Chapter 1: Into the World
Baldwin Locomotive Works, Eddystone, PA, 1928
It had been the smell of oil and paint that first made the steam locomotive open her eyes, casting her bright, hazel eyes at the sight around them. Huge clouds of smoke and steam filled the air as the sounds of industry surrounded her. Men from all sides were barking orders in indeterminable languages, as steam hammers and pile drivers smacked and pounded against hot metal, creating a mighty rhythm that echoed around the facility. Outside the paint shed doors, trains of many types and colors were busy being switched and shunted into different sidings, and to 831, no two locomotives seemed to look alike to her. Feeling bored of just staring straight ahead, 831's eyes began to curiously look around, just to get a bearing on her surroundings. Above her was a large catwalk with men walking and looking down at her, whistling and smiling as the continued on their business.
"Why would they be looking at me…?", she wondered, then suddenly thought, "Wait, who's that in my head!?"
"Hey, 831!" yelled out a foreman, as he stepped up to her with a clipboard, "We're about to start delivering you to Jersey City, so we'll have a switcher take you to the flatcars."
"Flatcars?" 831 wondered out loud, snapping out of her inner thinking, "What are those? And where am I even? Who's 831?"
"Ah, these new engines," the foreman muttered carelessly under his breath, as he stepped away, "Always with the questions…"
831 was left feeling rather confused as the foreman walked away. Whatever was he on about? She didn't have time to ruminate on this for long, as a little switching locomotive approached her with some crew in tow. The locomotive was painted a dark olive grey with white lining, the number "26" emblazoned in white along his headlight and cab sides. He had a soft warm face and spoke in a quiet, friendly tone as his couplers were soon lashed against 831's front.
"Ah, look at you!" 26 said in a sharp, youthful voice, looking straight at her, "You must be one of the new ones!"
"New ones?" 831 asked, raising an eyebrow as she spoke in a tomboyish tone. Her face grimaced slightly as she felt the shop crews fiddling with her controls.
"Don't you worry about it, 831" 26 chortled as he began to pull her out of the shed, steam thundering out of his stack, "You're on good rails now! Soon, you'll be heading out there and working your wheels off for a worthy cause!"
"What cause is this?" 831 said quietly, as she was dragged slowly out of the shed.
"Why, the cause of keeping us steam locomotives running!" 26 grinned as he cautiously backed up.
As 26 continued to pull 831 out of the shed, the first rays of sunlight hit her face and she gasped. She felt enveloped in its warmth, so comfortable as her wheels turned slowly for the first time, her shining steel side-rods clanking gently against each other. 26's exhaust began to grow louder as the shadow of his smoke blocked out the sun for a brief moment, as the two locomotives began to negotiate the tight curves that lay outside the paint shed.
"Here's where it gets tight!" 26 grinned, then said, "By the way, I'm afraid I haven't introduced myself! My name's Felix, I'm the shop switcher here at Baldwin!"
"Felix?" 831 wondered for a moment, as they passed by a row of dormant locomotives waiting for a paint job, "That's a name?"
"Of course it's a name, and a good one at that!" Felix chuckled, looking mock offended for a moment, "You got yourself a name, you precocious little Pacific?"
"I'm…?" 831 hesitated. What even was her name? And what did Felix just call her now, a "Pacific"? 831 had so many questions, she didn't know where to start!
"Ma'am, if you don't mind me saying," Felix started, seeing her visible confusion, "but you look a bit cross-eyed."
"Well," 831 blushed, feeling embarrassment for the first time, "I just have a lot of… thoughts, right now?"
"I understand, miss," Felix sympathized, smiling, "Being a new engine's gave you a lot of new sensations and ideas, just wish we were all born with these questions answered." 831 blinked and agreed out of curiosity, as Felix continued.
"To give you a quick rundown," the little switcher said, "You're a steam locomotive, a four-six-two Pacific type, built here for the Jersey Central Railroad. Apparently, word goes they wanted some brand new engines for this fancy new express train, but who gives a damn, work's work, and that's good enough for us here!"
Felix presently pulled 831 up to a long line of low-bed flatcars, each with four huge lumps covered with tarp resting on their own flatcars. A small red caboose was behind the last flatcar, looking quite lonely. Felix came to a stop at the very end of the train and was uncoupled from her. 831 looked from the little switcher to the giant crane curiously, as men began to swarm around her and the crane's hook and frame slowly came down above her.
