheeled himself over to the sign-up sheet so he could join her, though his arm was still tired from physical therapy, so he needed some help.
After signing up, they checked the date of when the field trip was. “Hmm, not too long from today,” Gallus commented. “I can wait that long.”
“I can’t.”
“Things like this take time,” Rusty noted. “Besides, it’s bad when a delay happens on the railroad. They take hours to clean up and even longer to make up the lost time.” The hippogriff sighed but she knew her friend was right. Still, she really wanted to see a locomotive in action.
As time went on, Silverstream felt like it’s going slower and slower. A few days have passed until it was finally time for the field trip. On that day when the bell rang, Silverstream made a beeline towards the cafeteria to get some food. Gallus met up with her after Sandbar wheeled him into the cafeteria. The lunch lady was just getting food set up for the students as Silverstream waited in the line that wasn’t there.
“You know everyone else has to wake up for the field trip,” Gallus informed.
“I know,” Silverstream responded, with a very gleeful tone, and full of excitement, “but we’re getting to see what most ponies don’t get a good look at.” Gallus just rolled his eyes at his girlfriend’s excitement. Sandbar and Gallus went to their tables after getting their meals.
“Damn, I’ve never seen her that excited before,” Sandbar said.
“I know, right?” Gallus commented.
After getting through their morning routines, Gallus, Silverstream, Rusty, and the other students that had signed up followed Fluttershy to the train station. The station was nearly empty with the exception of some of the staff. Silverstream looked at the clock while she stepped in place.
“Is she usually like this?” Rusty asked.
“Normally, she’s more excited than anxious,” Gallus explained. After a few seconds, they heard the sound of a loud whistle followed by the ring of a bell. The students looked to be a big locomotive with ten drive wheels and a number 4952 pulled into the station. It pulled up to the platform pulling two coaches and a caboose. This didn’t look like a passenger train given the coaches and the engine looked big for that anyway.
Rusty walked over to the engine where a pony stepped out. The stallion was a unicorn that had copper brown fur and a dark red mane and green eyes. He had a train whistle for a cutie mark and he wore wearing an engine driver uniform. “Hi-yah, Rusty,“ he said to the young colt.
“Hi, Uncle,” Rusty replied happily. The two ponies soon shared a hug laughing a bit.
“How’s my little nephew going?”
“I’m doing great. Thanks.“ Gallus and Silverstream approached them. “Everycreature, I want you to meet my uncle, Copper Whistle,“ Rusty explained. “He’ll be your guide for this field trip.“
The stallion approached the two griffs. “So, which one of you is the Silverstream Rusty told me about.“
“That’s me,“ Silverstream spoke, with her arm raised. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, sir.” The hippogriff and stallion shook claw and hoof as Copper took notice of Gallus’s injuries. He tried not to stare, but the griffon had seen his reaction.
“It’s fine, sir,” Gallus spoke. “I got in over my head, to say the least.” He wasn’t sure if he should be explaining the full story around the creatures who were a part of it.
Terry the minotaur and Gregoria the griffon walked to the front of the big locomotive, admiring its size. “Wow! I didn’t know ponies could build such a thing like this,” Gregoria commented.
“Minotaurs would be impressed with this,“ Terry added. “Not much to look at with style, but I bet it’s a powerhouse.”
“Indeed,“ Copper spoke. “Would you like to take a look inside of the cab?“ The two students were happy with the offer and Silverstream was wanting to take a look too. The three were taken into the cab where a dusty earth pony was stoking the fire. Underneath the coal dusty, the earth pony had blue fur with a black mane a scruffy beard, and a burning rock for a cutie mark. He looked to Copper and the creatures climbing aboard.
“Um, you know that the coaches are behind Hilda, right?” the stallion grumbled.
“Come on, Dusty, I’m just showing the kids what happens in the cab.” The fire pony simply groaned as he closed the firebox and stepped aside. “Kids, this is our fire pony, Dusty Blast. He keeps our engine, Hilda, here steaming.“
“You named this engine… Hilda?” Gregoria asked.
“Well, most ponies I know name the engines they drive. I’ve named mine Hilda.”
“It’s a nice name,“ Silverstream commented, and then went near Gallus to whisper, “It sounded like Gilda, but the G is replaced with an H.”
