Great Northern the A1 Pacific

by TruBluTom

In our time, 1470 Great Northern, the pioneer locomotive of Gresley's A1 class, was left for scrap after a rebuild by Edward Thompson. But what if Great Northern had a new lease of life? On the last remaining railway that used steam? Along with his long lost brother and all his friends on the North-Western Railway of Sodor. This is his story and many others.

2. Chapter 2

Great Northern the A1 Pacific: Chapter 2

Reunions

So far, the journey had been long from Doncaster, but now Great Northern was making his way through the Cumbrian countryside as part of Henry's mixed-goods train heading back to Sodor. Even though Great Northern certainly didn't like the idea of not being under his own power to travel, he was able to get some much-needed rest as he travelled along on his well-wagon as part of Henry's train.

As he slept, Great Northern dreamed about the old days when he worked on the Great Northern Railway and the London, Northern Eastern Railway in his youth. He would shoot down The East Coast Mainline in his brilliant apple-green livery with his beautiful LNER teak coaches rattling behind him. He remembered all the jokes, stories and conversations which I had with his siblings, cousins, friends and crews all over the LNER. And indeed, those were the good old days.

"PEEP! PEEEEEEP!"

Great Northern was suddenly woken up by a low-tune Stanier whistle. "I wasn't sleeping, Sir Nigel! Honest!"

"Did I wake you up, Great Northern?" Henry asked, sounding quite apologetic. "Sorry about that. We've just stopped outside of Barrow and I needed to alert the signalman that we need to cross over Vicarstown Bridge."

Great Northern gave a loud yawn. "Barrow you say? As in Barrow-in-Furness?"

"Yes. Barrow is the Mainland terminus station for us engines on the NWR. We've had a running power agreement with Barrow ever since the days of the LMS. We've also got a shed, turntable and servicing facility here. Plus, a joint goods yard for exchanging goods. There's been many a night where I've had to stay overnight after delivering a train or a two."

Great Northern looked around as best as he could. He could only see a little bit of the town behind him, but it looked nice enough. "I see. Well, hopefully I can come by Barrow once I am rebuilt back into my old shape."

"I can't wait to see what you look like when you are rebuilt," Henry said reassuringly. "I'll bet that you'll feel like a new engine. I know I was when I was rebuilt into a Black Five at Crewe."

"I thought as much," Great Northern chuckled, watching as The Vicarstown Bridge finally lowered down for them as Henry slowly made his way across until they were on Sudrian rail.

"Welcome to Sodor, Great Northern!" Henry whistled as he rumbled over the bridge.

"Thank you, Henry..." Great Northern muttered, feeling slightly overcome with his emotions.

However, he didn't get a chance to mull over his feelings when he heard a whistle he hadn't heard in ages, race past them.

"Good morning, Henry!" Emily whistled as she shot past with a stopping train. "Good to have you back home!"

"It's good to be home, Emily!" Henry called back to the female engine. "I was getting a little jittery at Doncaster and its scrapyard!"

"I know what you mean. But we've got nothing to worry about!"

"Aye. That's true! See you back at Tidmouth!"

"Will do!"

And with that, Great Northern watched as Emily disappeared over Vicarstown Bridge and crossed over onto BR rails. Needless to say, the A1 Pacific was speechless. He hadn't seen a Stirling Single since the days of the GNR! Emily. Yes, he knew that name... and he knew that engine! How on Earth did she get here on Sodor?!

"H-Henry?" Great Northern asked, stuttering as he was trying to comprehend when he saw.

"Yes?" the green engine inquired.

"Was that what I think it was?"

"Who? You mean Emily? What about her?"

"What I mean is, she's a Stirling Single."

"Yeah. And..."

"That's not possible! The last Stirling Single is No. 1 whose name is Patrick and he's preserved at The National Railway Museum! And there were no working Stirling Singles on the LNER. How is Emily here on Sodor?"

