The Long Trains Roll
I do not own the character of Randy MacDougal. The character is from the mind of Stephen W. Meader.
Prologue
April 5, 1943
The mighty locomotive pounded the rails with a heavy, 50 car drag of coal in tow. It's exhaust sounded like it was going at least 60 miles per hour, but in fact, it was only going 20. The locomotive was fighting the relentless pull of gravity as it wrestled the cars up the 1% grade. It's 10 large driving wheels gripped the rails with a force of 95,100 foot pounds. The engineer allowed a small smile to grace his lips, for he was in his element in the cab of the mighty 2-10-4 Texas type locomotive. Every movement, every sound, was analyzed by his trained ear. Making a slight adjustment to the throttle, he listened with satisfaction as the beat of the exhaust turned into a pronounced bark, and he knew that he was using every bit of the 5000+ horsepower that his locomotive had to offer.
Turning his attention back to the track, he heard a slight squeak of a loose rail. He was just about to remark to his fireman
"I don't like the sound of that one bit."
The comment died on his lips as the rail snapped. Frantically, the engineer reached out to close the throttle, but it was too late. The locomotive hit the ties, dragging the train with it. It was dumb luck that the locomotive stayed upright and didn't roll over. When the horrendous screeching of tortured metal and grinding of steel stopped, half of the train was on the ground. Luckily, an air hose had been ruptured between the locomotive and the first car of the train by the force of the derailment, causing the brakes to be applied automatically. If this hadn't happened, the wreck would have been much worse. As it was, two of the four lines were blocked by the twisted metal of what once had been the train. It would take weeks, even months of hard work to get the line open.
The cause of the wreck was later determined to be lack of needed maintenance. World War II was in full swing, and the rails were stretched to their limits by the sudden increase of traffic. Maintenance crews were struggling to keep the railroad in shape. With the need for men in Europe, many of the men who worked on the track crews were being drafted.
Author's Note:
How do you like? I am in in the market for someone to help me with the little things, such as scenery and building descriptions. Any railroad terms will be defined here.