Cole Train Novels & Stories

The purple glow was beginning to creep back into the edges of the rails, crawling toward my blistered fingers. Suddenly, a massive, deafening thrum echoed from the southern horizon. It wasn't the earth. It was a physical horn. A brutal, mechanical, beautiful atonal roar that I hadn't heard in ten years. Through the clear blue sky, descending the southern tracks at a terrifying velocity, came a massive, steam-driven iron clad locomotive. It carried no cargo. It bristled with no weapons. But welded to the front cowcatcher of the train was a massive, three-ton iron anvil.

Our footsteps echoed slightly. “Luck is on our side, Carl. There’s a train already here.” As the door behind us automatically resealed itself noisily, I focused on the red train in front of us. It looked like a high speed magnetic train one might find in Japan or Europe, not some American Amtrak passenger train. There were six train cars. The first five looked unoccupied. The sixth car looked very full. “Don’t stare at the occupants of the rear car, Carl. Try to walk as normally as you can and pretend you’re not injured. It is important that you and I look as nonchalant as possible.”

"Is the Grandma in the white coat coming for us, Daddy?" Ethan felt a jolt of "raw vulnerability" strike his chest. Madeline. Even in her absence, she was haunting his son’s thoughts. "She’s trying, Leo. But the iron is stronger than the light. We stay in the iron." The Sprint through the Steam The 4:12 westbound groaned as it approached, a massive coal train that seemed to vibrate the very earth. Great plumes of steam erupted from the pneumatic brakes, creating a temporary, white-out screen.

she said. I pressed my ear against the vibrating wooden floorboards of the train car. Underneath the heavy, rhythmic *thunk-thunk* of our train’s wheels, there was another sound. A lighter, faster metallic clatter. Something was running on the rails behind us inside the dark tunnel. A rail inspection car. A small, motorized flatbed used by maintenance crews. The suit hadn't given up at the tracks. He had taken the maintenance siding at the lower junction to follow the freight train into the mountain pass.

Weylin shouted from the cabin. The whole train wobbled as it rose off its magnetic rails. The coils of the engine charged with a distinct warble. From outside, red lights flashed and sirens blared with an ear-piercing sear. Jack clapped his hand over his ears and tried to peer past the painted figures at the windows.

Chapter 011 – The Journey Several hours later, just as Alwyn had said, they arrived at the station and immediately boarded the private carriage that had been prepared for them. Atthy was stunned by the magnificent sight of the steam train before her. Never in her life had she seen one with her own eyes. Until now, her only knowledge of such machines came from the stories her father and grandfather used to tell, or the newspapers and books she had read. She couldn’t hide her awe and astonishment at the “Iron Serpent” towering before her. Its gleaming black exterior gave it an air of mystery and power that left her momentarily speechless.

Clara called out, her voice no longer a fragile whisper, but holding a mother's firm, loving warmth. Through the pair of ancient granite pillars at the threshold, the four grey pack mules clattered onto the home gravel. Their long ears were perked high, their dark eyes wide, and their nostrils flaring as they caught the rich, familiar scent of mountain clover, sweet cured hay, and clear creek water. Theo walked at the head of the train, his long oilskin coat heavily dusted with the red sandstone trail grit of the lower cut. His broad leather belt was cinched tight, his face weathered and darkened by three weeks of coastal sun and river wind.

She reached down, her leather-gloved thumb catching the edge of my chin, forcing me to tilt my head up until my eyes were locked into the golden fire of her irises. ​"But we aren't taking the highway, are we, Little Bird?" she whispered, her voice dropping into that low, breathless register that made my blood run hot despite the damp chill of the bunker. "Julian didn't build you to be stopped by a roadblock. He built you to go straight through the foundation." ​The cargo rail wasn't a train; it was a single, streamlined titanium capsule that sat on an electromagnetic track, designed to move high-value physical assets through the mountain tunnels of the French-Swiss border without ever touchi

Chapter 78: The Intermodal Junction The storm that had been building over the northern ridge finally broke, pouring rain over the steel tracks of the Montreal rail spur. Avery stood under the metal overhang of the control tower, her hands in her denim overalls pockets. The cold rain blew across her face. Her eyes stayed fixed on the huge intermodal train rolling onto the Thorne-Sterling mainline. Every railcar was locked in place with clamps and their transponders flashing green through the rain.

"How...strange." "It appears the train has arrived." He continued, and I turned my head to see the spectacle that had everyone cheering. The train was blacker than the night, shaped like a long bullet. The color wasn't flat by any means, but set with brilliant shimmers and sparkles. The sight reminded me of the night sky. Dark, endless, yet beautiful. The long windows were tinted with a dark film, blocking the inside of the train from sight. The train hissed as it came to a stop, two sliding doors positioned right where I stood.