"Well, she was..." Henry stopped himself, pausing to think for a moment. "I... don't know. We've never asked Emily about how she came here. And she's never bothered to tell us. Being an older engine than all of us, we didn't want to intrude."

"Hmm, I see..." Great Northern said aloud. "I want to talk to Emily as soon as I can."

"Sorry, but you're gonna be at The Steamworks for quite a while. You'll probably not gonna be able to leave Crovan's Gate either."

"Well, no matter. I'm sure I'll speak to her at some point."

"Indeed. But I'm sure Gordon while come to works as fast as I can just to talk to you. You're one of his brothers after all."

Brothers… Hearing that word, Great Northern couldn't help but think about his Doncaster brothers and sisters. He remembered his last run when he met Flying Scotsman with Mallard at King's Cross. Then he thought back to Gordon and their competitions running between King's Cross and Doncaster or York. "I can't wait to see Gordon again. What's he like nowadays?"

"That's not for me to say," Henry chortled. "I think you should make up your mind when you see him next. He'll be a different engine with you around."

"Let's hope he doesn't become too different. I still want to him to act like the older brother I knew and competed against."

"And I assure you that he is that engine. Now then... next stop, Crovan's Gate!"

Soon enough, the cavalcade arrived at the Steamworks of Crovan's Gate. Henry was coupled from his train as he helped shunt Great Northern, his tender and the two well-wagons they were on, inside of the Steamworks. Great Northern watched as The Fat Controller approached him along with Henry at his side.

"Welcome to Sodor, Great Northern," The Fat Controller told him. "You'll be well looked after here at my Steamworks. We can assure you of that."

"Of course, sir. Thank you, sir," Great Northern answered thankfully. "If you don't mind me asking, sir, how long do you think I'll be here for?"

"Hmm... I'm not sure, truth be told. However, that will not stop me from rebuilding you into your former glory. The men here at Crovan's Gate will take good care of you. As will Victor and Kevin."

"Yes, sir. I'm confident that you're correct," Great Northern nodded, thinking that these Victor and Kevin fellows were the manager and vice manager of the Steamworks here at Crovan's Gate.

With that, The Fat Controller departed on board Henry and the rest of the goods train as the two of them made their way down the Mainline. Great Northern envied them as they left. He wanted to explore the rest of Sodor there and then. However, he would have all the time in the world to do so once he was rebuilt. For a time, Great Northern began thinking about what he would see on Sodor and about the engines he would meet on the NWR. Just then, his thoughts were interrupted by a metallic clang and crash.

"Oops," Kevin the crane said after dropping a crate of equipment from a wooden palette.

"Kevin! For goodness sake!" said a voice with a heavy Spanish accent. It was none other than Victor the Cuban Engine. "You've really got to stop dropping so many things. The equipment we use is very expensive!"

"S-Sorry, Boss," Kevin murmured. "I didn't mean to drop the crate!"

Victor sighed deeply, "Yes, Kevin, I understand. But you really must curb this clumsiness of yours."

"Yes, Boss. I will, Boss."

"I say, excuse me?" Great Northern called behind him. "What's going on back there?"

Kevin jumped back. "Who is that engine?! He's bigger than Gordon!"

"Easy, Kevin," Victor assured the crane. "If I'm correct, that's the newest engine being rebuilt here in the Steamworks."

"Really? How did he get here?"

"The Fat Controller saved me from British Railways," Great Northern answered. "I arrived here on Henry's return goods train from Doncaster."

"Ah, I thought so," Victor chortled. "You must be 60113 Great Northern. Aren't you?"

"That I am. And you must be the manager of this Steamworks. A pleasure to meet you, I-" Great Northern paused, watching as a little red engine puffed up next to him on what looked to be a track of narrow-gauge rail. "Wait a minute, you're an engine?!"

"Narrow-gauge engine, my friend," Victor corrected with a smile. "Welcome to Sodor Steamworks. Kevin and I will be looking after you along with the workmen here."

