The engines of the Josephine Railway have all seen and have met a number of engines over their time of operating, whether it be famous engines or passerbys. They were accustom to many other locomotives, but sure enough, something new was bound to arrive on their railway sooner or later.
Down by the dockyards, the engines of the Josephine Railway were all awaiting the arrival of an engine from the United States, the first time they're meeting an engine from the USA.
Diana, Austin, Max, Liliana, Charlotte, Belle, Anna, Kieron, Jonson, and Jane had all met up at the docks to welcome the new engine, and to see what he or she is like. They don't know much about the engine, only that it's a steam locomotive, and once worked on the Pennsylvania Railroad. This got them curious.
"So, what kind could this new engine be?" Max asked.
"Maybe a big one." Charlotte took a guess.
"Why not small?" Belle questioned.
"Perhaps a versatile type." Jonson suggested.
"It could be a tank engine." Austin inquired.
"Why not a unique one?" Kieron added.
"Maybe a high-speed train?" Anna questioned.
"Why not another shunter diesel?" Max queried.
"Maybe an experimental engine?" Jane then said.
"Everyone. Let's wait and see what happens." Braedey now spoke up, now pulling up alongside the others, just as Mr. Franklin climbed out of his cab.
Just then, two cranes now began to lift up something out of the cargo hold of the ship, now revealing the engine to be a 0-6-0 tender locomotive, the engine now being placed down onto the tracks with a thud.
"Engines, please welcome Ken." Mr. Franklin announced to his fleet of engines with a smile.
Ken is a small 0-6-0 tender locomotive, with a smudgy darkened face and brown eyes. He has a bell on top of his boiler, a large spotlight above his smokebox, a huge whistle above his cab roof. He's in black with yellow lining on his cab and tender, 'PENNSYLVANIA' etched on each side of his tender. He's got a set of coupler knuckles rather than British buffers and couplers.
"Wow. He's definitely not what we expected." Austin noted.
"Definitely smaller than me and the others." Anna added in.
"Ken here has been sent over to assist us with the heavy workload and passenger duties." Mr. Franklin explained. "He's a switcher locomotive, so he'll be able to work and navigate around the yards and handle heavy goods."
"Of course, sir." Ken smiled in acknowledgement. "I am lucky my rails are the same gauge as yours, or things wouldn't work out if I was too big for your rails." He chuckled to himself.
"However, your couplings will have to be changed about. Your semi-automatic knuckle coupler is incompatible with the British Standard three-link buffer and chain coupler all of the engines possess." Mr. Franklin said, gesturing to Max's coupling. "You'll head to the workshop to get your new coupling and buffers fitted."
"Yes, sir." Ken replied, his crew now getting his fire ready and filled up his boiler. "Could maybe one of you engines show me the way to the workshop?" He asked to the Josephine Railway engines.
"Sure. I've got no trains to take today, and plus, I've needed to have one of my axles checked over." Austin offered to Ken with a smile. "I can take you there."
"Very well. Lead the way, friend." Ken smiled back, then the green 6-wheel tank engine began to lead the Pennsylvania engine visitor off down the line.
"Well, he's quite friendly." Jane noted.
"Aye, and he looks like he wants to get work done." Anna agreed.
"Well, we will just have to wait and see what happens while he's here." Belle said to the other engines. "We should go and get back to work."
"Belle is right." Braedey agreed.
"I agree. Now off you go, then." Mr. Franklin spoke out, and with that, the engines departed the docks, aside from Max, Belle, Jonson and Kieron, who began to shunt trucks, wagons, and tankers for the next trains.
Back at the workshops, Austin was getting his middle axle checked out by the workmen, while Ken was now getting a set of British Standard three-link buffer and chain couplers for his front and tender. It did feel a little strange for him to have his regular coupling removed and replaced with this new red buffer-beam, but he knew it's the only way for him to work on British rails.
"Well, you look better now with your new gear." Austin said to Ken. "You'll be ready for anything."
"True. Still, its a new railway for me, and I've much to learn." Ken said to Austin. "So, what kind of wagons and carriages do you set up?" He asked.
Austin was confused by the terms of 'wagons' and 'carriages', but he realised what Ken said. "Oh, right. Well, the trucks are set up over in the marshalling yard nearby the station, and the coaches are set up so they will be put at the platform for the engines to take."
"Right. I understand." Ken acknowledged, now going on to get the trucks and coaches ready.
Slowly but surely, Ken began to shunt the trucks and the coaches into their rightful places. He was small enough to fortunately shunt around the yards despite his tender and his overall length, and he got the trains ready for when the others needed them. He was doing rather well, and when the engines collected their trains, they were very impressed by how organised the goods and the coaches were, all of them thanking Ken for what he has done.
