As the train cleared the mountain pass, Steamer tried to pull the throttle back to keep its speed as it was, but it only went back halfway before stopping. He tried again, only to get the same result. He tried again, and again, and again, but it still wouldn't go back any further. Annoyed, he put both hands on the lever as he furiously tried to yank it all the way back, unaware that his continuous lever pulling was making the pin holding it in place come loose, and was making the train go faster.
The increase in speed was noticed by The Conductor, Elsa, and Honeymarren, who were still on the front of the locomotive.
"Are we supposed to be going this fast?" Asked Elsa.
"No! Tell the engineer to slow down!" The Conductor ordered Honeymarren.
Honeymarren climbed the side ladder as the train continued to accelerate through foggy open terrain. She put her hands around her mouth.
"Slow it down! Watch the speed!"
Steamer was so busy yanking on the lever that he didn't hear her, and eventually the pin holding it in place flew out, making him hit the floor, taking the lever with him.
"Jumping jeepers! The cotter pin sheered off!"
The pin bounced around the area before briefly resting on Smokey's hat.
"What?" He said, making the pin fall on top of a grate.
"The pin!"
"Where?"
"There!" Said Steamer as he smashed his fist on the grate, making the pin go up and fall through one of the holes in it.
"Oh no!" They both said at the same time.
"They can't hear me!" Said Honeymarren.
"They can't? Uh-oh." Said The Conductor as the tracks started getting supported by wooden beams rather than the natural ground. The fog came to an end, and two signs came up on either side of the tracks, the one on their left reading "DANGER 179 DEGREE GRADE" and the one on their right reading "USE LOW GEAR". A seeming end to the straight tracks appeared in the distance.
"I don't like the look of this. Quick! Under the safety bar!"
"Is everything alright? What should we do?" Asked Elsa as they got behind the safety bar and the train continued to pick up even more speed.
"Well, considering the fact, that we have lost communication with the engineer, we are standing totally exposed on the front of the locomotive, the train appears to be accelerating uncontrollably, and we are rapidly approaching Glacier Gulch, which just happens to be the steepest downhill grade in the world, I suggest we all hold on..." The straight tracks came to an end as they dipped downward into a very steep drop. "TIGHTLY!"
All three of them screamed at the top of their lungs as they gripped the safety bar with all their might as the train went down the hill so fast that the tracks blurred. As they reached the bottom of that hill, they went up a sharp uphill slope that led to a stretch of tracks that went out in the open completely supported by wooden beams. Once they reached the top, they went down an even longer drop.
Inside the back of the locomotive, the pin flew out of the grate as Smokey and Steamer went airborne.
"The pin!" They yelled as they reached for it, unintentionally slapping it away with the tips of their fingers until Steamer caught it with his teeth.
The train reached the bottom of the drop and the tracks leveled out. Steamer hit the ground, but Smokey landed on top of him, making the pin fly out of his mouth as the train raced down another really sharp, really long drop. Steamer caught the pin inside his mouth as the train returned to ground level and Smokey once again landed on top of him, making him accidentally swallow it. As the train sped through the mostly empty wilderness, The Conductor saw another problem up ahead.
"Jiminy Christmas, the ice has frozen over the tracks!"
The tracks steadily dipped downward, and came to a seeming end at a massive frozen lake the train was rapidly approaching. Before they knew it, the train sped onto the ice right as the tracks ended, and all its passenger cars drifted off to one side without tracks to keep them in one place. The Conductor, Elsa, and Honeymarren maintained their tight grips on the safety bar as they prayed for the train to stop. Smokey hit Steamer in the back with his shovel, which made him cough up the pin, but it flew out the open window and stabbed the ice, making it start to crack. The train then hit a chunk of ice head on, making it tilt to one side as all three of them unintentionally pushed the safety bar out, where it fell off.
Honeymarren also fell off, only saved when the Conductor grabbed the back of her gray shirt. Elsa grabbed the back of his suit, trying to make sure that he didn't fall off, but she started slipping towards the edge, until someone else grabbed the back of her nightgown. While the Conductor focused on trying to get Honeymarren back on, Elsa turned around and saw that it was the Hobo that was keeping everyone in place. He made a "Shush" gesture with his left hand as he pulled everyone back on with his right.
