Fan storybook: Lady the Golden Engine

[ZeldaTheSwordsman]

This is an attempt to write Lady with a Railway Series-compatible origin.

The New Arrival:

One morning Thomas steamed into the Big Station at Tidmouth with the "Commuter". He found Oliver there with a goods train. Oliver and his crew looked very tired.

"Good morning Oliver. What's the matter?"

"Duck and I didn't get much rest last night. We've had so many passengers lately that the goods trains have been delayed. We need another engine to help with our passenger traffic."

Thomas told Oliver he'd see what he could do. Then it was time for him to take his train to the loop line to get it turned 'round for the return journey.

Thomas had a busy morning. Passenger traffic on his own branch was far from slack, and that afternoon there were some trucks of machine parts to take to the junction. He shunted the trucks into a siding where they'd be attached to Donald's slow goods later, then returned to the platform to take on water. His driver had just removed the hose from his tank when he heard an engine coming.

To Thomas' surprise it was Henry, running light. Henry stopped at the platform, and his fireman put the water pipe in his tender tank.

"Hullo, Henry. Where are you going?" Thomas asked.

"A railway preservation society on the mainland dug up on old shed near Liverpool. They found an engine, a few trucks, and some coaches there, and are sending them to our Works to be restored. I'm going to Barrow to collect them," said Henry proudly.

Thomas wished him luck, and then left. Henry steamed away not long after. He made good time to Barrow, whistling to Gordon as he passed.

The train stood at a goods platform. The engine sat on a flatbed, asleep. She awoke to the noise of Henry's puffing as he returned from the turntable. "Hello," she said. "Are you the engine to collect this train? The stationmaster said it would be a steam engine."

"Yes," answered Henry. He took a good look at the engine. He'd never seen an engine quite like her. She had four wheels and large outside cylinders with rectangular casings rounded at the corners. Her buffers, smokebox, dome, and funnel crown were all plated with gold. What he could see of her remaining paint was a reddish purple. Painted on the side of her water tanks was "Lady".

"Is that your name? Lady?" he asked while backing down on the train.

"Yes," said Lady as the fireman fastened the coupling. The signal changed to show "line clear", the guard blew his whistle and waved his green flag, Henry's driver pulled the lever, and they set off.

It was dark by the time they reached the Works. Henry shunted Lady's truck to the main repair shed, the wagons into a siding, and left the coaches on one of the lines as directed by the foreman. Then he went home. "Good-bye, Lady! I hope you're restored soon."

Weeks passed by, with nothing out of the routine happening. Then one day the Fat Controller announced that all engines were to come to Tidmouth to greet Lady.

Lady was a splendid sight to behold as she steamed in. Her paint, with its gold lining, sparkled in the sun. Her gold plating gleamed brightly. Coupled to her were the coaches. They were Great Western clerestory coaches, shining with new paint. Her driver deftly stopped her at the platform to a rousing chorus of whistles.

There was silence after the last whistle died down. Then Duck spoke to the Fat Controller. "Begging your pardon, sir, but my branch has been flooded with passenger traffic recently, and we need another engine, sir. Could you arrange for Lady to stay and work here, sir?"

"We'll see," promised the Fat Controller.

Next Story Coming Up Soon. And hopefully illustrations.

[Hoss]

Good work, Look forward to seeing more like this.

[ZeldaTheSwordsman]

Thank you.

Honourary Western:

Lady sat in a siding waiting while the Fat Controller talked on a telephone with someone from the Preservation Society. A train came and went, and then the conversation was over. The Fat Controller emerged from his office. He was smiling. "Congratulations, Lady. You and the coaches and trucks are now part of this railway."

Lady let out a sigh of relief. "Thank you, Sir. It'll be nice to be busy again." Being preserved was better than being scrapped or rusting in a buried shed, but on the preserved lines there was often little to no real work.

"Excellent. You'll start on the 'Little Western' tomorrow. Today, I want you to have a good long run with the coaches to stretch your wheels. Go from Tidmouth to Vicarstown and back."