Mr. Franklin now arrived later on with Caitlyn alongside him to see how Ken was performing. The former was amazed by how well the yard looked. He looked at Ken, the American locomotive sitting by the water tower to top up his boiler and have his tender loaded.
"Ken, I have to say, I've never seen the yard in such a clean condition." Mr. Franklin began to say. "Impressive work."
"Well, since I am the only steam engine on my heritage railroad, taking care of my own work was easy." Ken smiled casually.
"I see. Well, my husband had planned that you could take a passenger train down to Barrow-in-Furness, so you can stretch your wheels." Caitlyn offered to Ken.
Ken smiled at this opportunity. "Of course. I'll do my best." He said, now going off to collect the coaches.
Ken made his way over to the platform, now with four coaches hitched up behind him. He waited patiently as the passengers boarded the coaches, his driver and fireman tending to his fire and making sure the coal is topped up. Soon, everything was ready. The guard blew his whistle and waved his green flag. Ken blew his whistle and rang his bell in response, as the switcher American locomotive began to pull out of the station.
Ken chuffed his way along the line at a good pace, bowing his whistle at parts of the line where the road crosses over, people waving to him and even taking his picture, especially since he's the first American engine on British rails on this railway.
"Wow. This is rather nice." Ken noted to himself as he chugged along at his reasonable speed. "Have to say, these lucky Brits have a really nice place. Not like home, but it's up there."
After about half-an-hour of travelling down towards the South, Ken eventually arrives at Barrow-in-Furness, just as Pip and Emma pulled up to the platform, now waiting for the next round of passengers to head off to Sodor.
"Well, morning there, ladies." Ken greeted to the blue-yellow HST. "Having a good one?"
"Of course." Emma replied. "Nice to meet you."
"Are you American?" Pip now asked.
"That's right. You took a guess from my design and accent." Ken then guessed to the two speedy engines.
"Yeah, you're one of the few American-built engines we know of, aside from Rosie." Pip included.
"Well, hopefully one day, I get to see this Rosie engine." Ken replied to the two HST engines, just as the guard blew his whistle. "You two take care out there."
"We will." Emma called. And with a toot of their horns, the two HST engines head forth with their train toward Sodor, Ken watching them leave.
"Come on, boy. Let's get ready for the return trip." Ken's driver called. "We need to keep to time."
Ken responded once he was uncoupled: he made his way to the turntable to get turned around. Once he was, he coupled up to the rear of his coaches, the next round of passengers boarding as this happened. Once everything was set up, Ken blew his whistle, rang his bell, and they headed off back down the line they took.
"So this is what the Josephine Railway engines do." Ken said to himself as he chuffed along. "Maybe, if I ask Mr. Franklin later, I could travel to Sodor and see what it's like." He then thought about this. "Well, I've only got a portion of coal and water to carry back and forth on most of my runs, so having another engine on hand could help."
"We'll just have to wait and see what Mr. Franklin will have us do next." Ken's driver said to the locomotive, while patting the regulator handle.
"Yeah. Let's focus on the passengers." Ken's fireman added in, now stoking Ken's fire as they chug along. "It is only the first train you've taken."
So, throughout the rest of the day, wherever he can, Ken began to help out the other engines in any way he could: he assisted Jane, Belle, and Liliana with sorting out and shunting the trucks and coaches for the other engines, collecting the coal trucks from Max down at the coal yard, taking goods to Barrow-in-Furness, while collecting other goods to bring them back, as well as handle the shunting.
By the late evening, all the engines were back home in their sheds, all of them relaxing and telling one another about how their day has gone for them. Ken even told the engines about his pastime back in the USA and what he did during his years of service.
"Have to say, you've done a lot in your life." Jonson noted to Ken.
"Aye. Worked at the Central Iron and Steel Company in Harrisburg for 40-odd years, then worked at Phoenix Iron and Steel before the mill closed in '59, and finally in '61, you were purchased by the Williams Grove Historical Steam Engine Association and been there ever since." Diana agreed.
"Definitely a century of operation." Max added in.
"Thanks so much." Ken smiled back. He then looked to Braedey. "By the way, Braedey. Do you think that you could ask Mr. Franklin if we could double-head a train to Sodor?" He asked to the crimson locomotive.
Braedey looked to the American Switcher engine with curious eyes. He wondered as to why Ken would like to travel to the island, but he took a guess that he'd like to meet the famous engines from the Railway Series books and from the television series. "I'll see what I can do tomorrow morning." Braedey replied to Ken. "For now, let's get some sleep." He now suggested to the others.
