Chapter Thirty-Three: Ken the Switcher

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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

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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."

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