On the lines of Brendan Docks on the Island of Sodor stood a newly imported steam locomotive. He was an Alco 2-8-0 Ks-1 class locomotive who was built in 1905. His freshly polished Virginia Green paint and glossy silver smoke box glistened brightly in the sun with his golden "645" painted on the side of his cab and tender. He seemed uneasy; it had been years since he was called in to do actual work in a railway. Over the past sixty years he has been pulling and pushing excursion and tourism trains in Tennessee and other states around the Southeastern United States. He looked around, there wasn't another engine to be seen. There were three sets of tracks, the far right was where he rested, the middle was clear, and so was the far left set of tracks.
"Uh…hello?" he called out, hoping to find another engine, eventually, on the far left track, one came. It was a crimson diesel with an elevated cab in the middle and six wheels in total. He seemed rough, yet kind, maybe even fun.
"Oh hoo, so you must be the new American Steamer, aye?" the diesel asked with a sailor's tune.
"Yes sir, I reckon I am" the Ex-Southern Railway steamer replied with a deep Appalachian accent that wasn't slurred despite the fact that he was nervous. The diesel beamed.
"Aye it be a pleasure in meet'n ya me harty, name's Salty" he said cheerfully.
"Stewart, but everyone calls me Casey" replied the steamer with a much more confident that before. This diesel was just as friendly as the modern Norfolk Southern and CSX ones he met back in the States.
"Casey, that would be a nice name for ya… so you're wait'n for the Fat Controller eh? Well ye might want ta sit tight, driver got a message from him to tell you he's going to be late, someth'n about his car breaking down and having trouble finding a train" Salty replied. This news relieved Casey, for a moment he was beginning to think that he was forgotten about.
"Is he often late?" he asked.
"Not really but it does happen. But in the meantime, I can show ya around and get you to where you can be filled with coal and water" Salty answered. But before Casey could answer, an engine that was smaller than him raced in, he was a British 2-6-0 with a gold dome, black wheels, and a super shiny red coat of paint along with a face that screamed the fact that he needed a drink. He had been carrying a long freight train and the cars were being silly and noisy.
"Ahoy James, I be wondering when you were gonna get here" Salty said in his sailor way.
"Oh give me a break Salty, I got delayed, and I had to pick up Sir Topham Hat on the way" James replied crossly.
"Thank you James, go get yourself some water and then you can rest for your next train this evening" came a voice from his cab. The man stepped down onto the ground as James was uncoupled, the gentleman was stout, and really quite round. He had a suit that was heavily covered in coal dust and an old fashioned top hat, which made Casey chuckle to himself, he hadn't seen a top hat in years, it was almost as if he was right back in World War 1 era Chattanooga, Tennessee, the city of which he was restored into working order along with his older sister, Cassidy, which could explain why people called him Casey, in his smoke stack, but his engineer told him many times of the real reason. He was nicknamed after the legendary engineer Casey Jones. Presently, the stout gentleman looked over at him and quickly stopped James before he could puff away.
"James, this is the new American steam engine, his name is Stewart. Would you mind bringing him to the water tower with you while Salty takes your cars to their proper spots around the docks?" he asked. James looked over at Casey and inspected him, the big green engine didn't have buffers in the front nor did he have a chain coupling like the one he had, however he did see a pair of temporary buffers on the back of his tender so all James had to do was push him.
"Yes sir" he said, and then he puffed on ahead to find some switches to allow him to get behind Casey. When he came back the cars were gone and so was Salty. The Fat Controller had told Casey that another engine will come later to show him around before taking him to the steam works to have his coupling system changed along with adding a pair of permanent buffers at the back of his tender. James moved up behind Casey and pushed him towards the water tower. He was quiet the entire way, Casey was not sure what to say to this engine, except for this.
"You can go first if you would like, I'm in no hurry" he said.
"Thank you Stewart" James replied, he was relieved that Casey was nice enough to let him, he wasn't sure if had enough steam to be able to push Casey out of the way if he went first. He pushed Casey past the water tower and moved under it himself. As James' tender was filled with water, workman came to fill up Casey's tender with coal when they all had finished, they hooked up Casey's temporary buffers to James' buffers with chains and puffing hard, James managed to pull Casey under the water tower for water. When the water levels reached half way, Casey's fire was lit to help shorten the steam building time. Doing it this way proved beneficiary to Casey, he made lots of steam.
"Thanks for helping James" he said cheerfully.
"It was nothing at all Stewart" James replied, then Casey spoke up quickly again.
"You can call me Casey"
"Alright Casey, I'll chat with you later, right now I must rest a bit so that I can pull an important passenger train and show them my shiny paint" replied James and he chuffed away. Now Casey was alone again, but not for long, the Fat Controller returned to see him.
"How are you Stewart? I hope it's not too big of a change for you" he said.
