The introduction of Mira the Hiawatha Streamliner and her Twin City Hiawatha express to the schedule of the North Western Railway seemed to catch the attention of many people, whether it be the general public or even trainspotters, and she even got compliments and such from other engines. Mira could only smile and thank them back for their support and friendliness, and she was really happy to go fast like she did years ago, as well as having new friends to interact with.
However, among all of the smiles and such, one engine was looking at the Hiawatha Streamliner with suspicion and narrowed eyes. Whenever Duck would catch a glimpse of Mira, whether she'd be arriving or departing from Knapford or the sheds, he's have a darkened look on his face, as if scowling at the streamlined American engine as she smiles and laughs happily with others. Duck had a feeling inside his boiler that this engine is up to something, possibly out to take over and replace one of them…
Over at Knapford, Mira was sitting over by the adjacent shunting yards, now getting coal and water for her journey ahead. She wished she could do what she can to help out the others, but due to the fitting of her American knuckle couplings, she couldn't do much. Plus, her overall size isn't exactly made for shunting.
"Sorry I can't do much to help here." Mira apologised to Thomas and Edward. "Wish that I could, but…"
"It's quite alright." Edward reassured to her. "Your size and strength come in to help with the mainline, but in yards, it's not rather helpful."
"Hey, at least Gordon, James, and Henry can't complain about shunting their own trains. They're not as big as you." Thomas remarked. "Uh, no offence."
Mira giggled. "None taken, Thomas."
Duck now puffed up alongside, a frown present on his face. "What do you think you're doing?" He accused Mira. "You should go and get shunting."
"Duck. Mira can't do any shunting." Edward interjected. "She doesn't have the right coupling or buffers, and she's too big to do any shunting."
"Nothing but excuses." Duck scoffed and glared at Mira. "All you big engines do is nothing but laze about. Why don't you get the lead out of your tender and get moving." He then puffs away.
Mira watched the Great Western pannier tank engine puff away in a huff, her looking on before she snickers. She and Thomas look to one another, before they then laugh aloud, Edward also laughing with them.
Duck heard their laughter and scowled as he puffs back. "There's no time for laughing. We've got work to do. And that goes for you too, you streamliner." He then puffs away.
"Wow, what's gotten his couplings in a bind?" Mira said to the others.
"That's just Duck. He's just who he is." Thomas spoke back, then goes to collect some trucks. "Talk to you later."
"Same here." Mira replied as Thomas puffed away.
"Take my advice, Mira. Just let Duck go his own way, and eventually, he'll learn his lesson." Edward advised. "It happened before, and it'll happen again."
"Thanks for that, Edward." Mira thanked softly, Edward now puffing away to go and take his stopping train down the Brendam Branchline.
Mira, once she has topped up on water and coal, now goes off to collect her coaches for her Twin City Hiawatha express. Once she does so, she made her way to the platform and she waits patiently for her turn to depart with her express. A few minutes later, as Duck was arriving at the station with his clay trucks, he saw Mira starting to depart from Knapford with her express. Duck frowned and whistled out to try and get her attention to stop, but Mira doesn't hear him, now speeding away with her express in a cloud of steam.
"I can't believe it. She didn't hear me." Duck fumed as Henry puffed up with some empty wagons. "Did you see that streamlined engine leaving?" He complained.
"Uh, yes. That's Mira the Hiawatha Streamliner." Henry answered casually. "Looks as though she had just left with her express train for Barrow-in-Furness."
"No. No, she can't do that." Duck interjected. "She was to take a heavy goods. She's supposed to-"
"Duck. Stop." Henry spoke back firmly. "Mira doesn't have the same coupling mechanism as we do. She can only pull those that have the same couplings as her."
"Ridiculous. If she can't pull her own weight, she's not a proper engine." Duck scoffed in response.
"Duck, that's rather harsh and rude of you. Just because another engine is different from you and does a different job doesn't mean you get to ridicule them." Henry stated back. "Now just leave Mira alone." With that, Henry puffed away in a cloud of steam, leaving Duck fuming in anger.
"Of all the nerve…" Duck grumbled before he abruptly shunts some trucks with such force, making of them wincing and groaning out in pain.
Later on in the day, Mira had arrived back at the yards with her Twin City Hiawatha express after her journey from Barrow-in-Furness. She felt good after her run, but then, her good mood turned sour as she could hear arguing going on in the adjacent shunting yards as she came into the station and slows to a stop. As she slows to a stop, she looks on and could see Hayden arguing with Duck.
