+ The following is a conversation between Jack and someone from the + train company. +
Why wouldn't they work outside? It's
not like they're magically gonna come off the rails once they leave
the dome.
- All of your trains are outfitted with fail-safe
- emergency brakes. On power loss, you have about 15 seconds before they
- are applied and the train comes to an abrupt, unscheduled halt.
- You can't even tow these things without power.
+ All of your trains are outfitted with
+ fail-safe emergency brakes. On power loss, you have about 15 seconds
+ before they are applied and the train comes to an abrupt, unscheduled
+ halt. You can't even tow these things without power.
I thought you said the tracks were in decent
shape? Why would the contacts? sliders?
come off the power rail for that long?
@@ -45,14 +49,86 @@
People be believing strange things these days...
I don't have to believe. I was there when
the city was built and, more recently, I helped replace a failing
- generator at said power plant. You might have noticed the power
- outage.
+ generator at said power plant. You might have noticed the outage.
+
Uhuh, sure buddy. Since you've been doing
nothing but spewing nonsense all this time, I'm just gonna have one
of our guys drive a train up there and we'll see what happens.
- I'll get some popcorn; watching this is
- gonna be fun. Wouldn't be the first time a train got stuck in these
- tunnels...
+ I'll get some popcorn. Watching this is
+ gonna be fun...
+
+ The rails start ringing and a train of the Sunside Cove Metro approaches.
+ It slows down and comes to a halt before the power rail's gap for
+ the switches in front of the closed airlock. Inside are a driver and the
+ railway official. Jack reaches into his backpack, grabs a bag of chips
+ – he didn't find any popcorn for the occasion – and
+ opens it. The headlights turn off and the driver leaves the driver's
+ cabin. A moment later, the first door opens and he climbs out.
+ No, I am only going to drive the first segment
+ in there. We don't need the entire train stuck in the tunnel if it
+ doesn't go to plan.
+ It's gonna be fine. What could go
+ wrong?
+ Jack replies loudly so both of them hear him:
+ A lot.
+ You shut up.
+ The driver says: I'm inclined to agree
+ with him.
+ He turns around and walks to the end of the first railcar where he
+ proceeds to detach the hoses and cables and unhooks the couplings.
+ Then, he returns to the front and climbs back inside.
+
+ The headlights come back on and a compressor kicks into action. + A few contactors click inside the train. After a moment, the door closes. + The train sits like this for a few minutes until the compressor turns off + again. Jack shoves a handfull of chips into his mouth. The inner door + of the airlock begins to open, creaking and buzzing as it slowly moves + up. +
+
+ The motors begin to hum and the first car of the train starts moving
+ towards the airlock. It loses power as it rolls over the switches
+ and the headlights dim. Jack puts his bag of chips aside and presses
+ the button on his watch that lights up the display. He begins to count
+ in his head:
+
+ One, two, three, four, five...
+ The railcar rolls completely into the airlock. It's still
+ decently far away from the other door.
+ Six, seven, eight, nine...
+ It rolls deeper into the airlock, beyond Jack's view.
+ Ten, eleven...
+ Loud hissing sounds from inside the airlock – the train's
+ failsafe mechanism begins to release the pressurized air from its tanks.
+
+ Twelve, thirteen, fourteen...
+ A loud clunk followed by screeching and grinding noises as the
+ emergency brakes are applied.
+ Fifteen.
+ Jack grabs his bag of chips and gets up. He walks onto the tracks and
+ looks into the airlock, stuffing his face as he watches the dim
+ Rücklichter? rear lights? go out.
+
+ A few minutes pass and nothing happens. Eventually, Jack hears one of
+ the doors getting unlocked with a key and sees it getting pushed open
+ by hand. He gets off the track and sits back down next to the rails,
+ continuing to stuff his face with chips. A bit later, he watches the
+ driver and the railway official doing the walk of shame, the latter
+ seeming pretty close to an aneurysm.
+ Told you so.
+ The railway official loses it completely, stampfen?
+ and jumping around while screaming some apparently very colorful
+ language – Jack doesn't understand a single word.
+
+ The train driver proceeds to walk to the rest of the train but Jack stops + him. + "It's too far back. There are only two feasible ways to get it + back out: Getting power on the track inside the airlock or dismantling + the brakes so it can be towed."
Copyright © 2023 Jan Danielzick (aka. BodgeMaster) – All rights reserved.