"What's going on now, Felix?" she wondered, looking up as massive chains were attached to the frame and tightened. She then yelped, feeling a tight sensation against her frames.
"Just lifting you up, Miss!" Felix grinned. He always enjoyed seeing engines lifted up for the first time.
"I-I don't think we're supposed to go… UP!" 831 yelped again, as the crane's exhaust began barking louder, straining with her weight. The chains slacked with a sharp metallic noise, as 831 was slowly lifted off the rails. The big blue locomotive shut her eyes tightly, biting her lower lip and blushing as she was lifted higher and higher, while Felix and the other men supervising watched on in amazement.
"I'd very much like to get down now!" 831 shouted, as she was swung to the side, over the flatcar.
"You'll be in a minute!" The crane's operator shouted as he pushed a lever forward, halting 831 in place. With another pull of a lever, the crane lowered 831 onto her flatcar, as the men around her pushed her side-to-side by her wheels, until the big engine rested upon the wooden ties on the bed. The freight car groaned in protest under her weight, as 831 was then covered up with a large tarp, shielding her from the bright sunlight.
"What's this for?" 831 wondered, as she suddenly could only hear her surroundings. Another bang and groan behind her presently indicated her tender had been lowered into place, but she didn't know this.
"Management wants to keep you a secret." One of the workmen answered, though 831 didn't know where, "So you and your siblings will be heading off now for Communipaw for a final check before your premiere next year."
"Oh, ok!" 831 responded, "Thank you!" The workman didn't respond back, but 831 didn't mind. She had siblings, other engines possibly like her! As she grew excited, a sudden jerk forced her out of her reverie as outside her view, two large 2-8-2 Mikados coupled up to the train, the word "READING" emblazoned in gold lettering upon their coal tenders. They were already talking amongst themselves as they coupled up to the train.
"More new engines?" The lead engine grunted, letting steam out of her cylinders.
"As usual." The second engine grumbled, huffing to himself, "More young'uns to deal with."
"Calm down, Clark" The lead engine chuckled, "You know you can't help your fatherly ways."
"If I were a father, Rachel, "Clark responded, "I'd be taking my belt more to them should they misbehave."
"Alright you two!" The foreman shouted over their argument, "You're all clear to go! Straight to Jersey City, now!"
"Yes sir!" They both shouted and let out two sharp blasts of their whistles. Another jerk rattled the train, as both locomotives struggled to get a grip on the rails with their heavy load.
Finally, with much snorting and puffing, the cavalcade slowly got underway and out of the works yard. 831 bounced gently on the flatcar as it clattered over rail joints and switches. It so happened that as they traveled along, a careless workman left the front of her tarp rope undone, causing it to suddenly blow and flutter away from her face. This allowed 831 to experience the sunlight again, making her smile for the first time as the train slowly continued on its way towards her new home.
The ride out of Philadelphia was mostly quiet for the slow moving cavalcade. The two steam locomotives at the front mostly kept quiet as they crawled almost agonizingly slowly up the line to New Jersey. Their top-heavy loads creaked and clacked behind them as twin spouts of grey-white smoke shot out into the sky, their artillery-like reports echoing off retaining walls and buildings to create a massive, cacophonic noise. 831 hadn't dared talked to the others yet, out of shyness since she considered them to be total strangers. In actuality, all she knew spanned from the paint shed to the flatbed car she now rode upon, and that still raised so many questions: What exactly was she, where was she going, and what were all those creatures swarming around her? At the nearest red signal, 831 got up her courage, which was an odd feeling, and decided she'd ask any engine around her what exactly was going on.
"Um, hello…?" 831 called out as Clark and Rachel's exhausts died down. A voice in front of the lumpy tarp in front of her spoke up.
"Hello yourself!" Said a rich male voice in front.
"I'm sorry," 831 grimaced as she squinted shut, still quite nervous, "But who are you?"
"Why," The voice responded, chuckling a little, "I'm your brother, 831! I'm 832!"
"Oh!" 831 smiled warmly, sighing in relief, "I'm happy to meet you then!"
