Merida's Courage
On the grand central railway, there are four main passenger services. They run north, south, east, and west. The North service is run by Matthias. The East service is run by Roku. The Western service is run by Jaime. Finally, the Southern service is run by Merida. They all love their jobs and are proud to be in charge of such important services.
It was a warm sunny day on the grand central. Merida was working hard, pulling fifteen passenger coaches. "It feels just right out today" said Merida as she passed by a neighborhood with many children playing in their yards. Her driver agreed "Ai, it's not too hot and not too cool; just right". Soon Merida had arrived at the next station on their route. Merida waited patiently as her passengers left and new ones boarded. Then the conductor's whistle blew. "Let's get rolling" said Merida. Soon Merida was puffing down the line.
But a few minutes after she left the station, her driver started to hear a strange noise. "What is that noise" he wondered. Soon the fireman and Merida heard it. "What is it" asked the fireman. "Aww" said Merida. "You okay Merida" asked the driver. "Slight pain in mi pistons" said Merida. "Let's have a look" said the driver and the eased off the throttle and stopped the train.
Then the fireman got on the speaker.
"Sorry for the delay; we are doing a quick inspection of the locomotive" he said to the passengers. Some of the passengers were not happy. "I don't want to be late" said a man in a smart grey suit. But some of the passengers were worried about Merida. "I hope she's alright" said a woman to her husband. "Don't worry dear, I'm shure everything is fine" said the woman's husband.
Well, at the front of the train, it seemed that everything was fine. "I can't see anything wrong with the pistons" said the driver. "Ya shure there aint anything wrong" asked the fireman. "Nothing, I can't see a thing wrong" said the driver. "Well, then let's get going; we don't wan the passengers to be late" said Merida. Since he couldn't see any reason not to, the driver hopped back into Merida's cab and slowly but surely they were on their way once again.
A few hours later, Merida was speeding through the beautiful countryside. "Smooth sailing" said Merida. But it wasn't, because then she heard that strange noise again. "Wait a minute, it's that noise I heard before" she thought out loud. Her driver heard it to "Again with that noise" said her driver in a worried tone. But the sound was getting louder; so loud that the passengers could hear it. They were starting to worry. "Maybe we should stop and inspect you again" said the driver to Merida. But Merida was stern "No, we mustn't stop, I can hold up until we get to the next station". Her driver was surprised "but what if it's something serious" he asked. "It's a chance I'm willing to take. Dinna fash yersel, I'll be fine" said Merida. "No use arguing with her" said the fireman. "Guess not" said the driver, and he continued to driver Merida down the tracks.
When they did reach the next station, they told the stationmaster that they would be late starting because they needed to exam Merida. "Alright, I'll make the announcement" he said as he went over to the loud speaker.
Meanwhile, the driver was once again looking at Merida's pistons. This time, he did find something on her left piston. "Look at the cylinder rod, it's completely banged up" said the driver. The fireman had a look. "What could have caused that" he wondered. "I don't know" said the driver as he walked in front of Merida, but when he did, he noticed something. "Wait a minute, I think I know what's wrong" he said as he looked at Merida's left siderods. "Wha is it" asked Merida. "Your siderods aren't aligned properly. I think this is causing stress on your pistons" said the driver. "At this rate, the pistons will be severely damaged, I'll send for another engine to take the train" said the fireman. But Merida wasn't happy "Don't ye dare. I may have a wee problem, but I can still puff. We mustn't be late, or the passengers will complain" she said sternly. "Are ye shure Merida" asked the driver. "I'm shure" said Merida. The driver paused, and then he spoke. "Alright, be we must be careful" he said as he hoped back into Merida's cab. Soon they were on their way again.
The sound continued to ring in everyone's ears as Merida speed along the line. "Mustn't stop, Mustn't stop" said Merida. But now the noise was louder than ever. "I have a bad feeling about this" said Merida's driver, and he was right to worry. Because just then, there was a horrible popping sound. "AAAAAIIIII" screamed Merida. The driver immediately stopped the train and hopped out of the cab. He saw that Merida's left piston was releasing steam at an alarming rate. But when there was no more steam, he was shocked about what he found. Merida's piston had popped, the side of it was bent and a few holes let the steam flow out. "Oh dear" said the driver as he inspected the damage. "How bad is it" asked Merida. "Very bad, ya can't pull this train anymore" said the driver. "Why not" asked Merida. "Ye can't puff on one piston" he said seriously. "I don't care, we are not going ta be late" said Merida. "Why don't we give it a try" said the fireman. "See, we can do it" said Merida. It was two against one, so the driver was no match. "Alright, we'll try" said the driver, and he and the fireman hopped back into Merida's cab.