“Yeah, I noticed that,” Gallus commented with a chuckle. She and the other students then looked at all of the controls, gauges, knobs, it looked so complex.
“How do you able to keep an eye on all of this?” Terry questioned.
“I only watch half of it,“ Copper Whistle explained. “Dusty watches the other half.”
“Yeah, and it’s not easy watching it with a bunch of creatures crowding the cab.“
Copper groaned and rolled his eyes at his co-worker’s attitude. “Don’t mind him. Keeping an engine like Hilda is a stressful one. Now, I want to show this to any other curious ones.”
“Oh, sure,” Gregoria responded. She, Terry, and Silverstream soon left the cab. Copper offered other creatures inside of Hilda’s cab, and some were wanting to check it out. Everyone else would be waiting inside the two coaches. Silverstream could see a pegasus helping Gallus get comfy in one of the seats. The pegasus was a mare that has light red fur, with a long blonde mane, and what looked to be a lantern for a cutie mark and she wore a conductor’s uniform.
Curious, the hippogriff walked into the carriage. “Okay, kid,” the mare said, “Are you comfy?”
“The best I can be with a body like this,“ Gallus chuckled. “Thanks a lot.” He and the mare looked over to Silverstream, who approached them. “How was it like being in the cab?”
“It was kind of short,” the hippogriff sighed.
“I guess you’ve met Dusty,” the mare guessed.
“Yeah, that was kind of the issue.”
“Eh, just ignore him. He’s still getting used to all of these new creatures in Equestria.”
“Of course he is,“ Gallus said sarcastically.
The mare chuckled before she turned her attention back to Silverstream. “Anyways, allow me to introduce myself,“ she said, “My name is Tail Lamp, and I’ll be your conductor for this trip.”
“Nice to meet you,” Silverstream said. She shook her hoof as she looked at the other students that were in the coaches.
“Gotta say… it’s pretty jarring to see so many different creatures in one place, even changelings.”
“You get used to it,” Gallus noted.
“It’s probably because I’m usually on freight trains. I’m on passenger trains whenever somepony has to call in sick. Anyways, if you kids need me, I’ll be in the caboose.” Tail Lamp walked away back to her post, leaving the students to do their things in the coaches.
After showing a few more students the inside of the cab, everyone sat in the coaches as Copper Whistle pulled a chain. Hilda’s whistle blew and they pulled out of the station. They were heading to Canterlot, the first part of the field trip. Along the way, some students sat back and relaxed, watched the scenery go by, or get started on their extra credit.
The trip was taking longer than it usually would. Tanzanite, a dragon who was on the hefty size, approached Rusty. “Hey, Rusty, are we taking a different route?” he asked.
“What do you mean?” the young unicorn asked.
“I mean we’re going kind of slow and this isn’t the route I’ve heard about that goes to Canterlot. We should be crossing that leads around the mountains.”
“It could be because we’re on the freight line,” Gallus guessed.
Tanz and Rusty glanced at the griffon.
“Exactly,“ Silverstream confirmed. “We’ve read that most freight trains are long and heavy so they have to take a different track that can hold their weight.“
“Plus it cuts down on the traffic,“ Rusty added.
Tanz looked to be impressed by this. “Huh, neat,” he commented. He walked back to his seat now that his question was answered and he had information to add to his report.
“You two read that part in those books I gave you?” Rusty asked.
“Yep,” Gallus noted. “It makes a lot more sense for why we haven’t seen freight trains while we’re traveling by train. Though, I still think we should’ve seen them if we were flying.”
“How fast are we going?“ Silverstream asked.
“My uncle says that she can go at 50 mph at best,“ Rusty responded. “So, this trip might be a little slow compared to the friendship express. Though, on the bright side, we’ll get to see the shunting yard. Can’t be there unless you work there.”
The thought of being able to see most ponies didn’t get a chance to look at was an exciting one. After a while, they soon felt the train coming to a stop. Looking out the window the students expected to be at the station. Instead, they saw a plentiful of sidings with the rolling stock moving around and ponies walking around doing their work. Tail Lamp walked into the coach and got the students’ attention.
“Alright, we’re here,” she called. “Everyone, stay in one group and don’t wander off.“ The students did as they were told while Tail Lamp helped Rusty and Gallus get out of the coach. When they were out, the students watched Hilda start pulling away without the coaches.
