#ttte ed

[duskstargazer]

Pressure and Performance

[1976]

Super Ed glided into the final station feeling very pleased with himself. The stationmaster was quite taken aback.

“The Limited isn't due in for another twelve minutes.” He said. “The connecting service hasn't even arrived yet.”

“Super Ed always arrives early.” The Electro-Diesel said, confidently. “Stronger than a diesel, and faster than lightning!”

“Speed alone doesn’t make an express service.” Gordon criticized. “If-”

“Super Ed isn’t merely speed.” He scoffed. “No no, Super Ed is triple speed!”

“Well your passengers won't appreciate you rushing about like that. If you're going to pull coaches-”

He got no further as the doors opened and passengers swarmed out, giving the Electro-Diesel nothing but praise. They were unaware of the various rules their engine had broken and only had the smooth, fast ride to talk about.

“You were saying…?” Super Ed flashed a cocky grin.

Gordon only growled under his breath.

[togetherness23]

Super Ed: I’m Super Ed!!!

Gordon’s buffer:

[duskstargazer]

''If You Can't Behave...'

[1976]

Super Ed glided back into the big station. In spite of the growing irritation in his system, he was feeling very pleased with himself.

“There you go!” He beamed. “Get ahead with Super Ed!”

“I would prefer if my engines would stay in the present.” Sir Topham Hatt stood on the platform - he did not look pleased.

“You were brought here to assist with the coal trains.” He began, sternly. “Nowhere in that were you assigned express work. Now, coal deliveries are getting backed up, and my telephone has been ringing off the hook all afternoon about it. Furthermore, your run with The Limited was nothing short of reckless. I heard from Bear and his crew that you cut them off at a junction, and I personally was in Rebecca’s train this morning.”

Super Ed tensed.

“So I witnessed firsthand you breaking speed restrictions and cutting in front of another engine - leaving out that you were only so far ahead of schedule due to excessive speeding and driving dangerously. If you can't behave, I shall take away your blue coat, and leave you in the shed for the foreseeable future. Am I understood?”

Super Ed didn't like that at all.

“Yes, sir.” He said, trying not to show how cross he was.

[duskstargazer]

Clear Ahead

[1976]

Bridges and stations flashed by. The coaches and passengers were impressed.

Cedric stood waiting for The Limited to pass by. He gave a friendly whistle as the train approached.

However, the friendly greeting was not returned.

“Get ahead with Super Ed!” The Electro-Diesel shouted as he raced through the station.

“The hell?” Murmured Cedric. “Isn't BoCo supposed to be taking The Limited?”

Super Ed soared up Gordon’s Hill, seemingly without a care in the world.

He blasted his horn as loud as he could as he raced through tunnels. Poor Emily was left with an awful ringing in her smokebox!

[ / ]

Super Ed was nearing a junction, when he saw Bear pulling onto his line in the distance.

“Super Ed waits for no mere goods train.” He scoffed. He shot forward, racing through the junction and blowing right through a red signal.

Bear cried out as he clamped down his brakes. He stopped just in time as The Limited clattered past.

“WATCH IT, IDIOT!” He roared.

Of course, he went unheard.

“It’ll be nice not having to deal with him while I’m gone…” Bear growled.

[ / ]

Despite her position as a top-link express engine, Rebecca was enjoying running local trains and taking empty coaches to and from the works.

She was cheerfully making her way along with one such local, when she heard Super Ed's horn.

“Oh!” She said to herself. “It'll be nice to see how he's getting on.”

Super Ed grinned when he saw her. He pushed himself even faster to overtake her. He was running as fast as he'd ever gone before, when he noticed a strange feeling in his system.

“Don't let on to it.” He told himself. “You're Super Ed - the fastest and most capable engine on this railway.”

He blew past Rebecca, laughing as she jumped in surprise. He blasted his horn at the signaller. Next thing Rebecca knew, The Limited was cutting across onto her line!

Rebecca cried out and clamped down her brakes. Her coaches rammed into her, nearly shoving her into the train that had just cut her off. She made it with mere inches between her buffers and those at the back of Super Ed's train.

“What was that?!” Gasped one of the coaches.

“That was beyond dangerous!”

“I'm sure it was um… just a signaller's error.” Rebecca said, trying to sound reassuring.

Though whether she was trying to reassure herself or the coaches, even she wasn't certain on.

[duskstargazer]

Power Source

[1976]

The work took some time, but one morning, Ed awoke to several workers standing around him. In front of him stood a man he only recognized from when he’d been taken off coal trains.

