Time for a new chapter. This will be the start of Sam's life on the railway. Hope you enjoy it and thank you to all that sent in character ideas. If more are sent, I will find a place for them in my series.
Chapter 2: Welcome to the railway
Sam grew more and more excited. He was on the main line traveling to his new home. "I can't wait to see all the engines that are there" he said. "I bet they'll give you a big welcome" called his driver. This caused Sam to smile even bigger. Soon they arrived at a set of points. One continued on the main line. The other led away from it. Then a man walked out of a small building near the tracks. "Which track are ya taking" he asked. "The left track" called the fireman. So the man walked back into the building. Sam looked at the points, and they soon changed so he could puff down the left track. "Thank you" Sam called as he moved over the points. "No prob, see ya later" the man called.
Soon Sam was puffing proudly along the line. He was on the left track of a three track road. "We're almost there Sam" called the driver. Sam's smile grew even bigger. Then Sam looked ahead. They were coming up to some mountains. Then they were running through a two track valley. "Wow, this place is beautiful" Sam said as he took in the sights. "It shure is" called his driver. But then Sam and his driver and fireman heard a loud rumble. "What could that be" thought Sam. Then a huge locomotive rushed past. Wind blew into Sam's face. "Fizzling Fireboxes, what was that" he asked. "It was a big engine, that's what it was" said his fireman. "Well I think he needs to slow down" huffed Sam. Soon they left the valley and where puffing through tall hill sides. "This place has lots of mountains" commented the fireman. "There's probably a lot of accidents" said Sam.
They Sam left the hills and soon was puffing through a country side. "This is more like it" said the driver "flat and calm, that's what I like". "It's okay, but the valley was much more beautiful" said Sam. "All engines are different" said the fireman. But Sam wasn't listening; he was paying attention to the track ahead. He could see buildings coming into view. "Is that the railway" called Sam to his driver. "It's part of the railway" he called back. Sam was soon puffing past many homes. There were kids playing in yards, but they all stopped and waved at Sam when he passed by. His driver blew the whistle as a thank you. "It's nice of them to wave" said Sam. They then left the houses behind and were coming up at what looked like a huge mountain area. "What's that up ahead" asked Sam. "That's the big city, it's where your new railway is" said the fireman. Sam smiled as they entered the city.
Words could only just describe what Sam was thinking. Everywhere he looked he saw people, cars, theaters, dinners, and many, many stores. "Wow, this place is amazing" said Sam, not looking away from all the sights. They then left the city, and Sam's face lit up. He was entering a huge rail yard. There were freight cars and coaches everywhere. "This place is huge. It's much bigger than the workshop" he said as they puffed further into the yard. Then the sight of a huge station came into view. It had ten platforms and a huge glass roof. There were currently no engines near the platform. "Where is everyone" asked Sam as he pulled in. "There probably off working" said the driver. Sam steamed slowly to a stop. He looked around, there were only passengers standing around. Some of them looked and whispered when Sam pulled in.
Then a man in a black suit walked over to Sam. "Aw, you must be Sam" he said. "Yes, and who might you be" Sam asked. Then his driver and fireman ran up to the man. Then they turned to Sam and gave him an angry look. "Sam, you should respect your controller" said the driver. Sam was shocked; he then looked at the man. "Oh, I'm so sorry sir" he said sadly. "Ah, it's okay Sam. But as I was saying, welcome to The Grand Central Railway" the man said happily. "Thank you sir. Oh, and what may I call you" Sam asked. "Call me Mr. Copper" he said happily. "Ok Mr. Copper. Now may I ask, where are all the other engines"? Mr. Copper smiled. "There off doing their jobs of course". But then a 2-8-0 Baldwin tender engine pulled up. Mr. Copper turned around and smiled. "Aw, Jake, right on time. And it's a good thing you arrived first, I would like you to meet Sam, he's our newest engine". The engine looked at Sam and smiled. "Hello Sam, nice to meet you. Welcome to the Grand Central Railway" Jake said happily. Sam gave a weak smile. "Hello" he said quietly. "Now Jake, I would like you to take Sam on a tour of the railway" said Mr. Copper. "Yes sir" said Jake. So Mr. Copper left. "Okay Sam, let's get rolling". So Sam's driver and fireman hopped back into his cab and reversed him out of the station.
