Steam Never Dies (God's Blessing On Railways Of The World)

Chapter 4: Final Tests

The day of Katherine's final test had arrived. She stood on the platform, her heart racing with a mix of excitement and nervousness. Today, she would fire one of the 'Dubdees' on the mainline, a task that would determine whether or not she was ready to become an engine driver.

As one of the top scoring students, she was allowed to pick one of her friends to be her fireman (the person who maintains the fire in a locomotive), she saw Kristian and James standing nearby, both eager to support her. But alas, she could only choose one of them to be her fireman for the test. The other would have to be paired with Dante, a prospect that neither of them relished.

"I don't know what to do," Katherine admitted, her voice tinged with worry. "I want both of you with me, but I can only pick one."

Kristian and James exchanged a knowing glance before James spoke up. "Katherine, Kristian and I have talked it over, and we both agree that you should choose Kristian. He has more experience with steam locomotives than I do, and he'll be a better help to you on the test."

Katherine nodded, grateful for their understanding. She turned to Kristian, who smiled and squeezed her shoulder. "Let's do this, Katherine. We've got this."

As they prepared the locomotive, Katherine couldn't help but feel a pang of guilt for leaving James to work with Dante. She knew how much he disliked the arrogant classmate, and she hoped that Dante would at least try to be cooperative.

The morning of the big day came, and unfortunately, Dante was still his usual self. Being extremely condescending and insulting to James, forcing him to do all the menial tasks like cleaning the engine and oiling the joints while he sat in the cab all smug and confident. "You'll be working for me soon, you know, get used to it!"

Meanwhile, Katherine and Kristian were working like a well oiled machine, dividing the tasks between them and making sure each one pulled their own weight. Once the locomotive was ready, they wiped the sweat from their heads. "She's probably the cleanest Dubdee in the entire country, maybe even the world!" said Katherine. James looked on and smiled, wishing he could be with them.

The two teams were told to collect a freight train from the yard and bring them up to the Academy's station. Mr Sawner greeted them all and explained how the test was going to work. "Both of you have been given equal quantities of fuel and water, use them wisely to get the goods to the next yard, but make sure you're on time. This is NOT a race though, so don't get any funny ideas. Use your colleagues' locomotive to evaluate your own performance and make sound judgements." he announced.

The signal turned green, both locomotives opened their cylinder drains and inched out of the station, with their classmates cheering as they left. The mighty locomotives sounded their pistons to a synchronised beat, after all, they were the same type and preferably, should sound alike.

Along the way, however, James quickly noticed a problem with their engine. "Dante, we need to stop. There's something wrong with the boiler pressure, it keeps dropping" James warned, pointing to the gauge.

But Dante, as stubborn as ever, ignored James' advice. "That's your problem, James. Just focus on firing the engine, more coal, more water in the boiler, whatever it takes!" he replied, dismissing James' concerns.

As they continued down the tracks, there was a steep gradient, and due to Dante's neglect, their engine began to falter, she slipped violently as it tried to climb it, Dante turned on the sanders, but they didn't help, her boiler pressure continued to drop further and further, and eventually she stalled. Just as Katherine and Kristian passed them, they radioed back to Mr Sawner: "Other engine down, I repeat, engine down!" "Continue with your own test, we'll get help for them as soon as we can." came the reply.

They tried their best to complete the rest of it. Katherine drove the locomotive, keeping a lookout ahead to make sure the line ahead was clear and using the controls appropriately, Kristian kept the fire roaring, ensuring the locomotive had enough steam to do the work. Occasionally, they looked out the cab and took in the scenery around them. Katherine enjoyed this immensely, for this reminded her of her runs with her father in her younger days, spending their days together in the cabs of the locomotive he had been assigned with. Alas, it was against regulations but he had his ways of making sure they were never found out. Every now and then, other trains from the mainline passed them, the crews sounding their whistles and cheering them on. The two of them smiled, knowing that this was the life they wanted, and it would be waiting for them once they brought the train in.

And they did just that, and a small crowd of other students and even one of Mr Turner, one of Sawner's contacts from the railway board were waiting for them. When they brought the train to a halt, an inspector checked the locomotive top to bottom. "Well done, you two." said Mr Turner. "You two have finished the run successfully, thus, it is my honour to welcome you to our family of engine drivers."

Just then, they got a call from James, congratulating them for finishing their run. "Thanks, mate, but have they rescued you two yet?" "Uhhhh, sort of? They just shunted us into a siding out of the way."

The two hurried to find Mr Turner and asked him if they could rescue their friend. Despite some opposition, he agreed to arrange for it. Their locomotive was uncoupled from the freight wagons, refuelled and sent back down the mainline.

Dante was sulking as usual in the cab murmuring how the test was beneath him and it was all James' fault. Just then, they heard the whistle of Katherine and Kristian in the distance, making the Dutchman breathe a sigh of relief

"I don't know what I would have done without you two," James said, climbing into the cab of the other engine to escape Dante.

"It was the right thing to do," Katherine replied. "We're friends, and we have to look out for each other."

As they reflected on the test, Katherine couldn't help but feel proud of how far they had come. Despite the challenges they had faced, they knew that no matter what came between them, they would always be there for one another, and willing to lend a helping hand.