"For the love of Gresley, Duck. I cannot believe you'd stoop so low to ridicule and demean someone like Mira." Hayden stated back firmly. "Seriously, because of what? Just because she is American?"
"She doesn't do anything else but pull that express of hers, and every time I arrive in the yards, there she is just sitting there, taking on water and coal." Duck stated bluntly. "She doesn't do any other work here. There's only two ways of doing things - the Great Western Way or the Wrong Way. We both are-"
"Oh, just stop with that nonsense, Duck." Hayden now scoffed aloud, Duck taken aback. "Need I remind you that we are NOT on the GWR, but the NWR. So you need to accept the fact that things have changed, and not everyone can do everything."
"And what is that supposed to mean?" Duck inquired with a scowl on his face. Unbeknownst to the two engines, Mira slowly made her way over after she had left her coaches at the platform.
"Mira has been outfitted with American coupling and connections, meaning she can't move any of our goods or coaches, since British rolling stock and engines all utilise three-link chain coupling and hookups." Hayden pointed out the obvious. "Mira is built for high-speed passenger services. She's not built for goods work. She's not like most of us engines who are adaptable to our work." He added in.
"That's beside the point." Duck spoke back, him unaware of Mira pulling up alongside him despite her huge size. "She is leaving us to do the hard work while she is off gallivanting across the island like Gordon."
"Is that so?" Mira spoke out, surprising Duck while Hayden snickered softly at this. "By the way, I think I recall that you and that Stepney fella took a heavy passenger train when a Class 40 sucked up a bowler hat into its air intake back in 1962?" She inquired.
"Why, yes. That did happen." Duck announced with pride. "Why do you ask?"
"Well, how long did it take you and that Stepney engine to get to Crovan's Gate?" Mira questioned.
"It wasn't easy to take a heavy train like that, but we managed to get to Crovan's Gate from Knapford in about an hour-and-a-half." Duck answered back.
"Well, here's what I'm going to do - I will prove to you that I'm just as capable as you and Stepney." Mira now declared. "I've got my next train in about half-an-hour, and I'll get to the other side of the island in less time than it took for you and Stepney to take that train from Knapford to Crovan's Gate." She now announced. "I'll even half the time."
"That's ridiculous." Duck scoffed. "There's no way you'd be able to go that fast."
"That is where you're wrong, Duck." Hayden interjects back, the two engines looking over to the silver/grey King Class locomotive. "Mira's class of engine can do 100 miles per hour on the regular with their Twin City Hiawatha express back in the USA thanks to the terrain being different than our own. And since the whole of the mainline has gotten an overhaul, it means that us engines can go a bit faster than we did before. So, it can't be hard to see that Mira can get this job done."
"Right. I can get it done faster than you could." Mira declared.
Duck gave a look. "You really think you can do rhat? Fine by me. You're on." With that, Duck departed from the yards to go and take some trucks down his branchline.
"You do realise what you just done?" Hayden now asks to Mira.
"I know. But someone has got to put that annoying little Pannier Tank Engine in his place." Mira stated back. "He can be quite annoying."
"I cannot argue with you on that. But he's not as bad as that Fergus and his 'Do It Right!' nonsense, on top of his dangerous perfectionism." Hayden rolls his eyes. "Honestly…"
"Well, I'd better get ready." Mora said to him, before she then puffed out of the yards, Hayden heading off to go and tell the others about the bet between Mira and Duck.
A few minutes later, Mira was up at the platform with her express, just as Gordon arrived with his train. He gave a whistle to the American streamliner, Mira smiling back. Sure enough, it was time for the off. The guard now blew his whistle and waved his green flag. The driver waved back in acknowledgement before blowing Mira's whistle long and loud. A moment later, the Milwaukee Road Class F7 streamline engine puffs away from Knapford with the Hiawatha express in tow.
The Milwaukee Road Class F7 streamliner engine now charges on down the mainline, clean white steam shooting from her funnel and pistons as she goes on. She was whizzing down the mainline, soon reaching 70-90MPH on the Mainline, showing no sign of slowing down. Mira couldn't help but giggle and smile as she sped along, loving the feeling of the wind racing around her funnel and wheels. She'd blow her whistle, which is a one-chime air horn, which got the attention of those ahead as she powers on, a flash of silver, orange and red facing past them, a cloud of steam floating around. Mira races through Crosby, and she carries on through Wellsworth, passing Henry and his goods train, as well as Edward. Next, Mira charges up Gordon's Hill with all her might. She did not seem to feel the drag of the coaches and managed to handle it with little to no effort. Mira's wheels whirred as fast as they can, as yer pistons pumped harder than before. But, as he now crests the hill, he glides down the other side of the hill, and heads off through Maron Station and goes on down towards Crovan's Gate Station.
