Dear Pioneer Zephyr,
I’m glad the teasing was all in good fun! Some engines can be quite mean, but that might just be my own experience. I swear, you could build a track out in the middle of nowhere and the second you put two engines on it, they’d start making fun of each other.
Whenever our yard got too disagreeable I found a well-placed compliment tended to smooth things over. Your compliments to the Goddesses have kept my current yard friendly enough, in any case. You should let 999 know that she has one of the most elegant shapes I’ve ever seen, especially from that angle. Her cowcatcher is very fetching. And I know you said 2903 was big, but I’ll admit I didn’t realize quite how big you meant. He must tower over 999 (and you, for that matter)! He seems sturdy and reliable too. I’d trust any train to him, no question.
It was really nice of U-505’s manufacturers to send new parts to the museum! It’s good that they’re still around and were willing to help out. Most of the engines here are old enough that their builders have gone out of business or don’t make their parts anymore, me included. Part of the reason the Q sent our class to be scrapped instead of reassigning us when the Zephyr service ended was that by returning us to EMD, they’d get a credit toward any new engines they bought from them. It’s a good deal for the railroad and the manufacturer, but it means EMD isn’t exactly keeping spare E5 parts around. Not that we’d expect them to. It seems like it’s probably not a usual thing for most manufacturers to do. But then, U-505 is not a usual machine!
As to your name, it makes sense that the Pioneer Zephyr refers to your whole train. As engines we are the “face” as you said, so we tend to get called whatever we’re pulling. I’ve been called by my name and number just as often as I’ve been The Flyer or The #8. That said, if you’d signed off as 9900 I’d have wanted you to call me 9952A in return. I’ve never had a preference, but I’ve known engines who did and I like to make sure we’re all on level track. Of the things I could call you though, Pioneer Zephyr is my favorite. It’s almost like a title. You earned it by being so successful that they had to build more engines just like you!
And since you did get a name later on, that made 9901 and 9902 unique in their own way. At least, that’s what I’d have said to them if they were sore about it, haha! There’s something about being part of a pair that can make you memorable as well. Silver Power and Silver Speed were like that. “What’s one without the other?” they’d say, and the fuss they’d kick up if you separated them! I can’t really blame them for being like that. Being the first isn’t easy but at least they had each other to rely on. I hope 9901 and 9902 saw it that way.
Injun Joe’s train must have been a big hit with the passengers for the Q to have kept giving us all names. Having them right there on our sides made us stand out when we’d usually only ever get numbers and the cars don’t even get to wear theirs where passengers can see them usually. Most folks can’t tell one car from another, number or not, but a name meant people got excited to see us when they otherwise wouldn’t. The passengers always seemed to like it when they recognized stock they’d seen before and the cars liked it when they were remembered by name. It’s nice to be acknowledged and we have Injun Joe to thank for that!
Having your class asked after by another railroad is something special too. It sounds like Flying Yankee made for a good ambassador of sorts. Is he stainless steel too? We E5s had half-siblings on other lines in the E3s and E4s, but they weren’t stainless steel or fluted like us. Under the hood we all had basically the same parts, though. The E3s were built for the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad and the E4s went to the Seaboard Air Line Railroad. It’s funny, they were competitors, but they ended up with the same engines pulling their passenger lines.
With a name like Silver Charger, I’d almost expect your last brother to be one of us E5s. It sounds like he’d fit right in on our roster. He and Silver Steed might have had a good laugh about both being named after horses. We have a Frisco 2-10-0 here too, 1630! She’d been static for a while, but they’ve been putting in good work on her over the last few months. They call her the Russian decapod, but she told me she’s never actually been to Russia. She ran for the first time on Members Day last year (when our train was supposed to run). We’ve only talked a few times, but she’s smart and a real go-getter! I can’t imagine sitting cold for almost a decade and then hitting the rails as hard as she did last October. At the beginning of the day they just had her fired for a few test runs, but by the end of it she was pulling trains on the main line and looking great while doing it.
It seems like they want to add her to the regular steam service rotation alongside Shay 5, Tuskegee 101, and CE 5, so she’s gone back into the shop for further work. I only get whatever word makes its way out here to the wye, but from what I hear, she’s making good progress. If Charger’s decapod is anything like ours, he’s in good company. We don’t have any planes here, but I think it would be fun to talk to one someday. I’m probably the only Pilot that’s never met a plane before!
It’s not something to be proud of, but a little bit of mischief is what’s kept a lot of us out of the scrapyards so far. I mentioned the trolley buses in my last couple of letters, they just arrived on the 11th. They’re numbered 9553 and 9631 and both are quite chatty! They only just retired a few months ago, and have been in storage waiting for our members to be able to get the money together to purchase and move them. Getting back to the mischief: They were the last trolley buses to have operated in Chicago. The catch is that they were the last to operate because the museum had already picked them out beforehand, and they did a special passenger trip so they’d have the distinction once they arrived here. It’s true, but it’s also not the whole story. Venus called it a ‘white lie’, which is a lie that doesn’t hurt anyone especially. You should hear them both zipping up and down the main drag though. I can’t really say the white lie was all that bad if it means they get to stay here with us.
I wished for better weather last time but I guess I didn’t wish hard enough. One day it rains and the next it’s hot and muggy and the poor visitors have to contend with the mud. It’d be nice to have some more paved spots like in your yard! I hope the heat isn’t bothering U-505 too much. Give them all my best.
Your friend,
Pilot