“Where are they going?“ Terry asked.
“Copper’s getting Hilda turned around for their trip to Manehattan,“ Tail Lamp informed. “While we wait for them to get ready, let’s see how a freight train gets set up.“ The conductor led the group carefully through the yard until they reached a set of stairs, which led to a bridge so ponies could get across the tracks safer. Here the students could get a good view of the yards.
Emerald the dragoness saw a six-wheeled tank engine pulling a boxcar under some sort of chute. She saw some ponies take some pickaxes and poles to break up blocks of ice that slid into some slots that were on the boxcar’s roofs. “What are they doing there?“ she asked.
“That’s a refrigerator car,” Tail Lamp explained. “We use that for transporting food, so it’ll not spoil.”
“Oh, that’s clever.”
“How about those cars holding logs?” Terry asked, pointing to some flatcars being loaded.
“Oh, good, you found the flatcars,” Tail Lamp noted. “It’s one of the bits of cargo that’s too heavy and inefficient for air transport.“
“Like those rocks?” Gregoria asked, pointing to some trucks of coal.
“Minerals are also a material that’s difficult to transport by air,” Tail Lamp noted. “This coal is likely for the engines here.”
“So what’s going to Manehattan?” Gallus asked.
Tail Lamp took a look at her note before pointing back to the refrigerator cars, which were being taken away and placed with some other boxcars. Silverstream then noticed a gondola car rolling by itself before coupling up to the line of rolling stocking heading to Manehattan.
Looking in the distance, she could see a hill at the end of the yard, where a shunter was pushing some rolling stock that was being uncoupled in bits so it could roll down the hill and be switched onto the right tracks. She let her classmates know about it and they were amazed.
“How do they switch the tracks so fast?” Emerald questioned.
“Try asking the pony in that building,” Gallus responded. He managed to point to a tower that would get a good view of the yard. “That’s the job for the switch pony.”
“You seem to know a lot about railroads,” Tail Lamp commented.
“When you have to stay in bed until you can walk again, it pays to have something to pass the time.”
After watching the yard in motion for a bit longer, the conductor led the students down the bridge and headed to where the hippo engine was. They found Hilda slowly spinning on a turntable before stopping and moving forward. Silverstream did her best to contain herself so she didn’t fly closer to the big and possibly hurt herself.
Copper Whistle stuck his head out of the cab and waved to the students, some of which like Rusty waved back. “What are those things Hilda’s pulling up to?” Gleaming Pearl, a hippogriff, asked.
“That’s a water tower and that’s a coal chute,” Tail Lamp informed pointing to the respective items. “Since locomotives are so big and we have to refuel their coal and water these constructs make that much easier.
The students watched as Dusty Flare climbed up the ladder attached to the tender, and used a hook on a pole to pull the water tower’s spout over to him. Once it was close enough, he opened a cap on the tender then pulled a cord to pour some water into the tank.
“Is there some sort of a system connecting the water to the engine’s boiler?” Pearl asked.
“Sure is,” Lamp noted. “If you want to ask questions about steam engines, ask Copper when you have the chance.” The student made sure to remember that. Rusty looked over to Gallus and Silverstream to see how they were doing. While the hippogriff was enjoying what she was seeing, Gallus seemed to be glancing around for about a minute as if he was looking for someone.
“Gallus, are you okay?” the colt asked.
The griffon stopped looking around and looked at his classmate. “Yeah, I’m just spectating around,” he spoke. Gallus went back to watching Hilda, who had finished being filled up with water, and moved forward to get some coal.
After she had fully refueled, Hilda went to couple up with the freight train going to Manehattan. The shunting engine was just putting the two coaches onto the front of the train so the students could ride in. They quickly got on board the coach with Rusty and Gallus needing some help again. After they were taken care of, Tail Lamp spoke up.
“Alright, everyone, the coaches and the caboose are now separated by the rolling stock,” she explained. “However, I thought of a solution in case of an emergency. Just wave this flag here.” She handed a red flag to Rusty. “I’ll be checking out of the caboose occasionally.” The conductor left to return to her caboose. “I swear they need to think of a better way of communication.”
Rusty made sure to hold onto the flag as they heard Tail Lamp blowing her whistle to notify the engine crew it was time to go. With a blow of Hilda’s whistle, they slowly pulled out of the yard.
