Tall Tales from Tall Tale: Birth of the Beast
The squeal, clang, and chuff of steel and steam echoed around the hills and trees that surrounded the growing town of Tall Tale, the relatively small railyard a buzz with activity in the late afternoon sun.
Along with the work being performed along the sidings and in the roundhouses, some very important business was about to take place in the large control tower at the center of it all, as Bulk Head walked into a meeting room containing two of his fellow owners, Ditch Light and High Ball.
"Afternoon gents." Bulk said with a nod as he closed the door behind him, before taking a look around. "Where's Hot Box?"
"Left out for The Grade 'bout an hour ago, this wasn't exactly a scheduled meetin' after all. So, what's got you all bent out of shape to call us together on short notice anyway?" Ditch Light asked as Bulk took his seat.
"Well, it's the product of a few days work, but I finally confirmed everything this morning. Boys, we've got a problem, and a tricky one at that."
He then motioned out the windows of the office at the rail car packed yard outside. "What do you see out there?"
The other two stallions looked at each other in confusion at the peculiar question. "A busy rail yard, why?" High Ball would eventually respond.
"Yes, but what about the tracks of the yard."
"Most of 'em are full." Ditch Light replied.
"That's our problem." Bulk stated matter-of-factly.
That got another confused look from the two. "How the hell can that be a problem? A full yard equals a busy yard, and a busy yard is a profitable yard." Ditch said with a bit of snark.
Bulk then held up a hoof, "Until it gets too full. Last Friday, Slip Yoke came to me and explained that he was starting to run into issues with shunters getting trapped and gridlocked. He hadn't thought much of it in early spring as traffic hadn't picked up with the summer rush yet, until that day when they nearly had a three train pile up. He was basically suggesting the yard was running out of space."
"Well that can't be right, at the end of the day we have like seven empty sidings usually." High Ball retorted.
"You are exactly right High Ball, but on average it's five actually. Not the point, the point is I started watching the traffic movements through the yard up in the control tower, and I noticed something. The yards start out with plenty of space in the morning, but as trains start to get made up and broke down as the day goes on, things slowly start to pack together. And there's a very simple reason why. There's a waiting line to get out on The Grade."
High Ball motioned to speak and Bulk gave him a nod. "We've been running trains across The Olde Grade at maximum safe capacity for the last six months, and you're saying that's not enough to handle the traffic increase?"
"That's exactly what I'm saying, because the problem isn't our yards, our mainline, or the capacity we're running them at. Our issue is twofold. Many of our customers who use us for raw materials have been increasing the size of their orders from the mines. While the consists are longer than before, our trains coming from The Cold North to Vanhoover aren't having issues, nor are the ones going from Tall Tale down south. The issue is when the trains have to tackle The Grade. The trains from the mines have gotten to the point that one engine cannot get the consist safely through the mountains, and even with two they're having a fight to get up. I've heard reports from some drivers that on a few of the longer ore trains, even two of our new 4-8-2's can barely hold 20mph on the hills."
That certainly got Ditch Light's and High Ball's attention. The 4-8-2's in question had just been bought 10 months prior and were the most powerful freight engines currently on offer.
"Hmmm, that's definitely a predicament…" Ditch Light said as he thought about the implications of said predicament.
"We already tried cutting trains down last time we ran into something like this, and that didn't solve anything. Even with the power of our new engines I doubt the result will be much different. I can see why you brought this up as quick as you did now." High Ball added as he also sat back to consider what they were to do.
"What we need, is an engine powerful enough to get these trains through the hills without struggling." Bulkhead said as he turned to look out at the yard.
"While that would be nice and all, a locomotive like that doesn't exist, we already got the most powerful traction on offer." Ditch Light snapped, with little reaction from the others. He may have been a stubborn and grumpy old stallion, but he was good at heart if you ignored it.
"Well, what if we changed that?" High Ball eventually said, bringing attention to him.
"How would we do that?" Bulk asked.
"Well, if you think about it, the locomotives on offer from the manufacturers are built to be sold to multiple railways, they're generic. While that's fine most of the time, we have to face facts gents, we're not an average railway. The gradients and tonnage we deal with is incomparable to any other line in the nation, period. Locomotives built to perform at an average level across all railways are simply just not going to cut it anymore for a railway that is the last word in average."
"What are you suggestin', High Ball?" Ditch Light finally asked.
"When I went to Canterlot last year to finalize the order of those 4-8-2's, I happened to get the chance to meet the main designer of the Canterhorn Locomotive Company, that Steam Punk fella. He gave me a card of his and told me to get in touch if we needed motive power again. Least I can do is run the idea by him and see if he even thinks it's doable."
"Do you have any idea how much it's goin' to cost to build even one example of such an engine? We just spent almost half the rolling stock budget on those new Mohawks." Ditch Light asked with an angered tone.
Being the main financial advisor of the railway, Ditch was always the one to think with bits in mind. Though it came to annoy the other three from time to time, his business know-how had been the main driving force that had allowed the railway to grow into what it was.
"No, and none of us do to be honest. We've never ordered a batch of engines custom, so I say we at least put the idea out to Canterhorn and see what they come back with." Bulk countered with a glance over at High Ball. "The least they can say is we're insane."
Ditch Light sat back and looked between the two of them, before leaning forward with a sigh and removed his glasses. "You're right. I just hate retirin' rollin' stock when it still has so much life left to it."
The other two relaxed a little and nodded, none of them liked retiring engines, each one was special to them. Many of the engines that ran on the line were old classes modernized several times over by the backshop crews. Hell of the original 8 engines the line started with, 5 of them were still in service, if limited use for some like #1 and #4.
"We won't be retiring anything. The only trains that seem to struggle are the heavy mineral and raw goods traffic. We'd only be shuffling the roster."
Ditch Light sighed and gave a nod, "You're right, we can easily find other work for the displaced engines and crews to perform. Faust knows we're getting more of it every month. Okay High Ball, write that designer at Canterhorn. If we're really goin' through with this, might as well get the best for the job."
High Ball and Bulk Head smirked to each other as High Ball gave a nod, "Will do Ditch."
~3 Days Later~
The clanging and beating of hammers and presses on metal rang loud in the air of building #2 at the Canterhorn Locomotive Company.
Across the sprawling complex, skilled tradesponies worked tirelessly on engines big and small in various stages of completion. Walking along the rows of engines, giving each he passed a quick inspection, was a dark green and bronze unicorn.
Steam Punk took great pride in the craftsmanship of his workers, and would often walk the construction lines when he got a free moment from his desk to see how various projects were progressing. He was in the middle of checking the connecting rods on an Atlantis frame being built for the Haywaukee Road when his assistant Brass Work tapped him on his shoulder, "Excuse me Mr. Punk, but a letter for you. I left it on your office desk."
"Thank you Brass Work, did you catch who it was from by chance?"
"That High Ball chap from Tall Tale if I remember correctly."
That peaked Steam Punk's attention, "High Ball? That's odd. He picked up the last of that M1 order a few months ago, I can't imagine they're having issues already." He mumbled to himself as he turned away from the engine frame and made his way back through the facility to the offices at the back.
Navigating through the hallways of other drafters and designers, he eventually arrived at his own and found the yellow envelope Brass Work had mentioned. Taking a seat he cracked the seal, pulling the letter out and he began to read.
Mr. Steam Punk, I write to you having found my railway in an interesting predicament that you may be the best pony to help us solve. While the recent batch of engines we ordered from your works have been performing above our expectations, we have started to notice that even they don't have enough power to move some of our heaviest trains. The gradients of our line are simply too much for them. I've discussed the issue with the other owners, and we feel the best solution to the matter is the construction of a new locomotive class. We don't have much in the way of requirements or specifications for this class, as we have no idea what an engine like this would require. Our only stipulation is that the engine be able to pull a 27,000 ton train up an incline of roughly 3.0% maintaining a speed of at least 25 mph, single headed. We understand if such a request is physically impossible, but we'd like to hear any sort of suggestions you have. Regards, High Ball of the Tall Tale Mountain Short Line.
Steam Punk sat back in his chair and read the letter over a second time to ensure he understood everything correctly, "Now isn't that something. I remember he mentioned the gradients on their line were steep, but I didn't expect them to be that extreme. And moving that kind of tonnage, it's a wonder they've grown so large with such a hindrance."
