#trr cracker jack

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Here is part two of “Lochlans spook” 👇

Again⚠️gore warning⚠️ this is a horror story

Not long after Lochlan made his way past the herd of deer another odd occurrence happened. The first thing he saw up ahead was a lone coyote racing out of the direction Lochlan was headed. The coyote seemed to be on a mission to get somewhere. The animal’s eyes bulged from its head, his mouth gaped open trying to take in as much air as possible, and every muscle in its body showed as it sprinted in the opposite direction it came. Lochlan was about to conclude that the animal was simply on a mission for a hunt. But then, more animals sprinted forward going the same way the coyote was headed. Foxes, rabbits, more coyotes and deer, even birds flew right past Lochlan. The big engine was the last thing the animals seemed to care about, they all ran in an almost harmonious fashion. They weren’t chasing each other but they were running away from something. Lochlan felt a pang of anxiety deep in the depths of his boiler. He had never witnessed something so strange, what on earth are they running from? He thought and as he traveled closer in the direction the animals sprinted from he felt something he never felt before, fear.

In his lifetime Lochlan had truly and honestly never felt fear. He was so big and powerful that what could he fear? And as awful as it sounds Lochlan didn’t have normal “engine fears” either. He didn’t worry about collisions like many feared. Many engines that collided often had died from either injury or impact, but Lochlan was so large that any engine that collided with him would be doomed and he himself would most likely be untouched. If anything others feared him because of his size and mass.

Lochlan was so shellshocked with the new feeling that he didn’t know how to react. Something was scaring him. He blanked out for a moment and then came to a screeching halt, his cargo slammed into him, his engineers were nearly thrown from their seats, and any product that was in the rows of cargo trucks was surely tossed around and destroyed. Lochlan stared blankly ahead, his headlamp hardly illuminating anything in the pitch black. Now that he stood still he listened to all that was around him. His anxiety got worse when the only sound around him was nothing. No crickets, no birds, nothing. Pure quiet. Something was out there, hunting.

Lochlans engineers took a moment to collect themselves from the sudden unexpected halt. “What the hell was that all about?” His fireman asked and rubbed his head in thought.

“I don’t know, but I’ll go see what the issue is. Perhaps Lochlan will let us know.” His driver said and hopped down from the cab and started a long walk to face his engine. Lochlan meanwhile stared ahead of himself he listened in as best he could becuase he could swear something was calling his name. His driver interrupted him. “What’s the issue big boy? Are you hurt? Is something wrong?” He asked.

“I don’t know sir. I just can’t go any further.” Lochlan replied never taking his eyes off the track ahead. He felt the air get cooler with each second. His driver seemed to notice that too, he crossed his arms over his chest and shivered.

“Can’t see squat out here in this dark. Alright Lochlan I’ll try and find the out-

“I think you should go back in my cab now. It’s getting to cold out here and there’s no sense in trying to solve a problem in the pitch black.” Lochlan interrupted. More dread bubbled up inside of him. His driver looked at him curiously, he held his arms tighter to his chest bracing in the cold.

“I suppose your right, goddamn why is it so cold? It’s the middle of summer.” His driver groaned then turned on his heels to rush back to the warm cab. Lochlan’s fireman poked his head out of the cab window.

“Is everything alright? What’s going on?” He shouted down to his colleague. He felt the bitter cold nip at his face and noticed his breath show up in the air.

“I don’t know, but it’s to cold out here and I cannot see an inch of light anywhere.” He hurriedly climbed into the warm cab.

“I noticed that too. Should we radio for assistance?” The fireman asked.

“Go ahead and try but I guarantee you won’t get any signal out here.” He sighed and plopped himself down in his seat. The two did try to radio but had no luck. After hours of trying to think of what to do they both decided to stay in the cab and wait till early morning when at least an ounce of light would come out.

Lochlan sat on the tracks never taking his eyes away from the pitch black ahead. He listened carefully and heard an unsettling sound. A low grumble mixed with what sounded like an elk bugling echoed around him. Elk calls could be eerie sounding but this was no elk call, what made him come to that conclusion was his name being called after each grumble.

