Hello readers. This is my very first Thomas & Friends themed fanfic. Been wanting to do for sometime now and feels like the right time to do it. This story is a spin-off of TheRagingBlueFlame's "Waning Daylight" and darthmaul90's "My Darlin' Cousin". And I thank them for allowing me to use their respected characters, Erika and Daemon in this story.
Thomas & Friends belongs to HiT Entertainment.
Michigan Fast Freight
Chapter 1: Next Stop Ulfstead Castle
Island of Sodor, December 2014
It was Christmas time on the Island of Sodor and a thick, soft blanket of snow covered the island. The North Western Railway was busier than ever with holiday travelers going to and from the island and large amounts of freight going in either direction. The island also loves to celebrate the Christmas season in a big way, with many parties, festivals and (for the rail enthusiasts) special Christmas-themed trains decorated in lights.
One bright and snowy day, Gordon the A0 Pacific, Erika the GS-4 Daylight and Daemon the GS-8 Northern found themselves traveling down the mainline toward Ulfstead Castle. They were surprised that they had been called there.
"I wonder what the Earl wants to see us for?" Erika asked as they climbed the snowy slope. Sir Robert Norramby had requested that he'd see the three engines at once. Knowing how eccentric he was, the Earl had something up his sleeve.
"It is rather curious as he normally approaches Thomas, Percy and James whenever he has something planned," Gordon added.
"Maybe he's asked us to pull some of those fancy trains from mainland?" Daemon suggested in his deep Country accent.
"Don't be ridiculous, Daemon," Erika rolled her eyes at her cousin, "he has Connor and Caitlin for that."
"Ya never know lil' darlin'," Daemon said.
Erika cringed slightly when he said that. While the Daylight engine had gotten used to his country mannerisms, she still hated it when he called her that. It felt somewhat like an insult to her.
"He does have a point," Gordon said, in which he received a slight glare from her. He may love her, but she could still strike fear in his eyes.
"Well, looks like we made it," Daemon said as they approached the castle gate.
When they rounded the bend into the estate, they found Sir Robert at the platform with Stephen, Millie, Thomas, Conner, Caitlin and Hank lined-up on each track. Caitlin was sitting in between Hank and Conner to prevent them from ripping at each other at another pointless Pennsylvania vs. New York Central argument. So far it was working as the K4 Pacific and the J3-a Dreyfuss Hudson refused to look at each other.
Erika always got a kick when they started arguing, but it drove Caitlin insane as she's had to hear it constantly for most of her life.
Sir Robert heard the three remaining engines arriving and turned with an energetic smile.
"Splendid, you've made it!" he said excitedly as Erika, Gordon and Daemon pulled up, "as you all know it's my second year of my Christmas festival that is held here at the castle throughout the entire season until New Years. Well, last year off to a rocky start as it involved an incident with Sir Topham in a runaway sleigh..."
Thomas and Stephen chuckled at that, remembering that mishap fondly.
"And so I have decided to change thing a bit," he continued.
"And by a bit, you mean a lot," Erika said raising an eyebrow.
"Precisely," Sir Robert answered excitedly, "my plan this year to have you lot bring your daily trains to Knapford to interchange with a special train that will run between Knapford and the castle twice daily. This train will transport the children and their families to and from the festival. This means your trains will be extended to accommodate them."
The big engines groaned slightly. Not that they didn't mind hauling more passengers, it just meant longer and heavier trains and they knew they would be feel exhausted after each run.
"This is going to be a long Christmas," Gordon whispered to Erika.
"You don't have to tell me twice," she whispered back.
Sir Robert then turned to Millie, Stephen and Thomas.
"You three will be carrying festival attendees for short train rides around the festival grounds."
"Sounds like a lot of fun," Thomas said.
"It will indeed certainly," Stephen agreed.
"Excellent," Sir Robert said, "everyone has their assignments. All I need to do is work with Sir Topham to rework your schedules and...
"Uh...Beggin' yer pardon, sir," Daemon interrupted, "but, just who in tarnation will be pullin' the special train?"
"Oh ho ho ho!" Sir Robert chuckled, "I completely forgot that. As part of my plan this year, I have arranged with a preservation group out of Michigan to bring their engine to the island to pull the train and he's perfect for the position."
"Michigan?" Thomas asked, "where's..."
"America," all the North American engines answered simultaneously.
"Oh," Thomas said meekly.