He sat there for a moment longer examining the letter before he nodded to himself and left his office once more. Making his way upstairs, he went straight for the telegraph room, "Excuse me Double Time."
Double Time the telegraph operator, turned as Steam Punk entered the room and called his name. "Something I can do for you Mr. Punk?"
"Can you get a message out to the Tall Tale Railway?"
The next morning brought a quiet start to the day inside Tall Tale headquarters as High Ball made his way to his office, nodding and exchanging good mornings with those he saw as he came up to his secretary's desk. "Good morning Mrs. Harthwood, a good start to your Thursday?"
The older mare smiled over her typewriter at him, "Of course High Ball, just as always. I have a telegram here for you that came yesterday after you left for the evening, seemed somewhat important." She said as she pulled out a small card and passed it to him.
High Ball looked at the card perplexed, "That's odd, I wasn't expecting any sort of telegram. I don't think we angered a customer recently." He said as he read the card.
His eyes would quickly grow wide, "Well this wasn't the response I was expecting. Excuse me Mrs. Harthwood but I need to meet with Bulk, Ditch, and Hot Box immediately."
"Is something wrong High Ball?"
"No, but we've got an important visitor on the way!" He quickly explained before turning and rushing off to gather up the other owners.
Conveniently, he found Bulk and Ditch talking with each other outside Bulk Head's office, "Woah High Ball, since when do you live up to your name?"
"Your horrible jokes can wait Bulk, I got a response back from Steam Punk!"
The other two owners would glance at each other in surprise, "Already? How?"
"He sent a telegram last night. Apparently he wants to talk about our new engine class face to face. He's coming here and got on the last train out of Canterlot yesterday, he'll be here by tomorrow morning!"
"What!" They both exclaimed in shock.
"Why the heck is he comin' here? When we did the Mohawk order, you went to Canterlot to see him. Does he normally travel to the railway when they ask to build a new engine class?" Ditch Light pondered.
"How the hell should I know, we've never custom ordered an engine class before." High Ball snapped back.
Bulk Head quickly stood between the two. "Easy fellas, no use in getting worked up at each other over this. He's already on his way, so let's worry about preparing for his arrival instead of bickering over why he's coming."
"And what exactly should we prepare? We're goin' in blind on this." Ditch commented.
"Best thing we can do is try and figure out all of the expectations we have for these new engines. High Ball, go track down Hot Box, he shouldn't have left the roundhouse yet. He should be included in the discussion this time" High Ball gave a nod as he turned and quickly made his way down the hall and towards the main roundhouse.
Bulk then pushed open the door to his office and motioned to Ditch Light. "Come on, let's get to brain storming." Ditch would respond with a nod as the door to Bulk Head's office closed behind them.
The next morning the four arrived early to the railyard and made sure they had everything set up in the main conference room. "So, when is he supposed to be here 'gain?" Ditch Light would ask.
"Well if he took the early evening express out of Canterlot, he should be on the morning express from Hoofington, which is due to arrive in about ten minutes." Hot Box replied.
"Well, we best get down to the station then." Bulk would say back as he stood, the other three quick to follow.
Before they had even exited the yard office, a long whistle could be heard from down the line. "Guess they're running early today, come on guys, let's hustle." High Ball said as they picked up the pace, they arrived at the platform just as the Smokey Mountain Flier, the main express service for the line, pulled into the station.
With a quick nod to the engine crew in acknowledgment for their timeliness, the four began to scan the crowd of disembarking ponies for their guest.
"What's he look like again High Ball?" Bulk would ask.
"Dark Green unicorn with a bronze mane, he should stick out pretty well."
Sure enough they caught sight of Steam Punk as he exited the second coach of the train. The four would quickly make their way over to him. "Well nice of you to stop by the railway Mr. Punk." High Ball would comment as they grew close.
The green unicorn would smile at the group as he took notice of them. "Ah, Mr. High Ball, good to see you again, and I take it these are your fellow managers you spoke of last time we met."
"Indeed they are. On my left here is Bulk Head, and on my right is Ditch Light and Hot Box."
Steam Punk would quickly exchange hoofshakes with the rest of them. "A pleasure to meet the lot of you at last. I have to say you run a lovely service for a small railway such as yours. I would have been tricked into thinking I was on the Manehattan Central if we weren't so far west."
The quartet of owners shared a smile, "We try our best. Small line or not service to our passengers is one of our top priorities. Now if you don't mind following us, we have our conference room set up back in the yard office so we may discuss the purpose of your visit." High Ball would remark.
Steam Punk returned the smile and gave a nod, "Of course, lead the way gentlecolts." With that, the five would turn and make their way back over to the yard office.
In no time at all the had taken their seats in the conference room. "I have to admit Mr. Punk, your quick response and decision to come here had us a bit surprised, is it normal for you to visit a line when they plan a custom engine?" High Ball would ask as the got settled.
"Please, just Steam Punk is fine. And I will admit myself, that making a visit such as this is unusual, normally I would have one of you come to meet with me back in Canterlot to work out a concept such as this. But I felt that this is a bit of a special occurrence, and that I should visit you instead."
"Oh really, and if I may ask what makes us so special?" Ditch Light would ask, trying to keep his voice from sounding skeptical.
"Well to put it simply, it is more the specifications of this engine class you want to build that are special more than anything. Now if I remember your letter correctly High Ball, you outlined a basic scope of 27,000 tons up a 3% grade at 25 mph single headed, correct?"
"Yes that's right. We put a little more thought into the matter yesterday and still feel that those are the bare minimum specs this class would require to suit our needs." Steam Punk gave a nod, "I see. Then allow me to get straight to the point gentlecolts. I'm sure you are aware that an engine of this kind with the amount of power you'd require to meet these specs has never been created before. As it stands your bare minimums would require an engine with the strength nearly three times that of even the strongest locomotives currently available. Constructing something like this would take current known and used building practices for locomotives to their very limit and beyond. While I am not one to start turning away work for my company, I have to ask, would it not be simpler to construct a line that doesn't have the heavy gradients of the one you currently run?"
"It would be, if such a line was possible." Bulk would state matter of factly.
"And why isn't it?"
"The Dragon's Tail range."
Steam Punk would look at Bulk with confusion, "The Dragon's Tail range? I don't follow."
"High Ball, grab the map."
High Ball would nod and moved to the back of the room, retrieving a large topographic map of the Smokey Mountains and laid it across the table before he began to explain. "The Smokey Mountains are one of the roughest mountain ranges to try and construct a railway through. When we were first plotting out the course for the trackbed, we quickly realized that trying to build East through the mountains was near impossible, because of the Dragon's Tail range." He would point to a long string of peaks off to the East of Dragon Tooth summit.
"The Range is a series of roughly twenty five peaks in a staggered line that stretches about two hundred miles East of here. While they aren't as tall as the Dragon Tooth Summit that we run along, they're even steeper. If we had tried to build over them, we would have needed numerous switch back systems to even make the idea feasible, and the gradients would have still been upwards of 3%. Trying to build through them wouldn't have worked, as that would require multiple sets of tunnels miles long in some cases, which would be a crew hazard. And we couldn't go around them as doing so would have added almost seven hours to the trip between Tall Tale and Vanhoover. The Range basically kills any idea of trying to build a main line East of what we already have laid down."
Steam Punk would examine the map in silence for a few minutes, sure enough none of them were lying. The terrain around the Dragon's Tail Range was a mess of steep gradients and tight valleys, there wasn't a good area to build a line he could see. Except for one. "What about through this valley here between these three peaks?"
The owner trio would look to the area Steam Punk was pointing to, though their faces would quickly fall as Ditch Light shook his head. "We thought that too, but that valley isn't called Snowedin valley for nothin'. It's a major avalanche zone thanks to those peaks, and the vibrations from our trains running through would bring the mountain down on top of us."
"Hmmm well we can't be having that now can we. I now see what you mean when you said the route you have laid down already is the only safe one over the mountain." Steam Punk would say with a hum of thought as he sat back in his chair. "I guess that brings us back to this engine idea of yours. I have to say you aren't giving me many solid physical requirements to work within, your requirements are more tailored towards after construction performance."
"Well we've never gone through the process of getting a custom engine created before, so we've been flying a bit blind in that regard. Plus as you said, what we've already laid out is going to push locomotive construction to its limit, so we felt it was better to give you more freedom to set specifications as you see fit." Hot Box would explain.