“Lochlan?” The voice asked trying to get a response. Lochlan didn’t dare answer. He narrowed his eyes trying to see what called his name. “Lochlan?!” It asked again this time sounding agitated, a louder grumble followed. Lochlan nearly jumped out of his pistons when silence followed and then a loud “LOCHLAN!!!! LOCHLAN!!! LOCHLAN!!!!!” The voice roared. He still didn’t answer. Just beyond where his headlamp could reach a figure came into view. A buck stood on the tracks ahead, its dark piercing eyes stared back at him in a way no animal would. Lochlan gritted his teeth, he watched the deer and his eyes went wide when the animal opened its mouth.

“LOCHLAN.” The deer mouthed in perfect English. The four legged animal began to twist and morphe into a horrifying creature. It’s bones broke then dislocated growing massive upright legs, front legs turned into massive human arms along with a long skinny malnutritished human torso with ribs poking out. Flesh clung to its horribly mangled body and with each body part that morphed into place it grew and grew and grew until it towered over Lochlan. The flesh disappeared from the deer’s head revealing its skull with bulging red human eyes. A long tongue rolled from its mouth dripping drool and all. A skinny boney finger cracked, twisted, then pointed to Lochlan in a sickening beckoning motion. The creature stepped forward, it’s massive body lurched with each step. The low grumble noise came again, this time it shook Lochlan to the core. The creature’s jaw opened wide in a smile. “Lochlan?” It asked again seeming to want a response. Lochlan refused half out of sheer panic and the other part not being able to form words at all. He’d never ever been this terrified. The creature wasn’t satisfied with the silence it received, its jaw formed into a frown.

Lochlan watched each step it took, and now with the horrific creature just one foot away he did the only thing his body let him do. Close his eyes. The creature bent down lowering its face to Lochlan’s. “Lochlan?” It asked in almost a whine to get a rise out of him. No response and the creature grew significantly irritated. Lochlan felt it’s hot breath assault his skin, it’s breath stunk of rot. The whole beast itself was a massive rotting corpse, maggots wriggled around what flesh stretched over its body. The creature breathed in his face, it reached a hand out and touched Lochlans cheek. A sharp claw traced over the flesh on his face, Lochlan could swear he felt whatever maggots that were imbedded in the beast’s hand crawled out for a moment and graze his own skin. He still didn’t dare open his eyes. The creature sat there for what felt like hours, each breath it took a low grumble followed. Lochlan was terrified, his eyes refusing to open. Even when he felt a sticky wet tongue roll over his face. The creature got irritated and with a loud annoyed huff it got to its feet, gave one last loud bellowing screech and just like that it disappeared. Lochlan kept his eyes clamped shut the rest of the night, he didn’t open them until he could see a very small amount of light shine through his eyelids. Birds chirped and crowed and things seemed to be a bit normal. He kept his eyes opened and looked around.

Lochlan had started up with no issues at all, the incident that happened during the night when unnoticed by his engineers who had seemed to have slept through the whole thing. The two men looked their engine over best they could and asked how he felt before starting off back down the route. Lochlan rolled down the track cautiously still shaken up from what happened earlier. He frowned when he noticed on the sides of the track further down the line dozens of cattle spread out in the field. They weren’t laying down, they were quite literally scattered about. The scene was brutal, every bovine was covered in massive claw marks, many looked disemboweled, some missing limbs, some missing heads. Lochlan felt his breath hitch as he rolled by slowly. Two very confused cowboys surveyed the field of cattle. Lochlan’s engineers looked out the window of his cab and scratched their heads at the brutal scene. They chatted about what could have possibly done that but Lochlan knew exactly what did that.

“Well?! What did you think? Pretty weird right? I’d rate that on the list of odd things I’ve seen as a.... 3? Maybe 4? Out of 10 of course.” Lochlan said as he concluded his story. The group beside him looked horrified. Donner looked as though he was about to pass out or throw up, maybe both.

“Jesus Christ Lochlan?! You drop a bomb just like that on us?!” Red asked, his mouth agape still from shock at what was said.

“You wanted a horror story, yes?” Lochlan asked innocently.

“I’d just like to know what makes you rate that a 4 out of weird things you’ve seen?” Cracker Jack asked.

Lochlan only smirked.