After they had found a turntable and spun Sam around, Jake and Sam puffed down the line away from the yards. "First stop, the quarry" said Jake. So they puffed down another line. Then they came to a long valley with one rail running through it. But unlike the other valley, this one was bare and plant less. "Why aren't there any trees or plants here" asked Sam. "Because they keep digging into the side of the valley for rock" replied Jake. Then they left the valley and came up to a huge area surrounded by high cliffs and piles of stone. "Welcome to the High hill quarry" said Jake. Sam looked around. There were many machines pounding away at the sides of the mountain. Other machines were loading slate into waiting freight cars. Then Sam heard a whistle. "Who's that" asked Sam. Jake chuckled "why that would be Samantha, she's in charge of taking cars of slate away" replied Jake. Soon a Mogul 2-6-0 tender engine came around a corner. "Oh, hi Jake, what brings you here" asked Samantha. "I'm showing the new engine around" he replied. Samantha looked behind Jake and saw Sam. Her eyes narrowed and she smiled. "He does look pretty nice" she said. "Don't start staring at him just yet, we still have places to go" said Jake. And they his driver reversed him down the line, causing Sam to reverse to.
When they got back on the main line, they headed off in another direction. "Now Sam, let's go check out the logging station" said Jake. So they soon arrived at the logging station. "We get all our logs from here" he said as Sam watched some logs float down the river. But then something flew past the right side of Sam. "What was that" Sam asked. "Oh no" sighed Jake. Then something else flew past Sam's left. "Not those two" said Jake. After he said this, two small red 0-4-0 tank engines pulled up on either side of Sam. "Hello, who are you" the said in unison. "Uh, my names Sam" he said "who are you two"? "Sam, meet Tina and Lucy" said Jake in an annoyed tone. "We pull freight cars about" said Lucy. "And we work here sometimes" said Tina. "Okay Sam, time to go" said Jake as he pulled away, with Sam fallowing him.
While they puffed away, Sam spoke to Jake. "Are you okay Sam, you look like your annoyed" he asked. "Ya I'm fine, it's just that the last three engines you've met are very annoying sometimes" said Jake. Then Sam's driver poked a head out of the cab window. "We need to take on some more water Sam" he called. "There's one by the next station" said Jake. So when they arrived at the next station, Sam stopped by the water tower. "How do you like the railway so far Sam" asked his driver. "It's very nice" he replied. Then Sam heard another whistle. "Who's that" he thought. Then a Stainer Mogul pulled up with some freight cars. "Hello Gove, what's with this locomotive" it asked. "Oh Sam, this is Josh. He comes from England" said Jake. "Oh my" said Sam. "He's a mixed traffic engine. He can pull both coaches and freight cars easily". "That's amazing" said Sam. "It is, but I don't like to boast. Anyway, I must go, can't be late" and with that, Josh rolled away. Jake huffed "he says he doesn't like to boast, but a while ago he boasted all the time". Soon Sam's tank was full. "Ready to roll" said the fireman. "Great, I got one last place to show you today" said Jake, and he puffed away, with Sam not far behind.
Jake took Sam along a long track. "Where are we going" he asked. "You'll see" said Jake. They then came up to a large tunnel. Sam's light went on when he puffed through. When they came out on the other side, Sam was very surprised. It was a huge coaling plant. There were chutes and cars filled with coal everywhere. "This is our railways main coaling plant" said Jake. "This place is huge" said Sam as he and Jake puffed forward. Sam looked to his left and saw a big train of coal cars. "They must be ready to take" said Jake. "I could take them" said Sam happily. "I don't think so, the engine who is assigned to take them wouldn't like it" said Jake cautiously. "And who would that be" asked Sam. "It would be me" said a voice. Then a Pennsylvania 0-6-0 Slope back Tender Engine pulled up beside Sam. "Sam, meet Jurina" said Jake. Jurina had an angry look on her face. "You think just because your big you can come in here and take my coal cars" she asked. "Well, uh, you see" said Sam. "Well the answers no, these are my coal cars" and she then backed up onto the train. When she was coupled up, she left. "Whoa, she's fierce" said Sam. "Only when you try to take here coal cars" said Jake. "Mental note, never touch Jurina's coal cars" thought Sam as he fallowed Jake out of the coaling plant.
Soon they arrived back at the station. Mr. Copper was there waiting for them. "Thank you Jake for taking Sam around. You can go and rest up for the day" he said. "Thank you sir" and with that Jake left. "So, what do you think of the railway so far" Mr. Copper asked Sam. "Well sir, all I can say is, I think I'm going to like it here" he said with a smile.
Hoped you liked this chapter. Note: not all the main characters were introduced in this chapter. The next chapter will finish that up. Remember if you have an idea for a character, PM me or leave a review. The character's basis has to have been made before 1940.