"I see. While I did say that this would push common building practices to their limits, that has been the case in the past with many engine type that have now become standard. Just about anything is possible given enough time to work out a proper design."
Ditch's eyes would narrow slightly, "Unfortunately, time is one thing we don't have a lot of. We've made 'nough changes to the scheduling to get us through the rest of the busy season and into fall without too much headache. But come next spring when we go back into the busy season, we'll be in the same boat as we are now."
Steam Punk would let out an unpleasing hum as he thought about that, less than six months was not enough time to design an engine of any caliper, especially one this unique. "I'm sorry but I simply cannot build an engine in that kind of time. I'd need the better part of a year or more to get a proper working prototype down on the rails for testing."
The three owners faces fell as they began to mumble between themselves, but as they did an idea hit Steam Punk that might just solve the issue of time. "You know something just came to me. I have a number of 2-10-0 freight engines in Canterlot right now that we're supposed to be heading to a railway in the Griffin Empire. However the railway that had purchased them recently informed us that they didn't need all the engines they had ordered. While not as fast as them they do have marginally more power than the M1's you just picked up, and were built for climbing gradients. Some of my staff are currently in the process of converting them back to an Equestrian loading gauge, and I can see to it that they're loaned to you for service until we get the finer details worked out and a prototype of this engine you're requesting built. That should alleviate your motive power problems through next year, and give my team the time it needs to work out a proper design for this engine class you are asking for."
The three turned to each other as they thought over this option, "How many is a number?" Hox Box would ask.
"Oh something like 28 if I remember correctly."
"And they'll be able to handle the gradients around here better than the new Mohawk types we just got?" Bulk would then add.
"Well I can't say they'll have the performance of this engine you're asking us to build, but yes they should be more suited to mountain climbing with freight trains than the mixed traffic Mountains."
"Are we gonna have to pay for them too?" Ditch would eventually grumble, his mind already contemplating the price such an arrangement would shoot up too.
"Only any examples you wish to keep when all is said and done, along with any maintenance issues that have to be addressed with the ones you return."
That actually made Ditch Light perk up a bit as a smirk crossed his muzzle. "Now that's somethin' I can get behin'."
Steam Punk would return the smile as he looked between the owners once more, "Well then gentlecolts, do we have a deal?"
The three would turn to each other and seem to hold a short conversation through facial expressions before all turning back with different forms of a smile.
"Now just one more thing before I make my way back to Canterlot, I would like to ride along with one of your freight crews over the mountain, preferably in one of the Mohawks. I want to get an idea of the kind of environment this new engine will be operating in."
The four across from him have a smile and a nod, before Bulk motioned to Hot Box, "Well it just so happens we have the engineer of one such locomotive sitting right here, and he's due out for a Grade run as soon as we're done here."
Hot Box nodded in confirmation as he stood up from his seat and motioned Steam Punk to follow him, "Come along Punk, can't keep the freight waiting, got schedules to keep and all."
Steam Punk sat in one of the meeting rooms back at the Canterhorn Locomotive Company as the last of his lead designers entered the room and took their seat. "Ah perfect, that's everypony, which means we can now get down to business."
"What do we got this time Punk? Don't tell me the Manehatten Central wants another faster express engine." Roll Plate, his head of boiler design and construction commented.
"No not this time thankfully, they seem to be pleased with the performance of our latest Hudson design so far. No the design that we'll be tackling next will be tailored more towards strength than speed. We just received a request from the Tall Tale Mountain Short Line for the construction of a new class of heavy freight engine."
That got many of the assembled designers and craftsponies mumbling, until one spoke. "Tall Tale… wait didn't we just fill an order for twenty one 4-8-2 mixed traffic types for them a few months ago. How could they already need a new freight engine class?" Crank Pin, head of running gear asked.
"Astute memory as always, Crank. Yes we did just deliver said order of M1's to the line about four months ago. But as they have recently explained to me, said locomotives do not have the power they require for their heavy goods work."
"Don't have the power? Those are the most powerful engines we have on offer besides the Griffonian Decopods. They're only a short line to boot, how much more power could they possibly need?" Roll Plate would ask with confusion.
"While yes they are only a short line, they honestly only barely fit that description anymore. Besides that, they handle the bulk of the iron ore and coal traffic coming into Equestria. I had the numbers run, and 72 percent of the iron ore we use for our manufacturing purposes first enters the nation through Vanhoover and thus through the T.T.M.S.L. This is actually part of their issue, and why they need this new engine class. Tall Tale and its railway has become the nation's largest hub for the movement of bulk raw materials, mostly coming from The Frozen North, and the traffic load has only been increasing with time."
This got some murmurs brewing among the assembly of ponies.
"Alright, that explains the why. So, what kind of specifications are we working within on this one?" Burning Cinder, head of cab ergonomics, would eventually say.
"That is where things are going to get interesting. They haven't given us much, but what they did give us will be a tall order."
"We managed to make a Hudson for the MHC capable of over 90 mph on the regular on a horseshoe thin budget, what could be a taller order than that?" Roll Plate said, getting a chuckle out of several in the room.
"This will be a challenge far greater than even that. We have been tasked with building a locomotive capable of hauling a 27,000 ton train up a gradient of 3.0 percent at a minimum speed of 25 mph."
The room went dead silent for a few moments.
"Excuse me, but WHAT?!?" One pony yelled, this time being Brass Work himself.
"There's no way that's physically possible." Roll Plate would state matter of factly.
"Does their line actually climb at 3.0 percent? Or is that just something they threw out there for an idea of power output. Because it is going to be hell trying to design a system that will allow a locomotive to control a train of that weight on that kind of grade." Slide Rod, head of brake system development asked and stated.
Steam Punk gave a nod, "Oh yes, their line does indeed run along those sorts of gradients. I saw them for myself first hoof."
In the corner, the last pony in the room, Greased Bearing, head of final production, had been running the numbers in his head. "That's going to require a locomotive with, like, four times the tractive effort of anything anypony anywhere has ever managed to create."
Again, Steam Punk gave a nod, "You are indeed right Greased. This will be the largest undertaking in locomotive design since the construction of the first successful regular service engine. While I am well aware this will not be an easy task, thankfully, the owners and managers of the T.T.M.S.L. are also well aware of this fact. The only specification they have given us is that of the locomotive's end performance that I have already explained to you. When it comes to achieving said performance, they have given us, carte blanche, as it were. They don't care how we do it, just that we get it done."
That once again brought the room back into silence, as the head designers began to think over this fact.
Steam Punk would then continue, "With that being said, I have a few final things to mention before you get to work on the endeavor. With how difficult of a task this will be for us to complete, we must look into every avenue possible. There will be no stupid ideas until proven so, even ideas that may have failed in the past. Work closely with your teams, reach out to any contacts you have, be they from Equestria or abroad. Every trick in our book is at your disposal on this one, use it to your advantage."
He would take one last look around the room to make sure his words had hit home. He would then give a final nod as he leaned away from the desk. "Alright, that should be everything. You have your orders, and you know what your teams will be tasked with. This is our priority project right now, so I want you to get to work on it immediately. Any and all progress shall be updated to myself personally. That'll be all."
Those gathered in the room returned a nod to him before getting up and leaving the office, quickly making their ways back to their teams to get to work on the immense project that had been laid before them.
All, that is, except for Brass Work.
"I'm not one to doubt you Steam Punk, but are you sure we are going to be able to accomplish this? Breaking the engineering norm may be our company's strong suit, but this is much more than introducing a new bearing type or reversing gear design."
Steam Punk gave a nod and a slight sigh, "I am well aware, Brass. I wasn't exaggerating for dramatic effect when I said this will be the largest undertaking of locomotive design and engineering ever attempted. But I have faith in the work of the ponies under our charge. They've taken challenges like this before in stride and pulled off the seemingly impossible before, I'm all but certain they can manage it again."
He then turned and moved to walk out of the office. "Come now Brass Work. We best get to work ourselves. I foresee the next few months around here being very, interesting."
Brass went to make a reply when seemingly the whole building was shaken by the shout of a single word.
"WHAT!"
Brass Work let out a sigh of his own, "Yes, very interesting indeed."