Soon they were on their way again, but it was very hard. Merida had to use every ounce of steam she had to keep the train moving. Then Merida noticed a road by the tracks. A model T ford was zooming along it. When Merida got equal to the car, it looked at her. "Oh, look what we have here; a clamped out old steamer ready for a museum" said the car, and it laughed as it sped away. Merida was upset, but she knew she had to keep going. "I mustn't let the passengers down" she said sternly.
A while later, Merida saw another Model T Ford on the road. When Merida was parallel to it, the car looked over at Merida. "My, my, are you alright" asked the car. "Nah, one of mi pistons has poped" said Merida. The car looked surprised "and you're still pulling the train". "Aye, I mustn't let mi passengers down" said Merida. "So, as long as the passengers aren't late, you will take all that strain" asked the car. "Aye" said Merida. Then the car smiled "Well good for you. I haven't seen many engines that have that much courage" said the car, and then it sped along the road and soon it was out of site. "Now, let's get this train to the station" said Merida, and she forged ahead.
The day was almost over; Merida was still pulling her train with one piston. "Almost there" said Merida. Soon she saw the station up ahead. "I did it" said Merida as she pulled into the station. The passengers that were on the platform saw Merida and they cheered her on. Finally, Merida's driver reduced steam and stopped the train. "Well done Merida" said her driver. Then all the passengers disembarked and walked up to Merida. "You were wonderful" said a woman. "You did so much to make shure we got here" said a man. "You're the best Merida" said a little boy. "Ye're welcome" said Merida.
After all the passengers had left, her driver went to a phone booth and called Mr. Copper; he told him what had happened. "We need an engine to come and collect Merida" said the driver. "Right, I'll see to it" said Mr. Copper, and he hanged up. "This is going to be difficult" said Mr. Copper. "Merida has chain and buffer couplings, and most of my engines have knuckle couplings. I can't send Josh; he's busy with freight trains. Who can I send" he asked, but then the phone rang. Mr. Copper answered it. "Hello" he said. "Yes Mr. Copper. This is the works manager, I have good news". "What is it" asked Mr. Copper. "We have finished fixing Albus, he is ready to leave" said the manager. "Oh good, time to get him back to work" said Mr. Copper. But just then, he had an idea. "Wait a minute, I have one more thing for you to do" said Mr. Copper. "What is it" asked the Manager.
Meanwhile, Albus was sitting on the turntable getting a quick inspection. Then the manager walked up "alright everyone, we have one last thing to do". "What do we still need to do" asked a workman. "We need to fit chain and buffer couplings to Albus" said the manager. "What, why" asked another workman. "It's what Mr. Copper wants" said the manager "now get to it". So the workman began fitting Albus with chain couplings. But the whole time it was happening; Albus didn't say a word.
Five hours passed and soon Albus had his new couplings. "All done" said a workman to the manager. "Great, now get his fire lit; he has an important job to do" said the works Manager. So the workman lit Albus' fire and soon his driver and fireman arrived. "Hey Albus, how are you doing" asked the driver. Then, surprisingly, Albus smiled. "I am doing well" said Albus. So then the driver and fireman got into his cab and pulled Albus out of the works. "So what am I doing" asked Albus. "Merida has broken down; we need to collect her and bring her to the works" said his driver. "Anything to help one of the big four, let's go" said Albus.
Merida was sitting at the station. She had been there for six hours, and now she was really bored. "Why can't I just puff back on my own" asked Merida. Her driver, who was sitting on a bench reading a book, turned to her. "Yer already badly damaged, so Ye ar going to sit right there until that engine comes to collect ya" he said sternly. Merida huffed, but then she heard a loud whistle. "Wait a minute, I've heard that whistle before" she said quietly. Then, Albus pulled up beside her. "ALBUS, Ye ve been repaired" screamed Merida. "Yep, and now I've been sent to bring you to the works" said Albus. So he puffed forward and over a pair of points. Then he backed down onto Merida. "Ready Merida" asked Albus as he was coupled to her. "Ai" said Merida. So Albus' driver opened the throttle and pulled Merida easily down the line.
It wasn't long before they reached the works. Albus shunted Merida onto a siding. Then the manager walked up. "Good job Albus" he said with a smile. "No problem" said Albus. Then the manager turned to Merida. "Merida, welcome, our men will have you fixed in no time". "Thank ya sir" said Merida. Then once again, the manager spoke to Albus. "Now Albus, Mr. Copper wants you back as quickly as possible. Please meet him at the station". "Yes sir" said Albus, and after he was uncoupled from Merida, he puffed away.
But when he was gone, Merida started thinking. "Weird, Albus seems a more cheerful lad since I last saw him" she said to herself. She wondered how else he would be different… but that's another story.