#tfissab

[monstroso]

I made some stamps to function as achievement badges for our train forum. These are my favorites of the bunch, but there are more to collect and more on the way!

[greatwesternway]

Dear Pioneer,I hope your computer finds a new home somewhere as nice as the one it's leaving behind. I’m told we hav...

Dear Pilot,Your enthusiasm for solar panels is catching. Or rather, I think my guides find an engine taking an inter...

The summer of '77 sees Silver Pilot taking a particular interest in solar panels when the MSI gets a federal grant to have some installed.

[djangodurango]

Look what they have at the MSI holiday shop this year!

[solrika]

Plane cuddles with Spitfire and Stuka. They belong to @littlewestern and @greatwesternway.

[littlewestern]

quick TFISSAB question for DJ and you!

which character dynamics of your museum crews do you personally enjoy most? who are the most fun to bounce off of each other?

cheers!

This is such a wonderful question. Thank you!

We threw this one back and forth a bit over discord, because the honest truth is that we love all our little guys and each one of them has at least one relationship worthy of the reams of words we tend to devote to them. Characters and their relationships to one another is the foundation upon which this entire structure is built, after all!

DJ's first instinct was U-505 ("unfortunately" lol), which makes sense. The submarine is at once wholly unique as the only large seagoing craft, but he also has a surprising amount of commonalities with just about everybody if you look closely. He's a war machine, but so are Stuka and Spitfire. He's big and worldly, but so is 727. He's a deft communicator, but so is Pioneer. The parts of his character that alienate him are also the parts that resonate well with others.

It doesn't help that we've written him to be extremely funny in that darkly German way, which DJ and I both have a weakness for. This makes him fun to put into Scenarios, as the results tend to be unpredictable and - more often than not - humorous. And everyone loves a character with a sad backstory. But it's hard to talk about the submarine, right? The optics are, shall we say, not the best.

Fortunately for us, we get to avoid talking about the submarine further by the undisputed champion of Scenarios, 2903.

2903 has a lot going for him just on paper. He's the only engine who lived at both the IRM and the MSI, making the sheer number of characters he has a history with a simple numbers game. But it's more than just that. 2903 has an *arc*.

We've talked a bit before about how going from being Just Some Guy at a museum of famous engines to being one of the main draws at a local railway museum in the middle of nowhere was just about the best thing that could have happened to 2903. At the MSI he was unsure of his place in preservation; overshadowed by his more famous and historically significant cohort. He would pick fights, act out, and generally display behavior considered unbecoming of an exhibit engine. He felt out of his depth! When he came to the IRM though, he found himself suddenly the biggest and (by dint of his time at the other museum) the engine with the most perspective on preservation. By complete accident, he became wise. He grew up.

That sort of development comes with all kinds of implications and baggage. He gets to be the yard dad at the IRM, where before he was the one causing headaches for staff and volunteers. He gets to have 999 on his arm, but also gets time away from her to develop on his own. His background as an average dude means he's the only guy who isn't taken with Pioneer and Pilot's inherent Burlington Charm, a mostly unique trait he shares only with Stuka (who doesn't speak English, and so never really makes his opinions on the matter known). He gets to be the voice of reason in his new home while still holding a somewhat misguided grudge against the submarine.

2903 is the most Just Some Guy out of all our characters. He has so little documentation, we were thrilled to bits when the museum unveiled a new (or at least new to us) sign for his display detailing the time his driver got a citation for going over the speed limit. Compare that to Pioneer and Pilot, who both have similar anecdotes like that in the double-digits. But because 2903 is so average, it makes him perfect for bouncing off other characters, and his history with both museums makes it easy to do so.

And he has great hair.

[monstroso]

poking at some character design sheets again. trying to add more color to stuff and upload art here more frequently lol.

✯ art gallery - more of the blonde guy - more of the other two ✯

[monstroso]

new logo for the website and social medias. i'm not a graphic designer in the slightest, so I'm happy it came out the way it did!

[monstroso]

Attention passengers! The train for 1977 is now departing!

You might have noticed we did not do our usual January update. This was so @djangodurango and I could bring you a whole host of new content for 2026 on pioneerandpilot.com!

A quick summary of everything included in the Spring 1977 update:

✉️ Four new letters to kick off 1977 ✉️ An overhauled art gallery with some new art and a mobile-friendly design ✉️ A complete website redesign built on Wordpress for better readability and searchability ✉️ New entries on the Engines, Etc. page for 16 new engines and cars ✉️ New sections in the "Posts and Parcels" page for all the train-related activities we get up to outside our regular update schedule

...and my personal favorite

✉️ A new Reader Forum where you can join to discuss the letters, trains in general, or anything else!

Feel free to make an account (it's very easy) and check out more details about the update on the forum post here.

-

We're both very excited to be able to create a space for people to play around with and enjoy some old web aesthetics. In that vein, remember we also have an RSS feed and a Guestbook!

This update also comes with a small change to the letters as well. Going forward, we're hoping to release smaller content updates more frequently to make the reading experience a bit more manageable and updates a bit less overwhelming (for us and you, lol).

Thank you so much for your continued support, and we'll see you in the summer!