It was about two weeks later as Steam Punk was pouring over a series of old tests from the R&D department into trying to increase the work efficiency of cylinders when he was distracted from his work by a knock on his door.
"Come in." He would state before the door opened and Roll Plate walked in. "Ah Roll Plate, what can I do for you?"
Roll Plate would grab a folder out of his saddle bags as he approached his boss's desk. "I might have stumbled across an interesting concept that might just make this locomotive the Tall Tale Railway is asking for possibly, possible."
That immediately caught Steam's attention as Roll Plate placed the folder on his desk. "Oh? And what might that be. I wasn't expecting breakthroughs so quickly."
"I, wouldn't call it a breakthrough just yet, given the history of this concept." Roll Plate would state as Pun opened the folder, and began to explain.
"I have a good friend who lives in and works for a locomotive company in Prance. When I mentioned this project of ours to him, he thought of an old attempt at increasing locomotive power and efficiency that took place shortly after he began his work for this company. It was an attempt at constructing a high pressure steam locomotive."
"High pressure locomotive?" Steam asked in confusion, "Our latest designs are pushing over 200 psi working boiler pressure, would that not be considered high pressure?"
"Within the context of locomotive boilers, yes. But not within the context of boiler building as a whole. When it comes to the world of boiler making, a boiler is considered high pressure when it has a working pressure exceeding 350 psi. If someone could successfully build a locomotive with a boiler of this type, in theory it would majorly boost the power output the locomotive would be capable of, and possibly even increase fuel efficiency."
Steam Punk gave a hum as he went over the notes and designs present in the folder, "While this does sound promising, I'm not liking how you keep using words like "possibly" and "in theory". On top of that, if this design holds the potential that you say it does, I could almost see this having become another standard of engine design. What am I missing."
Roll Plate have a sigh. "Well that's where we start running into issues. This Prench locomotive company only ended up building one example of a locomotive with this high pressure set up, and, it was a bit of a failure. No that's too nice, it was a complete failure of their own creation. They got this idea and took it to the extreme immediately."
"Extreme you say? Alright, I'll bite, how high of a pressure did they go? 500? 600?" Roll Plate let out a little snicker,
"Yeah, try 1800."
Steam Punk's eyes went wide, "Run that by me again."
"Ok, not exactly 1800 psi, it was more of a three piece boiler in a way. There was an 1800 psi boiler chamber that ran a 900 psi boiler which powered the center high pressure cylinder, before being channeled into a more standard 250 psi boiler that ran the two outside "low pressure" cylinders." Roll Plate said as he flipped to an engineer's drawing of the locomotive in question and pointed out the different boiler sections.
Steam Punk looked these drawings over for a moment to fully comprehend the concept. "So it basically had three different boilers running at three different pressures all tied together, then running three cylinders that operated at two different working pressures?"
"In simple terms, yes."
Steam sat back in his seat with a small frown on his face, "Sounds like a needlessly over complex mallet type, but in a straight frame."
Roll Plate gave a nod, "As I said, they took the idea to its extreme immediately, and it would ultimately be the engine's downfall. The downfall was an accident that happened during one of its trial runs. There was a backdraft explosion in the 1800 psi chamber, severally burned the crew and killed the chief designer of the company that built the boiler, the design got mothballed after that. I've been able to dig up one or two other attempts at high pressure designs, but they were failures as well. Everyone keeps running into the same problem, when the boiler doesn't just outright explode, the engines are poor steamers. Sure when they have full pressure they're powerful and efficient machines, but no one can figure out how to keep pressure up on 'em. The firebox just can't keep up with the demands of the boiler. Different ideas have been tried, but in the end the same outcome comes from it, poor steaming."
Steam Punk humed to himself as he looked over the engineer drawing again. As he had said the locomotive he was looking at was needlessly complex and he had the feeling even with their more modern materials and manufacturing techniques compared to when these plans were attempted to be brought to reality, they would fail with the same issues.
"So, how does this help us with the Tall Tale locomotive? I refuse to let any engine leave these works as a poor steamer, let alone one that's to be pulling heavy freight up long grades."
Roll Plate nodded his understanding, "I completely agree, I'm not sure yet how we could get around the steaming problem, but I did run some basic numbers, and I think if we could find some way to make a boiler system capable of proper, main line operation while having a working pressure of 400-500 psi, we might just be able to achieve what the Tall Tale Railway has asked of us."
Staring down at his desk again, Steam Punk mulled this over in his mind for a few moments before looking back up. "Have two teams start working on the idea, one handling the issue of poor steaming, the other figuring out just how to build this type of boiler. But keep the majority of your staff working on a solution to this issue using more conventional designs, in case this doesn't work out. I can't afford any more setbacks than absolutely necessary, understand?"
Roll Plate grabbed the folder from Punks desk with a nod. "Understood boss, I'll get them right on it."
With a nod of his own, Steam Punk watched as Roll Plate left the office, a number of thoughts sworming his mind at this new development.
Almost a month and a half later Steam Punk was in his office, hard at work on a basic engineering outline of the first concept to what most everypony at the CLC had taken to calling "the monster engine", when there was a frantic knocking at his door. Before he could even respond Roll Plate and presumably one of his team members entered his office.
"Punk! We did it!" Roll Plate yelled as he came in, leaving Steam Punk confused.
"Did what exactly?"
"We cracked the high pressure steaming problem!"
"Think we cracked it…" mumbled the pony next to him, a folder looking to contain blueprints held under one of his forelegs.
"Really? Now that is interesting. How exactly?"
Roll Plate motioned to the other pony in the room, "Quick Burn here will explain, he's the head of the team that I put in charge of cranking the problem." He then turned to Quick Burn, "Well Burny, the floor is yours."
Quick Burn gave a nervous nod before pulling the blueprints out of the folder he was carrying and placed them on Steam Punk's desk. "W-we call it an artificial draft firebox. I had a few talks with some ponies working with Slide Rod about the braking system the engine will need and they have determined that they will need at least three large Westinghorse pumps to supply the air reservoir tank they're planning to fit the engine with, but of course those pumps won't all be needed constantly. Usually, when those pumps aren't needed, since they can't be turned off, the excess air is just purged off. Well, my team and I came up with a system where, instead of just purging the air, it would be routed into the base of the firebox just above the rocking grates with a series of nozzles. This would basically induce a blowtorch like effect right at the base of the fire, increasing the temperature the fire burns at and the amount of water it can boil into steam. We've run some basic numbers and if they're correct, this firebox design should be able to support a boiler up to 510 psi working pressure. We'll be able to confirm that once the 1/10 scale model is finished being built and ready for testing."
That got Steam Punk's attention as he glanced between Quick Burn, the blueprint design of the firebox just described to him, and back again. "You do understand that you have to put in requests for test model construction, through me correct?"
Quick Burn gave a nervous nod, "Yes sir I do."
"Then why is this the first time I'm hearing about it?"
Quick Burn scuffed a hoof on the floor of the office. "W-well… while I was sure that I was correct about everything, I still wanted to run a few more equations and put a bit more work into the design. A-and with the high priority you've put on this engine's construction, I felt the near two week head start would be appreciated."
Silence filled the room as Steam Punk sat there contemplating what to say next, leaving Quick Burn to hold his breath and pray he wasn't about to return to his desk to clean it out instead of continuing work on his design.
Eventually, Steam Punk spoke, "While your determination and initiative are commendable, if you ever pull a stunt like this again, it will mean your job. Understood?"
Quick Burn quickly responded with a series of fast nods. "Good. Inform me when the scale model is complete and of the results of the test. This idea is good on paper Mr. Quick Burn, but so are many failed concepts. You may return to your work."
Quick Burn nodded again and hastily gathered his blueprints before exiting the office with a rushed, "Thank you Mr. Steam Punk", and disappeared down the hall.
Steam would then turn to Roll Plate, "Do you think this idea will actually work, Roll Plate?"
Plate gave a shrug, "As well as any other we got right now. My main team still hasn't made any legitimate progress into making this engine possible with a standard style boiler."
Steam couldn't suppress a groan escaping his mouth, "I was afraid of that. Almost three months of work and we're no closer to having this problem of power figured out. I guess we better hope Quick Burn is on to something with this, artificial draft firebox of his, or we might be dead in the water."
Roll Plate placed a comforting hoof on Steam Punk's shoulder, "Hey don't worry about it Punk, I've got faith in the kid."