"I see," Great Northern replied, nodding. "Tell me, Victor, how long will this rebuild take to complete me?"

"Hmm, a long time I am afraid, my friend," Victor said gravely. "Depending on what of your old parts we have along with the other parts The Fat Controller needs to order or build, I'd say definitely over a year, maybe three at the most. But I assure you, our men here at the Steamworks are the best in the world. I guarantee it."

Great Northern smiled at that. "I'd trade three years of my life to spend the rest as a happy and hard-working engine once more. I can only hope that everything goes well."

Victor chuckled. "Do not worry, my friend. You are in safe hands and buffers here."

"And hooks!" Kevin called out, before he dropped his hook along with a pallet of boxes onto the ground once more. "Uh, maybe not hooks?"

"Kevin!" Victor shouted, rolling his eyes. "Ay-yai-yai. The things I put up with!"

Great Northern smiled warmly. "I can tell he's just a young'un, Victor. Give him time. He'll mellow out, I'm sure of it."

"I hope so, for all of our sakes. Especially my sanity."

Victor and Great Northern then heard Kevin crash into something in the far back as the crane called out, "Oops! My bad!"

Great Northern watched in amusement as Victor puffed backwards to find Kevin and give him a scolding. It reminded him of the times when the younger engines on The Eastern Region would mess up and have the older engines set them straight. Great Northern himself had set a few young engines right himself. Including many of the young A4s during the mid and late 30s.

After that, Great Northern decided to rest and went happily to sleep for a cat nap.

A few hours later, just as it had gone to night time, Great Northern had been woken up by Victor as the narrow-gauge engine told him that he was going to be a receiving a very important visitor soon. Great Northern yawned as he stirred, wondering who this visitor was.

He got his answer.

Great Northern watched as a big, blue tender engine backed down onto the track road next to him. Even in the dark, he could tell that the engine was painted light blue with red stripes and that his shape was familiar. Very familiar. He looked just a like a Gresley A1 Pacific, yet he seemed different thanks to his fowler tender and caprotti valve gear, even his cab seemed a little different from the last time he had seen him too.

Then it hit him.

"Gordon?!" Great Northern spluttered. "Gordon? Is that really you?"

"Indeed, it is, brother," Gordon replied, grinning as he backed down in line with Great Northern. "How are you? I must say, you do look much, much different than the time we saw each other. How on earth did you end up like that?"

"Ugh, long story," Great Northern sighed rolling his eyes at the thought of Edward Thompson. "A terrible rebuild near the end of the war. Besides, you look different too. What's with this new tender and valve gear you've acquired? You look like you're half an LMS engine. Not to mention that new blue livery with red stripes."

"Believe you me, I'd have rather had been rebuilt in a more LNER kind of design, but I work well all the same. I was sent to Crewe by Sir Topham Hatt I after my old valve gear had shattered, destroying most of my splashers in the process. I had an accident on my hill as my old coal rail tender was also damaged beyond repair. So, I was repaired and rebuilt at Crewe with designs from Sir William Stanier with caprotti valve gear and a Fowler tender to boot. If I'm being honest though, I would have much rather had a Gresley non-corridor tender. But as I said, it gets the job done nonetheless. As for my livery, it is NWR blue with red stripes and I rather like it. I feel as though it makes me feel a part of Sodor and this railway."

"I'm glad to hear that you're doing well, Gordon." Great Northern smiled. "I like your new livery too. And I have to admit, being the A0 with your own kind of design, makes you look very singular indeed."

"Singular? Ha!" Gordon laughed. "I'm the very definition of the word. Well, aside from you, of course. Tell me, how did you become a Thompson A1/1?"

"It all started in 1945," Great Northern began, sighing deeply as his mind drifted back to that day. "I was resting in the sheds at King's Cross with Flying Scotsman. We had been discussing the end of World War 2 as we had been repainted in our LNER green. However, we had also been renumbered for creating more room for newly built engines. Needless to say, neither Scotsman or myself liked being numbered 103 or 113. It was then we saw two men approaching us, one of them happened to be Thompson himself."

