Chapter 3
While No. 12 finally got some well-earned rest, work on the new line began. The remains of the old line were found a few miles from the Ice Line's goods station. The new line plan called for two tracks leading up through the side of the mountain, ending at the site of the original station. As there was no way for engines to get up to it, they instead used big trucks and other vehicles to bring supplies.
Meanwhile, the logging line was busier than ever. Naomi and Sora would bring the loggers up every morning, and Misaki and No. 12 would arrive later to collect the new neatly cut railway sleepers, which were cut from the finest Jobi wood trees. They would take them to the work site, where the workmen did their best, laying down as much track as they could. As it got colder by the day, the work began to slow down, but everyone was determined to make the new line work.
Up at the logging site, there lived an old, rickety steam engine named Shane. He wasn't at all like the other engines; his boiler was on his left side, and his cylinders stuck out from his right. They powered three sets of four wheels under him, and he had a tall, wide-brim funnel. He had been working at the logging site for longer than anyone could remember, and he was proud of his work.
One cold morning, on the day the new engine was meant to arrive, No. 12 came up the line and found Shane sitting miserably in a nearby siding. "Ah'll be darned," he was muttering, "if Ah can't get up ter steam today." He noticed No. 12 watching him, and smiled feebly. "Don' chu worry 'bou me," he wheezed. "Ah'll be fine."
No. 12 wasn't so sure. He collected the waiting flatbeds of sleepers, and puffed up to Shane before he left. "Need anything from the Works?" his Driver asked.
Shane's Driver thought for a moment. "Actually," he replied, "could you shunt him to the Works? There's something definitely wrong with him."
"Ah haven' been there in years," Shane sighed. "Blas' if 'ey know how ter fix me up."
No. 12 understood, but their Drivers had made up their minds. No. 12 shunted the flatbeds back into the siding for Misaki to take, and then buffered up to Shane. Carefully, No. 12 pulled him away until they were puffing along Naomi's branch line.
Shane glanced all around him. No. 12 wasn't allowed to go too fast, so the old engine got to observe the quite little villages, the small stations, and even the river that flowed out toward the sea. "Mah, mah," he chuckled. "How much it's all changed! Lot more roads now than Ah 'member..."
They had to stop at the Main Station, to wait for the line to be clear before they could get to the Works. While waiting by the platform, the two watched as the nearby narrow gauge engines worked. "Lot more of them lil fellers too," Shane observed. "When Ah was a young 'un, there was jus' 'is one lil red 'un."
There were two loud honks from behind them. "And soon," came a taunting shout, "there'll be none!"
"Oh, can it," muttered a second voice. "Nobody takes you seriously, Kin!"
Rolling up by the station were two city buses. One was painted dark amber color, named Kin, and the other was painted black all over, named Kuro. The twins eyed No. 12 and Shane from the road.
"What's this rusty old steamer doing here, Mute?" Kuro asked No. 12. "I knew you rail types were out of date, but... sheesh!"
"Looks ripe and ready for Keikan Island!" laughed Kin. "I could only imagine what the diesels would say if they saw a mess like you!"
Shane was offended. "Ah do more work in 'un day than yer'll do in a whole lifetime!" he retorted. "Nah be lucky Ah ain't feelin' up ter movin', or y'all'd be scrap metal yerselves!"
Kin and Kuro went silent. "Yeah, uh, sorry," Kin muttered.
Kuro scowled. "See?" he said crossly. "If you back down so early to a threat like that, we'll never beat them!"
The two started to argue loudly just as the signal dropped. No. 12 and Shane hurried away as quickly as their wheels could carry them.
Oni is, perhaps, the smallest engine on all of Tanishima, but he's proven to be the most troublesome engine of all. He's brown and has no cab, and his cylinders are top-to-bottom. He was built to work in a brewery, where he adopted his light-headed, ditzy attitude, before he was bought to work at Tanishima's main Works. He spends his time bringing parts and workmen to different areas of the facility, and sometimes is even loaded onto a special flat truck, which is used to let him shunt standard gauge trucks and pull tired engines inside.
Oni is sharp when it comes to building and repairing engines, but he keeps this hidden under his rude teasing toward the other, bigger engines. When he saw No. 12 backing into the Works with Shane in front of him, he made sure the two engines would be no exception.
"Phew!" he snorted as he eyes Shane. "What kind of waste yard did you find this thing, Twelve?"
No. 12 rolled his eyes. Shane chuckled. "Oh look a' that, there's a lil imp in this place!" he teased in reply. "Th' name's Shane, an' you?"
"Oni! The best and brightest engine you've ever met! You look like you need a checkup."
"Yes," Shane agreed, "Ah do."
There was a pause. Shane and No. 12 looked at Oni expectantly. The little engine just blinked at them.
"Well?" Shane said.
"Well what?"
"Aren't you gonna go get some men ter look over me?"
"I thought that was your job, gramps," Oni said, making a confused face.
Shane stared at him in bewilderment.
"Nya ha ha ha!" Oni laughed. "I'll be back, old timer!"
Shane grimaced while Oni rolled away, his laugh echoing around "Ah cud get sick o' tha' laugh darned fast," he confined to No. 12.
No. 12 gave a nervous smile of agreement. His Driver checked his watch. "It's nearly time, old boy," he told him. "The new engine will be at the harbor soon."
Shane looked up. "New engine?" he said with a grin. "Well, Twelve mah frien', y'all better hurry up an' greet th' new feller. Let 'im kno ter visit mah humble lil line sometime!"