"We all need to have faith in him right now I'm afraid."
Almost two weeks later Steam Punk walked into the detached testing building assigned to the boiler construction division, entering into a stronghold-like room made of thick brick and blast resilient glass that looked out into the main testing chamber.
The construction of the room and the building that housed it was almost bunker like, and for good reason. Just a few years prior they had a close scare when an experimental test boiler had exploded and badly injured six workers, the safety room was quickly constructed after that.
He watched as at least a dozen ponies milled around the half size test boiler and fire box that may be the solution to the Tall Tale problem. One of them, Quick Burn himself, would soon exit the boiler room and join Punk in the safe room.
"Well, how are the results?" He would ask.
Quick Burn would quickly organize a few papers in a folder before passing it to Steam Punk. "We have run a number of tests already, and discovered just as many things we've had to tweak with the design. Most of them we've been able to rectify already, but there are a few we are trying to figure out yet. However, with that being said, I can say with some certainty that, this will work. It's been nerve wracking as we've never tested boilers up to 475 psi, but she will make the pressure, hold it, and withstand it. In addition we have confirmed that the firebox can support a working boiler pressure of 415 psi. We feel that's ideal pressure to run this system at for mechanical integrity, efficiency, and usable power output." Quick Burn would explain as Steam Punk went over the written test results.
All of this was music to his ears, the young designer had just saved the Tall Tale Monster with his fire box design. "That is exceptional news, that means we can move along with a proper draft design. Now, what were these issues that you mentioned that you have yet to overcome?"
Quick Burn would let out a bit of a sigh at that, "They mostly have to do with the increased temperature of the fire within the firebox due to the artificial draft. The heat is so intense that we've experienced issues with the crown sheet warping even at full water level, bricks in the arch cracking and even partially melting in some of the hotter sections, and creating a fusible plug that won't just melt at normal operating temperature. An additional side effect of that is an increased appetite for coal."
That got Punk to raise an eyebrow, "I thought these high pressure systems are supposed to be more efficient to allow for the burning of less coal?"
"Oh they are, in fact that's the only saving grace of my design. If not for the high pressure system the firebox would require almost four times as much coal as a standard design. As it is, the coal usage is only 1.75 times more than a standard design of a firebox of this size. Even with that though, we doubt on a production road version of this design, that a physical firepony will be able to keep up with the demands for coal with simple shoveling, so we're working to design an auto stoker system for the production model."
Steam Punk let out a little hum as he thought about these setbacks. While much less than he was expecting with the previous records of high pressure steam designs, they would still need to be rectified to make the engine a success. "Do you think you can fix these issues to make the boiler and firebox design feasible for production?"
Quick Burn would give a little nod. "While we are only in the beginning stages of solving them, we feel it is possible to do so and make the design viable."
That was the exact answer Steam Punk as hoping to hear, "Perfect. Well best let you get back to it then. But I do ask that you all be careful with how you're climbing over and around the test unit, especially if the heat is warping the crown sheet. Now if you excuse me, I need to have a bit of a discussion with Crank Pin before I return to my office."
Quick Burn nodded and disappeared back into the test room while Punk exited the bunker and made the walk back to the main structure of Building #2. Making his way to the running gear department, he soon found himself at Crank Pin's office.
Knocking as he entered, Crank Pin would look up from his work, "Oh hey Punk, what can I do for you?" "I just got back from the test building, while it still has a few teething issues to figure out, Quick Burn has confirmed that his firebox design is successful and capable of supporting a high pressure boiler."
Crank Pin's eyes grew wide at this, "Holy hell the kid actually did it, ain't that something."
Steam Punk gave a nod, "It is indeed. I was about to head back to my office and get to work on a full engineering print for the engine but I need one bit of information from you."
"Yeah sure, whatcha need."
"What is the maximum diameter cylinder we can use for this design and still leave track clearance for two of them to pass."
Crack Pin blinked and stated at Punk for a moment, "Excuse me?"
"How wide can the cylinders be, with a three cylinder setup?" Steam stated bluntly.
Crank Pin's eyes only grew wider, "Three cylinders?!? You want to run a compound set up on this thing?"
"No no, it will still be simplex, all will get direct steam pressure from the boiler. So, those diameters."
Crank Pin took a moment to soak this in before returning to his desk and dug through a stack of papers, pulling out a few before turning and scribbling on a few. After a few moments of going back and forth between his stacks, he turned back to Steam Punk, "If you want them to all be the same size, 34 inches. Absolute max."
Saying nothing more, Steam Punk gave a nod and turned before making his way to the door of Crank's office.
"Uhh Punk, how big are you planning to make those cylinders exactly?" Crank Pin asked, already forming in his mind thoughts on how much of a pain this cylinder block was going to be to cast.
As he opened the door to the office, Steam Punk would say only three words over his shoulder before leaving.
"Thirty four inches."
It was almost a month later that the head engineers were gathered in the conference room once again, staring at the blue print Steam Punk had sat before them.
It would be some time before somepony spoke, it being Roll Plate first, "I have to say Steam Punk, this has to be the craziest thing you have ever sat in front of us at any point in time. You seriously think we can pull this off in what, seven months?"
Steam Punk couldn't help but give a little chuckle, "Yes I'm aware it's a bit of an, ambitious design. But I feel if we focus on this as we would with any other priority project, we should be able to complete a working prototype by the time the Tall Tale owners will come asking for results."
The other designers murmured between themselves, some of the same opinion as Steam Punk, others feeling this engine was still a bit of a pipe dream, even with all the work they had done to make it work in reality.
"Well, what are we waiting for then, we don't really have time to waste right now." Brass Work would state as he rolled up his copy of the design.
"No, no we don't." Steam Punk said as he turned to his team. "Well, you heard the stallion, let's get to work."
It was an early morning in early spring as a Canterhorn and Ohayo express bounced along the mainline that lead to Lower Canterhorn station, the station at the bottom of Canterhorn Mountain where ponies would change trains to head up to Canterlot itself. Three ponies sat in one of the first class cars however, had no plans to make such a trip.
"So, he didn't say anything about whether or not he was able to meet our requirements?" Bulk Head asked as looked out the window towards the towering mountain that held the nation's capital, they were less than an hour away now.
High Ball shook his head, "As I said when the letter came in, no. All he said was that he had a working prototype completed and that we should come examine it today."
Ditch Light couldn't help but grumble from his spot next to High Ball, "I hope this thing is worth it. I took a look at our projected traffic report before we left last night and we're already expectin' an increase in goods traffic and we haven't even hit the busy part of the spring season yet. Those griffin engines saved us through late summer and fall, but they aren't all that much better on The Grade than the Mohawks. We've bet our ability to move traffic this year on this new crazy engine he's cooked up, so it better deliver."
While the other two didn't want to voice it in such an explicit manner, they knew once again Ditch Light was right. Steam Punk had promised up and down during their last correspondence before this call to meet that he would have models of this new engine of his ready for them to use by the summer season. They had planned their whole year around this, so they needed him to deliver on this promise.
Steam Punk watched over a slumbering monster from above the shop floor as his workers set about waking it from it's nap again. Completing the engine within the deadline he had given had been a tall order, especially when it started breaking their test equipment. But now it sat there before him, fire slowly coming to life in its belly as it was readied for the arrival of the Tall Tale owners.
Brass Work came up next to him and joined in staring down at the monstrous machine. "It still amazes me what we've managed to pull of with this one. I was sure you had finally gone mad when you told me about the agreement you made with Tall Tale to build this thing."
Steam Punk couldn't help but let out a few hardy chuckles, "I'll be honest, for about two months there I thought the exact same thing. I knew this was going to be difficult but it never really dawned on me just how bad it was going to be until we really started digging into it. But in the end we seem to have pulled it off, now we just have to see if the Tall Tale ponies agree."
Brass then turned away from the engine, "Speaking of them, they're supposed to be here soon aren't they."
Punk gave a nod, "I've already sent Porter out to the station to collect them, their train will be arriving within the hour. That's why I have them running final checks as the engine builds steam."
Brass nodded before smirking over at Steam Punk, "So, how you feeling?"
"More nervous than I ever have in my life."
The mid morning express let off a cloud of steam as it came to a stop at Lower Canterhorn station. A crowd of ponies soon descended onto the platform, with a number heading off to make their connections.