End.

Thanks for reading💖💖 I hope you enjoyed.

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Been a while since I’ve enjoyed art. I finally finished my story-no color becuase paint is expensive and I can expand more by doing what I love most-sketching. Slight gore warning, like typical horror movie gore⚠️

Thank you for anyone following me recently, even though I haven’t been very active. I hope this makes up for it. Peace and love. Lochlan’s story part one👇

The countryside of Hennessy had a horrible storm roll in. It poured endlessly all night and into morning. The seemingly endless pounding rain made everything a muddy slippery mess, and with that the tracks were overflowed with water. Travel for any engine was dangerous so it was decided that everyone would take the day off and wait out the storm inside. Old Red, Donner, and Cracker Jack had already been in the roundhouse that night and early in the morning they were told “no work for today. Too dangerous.”

Lochlan had still been on his job pulling a long train all night. Something that had been expected to be finished by early morning was delayed by the rain. Lochlan went along the tracks carefully and managed to deliver his train by late afternoon meanwhile the rest of the engines back at the roundhouse were confined to their berths all day. And with that the group of 3 were very bored.

Lochlan backed his way into his respective berth, he was soaked from being in the down pour all day. He was also visibly tired from his tedious journey of start stop all through the wet slippery tracks. Before the poor big engine could get a word out Cracker Jack piped up. “About time! Reds been going on and on about silly stories. We’ve traded back and forth on interesting ones of our own. Well, Donner and I at least. Reds giving the whole “Wild West romance, forbidden engine/human love” spiel again.” Cracker Jack groaned.

“My recounts of pistol packing cowgirls are not romance stories! I’m simply making it clear that women are just as dangerous as men! That’s all!” Red growled quick to defend himself. His face turning slightly pink.

“Sure. Keep telling yourself that you old fart.” Cracker Jack smirked. Even Donner gave a slight chuckle in agreement.

Lochlan smiled and shook what water dripped down his face off. Cracker Jack grinned up at Lochlan expectantly. “Suppose you have anything of your own to share?” Cracker Jack asked, his grin widened hoping that Lochlan would have a story to tell. At least one that wouldn’t put him to sleep. Or any about his love interests.

“Me? What kind of story? I don’t do much that interesting.” Lochlan sighed and tried to think of anything worth telling.

“Lochlan. You’re huge. You see the world from a different point of view everyday. You do the more than any other engine on the railway. You’ve been everywhere, you must have something?” Cracker Jack retorted. Lochlan frowned and clicked his tongue in thought. A loud crack of thunder boomed in the background and shook the roundhouse. The 4 engines jumped at the sudden loud noise. The natural fearful reaction to the loud noise gave Lochlan an idea.

“What about a scary story?” He smiled and knew exactly what to share. The other three raised their brows in interest. Cracker Jack noticeably grew attentive.

“Yes! I think we can all agree that horror over a whole romance novel is sure to help pass the time!” Cracker Jack grinned. It took Red a second to process the slight dig made at him. He only grumbled and rolled his eyes.

“Good! I have just the one! It happened the very first week I arrived here.” Lochlan grinned and cleared his throat to begin.

When Lochlan first arrived at Hennessy he was immediately tasked with pulling long trains of heavy and important cargo for distances many other engines couldn’t travel. He traveled from late at night till very early morning so naturally his rest time in the afternoon was spent in any noisy bustling yard he could manage to get a break in. Most of the time Lochlan couldn’t sleep with all the noise. He didn’t mind not napping but peace and quiet was something he could definitely enjoy. It seemed that wouldn’t be an option for a while with his break schedule. So, Lochlan decided to eavesdrop on his human counterparts. They did after all have interesting things to share. While in a yard one afternoon the prefect opportunity to eavesdrop came in, a group of engineers decided to take their break not far away from him. They sat down on some old flatbeds and joked around for a while. The oldest man in the group began talking about his past colleague who was a Native American. He recounted all kinds of interesting things his colleague shared. From ancestral meanings to cultural symbols, but then he brought up something strange. Lochlan grew curious and listened in best he could. The engineer asked the others if they ever heard what a “wendigo” was. The two men shook their heads. Lochlan listened in as the man explained to them what it was, and the reason for bringing it up.