It wasn’t long until they were trundling down the tracks. Given the engine’s locomotive speed, it would take longer for them to get there compared to the friendship express. Most students had brought something to help keep them entertained, some of them had brought some books to read while some had brought cards. Gallus had some weights with him so he could try some physical therapy.
He panted a bit as he struggled to lift his weight. Silverstream only sat beside him as he struggled to lift up his weight. She did jump in when the injured griffon dropped his weight in exhaustion. “Easy, Gally,” she warned his girlfriend.
“Silver, I just want my muscles back to normal, so I can get out of this wheelchair,” Gallus proclaimed. He tried reaching for the weight on the floor, struggling in the process. Silverstream couldn’t see him struggle like this and just handed the weight to the griffon. Gallus just sighed before he tried to resume his exercise.
After a while, they made it to the big city of Manehattan. They did not stop at the station they usually would and were instead brought to the freight yard, which looked to be almost as big as Canterlot’s. Silverstream looked out the window and saw multiple shunting engines moving back and forth. She couldn’t see an incline anywhere.
“Where’s the hump?” the confused hippogriff asked.
“Manehattan doesn’t have a hump yard,” Rusty guessed. “I think the reason why Canterlot has one is that it’s the central station of Equestria.”
“He’s right,” called a familiar voice. Tail Lamp walked into the carriage along with Copper Whistle.
“Hold on,” Gallus asked. “Shouldn’t someone be in charge of Hilda?”
“Her brakes are on,” Copper reassured. “We’ll have her put in the roundhouse and head into town to grab some lunch. You kids remember to bring some bits?” The students nodded and a few even showed their bits to they had.
Tail Lamp then led the students out of the yard and they waited for Copper and Dusty to show up. When they showed up, they all grabbed a bus (which was a long cart being pulled by two ponies) and headed downtown to find a restaurant.
While they rode there, Copper Whistle decided to chat with his nephew. “So, you know that the railroad was extending to the new kingdoms?“ the engineer asked.
“You mean like the Dragon Lands?“ Rusty asked.
“Not just that, they say that they’re also extending to the changeling hive and the minotaur village.”
“They are?” Terry asked, overhearing their conversation.
“Most of them are going to be for passenger trains,“ Copper Whistle noted. “Although, I’m sure I heard one of the higher-ups say something about using the stones from there for construction purposes.” Terry was curious about this and went to ask Emma and Tanz how they thought would work.
Eventually, they got a diner that Gallus recognized. Walking inside, they could see a yellow unicorn with a golden shovel for a cutie mark. “Hey, Gold Digger!“ the griffon called.
The young stallion looked to the griffon and waved to him. “Hey, Gallus, Silverstream,” he spoke as the two creatures he remembered approached the counter. “What brings you two here?”
“We’re on a field trip by train,” Silverstream beamed.
“That… doesn’t sound too exciting.”
“It’s a goods train,” Gallus noted. “So we get to see things normal ponies don’t.”
“Oh, that makes much more sense.“ Gold Digger looked at the railroad crew and the other students, who the customers and staff were looking at since they were only used to interacting with ponies. “Okay, so you and your friends just find a place to sit and we’ll get you some menus.“
The students did as they were told and found various seats around the diner. They took some time to sit and chat while waiting for their food to get ready. Some things were like what if the gemstones that griffons used would be used to improve locomotives or help power new ones. Another question would be if the tracks would be extended to other parts beyond Equestria.
These questions probably wouldn’t be answered for a while but they were still fun to think about. After grabbing lunch, everyone got back to the yards, where the return train was prepared. Hilda was steam up again and they got her coupled back up to the train. Before they could leave, they would have to wait for the friendship express to clear the tracks.
Eventually, they were given the green flag and started their journey home.
Later on down the line, Copper Whistle was checking line when he saw a pegasus in a conductor’s uniform flying down the track waving a red flag. He blew Hilda’s whistle to single to Tail Lamp to put the brakes on and they soon came to a slow stop. The pegasus with a flag flew up to the cab of Hilda and explain the situation.
“A couple on one of the coaches broke,” the pegasus explained. “I tried to flag down the engineer, but he was already too far ahead for me to catch up.“
“So, what, do we push the coaches to the next station?” Copper asked.