No. 12 didn't want to leave Shane, but he knew he had to go. He whistled goodbye, and he hurried off to the harbor as fast as his wheels could carry him.
The Big Controller was standing with Ryo Gunji, who the engines knew by his title, the Representative. His job was to go out beyond the island and find engines for sale when the two railways needed them, and would bring them back to Tanishima to work. He and the Big Controller were looking over countless forms, all with as much information about the engine that his owner could give.
The two men were at the harbor, and the new engine was standing before them, finally on dry rails after his long trip. The diesel engine was long with two sets of four wheels, and two cabs, one on each end. He was painted a dark amber color, with brighter stripes down both of his sides. On the roof of his cab, there was a large, round hole right in his center, with mechanical hinges where an attachment had meant to be.
The Big Controller glanced over at the Representative. "Where'd you say you found him?" he asked.
"Some workshop in Europe," he replied. "I don't quite remember the name, but the building was really run down..."
The big diesel eyed them curiously, trying to listen in on what they were saying.
"Right, then," the Big Controller said, "you say you've worked with steam engines before?"
"Oh, plenty of times," the diesel replied with a smirk. "They're outdated where I live, but I collect scrap from another railway. It's full of steam engines, and we get along just fine."
The Big Controller looked suspicious. "You pull scrap, and you're friends with steam engines?"
"Well it's a dirty and grimy job! Somebody's gotta do it, right?" the diesel retorted. "I'm pulling what's already been cut up. They're not getting in my train anytime soon."
The two men glanced at each other, before looking back to the diesel. "So what's with the hole?" the Representative inquired.
"Oh, that," the diesel said. "It's some experimental thing. They want to put a crane or something on me, but first they want to see how well I can run with just this. Yeah, I don't understand it either. But it's what I have to live with for now, I guess."
The Big Controller still wasn't completely reassured. "If you cause any trouble for my engines," he said darkly, "we'll send you right back to where you came from. It's an important time of year for us, so we can't bother with any diesel-versus-steam drama. Do I make myself clear, No. 10?"
"Loud and clear," the diesel replied. "And please, my friend like to call me Big D."
At that moment, No. 12 had puffed into the harbor. He stopped when he saw Big D waiting there with the Big Controller and the Representative. He was surprised at how intimidating the diesel was.
"Here," said the Big Controller, "is...erm... Big D. Would you mind showing him the sheds? He'd like to be with other engines after his long journey."
No. 12 looked nervously at Big D, but his Driver said politely, "We'll take him there right away!"
No 12 carefully buffered up to Big D, and he slowly puffed out of the harbor. The diesel began to speak as they got closer to the sheds.
"So kid," he said in his gruff voice, "it's nice to meet you. Got a name?"
No. 12 just blinked nervously.
"What, no name?" Big D asked. "Or is it an embarrassing name?"
No. 12 looked away. He didn't know how to let the visitor know he couldn't talk.
"What's the matter?" Big D went on. "Got nothing to say? Or... can you say anything?"
No. 12 gave a sheepish smile.
"Oh!" Big D said with a loud laugh. "Sorry, kid! I didn't realize, my bad! I just never thought I'd meet a mute engine before."
No. 12 blushed sheepishly.
"Hey, it's nothing to be ashamed of," Big D chuckled. "We've all got our quirks, right?"
No. 12 couldn't help but smile back. Big D didn't seem so bad to him.
By the time night had come, all of the engines of the Upper Valley Railway had come to the sheds to welcome Big D. They were surprised to meet such a polite engine, though Misaki maintained her skepticism.
"So what did you do on your line?" Morning Light asked.
"I was a goods engine, mostly," Big D said as he thought. "There's this island not too far from where I live, and I bring trains back and forth over the bridge. It's tough work."
"Strange," Ryu said. "That sounds just like what Hiro and I used to do."
Big D looked up at him. "Hiro?"
All of the engines stared at him. "Do you know him?" asked Hideaki.
Big D thought for a moment. "I remember a met an engine a few years ago...I think that was his name," he said. "He was big and black, and had red wheels..."
"That sounds like him!" said Ryu excitedly. All of the engines gathered around to ask Big D about him. Misaki, however, stayed as quiet as No. 12. He watched her eyes, looking as if she was trying to dissect every word Big D said. "I don't know about you," she whispered to No. 12, "but I'm not going to trust him just because he met Hiro..."
No. 12 gave her a sympathetic smile. He knew she was just being cautious, but he was starting to think she might be overreacting. Big D didn't seem too bad to him at all. And if there was a railway where he and Hiro could have worked together, maybe it wouldn't be too hard to give this new engine a chance on their own line.
It wasn't too long before the Big Controller arrived. "I see you've all given Big D a warm welcome," he said kindly. "Now then, there's a late train that has to go to Keikan, and..."
"Oooh!" Hideaki exclaimed. "Can I do it, Sir? I'm all ready to go!"
"You just want to show off," Naomi said with a roll of her eyes.
"What?" Hideaki scoffed. "No I don't! I'm just the best engine for the job, that's all."
The other engines groaned. "I was thinking," the Big Controller clarified, "that we let Big D take this one. It would be a nice way for him to learn the Main Line."
"I'd be happy to help, Sir," Big D said with a smile.
The rest of the engines said goodbye as Big D rolled out of the sheds. Big D rumbled off to the goods yard, far from the ears of the steam engines. In the darkness, his kind smile curled into an ugly snarl.
"Stupid gullible steamers," he snorted to himself. Glaring toward the sheds, he spat on the ground as he pulled out of the yard toward Keikan.