The engineer grew serious before beginning, “ a couple years back a rancher went missing out by his home just a good ten miles from the south side of Hennessy. No one knew how he could possibly go missing, he was in touch with the locals and was a very smart man. He knew the wildlife and his homeland well enough to where an animal attack was ruled out. He carried a gun on him all the time to stay safe and no one would want to harm a lonely rancher with not much of anything to give anyway. Robbery and murder was ruled out too, especially after his home was found kept well with nothing out of the ordinary or missing. He just seemed to have vanished along with his horse and dog. The sheriff decided he could’ve left unannounced for private reasons and perhaps he would turn up soon. It wasn’t until a week later a hunter stumbled across what was left of the poor rancher. He was so severely mangled that the only thing that showed proof it was him was his hat, horse and dog. Whatever creature that did that couldn’t possibly be a bear, or even a pack of wolves. Only the rancher looked like something had eaten parts of him. His horse and dog were for the most part untouched, the possibility a rabid bear attacked him was brought up due to the massive claw marks and slashes embedded in his horse and dog. And how badly the man was shredded. But what bear could be that big? A search for whatever rabid bear or sick pack of wolves was put out but nothing was recovered.

No one wanted to admit but they were scared. The scene was so brutal it seemed almost impossible another living thing could do that. It was swept under the rug and everyone tried to forget about it in hopes it would just go away. It seems there’s no answer for what happened right? Well your wrong, that’s were this “wendigo” comes in. Wendigos have an insatiable hunger for human flesh, they crave taunting people and torturing them until giving them a brutal horrible death only to feast on their scared poor souls. They tower above the tallest pine trees, make blood curdling screams, and can strip the flesh from your bones instantly. He wasn’t attacked by a rabid animal, he was murdered and eaten alive by one of those foul beasts. Only something that big and mercilessly brutal could’ve done such a thing. And why eat just the person? An animal would’ve taken all it could get. Dog and horse would’ve been part of the main course as well.”

The two other men who listened in shuddered upon the end of the tale. Lochlan was intrigued but was interrupted by his crew coming to fetch him from his break. He needed to get back to work and couldn’t listen in anymore. He sighed and set off to collect his train, he had plenty of time to ponder what he just heard on his long quiet journey.

Lochlan enjoyed the unexplainable, everything had an explanation. An answer. While the story of the wendigo was interesting to him he couldn’t help but believe it was simply a tall tale. Even with how big and goofy the engine could be, he wasn’t gullible. The only way he’d believe something is if he witnessed it first hand. And as far as he knew he never saw any forest animal that towered over pine trees or had a specific desire for human flesh. But for some reason something inside him wouldn’t let go of it. The story was kept in the back of his mind and not forgotten.

Lochlans first week on Hennessy’s railway was almost over. He already gotten familiar with the area and his routes in the short time he was there. His job went swillingly and it was something he wouldn’t mind spending the rest of his days doing. Oh, and no strange gigantic monsters hungry for human flesh appeared. There was one route Lochlan hadn’t traveled yet, and the unkept longer line of tracks was only taken if necessary but no reason was ever really given as to why it wasn’t used. But with only almost a week of experience on the railway he had a lot more to learn and explore.

While Lochlan pulled a long train of cargo with the morning newspaper edition, important mail, and dairy that needed to get to its destination quickly in order to not spoil he came to a stop when he realized his normal route back into Hennessy was blocked. Someone had derailed and a big mess of tar trucks were scattered everywhere. Lochlans engineers grew frustrated and argued with the crewmen in charge of cleaning up the wreck. “Listen pal, it’s going to take all night to clean this mess up. You’ll just have to wait until morning to pass through or go through the south side.” The agitated worker groaned and pointed up ahead to a route Lochlan wasn’t familiar with.