The pegasus looked at the long train that Hilda was pulling. “You sure you’ll be able to do that? You already look fully loaded.”
“Better than just waiting for another engine to crash into it. Those passengers can’t wait for another solution.” The conductor simply shrugged and flew back to the train with Hilda following behind. Some students had stuck their heads out of the coaches to see why they had stopped and heard about the plan.
“We’re going to push another train?“ Tanz questioned.
“Sounds like it,“ Rusty commented.
“Can they even do that?“ Gregoria asked. “How would they see where they’re going?“
“Well, if Tail Lamp helps, she could probably flag them down if there’s something in the way.“ Most of the students would ponder about how this was going to play out.
A few minutes later, Hilda came to another stop with half a train of coaches sitting on the line in front of her. A couple of the passengers were complaining about being stuck. Copper whistle carefully moved his engine forward until they were coupled to the train. The passenger train’s conductor took a rest in the caboose while Tail Lamp flew up to the front, holding two flags with her.
Slowly but surely, they carried on down the line. Tail Lamp kept an eye out for anything that might give them trouble as Copper watched the engine’s speed. Hilda was a slow engine going at her regular pace, but since they would have to take extra care now, she was practically going at the same pace as running pony. In addition, they were sent onto the goods line, which was different from what the passengers were used to.
After taking their time, the mixed train finally made it to Canterlot. They stopped at the station so everyone could get out of the coaches. The students were told to leave their coaches too as unplanned things appeared to be happening.
“Why do we need to get out?“ Silverstream asked. “Can’t we just drop of those coaches and just drop us back home?“
“You’d get whiplash if you stayed in a coach getting shunted,“ Copper Whistled warned. He and Dusty were just stepping out of the cab. “Wait inside the station, we’re going to deal with what happened here.“ Silverstream and the rest of the students listened and headed into the station waiting room while the workers figured out what to do with the coaches that broke away.
Most students passed the time by checking with Fluttershy if their reports were good, others just brought out their cards again. Silverstream kept checking out the window to see what was going on. Wanting to help calm her down, Rusty decided to give his input.
“You know, things like this tend to happen,“ the colt noted, “But my uncle says worse things have happened.“
“Like what?“ Silverstream asked.
“Runaway for one. Whether they’re either an engine without a driver or a line of rolling stock that breaks away, most of the time those things end in a crash. Those can be serious depending on the cargo.”
Silverstream could only imagine how bad that could go. “So, we got lucky with the coaches?”
“Apparently. I’m impressed that Hilda based to push them with her train. I could’ve sworn I heard her wheels slipping.”
“That could’ve been bad on the climb to Canterlot.” Rusty just simply nodded not wanting to add more to this. Then a random idea struck the hippogriff. “What do you think it would be like to be an engine?”
“Like a living locomotive?“
“Yeah. How do you think could work?”
“Hmm, it kind of depends on how flexible you want them to be.”
“I think I’d keep them still. Though, I’m not too sure about how the faces would look. Just a pony’s head on the front doesn’t sound right me.”
“Maybe not.” After chatting around for a little bit, Copper Whistle soon walked in. “Okay, we’re good to head home now.” The students all headed outside and board the coaches that were heading to Ponyville. They sat back and enjoyed the last leg of the trip before they arrived at the station. Everyone started heading back to the school, though Rusty stayed behind to give his uncle a goodbye.
“Thanks for the trip, Uncle Copper,“ he said.
“It’s my pleasure, little one,“ the engineer said. “I’m glad you’re doing good at school. You’ve made some new friends.” He looked towards Silverstream, who helped Gallus onto the platform. “Welp, I better get this new shipment down to Appleoosa. Take care, Rusty.” With that, Copper Whistle climbed back into the engine’s cab and drove away.
“Bye, uncle,” Rusty called waving goodbye. Once the train was out of sight, he walked back home alongside Silverstream and Gallus.
“There was a lot more going on with trains than I thought,” Silverstream admitted.
“Well, there are things that surprise us in and out of Equestria,” Gallus shrugged.
“You think there are other creatures who use railroad systems?”
“Who knows,” Rusty shrugged. The friends made their way back to school, possibility to do some extra credit with what they had learned, but still thinking if there were other railroads out there. It could be possible, but that would be a story for another day.
