Misty Island Logging Company No.4 "Ethel"
Mr. Logan Miller --the owner-- saw a great deal, but when he returned from overseas with a 4-4-0, the mechanical engineer put his head in his hands. "How are we gonna run that," he said, and then he pointed to the 70 ft radius curve leading out of the dockyard, "on that?" "Very carefully, I expect," Mr. Miller said. Ethel's was too fast for her own good. She, Ferdinand, and Gladys have perhaps the same tractive effort, but Ferdinand and Gladys can output that tractive effort at 2 or 3 miles per hour slogging up a grade. Ethel can not run 2 or 3 miles per hour. She'll stall, or she'll go faster, but she won't run that slowly. and with a comfortable speed of 40 or 50 miles per hour on tracks where you'd be very lucky to go 20 mph, she is definitely struggling. "hoist her boiler up on some trucks and run her number one driver as a flywheel. We need another geared engine," Logan said. "No, please," begged Ethel, "I'll try harder!" "I wonder if we could just make your wheels smaller," said the mechanical engineer. "Or maybe we could use a booster truck on your pilot or tender. That rickety old yarding crane might have some cylinders we could use."
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"How have you been?" Edward said, kindly. "I've enjoyed running your branch line an awful lot. Y'all really know how to treat locomotives here on Sodor. I'm almost... sorry to go back home," Ethel said. "I'm sure Bernard and David have missed you. I know Bill and Ben missed me when I was away," Edward said. "Bash and Dash are quite the handful these days," Ethel said. "And rumor has it you're expecting a new one?" Boco said. "A new one, an old one, it's not clear. Before I came to the Company, there was Alice and Belle, and now the Scenic Railway wants to make a new engine from their leftover parts. I don't think they'll have finished building them by the time I get back." Ethel was quiet for a minute, and pensive. Edward quietly trundled forward to get a better angle on her face. BoCo respectfully reversed away to give the steam engines some privacy. "Ethel, is something the matter?" "I don't want to go back. I'm scared, Edward." "Ethel, my dear, whyever not? Does the Scenic Railway not take good care of you? I'm sure The Fat Controller can--" "No, no, it's not that. The Scenic Railway people have been wonderful. But it's the Misty Islands. It's like, I think of all the places I used to go, all the things that happened, and it's like my firebox turns into a block of ice and my lubricant turns to grit."