"Absolutely, pleasure's ours!" 832 continued, chuckling to himself, "The one in front of me is 833, our younger sister!"
"Hello!" responded a youthful, bubbly voice from the very front, sounding quite faint as the train began to move forward again.
"So…" 831 asked, "What're we doing, exactly?"
"Well!" 832 responded, as they passed over a railroad crossing, "Management up in this state called 'New Jersey' wanted us built for some fancy passenger train next...year, was it? Something like that…" He paused for a moment, then continued, "So while you were in the shed being painted last, the shop crews kinda already made us privy to the fact that we're engines, steam locomotives actually!"
"Oh!" 831 exclaimed as they flew under a road bridge, "Like that little one, Felix?"
"Exactly right, sis!" 832 exclaimed, "Still trying to figure out a name for myself, though. I've seriously no idea what to call myself!"
"Same here!" 833 squealed from the front. 831 frowned, she hadn't thought of that yet at all. It was odd that Felix called himself "Felix", or that the other engines had names and such. Perhaps it was a sign of individuality? This struck 831 as significant, as perhaps her brother and sister looked so much like her that they needed to be individualized by name.
The Pacific thought hard about her choice as the train continued to slowly snake its way Northeast. Around them, big city skylines soon gave way to broad, rolling farmscapes, dotted with cows and horses that took only a bare, fleeting glimpse at the cavalcade of trains passing by them. Sometimes, there would be children at recess from school, gathering at the fence bordering the train line to see the big steam locomotives thundering their way past. The two Consolidations each would blast their whistles for the children, and 831 got to see the kids scream and cheer every time they passed by.
By the time they reached West Trenton, having crossed into New Jersey, Rachel had stopped to take on water at a water tower. As the trains waited, 831 looked up at the noontime sun shining down on her silver smokebox. The idea for a name still lingered in her mind, and nothing was coming to her at all.
"I can't think of anything…" She finally said to her siblings, as Rachel's tender was halfway full.
"I may have a suggestion," Clark replied, "Since you all are taking on the Blue Comet and are painted blue, why not something that starts with the letter B?" All three engines gave it a thought, as 831's eyes looked over a white milk truck that was parked out by the West Trenton Station building.
"What about that… white thing, there?" SHe said, directing Clark to look over at the milk truck.
"That thing?" He asked incredulously, "You want to name yourself after a milk truck?"
"Oh, no no!" 831 protested, "I meant the color!"
"Ooooh!" Clark realized, laughing to himself, "So, something like Blanche?"
"Blanche?" 833 giggled, "Sounds like an old woman!"
"Perhaps something else…?" 831 responded, groaning at her sister's incessant giggling.
"Alright then!" Clark wondered, remembering the name of one of his engineer's wives, "What about Bianca?"
"Bianca…" 831 pondered, "I like it! It's a nice name!"
"Excellent!" Clark cheered, "Now what about you other two…?"
"I was thinking something like "Bernard"," 832 said, "I saw it on a big billboard in one of the towns we went through."
"What, Bernard Hewitt?" Rachel laughed, as her tank was soon filled and the train was ready to go, "That's a fashion catalogue!"
"I still like the name," Bernard said proudly, "Suits this fine voice pretty well."
"Alright then!" Clark smiled as the two locomotives began their journey again, passing by the West Trenton Station Building, "What about you, 833?"
"Bwehla?" 833 suddenly blurted out as her flatcar rolled over some points. All engines were taken aback by the sudden gibberish out of her mouth, but Bernard decided to press further.
"Sister, did you say "Biela"?" He asked, raising an eyebrow.
"I… think I did?" 833 said, about as confused as he was, "Why, is it a good name?"
"Well," Clark started, "It's rather unique. Biela, it's a nice name!"
"Yay!" Biela cheered, bouncing on her flatcar slightly, clicking and clacking along the tracks.
As the other engines began to converse, Bianca continued to look out her tarp at the wide open scenery around her. In a few hours, they would be in Jersey City and their new home. Bianca, smiling from markerlight to markerlight, couldn't possibly wait, and she knew, neither could her wonderful siblings. While the sun continued to slowly set in the sky as the hours whiled away, the small towns soon grew into larger towns and small cities. Before anyone knew it, the engines were soon in the jagged shadow of Jersey City's sparkling skyline. Home lay waiting.
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