"And I'm glad you brought this up Daemon," Sir Robert and looked at his watch, "because...actually he should be arriving just about now."
As if on cue, a large plume of black smoke began to rise from behind the hill and the sound of a clanging bell began to grow louder and louder as the engine drew closer. Then a harsh, airy whistle echoed across the valley, surprising the engines. To Erika, the whistle sound familiar, as did Caitlin, Conner and Hank. The others had no idea who it was.
Soon, a large black locomotive rounded the curve through the gates and began to approach the station. His face seemed tough and cheerful at the same time, with some sort of an industrial look to it. The words "Pere Marquette" stretched across the tender in dark yellow lettering, as did a big "1225" on the cab. A large diamond-shaped builders plate on his smoke-box proudly displayed "Lima Locomotive Works" on it.
Erika immediately recognized the engine, but she didn't feel nearly as resentful as to when Daemon arrived.
"May I present to you," Sir Robert announced, "The Polar Express!"
The big engine came to halt and gave loud blast of his airy whistle, again taking the other engines by surprise.
"Well...I wouldn't say the real Polar Express," said the engine in thick Detroit accent, "My name is Peter and I'm glad to meet all of you. I am a Pere Marquette N-1 class 2-8-4 Berkshire."
He then turned his attention to Erika.
"It's been a while since Train Festival hasn't Erika?" he said noticing her new faceplate, "they've been treating you nice here I take it?"
Erika wasn't sure whether to take that as a compliment or as an insult due to her gaining this new faceplate from her near fatal wreck the previous year.
"Why thank you Peter," she said sheepishly, "It's nice to see you again."
"You know him?" Gordon asked suspiciously and was a bit jealous.
"I'll tell you later," Erika replied assuring him.
"Welcome to Sodor, Peter," Sir Robert greeted, "I am thankful that the Steam Railroading Institute was able to loan you for my festival."
"Likewise, sir," Peter said, "as you may have guessed, I'm here to pull "The Polar Express", quote-unquote, to and from Knapford and the castle."
"And to add to theme, Peter shall be re-lettered for the Polar Express like his animated counterpart," Sir Robert added and looked at his watch again, "well, I'll let you get to know everyone, Peter. I'll be heading to my office to arrange the schedules with Sir Topham."
He climbed aboard Millie and reversed her back to castle.
"So, you know lil' darlin' here?" Daemon asked. Erika again cringed when he said that.
"We met once," Peter said, "Train Festival 2009, at my home in Owasso, Michigan. What a fun weekend that was."
"Too bad you spent most of it sitting on your display track when one of your flues failed," Erika said with small smirk.
"Hey now," Peter protested, "I was due for my 15 year overhaul then."
"Uh huh, sure," Erika said smugly.
"Alright, alright," Stephen said with a bit of humor in his tone, "that's enough. We don't need to start pestering each other already. Why don't you tell us about yourself a bit Peter?"
"I'd be glad to, Stephen," Peter smiled, "As I've said before, I'm from the town of Owasso, Michigan, but my old railroad, the Pere Marquette, never really went there. I mostly worked our main line hauling fast freight trains between Detroit and Chicago, but I also did work the line between Toledo, Ohio and Saginaw, Michigan..."
The British engines were fascinated by this so far, but the story was quickly cut short.
"Hey, I'm sorry to break this get together," came a voice from Peter's cab. It was his engineer, Tony, who was leaning out the window. His fireman, Ralph did the same.
"We need to get Peter to the Steamworks so he can be re-lettered," he continued, "that Victor fellow is waiting for us."
"Well that's a bummer," Peter said a little disappointed, "we'll have to try again another time I suppose."
With three short blast of his whistle, Peter began to reverse out of the grounds and head for the Steamworks. The other engines whistled good-bye to Peter for now and began to head back to their usual jobs.
Peter was now on his was his way towards the Steamworks and he used the opportunity to familiarize himself with the route he would be taking for next few weeks.
"It's still mind-boggling that a British line is able to hold an engine of my size," Peter said.
"Which means I can open your throttle wide open," Tony said and pulled the lever to its farthest position.
Peter's speed began to increase and his face filled with pure joy as he thundered down the mainline.
"WHOO HOO!" he shouted, "I haven't felt this good in years!"
Tony just smiled and let his engine enjoy the moment. It was defiantly going to be a fantastic yet interesting Christmas.