The other engines agreed. Once they had cooled down and their crews have gone home for the night, the lights go out inside the sheds, and the engines soon fell asleep, getting some much-needed rest before the next day.
The next morning, before the sun began to rise on the horizon, Braedey had woken up before the others. His crew got him started up and he made his way to the main station. When he arrived at Marion, Braedey saw Mr. Franklin and explained to his controller about Ken wanting to go to Sodor, and his offer to double-head a train to the island.
As he heard about this, Mr. Franklin considered the proposition and nodded after a few moments. "Very well. I shall make the arrangements. You'd best be ready to go." He said to Braedey, the crimson engine smiling as he heads off to collect the coaches.
As the sun rose above the horizon, Ken was informed about the arrangements made my Mr. Franklin, much to the Pennsylvania Railroad engine. Ken was now fired up and ready to go, and he made his way to the station to get ready. When he arrived, he saw Braedey with the coaches ready to go, so the American engine arrived and coupled up to Braedey's front.
"Remember, when you're ahead of another engine, you are to tell me whether the signal is green, amber, or red." Braedey stated to Ken. "I won't be able to see much because of the smoke and steam."
"Got it. I'm just a little excited." Ken smiled happily.
After a few minutes, the passengers began to board the train, ready to head forth to the island. The guard now blew his whistle, waving his flag. Braedey and Ken blew their whistles in unison, Ken ringing his bell as well, and they puffed away, heading on down the line. The two made their way down the tracks, the two keeping to time as they go onward down the line. After about 20 minutes, they made their way past Barrow-in-Furness, and they headed forth to Sodor. Ken was enjoying the change of scenery and the speed of going down the mainline. It was definitely a change of pace for him, especially since he's only gone so fast. Sure, he could only reach 30 miles an hour, but after some extensive repairs and modifications to his side rods and pistons, he's been able to go about 50, which he revels in.
After crossing the Vicarstown Bridge, Braedey and Ken arrived on Sodor rails, and carried on forth towards the station at Vicarstown. From there, the two will top up on coal and water, then they'll both go about as far as Crovan's Gate. It wasn't far into Sodor, but it was the distance that Mr. Franklin had allocated for Ken. When the two engines arrive at the big station, Ken looked all around at the engines that were coming and going, all the while listening to the sights and sounds. Once the train came to a stop, Ken was uncoupled from Braedey, now making his way over to the water tower and coal bunker.
Ken now noticed something nearby: it looked like some kind of washer for engines, much like a car-wash but it's much bigger. "An engine wash? That sounds interesting." He noticed.
"You sure on that?" Braedey called. "Don't take too long. We still have a schedule to get to Crovan's Gate." Ken chuckled and he began to make his way to the engine wash, the doors to the engine wash now closing behind him.
Braedey rolled his eyes as he now got his boiler topped up and got his tender loaded with coal, his joints being oiled by his crew. As he waited patiently, he heard the two-tone toot of a diesel horn, getting Braedey's attention. He looked, and he saw a diesel. His eyes now widened at the sight of the diesel.
The diesel is a BR Class 35 "Hymek" Bo-Bo diesel. He is painted in BR Brunswick green with a narrow band of lime along the bottom of his sides and cream window surrounds. His yellow warning panels on his front and back end are small. His rooftop is in grey. His number (D3) is painted on the sides of his cab in white.
"Wow. A Hymek diesel... I never thought I'd ever get the chance to see one." Braedey commented. He blew his whistle to the Hymek, trying to be friendly. "Hello."
The Hymek slowed to a stop, now seeing the crimson GWR 4900 engine. "Oh, hello. My name is Bear." The engine greeted.
Braedey was surprised. "THE Bear? The same one who was once known as D7101 many years ago that Henry pushed with the Limited Express, while pulling the failed Spamcan?" He asked in curiosity.
Bear tooted his horn back in response with a chuckle. "Yep. That's me. That's all old news now." He looked at the steam engine. "What's your name?"
"I'm Braedey. I work on the Josephine Railway over on the mainland." Braedey introduced himself. "I'm just here doing a double-header train with another engine by the name of Ken. He's an American engine brought in to assist." He clarified next.
"Oh, where is he?" Bear asked in curiosity.
"He's over by the engine wash over there." Braedey replied, his eyes looking over at the engine wash.
Ken had his funnel, firebox, coal tender, as well as his cab all wrapped in waterproof canvases to keep his fire and coal from being damaged or soaked. His crew had gotten out and stood in the control room, ready to give Ken a hose down.