"Thank you." Said Elsa as he disappeared in a cluster of ash.
"Young lady, quick thinking on your part!" Said The Conductor, unaware of The Hobo's assistance.
Smokey looked out the window and realized that the pin was lost. Seeing no other options, he took off his hat and took out a near-identical pin that was holding his long hair in place. He put the lever back in place and secured it with the pin, enabling Steamer to pull it all the way back. The locomotive's wheels screeched as it drifted across the ice some more while leaning on its right side, before finally coming to a stop. The locomotive tilted to one side until The Conductor, Elsa and Honeymarren ran to the other side, making it tilt that way and rock back and forth between sides some more before it finally rested.
"Well, that is more, like it." Said The Conductor.
The three got on the roof of the train, where The Conductor opened a hatch on it to get a view inside the back of it.
"What in the name of Mike?!" He said.
Suddenly, distant noises caught their attention. Elsa looked forward and saw that the ice was cracking.
"That's bad, right?" She said.
The Conductor and Honeymarren looked forward and saw that not only was it cracking, but it was catching up to their position fast.
"Get us the blazes out of here!"
Steamer grabbed a silver lever next to the brake and pulled it back. The train started going in reverse in full throttle as the cracking ice continued to creep closer.
"Turn this sled around!"
Steamer pushed the silver lever forward halfway before applying the brakes. The train's wheels stopped moving as it drifted to the side. He pushed the silver all the way forward, and the train turned to face the other direction, taking all its cars with it as it started putting distance between it and the cracking ice.
"Look there!" Said Elsa as she pointed to the other side of the lake. There was a cut through the glacier on the other side.
"Tracks! Dead ahead!" Yelled The Conductor.
On the other side of the lake were more tracks, practically waiting for the train to reach them. The train moved to the left a little bit.
"Right!" Ordered The Conductor.
Steamer messed with three levers. The train moved to the right, briefly lining up with the tracks before going a little too far right.
"Left!"
Steamer messed with the levers again, again the train moved too far.
"Right!"
More levers being pulled, more direction shifting.
"Hang a Louie! Toss a Ritchie! Port astern! To the starboard!"
As The Conductor continued barking orders at Steamer, Elsa's right slipper started coming loose.
"My slipper!" She said as she grabbed it as it fell off, making Honeymarren's ticket go airborne.
"You're gonna lose your ticket!" Said Honeymarren.
"It's not my ticket, it's yours!" Said Elsa as she frantically put her slipper back on.
"Wait, it's my ticket?!"
"Yes!"
They reached out to grab the ticket out of the air as the train continued changing between going left and right. Just as they both grabbed it, they saw that the cracking ice had caught up with them, and that all the passenger cars were starting to submerge.
"OH NO!"
The Conductor turned around after the train was finally positioned straight toward the tracks, seeing the trailing cars slip even lower below the ice.
"Brace yourselves!"
Just as the locomotive slipped beneath the ice, it hit the submerged tracks hard and, with great effort, was able to pull itself uphill where the rest of the tracks continued. Water dripped off all the trailing cars as they left the lake behind and went into the glacier.
"Well, that's more like it." Said The Conductor as he jumped into the engine.
"Thank you! Thank you!" Said Honeymarren as she and Elsa hugged each other. "I can't believe you found my ticket!"
"Did someone say they found a ticket?" Asked The Conductor as he climbed back up through the hatch in the roof.
"Yeah." Said Elsa.
"Well, in that case, tickets please."
Honeymarren handed her ticket to The Conductor as he took out his ticket puncher. He rapidly punched holes in it, stopping for less than a second to blow some pieces off his mustache.
"Thank you." He said as he handed it back to Honeymarren with the letters "LE" punched into it.
"L-E?" She said, thoroughly confused.
"Hey, just like Ryder!" Said Elsa.
"So, whatever these things will say once the rest is punched when we get to the North Pole, you think mine's gonna be the same as Ryder's?"
"I'm just saying, it's a possibility."
Elsa and Honeymarren then laughed out loud together on the roof of the locomotive as the train continued through the glacier.