Prologue. Autumn.
Somewhere in the dark hills of Pennsylvania sat an abandoned railroad track. Rusted and long claim by nature. in a siding, covered by Dence shrubs, was a large sentient locomotive. He opened his eyes having given up on sleeping tonight by the sheer cold rainfall hitting his exposed face. He had a short chimney six powered wheels and a tender all covered in rust and graffiti. He along with others were brought here with the intention of preservation. Unfortunately, many of them had suffered from decay and vandalism. Thus, resulting in many of the remaining locos giving up on ever leaving these hills.
And he was losing hope as well. As he looked down at a puddle made by the rain, he was greeted by a dull face filled with sadness in its eyes. How long, has he been rotting in this siding. His own reflection was proof, he was slowly accepting his fate in these tracks. Until, a small gap in the reflection opened to reviled thousands of bright stars. He looked up and, as if the stars were talking to him, shine brighter. 'Don't give up on us, live on for us brother.'
The sadness in his eyes were replaced with determination. "I will. I promised you all I'll get-"
He was interrupted by the sound of voices follow by lights in the distance. A group of individuals with flashlights was coming down the tracks. And the loco was having a dilemma. At one end it could be a group of vandals or worse, he gulps a group of scrappers with iron cutters. Nether was good news he's face many misses before but this, from what he could see, this was a large number of people. Soon a light shine on his frame and the voices got louder he put on a brave face. But before he can scare them away.
"Look-look! It's a really big loco mommy!" Stunned the loco looked closely and was shocked at what he saw. The group was made up of man woman and Children? He was quite confused. They slowly surround him with an elderly man right in front of him. "Don't be afraid we're not going to hurt you." He spoke gently.
"Then, why are you all here? Especially with kids." The loco mumbles the last words. Then, a boy ran up front to the loco right next to the man. "we're here to rescue you right grandpa?" He spoke.
"Indeed, my name is Charles Thomson and I own a heritage railroad. We're a family-owned foundation who helps rescue locomotives like you from disappearing. We're told that there was an abandoned railroad in the outskirts of these hills." he pauses. "To be honest I was beginning to lose hope of finding a locomotive up here." he finishes.
"The others are long gone I'm afraid." The loco said. The group was silent by these words the boy looks up to him sadly. Mr. Thompson then placed his hand gently on the locos rusted buffer. "I'm sorry to hear about your friends." He said as he looks deep into the locos eyes.
Mr. Thompson can see that the loco have been through so much over the decades. Yet, despite this he can see nothing but pure determination and a strong will to move forward. He then smiled. 'Yes, this is the kind I've been looking for my newly develope project.' Mr. Thompson thought.
"But, you're a lucky one, starting tomorrow I'll have my best in heavy transport send you to my little railroad one way or another I promise, you'll leave these grounds." Mr. Thompson said firmly. The loco was surprised by the promise. "Really?" He spoke.
"Absolutely! My grandpa never broke a promise before." Said the boy. Later the men managed to place a blue tarpaulin over him. "it's the best we can do for you right now. Please get some rest. Tomorrow is a big day and I'll return early in the morning." said Mr. Thompson and with that the group bid farewell to him and started to walked back up the tracks. Now alone the loco was now protected from the weather thanks to people who understood locos and cared about them. And for once, throughout the rainy night the locomotive finally smiled.
'Some really do care about us.' the loco thought as he slowly closes his eyes and happily fell asleep.
Author notes: Hey everybody this, here is my first ever fiction and I will probably be tweaking some thing spelling errors ex. So expect to see some differences also, no roasting me in the bon fire I'm new to this. This, chapter inspiration comes by The proper people on YouTube with their trolley video which fun fact, is also base in Pennsylvania.~