"Alright, Freddy. Give it to me, Freddy. Hit me." Ken called, and immediately, he was assaulted on all sides with firefighter-like water hoses, spraying him across the face, boiler, funnel, running plate, tender, and his wheels. Ken yelped and cried out on response to the cold water. "OKAY, FREDDY! THAT'S GOOD! THAT'S GOOD! THAT'S ENOUGH!" At once, the water hoses shut off, leaving Ken trembling on his wheels from the cold water. "Whew. I'm okay. Oh boy, I'm good." He shuddered, his driver and fireman laughing.
Outside, Braedey and Bear had heard Ken's yelling and incoherent screaming, much to them snickering and laughing at what happened to the American engine.
"Well, I guess he got the ice-cold treatment." Bear chuckled. He then looked to Braedey. "Well, I've seen a friend of yours named Shadow a few months earlier, so I wondered if you knew him."
"Oh, he's a good friend." Braedey smiled back to Bear. "And he even mentioned you to me. It's nice to meet you finally in person."
"You too, Braedey. Take care." Bear acknowledged back, and with a toot of his horn, he made his way off to the shunting yards to collect a goods train.
A few moments later, Ken reversed up to Braedey, still feeling cold but also feeling freezer-burn from the hot fire mixed with cold metals. "I'm back! I'm back! I feel much better now. Man, I feel like I can travel across the whole island." He shuddered.
"Guess you got the ice-cold treatment, Ken." Braedey chuckled to himself, Ken now coupling up to his front buffers. "Well, come on. We'd better get to Crovan's Gate."
Once everything was set, Braedey and Ken blew their whistles, and they made their way down the line. They go through Henry's Tunnel, then go by Ballahoo, going over the River Hoo. As they go along, Ken then noticed a small engine that appeared just ahead of them.
The engine is a USATC S100 Class 0-6-0T engine, who's painted lavender with light grey tank panels, red lining and gold boiler bands. Her wheels are red with light grey rims.
The two engines both whistled in unison to the purple engine, the tank engine whistling back in response, as the two headed off down the line. They both eventually arrived at the station at Crovan's Gate, the two of them arriving about three minutes early. Once they arrived at the station, the passengers disembarked the coaches, with Ken and Braedey now being turned around to take the train back down the line they had just taken. As they do so, Ken watched on as the Narrow Gauge engines head off down on their own little railway, all of them doing their thing. Ken was then snapped from his thoughts as he inadvertently bumped into Braedey's front.
"Ken. Watch yourself next time." Braedey said with a light scold in his voice. "You should be more focused on the rails instead of looking about at what is all around him. Sightseeing can happen when you're off the mainline, so you know."
"Sorry. I was just curious, that's all." Ken apologised.
"Just be more careful." Braedey advised.
Eventually, the two made their way back down the mainline, heading off for home. They passed through Ballahoo and through Henry's Tunnel again, then they had gone through Vicarstown. They crossed over the bridge back onto the mainland, and they headed off back to their railway, leaving Barrow-in-Furness behind them. After a few moments, the two arrive back home.
Later on in the afternoon, the engines had all gathered up for an emergency meeting Mr. Franklin had called in to all of them, many of them curious as to what could happen and whatever is going on.
"Engines. I'd like to give a heartfelt thank you to Ken and his crew for their hard work and determination here. You all have done greatly, and have really made this yard efficient." Mr. Franklin began to say. He then looked to the other engines. "You all have done so well these last few days, but I'm afraid that you may need some help." The engines all looked to each otter with confusion and uncertainty to one another. "The only engine available I could get is a diesel." Mr. Franklin then added in.
"What kind of diesel is he?" Liliana asked.
"Is he like Max?" Jane added.
"Maybe bigger." Kieron joked.
"The engine is a BR Class 42 'Warship' diesel-hydraulic locomotive, one of only three that still exist." Mr. Franklin informed reluctantly. "Please me mindful when he makes his arrival a few days from now. He might be... rather abrasive." With that, Mr. Franklin left, leaving the engines lost in their thoughts and wondering about this diesel.
"'Abrasive'? What does that mean?" Jane now asked.
"It means this diesel is harsh and shows little concern about anyone." Jonson huffed.
"If he's as bad as D261, Spamcan, Old-Stuck-Up, or like that Class 44 I had met months ago when I went to Sodor, we'd best be ready for anything." Braedey said to them.
Braedey wasn't sure about what, but he had a feeling inside his boiler that this diesel will be nothing but trouble...