“Well. We most certainly ain’t got time to wait. I’ve got the morning paper to deliver and dairy that will spoil! Come on big feller we’ll just have to go through the south side which will still delay our schedule because some incompetent idiot can’t operate an engine worth Jack shit.” Lochlans engineer growled and made his way back to his cab. Lochlan looked on curiously up ahead at this new route. The grass ahead was severely overgrown, and by the looks of the track no one seemed to have been down it for a decade. His cow plow would come in handy to shove away any overgrowth that littered the track up ahead. Lochlan puffed down the track without incident. He sliced through any overgrowth that littered his path, and was thankful for his bright headlamp because it seemed any lights that lit up the track before had been left not repaired. Lochlan had come upon something odd as he plunged further down the unused route. A herd of deer were stopped close by the tracks, what was odd to him was that the animals didn’t acknowledge his presence at all. It was normal for the forest animals to hurriedly clear the way when any loud engine chuffed close, to the animals an engine was another predator to run away from. But the large herd of deer stood stalk still, their backs turned towards him and their heads cocked up looking into the distance at something. They didn’t dare move and their fear was focused on something Lochlan couldn’t see. Lochlan raised a brow and chuffed by but the deer didn’t move. Even as steam whooshed out and his own massive frame rumbled on the rails shaking the ground. The deer seemed to care less about him. It was one of the most peculiar things he had seen, but he had no idea it was about to get worse.

Tumblr limits posts and I have to many illustrations to do one part. So I’ll have to skeet part two in another separate post. Stick around for the second part if you enjoy so far. Thanks so much for people who’ve stuck around my blog and actually wanted to read my stories. I really really appreciate it.

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Here’s Donner’s story, I hope you enjoy. It took a lot of blood sweat and tears. Apologies for any Cheeto dust on any pages :(

Donner was once a very successful engine. He was as his engineers would call a “special breed of iron horse.” Donner was originally designed by a german engineer who came to America. Mr. Schlichtmann was his name. In the short time Mr. Schlichtmann lived in America he built a large line of streamlined locomotives. Each of his engines had excellent reputations for being hard workers, they were all useful and gave him excellent credibility as a locomotive engineer. In no time after his first few engines were produced he had a dozen orders to fill all over, practically every railway wanted these new reliable fancy locomotives. Mr. Schlichtmann had brought to life many iron giants but his favorite was one he named himself. The engine he loved the most was a flashy mint green color, he was big, strong, and handsome. The engine thundered down the rails wherever he went so it was appropriate he be named Donner, the German word for thunder. Donner in his first year of operation was wildly successful, he broke records, racked up a lot of money and the most important thing was he made Mr. Schlichtmann look good. When Donner was to be sold he was scooped up immediately by a small railway in the country side where he was tasked with passenger work.

Donner worked hard at his new home on Hennessy. He brought passengers in and out of the city all day long, going back and forth long distances and expected to go at record breaking speeds was hard but he got the work done and at the end of the day he always proved to be useful. For a while Donner was considered the fastest engine in Hennessy and everyone could count on him. That was until a few issues began to present themselves to the big streamliner. It wasn’t bad at first, Donner found multiple days where his wheels would slip numerous times before he could get going. That didn’t seem to go away and got worse as time went on, then most mornings he found it hard to start. Added to the mix was a nasty cough he developed, even when his boiler and firebox were cleaned he coughed up nasty black sludge. Donner’s face seemed to turn a permanent sick pink color. With his nonstop coughing and wheel slipping so bad he derailed he was brought everywhere to try and be mended. When issues were fixed and seemed to go away they would come back again. So Donner spent most of his days couped up in his shed when he wasn’t being poked and prodded at. With a physically ill body but a healthy wanting to work mind Donner took up reading and listening to the radio. His driver often pinned up magazine and newspaper articles he liked so he could read them. Donner had the daily news on his wall everyday and took pride in knowing exactly what went on around him even though most days he couldn’t leave the round house. Donner was self conscious about not being able to work most days, even though his friend Lochlan promised to take care of his work with no problem. Donner knew he could trust Lochlan with his tasks but the thought loomed over him that perhaps because he wasn’t useful anymore he would be junked. This made him burst into a panic when he listened to the radio one morning and heard awful news. In the city outside of Hennessy a new group of engines were expected to take over Donner’s route. They were new sets of twins, two pairs. The male engines were both diesel twins, they had the extravagant names of popular music artists. Presley and Sinatra. The twin girls were both steam engines and had the cutsie pretty little names of Chantilly Lace and Susie Q. Donner knew exactly where the names came from, both were catchy popular songs. With names like those and fresh new faces to be lurking around he felt himself get sick knowing what was coming. If they took over his route he would for sure be tossed away like useless garbage.