"This place is a lot bigger than I expected." Bulk Head mumbled as the three Tall Tale ponies departed the train.
"Do we even know where we're goin'?" Ditch Light grumbled as he stretched his old body out.
It was at that moment, a dark grey stallion with a short cut two tone red mane walked up to the three of them, " 'xcuse me sirs" he asked, bringing the trio to a stop, "Would you happen to be here from the Tall Tale Short Line?"
The three looked at each other with slight surprise before turning back, and High Ball spoke, "That we are. Why do you ask?"
The other stallion smiled broadly, "Well my name is Davenport, but most just call me Porter. I've been sent by Mr. Steam Punk to guide you over to the CLC workshop so you may inspect the prototype of your engine."
The three owners were a little surprised by this but soon recovered and gave Porter a nod, "Well then, if that's the case, lead on Mr. Porter." High Ball said with another nod, and the three soon fell instep behind the red and black stallion.
Back at the Canterhorn Locomotive Works, Steam Punk had not moved from his spot overlooking the giant Tall Tale engine as it simmered softly, already having built up a good head of steam and was quickly getting up towards it's normal working pressure. He was so focused as he mentally prepared himself for the presentation to come, he didn't hear as Brass Work came up beside him once more.
"Porter just arrived at the front entrance, they're here."
Punk closed his eyes and took a deep breath before slowly letting it out as he turned to Brass Work, "Well, best not keep them waiting, we've done that enough already."
As the three Tall Tale ponies were led up to the shop bay doors of shop 2, they caught sight of a familiar green and gold stallion walking towards them with another stallion of brass colored coat and gold grey mane following close behind.
"High Ball, Bulk Head, Ditch Light, it's good to see you all face to face again. I take it Mr. Hot Box will not be joining us?" Steam Punk said as the two groups met and exchanged hoof shakes with each other.
"Er, um, no unfortunately." Bulk stumbled out, "He is currently, out of action you could say."
"Shame, I was looking forward to seeing him again after he took me on that run over the Smokey Mountains. Oh well, it can't be helped I'm sure. Now, if I may introduce my assistant, Mr. Brass Work, he has been a major help throughout the entirety of this project."
"Nice to meet the three of you at last. Steam Punk had spoken quite highly of your line."
The three shared a smile, "Well that warms our hearts, even Ditch Light's over here." High Ball said, earning a disgruntled 'Hey!' from Ditch as the whole group shared a laugh.
"Speaking of our line." Bulk Head said as the regained themselves, "We hate to move immediately into the business side of this meeting, but we have planned our entire summer running season around this engine that you've built, and we are very anxious to see it."
Steam Punk nodded his understanding, "Of course, I can imagine this is a tense moment for all of you. If you would follow me over to building 2, I'd be happy to introduce you to your new motive power." They nodded their agreement and fell in step behind Steam Punk and Brass Work.
As they walked though, Bulk Head couldn't help but voice something that was on his mind. "I hope you don't mind me asking, but you said building 2, wouldn't it make sense to have your main works be building 1?"
Steam and Brass chuckled, "It used to be." Steam began to explain, "But building 1 is relatively small compared to the rest of the compound, our needs quickly outgrew it. It is still used though, it's our main office and R&D department now." He said, motioning towards a building off to their left that was about half the size of building 2, and had only three tracks leading into it compared to 2's eight. "Buildings 3 through 5 are where we work on standardized designs, much like the Mohawks you originally ordered. They're set up for more assembly line production. Building 2 however, that's for the special project. This, is where the true magic happens."
He finished as they approached the stretched out brick building with a large #2 sign hanging about its center. The doors for the eight tracks into the interior were open, but at the angle they approached they could not see inside.
This was all part of Steam Punk's plan however.
Letting out a loud whistle, Steam waited until a pony popped their head out of the third door, and then gave them a nod. Nodding back, the pony soon disappeared back into building 2's hidden interior.
There was silence for a few seconds before another whistle filled the air.
A loud, deep, thundering steam whistle letting out a long blast that seemed to echo for miles.
The three Tall Tale ponies were just able to keep themselves from jumping at the alien sound, none of them had ever heard a steam whistle sound like that before. Said whistle let out another long low cry before the sound of air brakes releasing filtered through the yard.
And then came the bark.
They had thought the whistle was deep and unusual, but it had nothing on the engine's bark. They would swear they saw the walls of building 2 shudder as the air shook with each loud baritone blast. They stood waiting in awe as it seemed a monster was crawling out of its brick prison.
And then the monster saw light.
All three of their jaws hit the ground as the engine slowly slid out from behind the shop doors. They noted the three frontal mounted Westinghorse pumps softly thumping away, the strange and large cylinder block suspended between the front six wheel lead truck, the thick high mounted boiler over the ten turning drive wheels, the enormous firebox, and the set back six wheel rear truck sat perfectly under the almost tiny cab, at least in comparison to everything that sat in front of it. Painted proudly on the sides of the cab in bright gleaming white, was the number #9320.
Their jaws left an indent in the ground as the tender followed out behind the engine, standing just as tall and seemingly just as long as the engine herself.
They dug small holes in the ground with their jaws when the second tender rolled out behind the first and the engine finally stopped its slow crawl and came to a stop with a mighty hiss of air and steam.
Steam Punk and Brass Work couldn't help but smile broadly at the sight of the Tall Tale ponies' surprise and amazement. Steam Punk let them soak it in for a few moments longer before speaking up again, "Gentlestallions, it is my pleasure to present you the results of our efforts over the last 11 months. May I introduce, the 932 freight class heavy grade ten wheeler, or HG-10 for short."
It took a bit of willpower for Steam Punk to hold in a chuckle as he watched the Tall Tale owners continue to stare at his creation mouths agape for a few moments longer before they were able to shake themselves from their stupor. High Ball was the first to recover, "Punk, I know we gave you free will to build this engine to our end spec, but we never saw this coming. This, this thing is..."
"Ginormous…" Bulk finished for him as he continued to stare at the new engine.
This time Steam Punk couldn't hold in his chuckle, "Well as I told you, it was not going to be easy to build an engine to your specs, so we had to pull out all the tricks in the book to construct this beauty. I'll be honest with you stallions, this locomotive is not only the most powerful, but also the most advanced locomotive built to date. If you'd like, we can walk you through all her features."
The three would give a nod, not able to find words to speak as they approached the simmering engine, her fresh paint work reflecting the high afternoon sun.
"Now I'm sure you have several questions about this design, but please hold them as I'm sure I'll answer them in time. Now, one of the things you might have noticed is the large scale of the boiler and firebox. The size of both is necessary as this locomotive runs off of high pressure steam. And before you ask, no the engines you run right now are not considered high pressure, I had to have that one explained to me myself. This locomotive however is, as she runs with a working boiler pressure of 415 psi."
"What!?!" All three would yell hearing that.
"Hehehe, yes you heard me right. Building a boiler capable of running at that pressure was the only practical way we could meet the requirements you set out for us, which was difficult since a high pressure design had never succeeded before. However, thanks to the work and ingenuity of the ponies in my employment, we were able to solve their issue of poor steaming with the invention of this." He said as he motioned to the large firebox, as Brass Work took over.
"This is no ordinary firebox, we have taken to calling it a Quick Burn firebox after the pony who led the team which invented it. It creates an artificial draft utilizing the exhaust of the three Westinghorse pumps to induce a blowtorch like effect at the base of the firebox, increasing the intensity of the fire and thus boiling more water, giving it the ability to hold the high boiler pressure. With that much steam on demand, it gave us the ability to put some serious power down to the rails." He said as they walked along the drive wheels towards the front of the engine.
"These drive wheels are 58 inches tall, perfect for a mix of high speeds, for freight at least, and power output. You might notices that the connecting rods are a bit, chunkier than ones you might see on a typical engine, like the Griffonian Decopods we lent to you. In fact they are ¾ of an inch wider and almost an inch and a half taller than those on the Decopods. This had to be done to ensure they could withstand the forces being placed upon them. As I said, we're putting some serious power down to the rails with this locomotive."
As they got closer to the front, the Tall Tale Trio would get their first chance to take a good look at the cylinder block of the engine, and that's when Bulk finally noticed it. "Wait a second, what's with the weird linkage on these cylinders."