At Crovan's Gate Station, Hayden was waiting to depart from the station with his stopping train. Percy chuffs away with his goods, as Toby left with empty trucks for Thomas's Branch Line. Bertie the bus drove by with his passengers to head off to work. As they left, the sound of a fast-approaching engine could be heard, Mira and her Hiawatha express shoots through the station on the middle line, Hayden watching on.
"Wow. That's fast..." Was all Gordon could gasp at the sight of the Milwaukee Road Class F7 racing by. He hadn't seen an engine race by at that speed before in his life.
Mira couldn't help but marvel at the sights around her as she chuffed along, passing by the lush and green trees and fields, all the while seeing farmers tending to their field and livestock. She and the Hiawatha express carry on over the stone viaduct, going through Cronk Station, and she raced along, passing by Kildane Station. She kept the speed up at 60-70mph, and he goes through the stations of Balladrine, Kellaby, and Kellsthrope Road, and he charged on through Ballahoo. Mira and the Hiawatha express made it to Vicarstown Station five minutes ahead of schedule. However, she didn't slow down - she kept going through the station as she blew her horn, photographers and others alike taking her pictures as she flies through, heading on towards the Vicarstown Bridge, crossing over and sped down the mainline towards Barrow-in-Furness.
Eventually, Mira and the Hiawatha express arrived at Barrow-in-Furness, and to her surprise, she arrived much earlier than she was expected to arrive. It was a surprise for her, the Milwaukee Road Class F7 even seeing the diesel to go further into the mainland hasn't even arrived. The coaches were already at the platform, and no sign of the diesel. Mira didn't seem to mind as she settled down by the platform, the passengers onboard heading off to go and catch their trains to head off to pleasure or work-related activities.
Mira then got some news from her crew about the time she got during the journey from Knapford to Barrow-in-Furness. When she was told about the time she got, her eyes widened in response to the time. She then smiles to herself.
'That'll be enough to put Duck in his place.' Mira thought to herself as she goes ahead to refuel and be turned around.
Eventually, Mira had arrived back on Sodor on time and without fuss. The passengers on the run beforehand had given her compliments about how fast she was, and she got them there faster than ever before. After she had put her coaches away, Mira saw Gordon in the yards nearby with Duck, the two of them arguing about London and Euston, the same argument that they've been arguing about for the last number of years. Mira blew her whistle to get their attention.
"Oh, Mira." Gordon greeted the American streamliner. "Had a good run?"
"Of course." Mira replied. "And in fact, I got some good news from my crew when I got to Barrow-in-Furness." She gave Duck a smirk.
"Oh?" Duck quizzed.
"Does this happen to revolve around this trial run that Duck had talked about earlier?" Gordon questioned, Mira taken aback by this. "Hayden had informed me and the others about this little trial run."
"Well, Duck was stating that I'm not a proper engine." Mira fumed and glared at the Great Western pannier tank engine. "He said that I don't even pull my weight and take other trains, even though I don't have the proper couplings and buffers-"
"I know." Gordon spoke back. "Hayden had informed me about that information as well, which I did tell Duck off about."
"Excuse me." Duck glared, then he looked at Mira. "Now, tell me. What was the time in the end?" He now had a look on his face, one that was of smugness.
"As it turned out, I got to Barrow-in-Furness exactly 35 minutes on the dot." Mira declared with a smile, Duck's expression going from smug to being gobsmacked. "Yep. That's right. I got to Barrow faster than you took that train with Stepney years ago."
Gordon couldn't help but laugh aloud from Duck's face and Mira joined in on the laughter as well. Duck could only sit there before he then grunted and puffed away in a cloud of steam.
"Oh, wow. Nicely done there." Gordon chuckled.
"Yeah. Definitely put him in his place." Mira snickered. "One in the headlamp for Duck." She giggled, only for her and Gordon to hear a loud crash coming from behind. "What was that?" Mira wondered.
The two engines immediately began to head off down the lines in the yard to go and see what was the noise. As they do so, they saw Hayden with a line of coal trucks in front of him, but the trucks had been derailed, and among the pile of derailed coal trucks was none other than Duck himself, him now covered in coal dust and splinters of wood.
"Duck, you clumsy great engine..." Hayden sighed, then looks on. "If this is what you call the 'Great Western' way, then I'm glad that I'm not a part of it." He commented.
Gordon and Mira both look on before they burst out in laughter, Hayden eventually laughing alongside the two express engines, leaving Duck fuming while he's under the rubble.