When the new engines arrived for a test run of their new route Donner wanted nothing to do with them. He sulked in his shed and cringed hearing the new unfamiliar horns and whistles of the twins. Donner felt himself going crazy as he thought about his fate. The sets of twins knew about Donner and felt sorry for him, they expressed their concern for the ill engine and were very understanding. Everyone got along with the girls, especially Cracker Jack who took an instant liking to them. Even Old Red got along with them. But that wasn’t surprising considering they were both girls... Flashy, pretty, and useful as they were they possessed graceful and polite attitudes. Unlike most big city engines who couldn’t seem to get off their high rails, Tilly and Susie had friendly considerate personalities.

Sinatra and Presley were just as polite as the girls. Albeit Presley being more of a show off while Sinatra was quiet and reserved. Lochlan was proud to show his new friends around when they first arrived, Donner had heard everything as Lochlan and the two puffed by the roundhouse. Lochlan seemed to really enjoy the company of the twins and it broke his heart, perhaps when he was scrapped he would be forgotten. Donner felt himself spiral into despair, he listened to the radio trying to take his mind off it but all that the news seemed to cover was how reliable and fast the new additions were. He sighed and stared blankly at the wall.

That night after the twins arrival Donner began to seethe with anger. All the others came back to the roundhouse and wouldn’t shut their traps about the pretty new faces. Cracker Jack went on and on about how beautiful the girls were, Red simply stated he’d perhaps tolerate them all, and Lochlan nonstop talked about his exciting day puffing around with Presley and Sinatra. Lochlan looked over at Donner and smiled. “Did you meet them yet? They’re really nice, I think...” before Lochlan could finish Donner snorted angrily.

“Don’t. Just stop. I’d rather not hear it.” Donner growled and nearly choked up on his words. The others looked at him stunned, he rarely talked and never snapped at Lochlan. Lochlan was his best friend. Lochlan went quiet and nodded his head not saying anything else. The next morning Donner tried with all his might to start up. He did and he trundled out his berth on shaky wheels. His driver, fireman, and team of engineers checked him over. They were surprised he started and was doing not well- but okay so far. Donner stifled a sick cough before speaking. “I want to go out today. Let me run my route.” He declared instead of asking. His driver looked at him wearily.

“Are you sure you want to do that Donner? You don’t have to if your not up to it.” The man said and tried to gauge why all of sudden he was acting this way. Donner only glared and nodded his head. He huffed watching the twin girls go by, their matching coaches glided behind them smoothly. Tilly and Susie whistled at him friendly and said hello as they went by. Donner only growled and narrowed his eyes rudely at them.

Donner went to collect his coaches, he forced himself to move despite everything in him violently hurting. He held back his cough and puffed ugly thick black smoke. Donner’s magnificent green paint was being coated in disgusting soot and he tried hard to not bump his coaches as he heaved holding back coughs. Donner thundered by the diesel twins as they were pulling a long line of goods. They went to greet him but as soon as they saw his ill horrific appearance they shouted trying to get him to stop. Donner only whipped by them, his whistle screamed and more black smoke polluted the air above him. He growled and pressed on determined to get the job done before the girls came by for their second passenger run.

Donner made it into the city station, just barely. He wheezed and coughed, his paint covered in smudgie black soot. Sweat dripped down his bright red face and he broke into an ugly violent coughing fit. Donner ran himself ragged and had given his passengers a jolty bumpy ride. Tilly and Susie were shocked to see him in such bad shape. Despite him being rude to them earlier they immediately voiced their concern for him. “Goodness me! What on earth happened to you?!” Susie exclaimed. Donner choked and cleared his throat he muttered about how useless he was.

“You may as well just shove me back down the track and into the scrap yard. I’m no use, with engines like you taking over my route I’m nothing but a big ol ugly useless lawn ornament.” Donner sighed and closed his eyes in defeat and shame. Tilly and Susie looked at each other.