Steam Punk would smile, "I was just about to get to that. With so much steam at our disposal thanks to the boiler and firebox combo, we were able to go to the limit with the cylinders on this locomotive. The purpose of the strange linkage on the front, as you put it, is to keep them all in time. This locomotive has not two, but three cylinders, with the third running to the center drive axle to allow for a power stroke every third of a wheel turn instead of half."
All the eyes of the Tall Tale Trio went wide at this, three cylinders, they had never seen a locomotive with this setup, it was still a rare and relatively new way of engine building.
Steam Punk's smirk grew wider, "And if having three cylinders wasn't enough, these are the largest to be used on a simplex steam design to date, measuring 34 inches in bore, and 36 inches in stroke. All of these features added together has led to the creation of, the most powerful locomotive to ever see the rails in the world, by a far margin."
It took the Tall Tale ponies a moment once again to regain themselves after hearing all of this, however Ditch Light was the first one to recover this time, "How powerful are we talking here?"
Steam Punk had to hold in a laugh, only letting out a few low chuckles, "That's the funny thing, we have no idea."
There was a jump of shock from the three in front of him. "What!" Ditch Light yelled, "What do you mean you don't know! How can it be as powerful as you say it is if you don't even know the figure!?!"
The smirk on Punk's face never faded and he motioned for Brass Work to explain, "Well you must understand, we tried to figure it out, but the locomotive wouldn't let us know. We have a machine in our shop that allows us to measure tractive effort, and it was originally built to handle a max of 120,000 ilf, a bit much for most locomotives of the current era but always good to over engineer test equipment than under engineer. Well, when we put this locomotive on there, well, she broke it."
Wide eyes met him again, earning another chuckle from CLC duo, "Oh yes, broke all our gauges and testing rig. So we rebuilt it and reinforced the components the best we could, and from our calculations it should have been able to handle up to 245,000 ilf of tractive effort. And wouldn't you believe it, she broke everything to pieces again. We currently are working on designing a new T.E. measurement machine that might let us finally know the true power of this locomotive, but that won't be done for another month at best and we felt you'd rather like to play with your new toy instead."
The two engineers were surprised that the trio didn't have to pick their jaws up off the ground again, but they were staring at them with enough shock to make up for it. Brass smiled and kept pressing his advance, "Besides that, we set this locomotive up with every bell and whistle under the sun, steam powered headlight and cab lights, rocking grates, forward and backwards steam powered sanders, superheat steam system, automatic lubrication system for the running gear, automatic stoker system, roller bearings on every axle, the works."
"Hold on a second." High Ball said, finally able to to edge a word in as the shock wore off, "Automatic stoker system? What exactly is that?"
Brass Work stopped for a moment to turn to High Ball with a slight look of confusion, before realization hit Steam Punk and he stepped in again, "Oh right, I forget that auto stokers aren't common in the industry yet. We've been working with the Manehatten Central a lot recently and they've been having them put in all their new express locomotives, and if I remember correctly the Canterhorn and Ohayo is having a new class built with them as well. Anyway, not the point, an automatic stoker system is basically a mechanical firepony. It uses an auger to pull coal from the tender and move it up to the firebox where steam jets distribute it eventually across the grating. We did this because, well, even with all of its advancements, the Quick Burn style firebox consumes more coal than a typical firebox design. Not immensely more, but noticeably, and we felt that in a normal working situation hauling heavy freights up the gradients of your line, a physical firepony would not be able to keep up with the locomotive's demands. They'll have enough to worry about as it is anyway."
The three Tall Tale ponies turned and nodded to each other, clearly liking the sound of this answer. After a short, silent, conversation between them, Bulk Head would turn back to Punk with a question clearly on his lips, but Steam Punk saw it coming. "You want to know about the twin tenders, don't you?"
Clearly surprised Steam Punk knew what he was about to ask, Bulk would only answer with a nod. Steam Punk gave another chuckle as he motioned for the others to follow him back down the length of the locomotive. "As I said, this engine has a heavier appetite for coal and water than a typical design, and we felt she would be more useful being able to make it across the mountain without having to stop, so we gave this locomotive the fuel capacity to do that. The front tender holds the coal, and can carry 35 tons, while the water tender has a capacity of 50,000 gallons. This should allow her to make it over the mountains without having to stop for a fuel up, as long as the engineer and firepony know what they're doing."
With his last piece said, Steam Punk and Brass Work turned to the Tall Tale ponies and smiled before Punk spoke again, "So Gentlecolts, what do you think of your new locomotive?"
They didn't even need to respond, the two could tell by the looks on their faces that they were deeply impressed, even the skeptical Ditch Light. "So, any questions?" Brass Work would ask after a few moments to let everything soak in.
The trio would remain quiet for a few seconds, before Bulk Head spoke up, "Actually, I have one, just one though."
"By all means."
Bulk would turn to look down the shimmering length of the locomotive before turning back to Brass, "While everything about this engine is extremely impressive, no doubt about it, something we are very concerned about on the T.T.M.S.L. is safety. The high pressure boiler may be the key to her immense power, I can't help but see it as a possible safety risk. We know all too well, and I'm sure you two do just as much, that boilers are basically well managed bombs on the best of days. With a pressure as high as 415 psi, what's stopping this from turning into such a destructive device?"
Brass Work and Steam Punk would look at each other, they had been expecting this question eventually but not worded in such a way. Steam Punk would give a little nod as he took over for Brass, "I can completely understand where you are coming from Bulk Head. We've had our own share of close shaves within our own works with boiler explosions, and the one on this locomotive would definitely be far more destructive if it was to succumb to such a scenario. But thankfully, we did take that into consideration with the locomotive's design. Mounted just in front of the cab on top of the firebox is a set of four safety valves. The front two are set to pop off at 430 psi, what we considered the safe maximum pressure for the boiler. The rear two are set to pop at 455 psi, just in case the first two aren't enough to relieve pressure. The firebox has also been constructed with a series of fusible plugs in case temperature gets two high, and we've equipped her with six water injectors. Four are primary for regular use and the other two are back ups in case there's a failure out on the line to ensure water can be fed to the boiler. Each has its own direct line to the tender so a failure in one will not corrupt the other five. Trust us, with how experimental this design is, we took every precaution we could think of to reduce the possibility of boiler explosion."
This answer seemed to please both Bulk Head and his fellow owners as the turned and nodded to each other, before Bulk Head turned back to Steam and Brass. "Well, where do we go from here?"
Steam smiled back at them, "Now, we need to properly road test this machine. And we feel there is no better way to do that than to take her to Tall Tale and see how she performs in her desired role."
"Makes sense to me." High Ball said as he stepped up next to Bulk, "So, when do you plan on getting her over to the mountain."
Steam and Brass shared another smile before Brass spoke, "Right now actually. We had a feeling you'd be satisfied with this locomotive so we had some of our staff work on assembling a short consist for her to pull before we head out. Nothing serious, just a coach for us and you three, and a few box cars with our tools and some replacement components in case anything goes wrong. If you'd mind following us, we'll get set up in the coach while our crew gets the locomotive ready for her run."
A little surprised with how prepared both Steam Punk and Brass Work were, they gave a little nod as the group of five made their way over to the little train waiting for them.
It was late afternoon the next day when the mini train with its monster engine rolled into the yards of Tall Tail, coming to a stop on one of the station's passing tracks. It wasn't long before the strange mass of steel and steam attracted attention from many of the ponies moving around the station and yard. None had seen such a locomotive before, of course, and its imposing stature was hard to ignore.
Soon one of the doors attached to the coach behind the locomotive opened and out stepped the three Tall Tail owners and the lead design duo of the Canterhorn Locomotive Company. "Well she survived the trip out here without issue." Ditch Light said as he stretched out, having grown more and more impressed with this potential investment the longer he was around it.
"We anticipated as such, but we felt it was best to be prepared just in case. This is still an untested design, so best to air on the side of caution." Brass Work said as he stepped down next to Ditch.
"Well it won't be untested for long." High Ball said with a chuckle as he turned to look over at the intimating simmering steamer, before turning to Steam Punk, "So how would you like this to go?"
"Well I'd like to start with what you consider a normal train for The Grade, just to get a baseline and ensure this engine can at least handle what her counterparts here can manage. After we arrive in Vanhoover, and if everything goes well, I say we set up a train that meets the the specifications you gave me to build this engine to, and see how she does."