Gordon watched as Great Northern gritted his teeth and seethed with anger as he spoke the surname of Sir Nigel Gresley's successor of the LNER. "Would you mind telling me what happened next, brother?"

"From what we heard, Thompson had another man telling him to stop whatever he was going to do or say next. Both Scotsman and I glowered when he said that the LNER was a Thompson railway now and that Gresley was a thing of the past."

Gordon gasped in shock. "How rude! How dare Thompson say that about Sir Nigel!"

"Indeed, neither of us were happy. Then he told me that he had a major rebuild in store for me. Saying that I would be a different engine, 'better than any design out there'."

"Pah!" Gordon snorted. "When engines bounce!"

"And that's not all, when I initially refused, Thompson said that his second choice was Scotsman himself. He even told him to head to Doncaster to be ready to be rebuilt into a mixed-traffic outline."

Gordon was outraged. "Thompson threatened Flying Scotsman?! With a mixed-traffic outline design! The nerve and gall of that man! He would dare desecrate such a famous engine? Sir Nigel would be turning in his grave!"

"Which is exactly why I intervened and agreed to Thompson's demand. Needless to say, Scotsman was shocked by what I did for him. But I merely said that, 'Gresley engines look after their own'. But in the end, it was us who had the last laugh."

"Really?" Gordon asked, arching an eyebrow. "How?"

"Because of you, Gordon," Great Northern said, smiling past his smoke deflectors. "Thompson wanted to smear Gresley's name by rebuilding his first A1 Pacific into his own design. But after he was fired as the CME of the railway, I spilt the beans about you being the actual first Gresley Pacific, the A0. I'll never forget how red his face went as he swore and ranted at me for tricking him. Not to mention that the other engines also got a good jeering at him as he left too. It almost made it all worth it in the end. Sticking to the man made me feel very good indeed. Still, I had no idea what kind of hell I was in for the next two decades."

Gordon looked concerned. "What do you mean?"

"For the early part, it was mostly teething troubles. Constant wheelslips, jamming breaks, safety valve bursting, losing steam, etc, etc."

Gordon looked back to Great Northern who himself was looking down at his buffers. "Were there ever any good things with your, rebuild, Great Northern? Anything? Anything at all?"

Great Northern took a moment to think, gazing through all the heartbreak and turmoil during the last two decades, digging through all the muck and dirt as best as he could.

"Actually, yes. Did you ever hear of the LNER's last CME? Arthur Peppercorn?"

"Oh, yes!" Gordon nodded. "I heard he created those new Peppercorn A1 and A2 engines, didn't he?"

"Indeed, he did. You see, Mr. Peppercorn took the original Thompson A1/1 designs and basically improved them for his own designs. And I can assure you Gordon, those young Peppercorn engines are fantastic fellows. Truly our most deserving successors. So, in a way, my rebuild led to those chaps being built before Nationalisation. Unfortunately, I don't know whether or not the class with survive. Poor lads, the eldest are barely 20-years-old."

"I've heard the rumours about The Other Railway," Gordon said solemnly. "Is it true that diesels are now taking over? And that steam engines are being withdrawn in droves?"

"I'm afraid so, brother," Great Northern exhaled deeply. "British Railways doesn't see steam engines as economical anymore. More and more diesels are being replacing steam engines, and while some are rude, not all are bad. Why, I knew some very nice Deltics and Brushes, many of the those young gronk diesels were nice too. They would ask me endless questions about the GNR and LNER and listened when I told them stories of the old days."

"Well, I can't say that we've had much of a good experience with a Class 08 shunter. The last one that came here, lied to me, Henry and James and made us out for fools by treating Duck terribly after we thought he had told trucks jokes about us. I can forgive many things, Great Northern, but being manipulated isn't one of them."

"I agree," Great Northern replied. "Well then, why don't I tell you about a young diesel shunter I knew at Copley Hill. His name was Gronk and..."