“Oh Donner, that’s not true at all. The reason we’ve been tasked to run your route and take your passengers is to help you. Sinatra and Presley also have been helping Lochlan with his long trains. There’s nothing wrong with some help.” Tilly said and offered a reassuring smile. Susie nodded.

“Just because we’re running your route doesn’t mean your being replaced. Your not being scrapped of course not. We just wanted to help and prove our worth before we take permanent jobs here in the city.” Susie said. Donner looked at them curiously and then laughed.

“Oh! Wow! My apologies for being so rude, and your first impression of me being an absolute train wreck. I appreciate the help I really do.” Donner sighed relieved. The group laughed.

“I’ll take the rest of your passengers and I’m sure Tilly won’t mind bringing you back to be mended.” Susie offered and Tilly nodded already pulling out of the station to couple up to Donner to bring him back. Donner endlessly thanked them and apologized for his rude behavior. He did feel better and at the end of the day both humans and engines reassured him that he was going no where. No matter how ill he was and what he could or could not do he was meant to stay in Hennessy, where he belonged.

End.

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I hope everyone enjoys their Valentine’s Day! If your without a date I’m sure any of my boys would love to have you. Can you tell who would be the most romantic? It’s Red obviously

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Here it is! Hope you like Red ;) because this story is all about him. Also I’m not illustrating writing anymore it’s too much with how much dialogue I want to shove in there.

Old Red has done many years of service to the railway of Hennessy. As you could imagine the feisty old soul had built up a reputation of being a fierce and nasty engine who feared no man or beast. With this reputation, Old Red was given dangerous tasks to do. These tasks would be traveling to the outskirts of Hennessy (no mans land) where all kinds of outlaws roamed and robbed just about any living thing they came across. However any outlaw knew to not mess with Red, or they’d meet a terrible end. Old Red would bring important cargo across no mans land with ease. He’d carry precious and expensive valuables, and no outlaw would dare try and steal anything from his cars. A few tried but would always end up unlucky.

Something unexpected happened one day on the job for Old Red, as the engine puffed down the tracks and into no mans land a big new group of outlaws came charging up from a ditch nearby the tracks. Guns blazing, spurs jingling, and hollering left and right they caught right up to the big red engine. Old Red snorted and got ready to put up a good fight.

Old Red billowed out thick black smoke, he snarled and bared what was left of his sharp crooked teeth. His loud bell and whistle shrieked and rang horribly. Suddenly he gasped, he got short of steam and his whistle cut out. Old Red felt himself lock up almost instantly. A woman on a big white horse kept up right next to him. She stood up in her saddle while her pony galloped along, her gun pointed right at him she meant business. But he didn’t stop because of that, he stopped because he was absolutely taken away by her. This had to be the most beautiful regal woman he had ever laid his eyes on. He needed a closer look at her. Before he knew it while he had stopped to gawk at this lady, the outlaws had already broken into his cargo and raided just about what they could fit in their pockets and saddle bags. That was the first time Red had been robbed.

That night when Old Red crept back to the roundhouse everyone of course was surprised about what had happened to the ornery engine. Cracker Jack had overheard Red’s engineer explain what he thought had happened. The engineer spoke to Cracker Jack’s and a group of other men. They all found it odd that Red stopped so suddenly and acted so differently. As soon as Cracker Jack heard the mention of a female outlaw riding up along next to the ornery old engine he smirked. The little diesel teased Red to no end all night. Cracker Jack laughed and made kissy faces to Red, “I bet you’d like that! How funny! Old Reddie gawking at a pretty girl! The big old engines gone soft! For a human at that!” He sneered. Red huffed his cheeks blushed.

“You best sleep with one eye open tonight! No one interests me! Certainly not a no good criminal!” Red huffed but his face only glowed brighter with embarrassment. Cracker Jack laughed and laughed and didn’t stop with his teasing until morning.

A few weeks later it happened again. The same outlaw group caught up with Old Red when he carried expensive cargo across no mans land. The group seemed to notice that the big red devil took a liking to a certain group member. They sent their lady up and sure enough Red stopped immediately. This time she stayed there with him. Old Red looked closer at her and his face went as bright as his paint work. “Hello iron hoss” the lady smiled seeing him looking at her bashfully. Red couldn’t find words he stuttered but finally managed to get out,

“What’s... er... what’s your name?” He stuttered.