High Ball have a nod, "Makes sense to me, anything else."
Steam Punk thought about it for a second, "I feel it would be best if we have one of your crews ride along with Crimson Streak and Golden Spike to start getting a feel for how to drive this locomotive. Considering her complexity and power, it would be smart if they were one of your best."
A small frown crossed the faces of Bulk, Ditch, and High Ball before he spoke, "Well our best is currently, indisposed, and his fire stallion is on vacation, but we can definitely supply the runner up."
He said with a slight chuckle before he turned to Bulk Head, "See what we've got heading out next over The Grade for freight and track down Brake Check and Funnel Flair would you."
Bulk Head gave a nod as the rest of the group checked over the engine before uncoupling the caboose for a shunter to move away.
As said shunter arrived Bulk Head returned with two other ponies in tow, those two climbing up into the locomotive's cab, after standing for a moment to gawk at said locomotive, Bulk boarding the coach and the whole consist moved off to fetch the first test train.
As it moved along and the deep thundering bark sounded around the yard, the crowd of watching bystanders all around continued to grow. Two such ponies stood on the main road of the station house four tracks away from where the engine moved off from, just as mesmerized as the rest.
The smaller and younger pony turned and looked up at the older and larger one, "Dad, what the hay was that thing?" The older pony turned their head to watch as the locomotive slowly made its way into the yard proper, "I honestly have no idea Stokey. All I can say is, I think we might be getting some new and interesting motive power."
I couldn't help but smile up at the still imposing might of 9366 before turning back to the gathered crowd inside the main building of the NRM. I felt honored that the museum had asked me to tell the history of the HG-10's creation as part of the dedication of their three new engines.
I cast that smile over to two very old stallions sitting in the front row, Quick Burn and Brass Work themselves, the last two surviving head designers of the HG-10 project. It was at that point I turned back and began to address the crowd again.
"As you can imagine, both of those test trains over The Olde Grade were rousing successes, especially the return one up the Vanhoover side. Bulk, Ditch, and High Ball had asked for a locomotive that could manage a 27,000 ton train at 25 mph. What they were delivered, was a behemoth that could manage that at almost 40 mph. Their trust had been well placed and as such, they put in an order for ten locomotives, including the already completed #9320. This was a huge relief to Steam Punk after the massive gamble his team had taken."
I couldn't help but shoot a little smirk over at Quick Burn and Brass Work again, "Of course we didn't find this out until much later, but Steam Punk would have been in some serious hot water if his crazy idea hadn't been a winner. He may have been the lead designer for the whole of the CLC, but that didn't mean he was the pony at the top of the company. Turned out his bosses were quite cross with him for investing so much time, personnel, money, and resources into building a single locomotive. Perfect example, and Brass Work has confirmed this, the reason the prototype was numbered #9320, was to show how ninety three ponies had built the locomotive in just twenty weeks."
"Longest twenty weeks of my life!" Brass Work yelled from the crowd, getting a good laugh from all around.
I couldn't help but give a few chuckles myself, "I can only imagine. Though not to talk down on the work you did, the engines weren't perfect right off the line. Don't get me wrong they were an impressive feat of engineering, but like all new designs they had their teething troubles. Like, not having a steam powered reverser installed off the bat, making it so if you weren't careful the dang thing would rip your arm off."
I shot a playful scowl at the design duo before laughing, "That along with a few other little things, mostly to do with the maintenance side of things lead to the team back at CLC working on a few upgrades for the class. Included in this was a reworked superheat system with a forward mounted throttle which pulled just a pinch more power out of the design, which I have to say, really? You really felt the need to make these things even more powerful? You couldn't just leave good enough alone?" I said with a chuckle at the CLC team.
"Blame Steam Punk!" It was Quick Burn to shout back this time.
Chuckling again, I got back on track. "It was about eight months later they came back to the railroad with an example of the class with these upgrades included, #9360, and of course the owners were just as impressed as before. Apparently the jump in engine number was to show off how the locomotives had an additional 40,000 ild of tractive effort, which is where we got the final 380,000ilf number. They proceeded to order another eight examples of the class with this set up, and had the originals rebuilt with these upgrades. As you can see," I said as I turned and pointed up at the number on the side of #66's cab, "My engine was one of the last of the class to be built. Of course we didn't renumber the original ten so they lined up with the 60 series of the class, don't ask me why that was a tradition started long before my time."
I sighed as I looked longingly at the cab of #9366, "In the end, these locomotives became the main driving force of the railways growth, without them we wouldn't have been able to manage the ever growing traffic demands over the years. They were the true Kings of the Smokey Mountains, reliable to a fault despite their complex design, with each member of the class racking up an average of four and a half million miles in their service life over The Olde Grade. They became a seat of pride for the best engine crews on the line, and me, for whatever reason." That got a good laugh and some jeers from the Tall Tale ponies in attendance.
I would then point over at #9413 and #9414 where they sat on tracks next to #9366. "And of course, their Queens of Speed would join them just a few years later, holding the overall rail speed record of 144 mph, and still holding the standard gauge steam speed record. They would eventually get dethroned by the Crystal Empire C14 class with 157 mph, and the HG-10's would lose their strength record to the mammoth class, though nothing ever had a chance of competing with that brute. But neither of them would have ever existed, if Steam Punk, Brass Work, and their teams hadn't managed to pull of the impossible with the original #9320."
With my story finally at its end, I turned and laid a gentle hoof on the main rod of #9366, "Enjoy your retirement old girl, you've more than earned it. May you and your cousins go on to inspire generations to come."
With a final bow of my head to my trusty steed of 45 years, just barely able to hold back a tear, I nodded to the museum staff before turning to the crowd and giving a small bow, I placed my microphone back in its stand and walked off to the side to the loud ring of applause. Smiling softly I moved off to where my family was standing waiting for me to finish.
Of course Red Hot came with me, along with both my sons, Hot Box Jr. and Fire Stoker Jr., their wives Smoky Skies and Morning Star, and Hot Box's sons, my two grandchildren, Brick Arch Jr. and Piston Sleeve.
Red came up to me and gave me a hug as I made it to them, "Nice speech, if a bit long winded."
I couldn't help but chuckle again, "Well they shouldn't have asked me to give it then."
The whole family shared a laugh as the crowd that had gathered started to disperse. "So how do you feel?" She would go on to ask.
I gave a little sigh, "It's a bit bittersweet, the true end of an era."
They would all nod their understanding, before Hot Box stepped up a little. "The place closes in about two hours, feel like joining us on a little walk around?" He asked.
I let out another little sigh as I looked between them and where the high pressure trio sat on their new display tracks, "You guys go on ahead, I'm going to stay here a little longer."
The adults all gave another nod of understanding, knowing how hard this day was for me under all the smiles and laughs. "Take all the time you need dad." Stokey Jr. said, "We'll see you at the hotel if we don't catch you before the museum closes."
I nodded my thanks to them and let a soft smile spread across my face as they turned and moved off further into the museum. I watched them walk away before moving over to a bench nearby that was facing #9366 and took a seat, unable to bring myself to leave my engine.
Time passed by me without a care until a security guard eventually came up and politely informed me that the museum was closing for the day.
With a long sigh I nodded my understanding and thanked him for the reminder, getting up and turning for the door, only to spare one last glance at #9366 as my shoulders slumped.
"Goodbye old girl, home just won't be the same without you." I muttered under my breath, before slowly making my way to the door.
Author's Note
And so goes the legend of the mighty Tall Tale monster, retried to a life of stationary education. At least, for now.
Well here we are guys, after far too long since the last time we saw the ponies of the Smokey Mountains, a tale of how the most famous of their roster came to be and spawned a whole family of high pressure power. But this is not all that is in store for our favorite Mountain Maniacs, there is more to come, and much sooner than it took to get this story out. But be warned, the next tale is not for the faint of heart, for with every brightest day that brings new hope, there is a Darkest Hour that brings tragedy. Stay tuned for the next installment of Tall Tales from Tall Tale.
And no this is not the full sequel that I teased before, that is still in the works, I just felt these short stories would be a fun exercise in world building.
Also, the cover art is done by me, so be kind lol. However it does depict and actual HG-10. More news about that at the end of the month..... Mason out.