From there, the two brothers shared stories together well into the night. Great Northern talking about all of his friends out on the East Coast Mainline and friends on the Mainland while Gordon spoke of his adventures on Sodor and how proud he was of his express, the Wild Nor' Wester. However, when morning came, it was time for Gordon to leave to head to Knapford for the first run with the express. Great Northern was sad to see his brother leave.

"Don't you worry, Great Northern," Gordon assured him once he was steamed up. "I'll make sure to whistle hello as I pass by Crovan's Gate. That'll be quite a sight, won't it?"

Great Northern could almost picture it. "It certainly will be. I can't wait to see you fly down the line, brother. Actually, Gordon, if you could do me one small favour?"

"Certainly. Just name it."

"That Stirling engine you have on this railway, what's her name again?"

"Oh, you mean Emily? Oh, she's a lovely engine. Mostly handles mixed-traffic work like Henry, James and Edward. But she is good company nonetheless. Why do you ask?"

"There's something I would like to ask her myself. You wouldn't mind telling her to meet me here when she can, would you?"

"Of course, brother. I'm sure Emily would be more than happy to speak with you. I'll let her know the next time her see her."

With that, Gordon bid Great Northern goodbye as he blew his whistle as he left the Steamworks. Great Northern watched his brother leave before returning back to sleep, despite the hustle and bustle of the men at work in the building.

Eventually, it was mid-afternoon when Great Northern saw a familiar looking engine back down in the track to his left. The engine was painted dark green while her tender was a GNR coal rail tender which was also painted dark green but had no number unlike Gordon and all the other Sudrian engines he had seen pass the Steamworks by that morning.

"Hello, Great Northern," Emily said in her thick Scottish accent as she stopped alongside him. "Gordon said you wanted to see me?"

"Indeed, I did," Great Northern chuckled warmly. "It's nice to finally meet you, Emily."

Emily giggled softly. "Finally meet me? Don't you remember me, Great Northern? Back in 1922? The last year of the Great Northern Railway?"

Great Northern pondered for a moment. Thinking about the name Emily and how familiar her voice and accent was. He thought for so long and hard back over 40 years that it made his smokebox hurt. Finally, he remembered, gasping as his eyes widened at the engine next to him.

"Emily?! As in, that Emily? The one who taught me how to pull express trains on the East Coast Mainline? But that's impossible the last time I saw you was in 1923 when..."

"Yes, when I and the rest of my class were withdrawn," Emily spoke next. "It's been far too long, Great Northern. I see that you've certainly changed. But maybe not for the better."

"Yes..." Great Northern groaned, wishing that he was back in his old Gresley shape. "I've seen better days. But clearly, you, my dear, haven't aged a bit."

Emily giggled again. "Oh, you. Still quite the charmer, I see."

"What can I say? Some habits die hard."

"I can see that. You know, I hardly recognised you on that well-wagon which Henry was pulling with his goods train from the Mainland the other day. Are you really him from so long ago? 1470, Nigel Gresley's first A1 Pacific? What happened to you?"

"It's not a pretty story, Emily," Great Northern sighed again. "But it is a long one. Do you have the time for me to tell you?"

"I do. I want to hear you story."

"Very well, I'll tell you. So long as you tell me how you came to Sodor after being withdrawn like the other Stirling engines."

Emily beamed. "Deal."

So, from there, Great Northern told Emily everything that he had told Gordon that previous night. His rebuild into a Thompson A1/1, his working life after the departure of Edward Thompson, his time as Grantham station pilot and his last run from Doncaster to King's Cross.

"Well, now that I've told you what's happened to me recently, how did you come to Sodor, Emily?" Great Northern asked curiously.

"Well, it all started in 1923, as you know. I was one of the last Stirling Singles working on the LNER. But not for long. Soon, the company had officially withdrawn me, so I decided to hide from the cutter's torch in a good's shed and had the foreman there look out for me. Years past and I heard that rumours had sprung up about me, a Stirling Single escaping the cutter."