“I don’t tell anyone that, but because you’ve been such a peach I guess I’ll tell ya. It’s Faline.” She grinned seeing his one good eye glow. Old Red tripped over his words again trying to tell her it was such a beautiful name for a gorgeous woman. She laughed “oh your a real charmer iron hoss.” She blew him a kiss before galloping off with her band of fellow outlaws. Once again Red was robbed. But he could care less, he nearly fell on his side after she had blown him a kiss.

Weeks had passed and Red made more trips into no mans land, each time he anticipated seeing Faline but unfortunately he didn’t. He grew a bit depressed and his heart sank when he looked over to a field to see what he thought was her horse grazing by itself. Word had gotten around that a few outlaws from the band that stole from him had been caught and jailed. Old Reds engineer had told him the good news but Red didn’t find it good at all. The old engine stayed quiet most of the time and didn’t show off his ornery attitude. One night as if by a miracle, Old Red had to wait at one of Hennessy’s main stations. Red never went that way and didn’t usually stop at passenger stations anyways. It was late and night and hardly anyone was around, only a few passengers waited for their night train to arrive. Old Red watched curiously as a fancily dressed passenger approached him. He went red realizing who it was. She laughed “I didn’t forget about you iron hoss, you’ve been a real doll. I joined those men because I needed money and had no way of getting it. I know it’s wrong to rob and take but my family has no other way of getting the money. Because of you, my two sick boys can get what they need and I can’t thank you enough.” She leaned in and kissed his blushing cheeks, before hurrying away as her train arrived. Old Red sighed watching her disappear. She was certainly someone he’d never forget.

End.

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First story; just a run down of what each character is like, what they look like and what they do. It’s been a long time since I’ve written anything in pencil so beware the spelling mistakes. The next story will be action packed and will be centered around Red ;)

Ugh sorry for my spelling errors :( the next story will be a lot less messy I promise;)

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My little railway wishes you a very Merry Christmas🥰 there they are the bois✨

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I did a concept sketch of one of my rural railway characters. Cracker Jack is his name. He’s a sweet little diesel switcher, he’s got a Percy like attitude but is a little more mature than our favorite green caterpillar. Don’t be fooled he’s not as small as he seems I would put him at the same height as Salty just about. The giant tender engines on the railway make him look a lot smaller. He’s very strong and well respected, being a switcher is hard work. He’s praised for his hard work by the others rather than being put down for his size like I’ve noticed many ttte tank engines being chastised for their size by the larger engines. Here he is!

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I’m thinking of making a separate account for my series. Is that like.... desirable? Like would anyone actually enjoy that?

👉👈

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Cracker Jack; what if one day you met Phillip and shunted with him?

Cracker Jack after having Philip explained to him;

“Ohhhhh,,, errr,,, ummm. I mean I don’t really get along with smaller engines. I don’t really shunt with anyone else either, I prefer my work solo. Not to offend this “Philip” but he sounds to chatty for my taste.” -Cracker Jack

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Cracker Jack - suppose Thomas, Percy and Rosie challenged you to a Shunting Contest?

*Cracker Jack: “hmmm well I do like a good challenge. Not to toot my own horn and ring my own bell but I’m pretty good at shunting! I take care of a whole yard on my own! Sure I’d gladly accept that contest!”

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Old Red; did you ever foil a robbery once? Have you ever experienced an Indian uprising? How did you survive the dawn of the automobile?

Red: “I’ve never experienced a Native American uprising, I’ve never had problems with them. They don’t bother me, I don’t bother them. As for train robbery’s I’ve foiled every single one, no one gets past...”

Cracker Jack: “Red your one good eye is so full of manure it’s turning brown! You’ve never foiled every robbery. What about that one pretty girl outlaw you let slip right under your big ol crooked nose?! She robbed you blind! Twice!”

Red: *Huffs* “anyways... as for the “dawn of the automobiles” I don’t worry about that. Hennessy is far to long and rugged for good roads to be made. The countryside will always rely on locomotives for big deliveries. It’s smelly annoying diesels that I have to worry about.”