"Right now, everything seems the same, minus the buffers so I can't complain. And if it is okay with you sir, I prefer Casey" replied the engine.
"Very well then Casey, now you just sit tight, Duck will be here to show you around the railway as you head for the steam works to have permanent buffers attached to your tender" the Controller said. Casey was delighted, this stout gentleman seemed friendly enough, a lot nicer than his previous railway controller back in the 1950's and 60's when the diesels took over American lines. Casey would always call that man "Boiler Sludge" behind his back until he was replaced by an F7 diesel with a bad attitude. The afternoon sun was slowly beginning to become an evening sun as the time ticked off until a British Great Western 0-6-0 tank engine rolled in, he looked kind of box shaped with a tall smoke stack, and a more olive green compared to Casey's Virginia green.
"Ah, Duck, there you are, where have you been?" Sir Topham Hat asked.
"Beg pardon sir, but the line I was on was blocked for quite some time, and none of the other lines were clear at that point in time" answered the engine.
"Very well then, you must take Casey here to the steam works to have his coupling changed and buffers fitted" replied Sir Topham Hat replied. Duck looked over to his right to examine the new American steamer and he smiled.
"Hello Casey, I'm Duck, and I shall be your guide of the line today. Now if you can follow me, I'll show you the line, the Great Western way" smiled the engine. Casey smile in return, and with a pair of whistle blows each, the two locomotives steamed away. For the next hour, Duck showed Casey everything there was to see while traveling to the steam works, chatting with each other about the lines and what to expect on the Island of Sodor. When they reached three-fourths of the way there, a streak of silver zoomed past them, and made some of Casey's coal fly up and land on his boiler, creating dings and even a small dent.
"HEY! WATCH WHERE YOU'RE GOING!" shouted Casey, but that streak was already gone.
"Don't worry Casey, your boiler will be fixed when you get to the steam works. But in case you're wondering who that was, that was Spencer, he is so boastful and so full of himself, he makes James and Gordon look humble" Duck told him. Casey laughed.
"Well, maybe all he needs is a visit from a crabby hundred year old engine"
Duck couldn't keep himself from laughing along with him as they puffed on ahead.
When they arrived, they saw a massive, clean, and bustling with workers warehouse, when they went inside, a narrow gauge 0-4-0T tank engine rolled up beside a turn table that rested inside the building.
"Ah Duck, it's great to see you, what can I do for you?" he asked with a Cuban voice that Casey was not ready for, he was surprised to see someone who didn't have a British accent, or even Scottish on this island.
"I was just showing Casey here around while taking him to you to have him fitted with buffers and change his coupling system Victor" replied Duck.
"Excellent, I was beginning to wonder when he was going to get…" Victor started before there was a loud crash, he took his attention off of the two engines to notice the small 4-wheeled crane had dropped something. The design of him was most peculiar, four wheels with the back 2 being closer together than the front, giving the illusion that he had three wheels.
"Kevin, how many times must I tell you? Slowly, gently" said Victor rather sternly.
"Sorry boss, just a slip of the hook" was Kevin's youthful reply
"Maybe you should put some glue on that there hook of yours" Casey joked, it managed to get a few laughs until it was time for Duck to head back to Tidmouth shed. When he left, Casey asked Victor if he could keep the buffers off the front.
"If you can gauge the distance between chain couplings, I don't see why not" Victor replied kindly. Casey said thank you as he rolled onto a particular part of the works where his knuckle couplings were taken off in favor of chain links and a pair of buffers were painted to match his paint and attached to the back of his tender. When the work was completed, two days had already passed. He rolled out with his freshly wiped paint shining brightly in the sun, he found Sir Topham Hat waiting for him with James.
"Good morning Casey, I see you didn't want the buffers up front" he said.
"Nothing personal sir, but I just didn't want to lose the cow catcher after a hundred years with it" Casey replied. The fat controller smiled and nodded, he understood how American locomotives felt when one put buffers on the front: silly looking.
"Now listen carefully, you still need to learn some of the line, Duck told me he could only explain the line you two went on, on the way here from the docks, so while he's carrying out his work, James will show you the main line between Tidmouth shed, Knapfford Station, the Earl of Sodor's estate, and back to Bendam Docks. When you reach the docks you must help him pull a heavy freight train to the diesel works. I will await for you there with further instructions if all goes according to plan" he explained.
"Sounds like a plan" Casey replied, and with that, the fat controller drove away in an old blue sedan. Talk about a flashback, Casey hasn't seen that era of vehicle since the early fifties before he was retired the first time.
"Alright Casey, let's get this show and tell moving, we haven't got all day" exclaimed James importantly, he was excited that today it was his turn to show the new engine around the lines.
"My, my, aren't we the excited type?" Casey joked. And with a couple of laughs they set off to Tidmouth Shed.