"So, I heard," Great Northern said, remembering said rumour long ago. "But I thought that was just about old Patrick Stirling, No. 1. He's still at the National Railway Museum at York. I never paid much to rumours anyway. I never would have thought you were the hiding engine, Emily."

"But the LNER knew I hadn't been scrapped," Emily replied. "They knew so thanks to their log books. Thankfully, the foreman took away my old tender and sent it to another engine shed so it could be used as a snowplough or ash disposal bunkers. But just in case, he hid me behind some coaches. We had a near-miss with an inspector who was then called away after hearing that my tender was at King's Cross."

"By Jove! I can't believe you went through all of that," Great Northern said sympathetically. "If I had known, I might've been able to have done something."

Emily continued to laugh.

"Oh, that wasn't it though. By the time World War 2 came about, I had other close calls, mostly friendly crews and workers who were able to be kept quiet by the foreman and his wife as they then helped me stay hidden. However, others were inspectors, and it was sheer luck that kept them at bay. Unfortunately, after WW2, the foreman was at retirement age and was getting tired. But he made his replacement vow to look after me and keep me hidden just as before. I was so sad when he left. He hadn't seen him since."

"I know how you feel," Great Northern said, looking down at the ground. "I've seen so many of my friends come and go. I felt as though a piece of me had died each time they had left. I'm sorry, Emily."

"Don't be, Great Northern. It was never your fault." Emily then continued. "I'm glad to say that the new foreman and the workers all kept their promise. However, we were given quite the surprise when a B12 named Stephen found me in the goods shed. When we told him and his crew of my situation, he smiled and told me all about the ghost stories that had been made up about me by the other engines. Over a year, Stephen kept me company and told me all the going's on with BR. I was sad to see him leave when he was reallocated to another shed, up in Leeds, I think."

"Eventually, word spread all over Britain about two Caledonian engines escaping to Sodor, you'll meet them soon enough. They're Donald and Douglas. You'll like them. Anyway, the workmen managed to get in contact with The Fat Controller, Sir Charles Topham Hatt, as he's also known. He came to my shed and spoke with me, saying that he would save me but needed time. A couple of years passed, and I thought he had forgotten more, until the day I was found by a Class 47 diesel and was brought out of the shed. I was frantic and begging for my life, all I until I spied The Fat Controller standing on the tracks close by. He had finally gained enough money to buy me from British Railways and overhaul me at the Steamworks. After that, I've been on the NWR ever since, and I've never looked back."

Great Northern was speechless, at least for a moment. "Emily... I... I don't know what to say. After all you've gone through... I feel as though that what's happened to me was nothing that you've been through. I'm sorry that I've been complaining bitterly to you. I should have behaved better than that."

"No, it's alright, really," Emily told Great Northern, reassuring him as best she could. "I think we've both had our ups and downs in quite different ways. You in service and me out of service. But like I said before, I'm not looking back. I'm only looking forward towards my new life here on Sodor, as should you. I just know you're going to love it here. Unlike the Other Railway, The NWR is a proper railway. You'll see. And I can't wait to see you out on the Mainline again. Neither can Gordon."

"I can't wait either, Emily. I really can't." Great Northern then decided to change the subject onto something lighter. "So, tell me, Emily, what happened when you first came to Sodor? Did anything occur?"

Emily grinned cheekily. "Well, I'll tell you the story of how I got my very own coaches to pull along the Mainline after I had taken two other coaches from a tank engine without permission beforehand. The coaches' names were Annie and Clarabel and..."

Great Northern listened to Emily tell her story of her first day on Sodor. As he listened, he wondered about the island and the NWR in general. He couldn't wait to work on a proper railway again, one that would always have steam in service. It would be a while until he would be ready after his complete rebuild and overhaul, but it would be all worth it in the end. And Great Northern promised that he would repay The Fat Controller for his kindness a hundred times over.

To Be Continued...