“You’re a special Electro-Diesel engine.” Said Sir Topham Hatt. “You can source energy from your diesel system as well as your electrics, but if you only rely on your diesel engine, you're far less capable.”

“Now, we have no third rail nor overhead wires on the main line, so what we've done is to give you essentially the next best thing. You've been given a generator powered by your diesel system, which in turn powers your electric system. It is still new, so you may still run into problems with it, especially if it's overused - so pace yourself. You won't have issues anywhere close to what you used to, so long as you look after the generator.”

“Go ahead and give the new system a try.”

Ed's engine rumbled to life. For a couple seconds, he felt no difference. Then, with a jolt, a burst of electricity shot through him. It was unlike any electric power source he'd ever used.

“…Whoah.”

“If it overheats, it may seize up, compromising your engine completely, so you mustn't let that happen.”

Ed wasn't sure what Sir Topham Hatt meant, but he was eager to show the island just what he could really do.

[duskstargazer]

Cursed

[1976]

Ed struggled with the coal trains. Every delivery arrived late, and he wasn't much help with the shunting.

“We were expecting this coal an hour and a half ago.” Scolded the stationmaster at Wellsworth

Over time, the delays began to pile up. Depots and villages were kept waiting for their shipments of coal.

“This won’t do, Ed. We need dependability with these deliveries.”

Eventually, Ed was moved off of coal trains, and Henry took over the job. This left Ed helping out with regular goods trains along the main line.

“Having my work taken over by an engine over twice my age…” He said to himself. “What would the engines on the Other Railway say…”

Even on less demanding duties, Ed wasn’t spared snide commentary and baleful looks.

“And they call you the future.” Murdoch sniffed as he rumbled by. “Can’t imagine what the Other Railway sees in engines like you - especially to the degree of what they did to us.”

It didn't take long for Ed to worry about how long his stay on the railway would last.

[duskstargazer]

Electric Atmosphere

[1976]

Ever since Super Ed had taken up residence there, the sheds had become a difficult place to live.

“Twice from Tidmouth to Vicarstown before noon.” He gloated. “Super Ed told you he gets your railway ahead. Let's see one of you try and beat that with forty coal trucks.”

“Must he always speak in the third person?” Emily muttered.

“Super Ed will speak however he chooses. He's what’s making your railway flourish!”

“Absolute rot!” Gordon rumbled.

“Don’t make that a thing, Gordon.” Almond sighed. “Also, what's with those things on the roof?”

“Ah, you mean the Copper Nine?” The Electro-Diesel replied, with complete seriousness. “They fit the electric aesthetic.”

“It looks ridiculous.” Gordon sniffed. “Sounds just as stupid, too.”

“You probably could've achieved the same look with copper colored stripes.” Almond said.

“All it's really missing is a giant hole blasted through the middle.”

Super Ed paid no attention.

“Anyway, your railway has needed proper - real - main line traction for a while now. It's a good thing Super Ed arrived when he did. Super Ed is stronger than a diesel, and faster than lightning.”

“And more big-headed than both as well.” Gordon scoffed.

“Shove it, old-timer. You’re just jealous you can’t compete with this kind of performance. “

Rebecca let out a stifled sounding chuckle.

“Why, with such speed and strength, don’t be too surprised if Super Ed comes to claim those express coaches.”

Gordon froze.

“You won’t.”

“Wanna bet?”

“You won’t.” Gordon repeated, pressure rising by the second.

“Once this order of coal is handled, you’ll see.”

[duskstargazer]

Getting Ahead

[1976]

The new electro-diesel blazed through his performance tests with flying colours. He was soon back at work, and the difference was night and day.

He handled the goods work with ease. Now, every train he pulled seemed to arrive ahead of schedule.

“I don’t understand - how does a small box make such a difference?” Muttered Henry.

“That's the wonders of Electro-Diesels for you!” He would say. “Stronger than a diesel, and faster than lightning!”

Even when he returned to running coal trains, he didn't seem to struggle at all. Once he had himself repainted, the other engines really started to notice a shift.

“Keep up, Bear!” He shouted. “You’re running an express - you should have the other trains making way for you!”

More than once, he even managed to keep pace with Gordon and the express.

“You’re top-link, aren’t you?” He taunted. “So why are you letting a simple coal train overtake you!”

Simply put, reception amidst the Sodor engines was quite mixed. [ / ]

Apologies for the low quality of the image. I was using a website to compile the frames into a gif, and I didn't realize until too late that it'd crunched the quality, much less that severely.

You can find key frames from this scene in full quality here.