The VURS opened in 1997, with LRVs that were bought from San Francisco, who was getting new LRVs from Breda. Now you may remember that the B line is "Quizzy's". Like how Thomas "got" his branchline, Quizzy earned it. However, Quizzy's exploit was in San Francisco, and was carried over when the other engines told the manager about her bravery. This is that story.
/Ô\ - The Pyramid of Time Travel
At 4 in the morning at Balboa Park Station, the LRV's start to leave for work, and Plizzy was always the first one to go to work on the J line. The J line is the most precarious of the routes, as it includes several right-of-ways, and by far the steepest part of the railway at Dolores Park. The incline is 9 degrees, but also has a stop at the bottom, middle, and top. Only the engines and their drivers know that the stops are really only there to pin down the brakes. Plizzy had just passed 30th St. when she felt a drop of rain on her nose, and by the time she got to Hill Hill, it was pouring rain. She started the descent at Chattanooga, and thought everything was fine.
Everything was not fine.
Everyone knows that the only love story worse than Twilight is trains and [wet] leaves. What I'm saying is, Plizzy slipped past Liberty.
"STOP!" Plizzy cried out. Her brakes were on, and people were watching from the bridge as she honked her horn loudly.
Quizzy was on her way up from Embarcadero, when she heard the horn.
"It must be Plizzy!" she said as she veered ahead.
Remember that it was dark out in all of this. Quizzy charged up the hill.
"Put sand on the tracks; put it everywhere!" she shouted to her driver, who did just that. But now Plizzy had slid past 21st St.!
The points changed, and Plizzy went on to the inbound line, facing Quizzy. Quizzy stopped at the middle station, and started to move backwards just before Plizzy hit her. They coupled up, Quizzy held on as she used the sand to screech to a halt. Right before the intersection!
Everyone jumped out to congratulate Quizzy for her quick thinking.
"It wasn't my idea," she admitted, "I just read it in a book about a railway in England. An engine named Duck stopped a line of freight cars on a very large hill by deceasing the pressure of the impact, and got his own branch line."
"Well I think that's what you deserve too," laughed her driver.
And she did. The manager gave her the J-Church line, so she only ran that line, and had a say in matters relating to it. Although she didn't have a complete veto, as some stops, including Middle Station were closed, and eventually, in 1996 the Boeing LRVs were replaced by Breda ones. 22 of the LRV's were sold to Vicarstown, but the rest were sadly scrapped. Eventually, at least, she did meet Duck, who was very proud of her. Everyone lived happily ever after. Except the engines who were scrapped.
R.I.P. The Boeing LRVs 1980-1996