"Yes, Sir." She was coupled to the two coaches, one of her lamps was placed on her left iron, and as soon as her signal showed "Line Clear" Lady started off. She took her time, enjoying the scenery and whistling hello to passing engines. She stopped at Knapford for water, and met Daisy. "Hullo Lady," said Daisy. "What are you doing?"

"I'm going on a shakedown run before I start work tomorrow," answered Lady. "Wouldn't do for me take on passengers only to find they didn't replace my brake pipes properly."

"Indeed not," said Daisy. Just then Daisy's guard blew the whistle, and the railcar purred smoothly away. Lady left soon after, her tanks full. She had a pleasant run, and a good talk with a narrow-gauge engine called Rheneas while she waited for the Express to pass at Crovan's Gate.

The next morning Lady brought her coaches to Arlesburgh Station on the Middle Road. Duck was already there with Alice and Mirabel. "Take care with those coaches," he said as Lady ran round in front.

"I will," she promised. The station's platforms were soon crowded with passengers, and it wasn't long before Lady's coaches were packed. As soon as her Driver saw the flag wave they were off.

At Haultraugh, Lady was amused to see a duck inspecting the porters' work as they loaded the luggage. She had little time to ponder this, however, as it was soon time to leave. It was a busy day, but nothing went wrong. With Lady's train there, Duck and the others had more room on their timetables for goods trains, and the branch ran like clockwork.

When the engines retired to the sheds for the night, Duck and Oliver thanked Lady for helping. "You did good work, Lady. Welcome to the branch. You're an Honourary Western." Lady was filled with pride, because she knew this was high praise indeed from Great Western Engines.

Comment, please.

[ZeldaTheSwordsman]

Lady and the Snow

One winter morning Lady was talking to Rex while she shunted at Arlesburgh West. "It looks like it'll be heavy later," she said, looking up at the sky. "I don't doubt it," Rex agreed. "We'll probably have to stop working by noon, we're too light to clear heavy snow."

"That's a shame," said Lady. "The snow's affecting us, too. Donald and Douglas are busy clearing the main line, so Duck, Oliver, and I have to do their work." Just then the shunter fastened the last coupling and Lady's guard waved the flag. "Well, I'd better go. Nice talking to you, Rex."

Lady's driver released the brakes, and they were on their way. Lady was taking a slow goods to Edward's station, which was much farther than her usual runs. She was glad of it, she liked long trips. Toad the brakevan was good company. "I don't like the look of this weather, Miss Lady," he said when they stopped at Haultraugh. "It worries me." Toad was right to be worried. The snow clouds made it so dark that Lady's driver had to switch her lamps on. Snow was already beginning to fall fast. As soon as she was done shunting, Lady left for Tidmouth in a hurry. She was glad to have the shelter of the station roof.

Something on a nearby pallet caught Lady's eye. It was a snowplough, painted in reddish purple. She sighed with relief when her driver, fireman, and a porter brought it over and fixed it on.

Lady left Tidmouth without trouble, but at Thomas' junction she had to sand the rails heavily to get started again. It was the same at most of her other stops. It was tiring work.

Lady reached Edward's station at last. She shunted the last trucks into their sidings, and then went onto the turntable. She ran round to Toad's veranda end, and waited for the guard to finish talking to the stationmaster. He returned looking grim. "There's a blizzard warning," he told the driver. "We'll have to take shelter."

"What about Toad and myself, sir?" asked Lady. "You can wait in the goods shed," said the stationmaster. So Lady's driver backed her and Toad into the shed. He extinguished her fire, and closed the shed door.

The blizzard raged on for hours. Lady and Toad were both worried about the shed, but it held. The snow stopped afterwards, but by now the track was buried. It was very late when the line was finally cleared and Lady could go home. On the way, a smile crossed her face as she remembered the morning weather forecast she'd heard on the radio. "If this is what they mean by light snow," she said to herself, "I'd hate to see their idea of a heavy fall."