The Last Ghost Giant[]
Prologue: How it all started
On May 5th, 1959, Colossus was an experimental steam locomotive. 4-10-10-4 in locomotive wheel arrangement, and 6-8 in tender wheel arrangement. He is powered by coal through trials and will be converting to fuel oil by the end of said trials.
His final job will be to take the Union Pacific local excursion full of executives from Cheyenne, Wyoming, to San Bernardino, California. He will come back to Cheyenne, Wyoming, picking up a small empty freight manifest from Ogden, Utah, on the way back home.
However, the weather forecast calls for rain that afternoon, and despite the dispatcher giving off backlash on getting the train going, he departed Cheyenne, receiving luck from a diesel locomotive working at the nearby steel mill, pulling coal and iron ore there. After the local excursion was a success, there was trouble brewing on the return trip. Not only did the signal give the "all-clear" malfunction, but a propane tanker train was left sitting on Wasatch Mountain Range's old iron bridge due to failed brakes.
Colossus immediately departed on good terms, but the storm took a turn for the worse. He immediately took the small freight ahead of schedule, but on the way back home, disaster already lay ahead. The train immediately collided with the tanker train, collapsing the bridge and taking the train along with it.
The next morning, the workers could not find any survivors of the crash. The entire train had exploded, and the crew working on the train, including the people on the return home trip, were dead. A whole 12 months passed since the workers started working on the new bridge. At the same time, the dispatcher was arrested for negligence in not telling the Union Pacific local excursion of the tanker train on the bridge and was sent away to life without parole in prison. Shortly after the new bridge was complete, a diesel train was first climbing the Wasatch Mountain grade with grain hoppers and boxcars to Ogden, Utah, when the driver of that train immediately saw a blood-red light plus two angry eyes.
Petrified with fear, he jumped off the train, watching in horror as the train was suddenly pushed off the rails as if by a powerful force. And every year, on the date of its suicidal accident, the ghost train runs again, plunging into the darkness and shrieking like a lost soul.
Experience: The first sighting of the ghost train
Full Witness Testament, Island of Sodor Courthouse, May 15, 2013
It started back in 1960. I was a kid at that time, around 10 years old back then. My way of seeing trains drew me in closer than I ever did before. All I ever wanted was to become a ghost train enthusiast. And I did, at around eighteen years old. I would start to look at old ghost trains that have happened almost all around the world. Like the time of Demon 311, when she crashed from high up in Black Wolf Mountain. Or maybe the terrifying Ghost Train of the Gap in Sodor. Like most ghost trains, they were just as thrilling, as well as entertaining to modern ghost train fans.
However, there was one ghost train that may have been overlooked. And it shocked me.
Anyway, back to my time in 1960, I was being taken by my parents up to the Wasatch Mountain Grade, where my mom, who was a photographer, proposed to my dad, who was a hiker at the time. It was a moonlit night, and the thunderstorm's raging in. Good thing we had our umbrellas. We were just about to leave, when we suddenly heard a whistle, one we never heard before. I honestly thought that was just a diesel train going up the Wasatch Grade. It was at that moment when we heard the whistle again.
The whistle was soon followed by the heavy puffing of a steam locomotive. And by sheer luck, it was going fast. Much too fast for any steam locomotive. We immediately jumped into the car, thinking that we had enough time on the mountain. But on the way back down the mountain, there was horror on the railway. The train was immediately pushed off the rails, and cargo was spread everywhere. Grain was spilled out of the closed hopper cars, boxes were thrown out of the boxcars, and flatbed cargo snapped out of the flatbeds like it was nothing.
It was about time that we arrived home. Our house lived close to the railway, where Mom would take the 10:30 express to the big city in Chicago. I was going to sleep, and I didn't sleep that very well. I was thirsty and went to go down to the fridge to drink some water. I was about to drink some, when the clock struck three, and I heard the whistle once again. My parents didn't hear it at the time, and I was just about to finish drinking and put the water pitcher back in the fridge when I heard the whistle again. This time, it was much louder, and only I could hear it.
I looked out the window, and the door, to see what was going on. Unfortunately, there was the ghost train, simply sitting on the platform, waiting for something to go by. I was tempted to go out there and see the ghost train for myself, and I did. But when I got out to the front, I instantly saw a face that horrified many workmen for mere seconds at the time. By the nameplates, his name was Colossus. He looked so evil, twisted, demented, and very psychotic. His eyes beaming bright red, and his mask burning, like there was a fire-breathing dragon inside. His ghostly, deep-toned, and very haunting whistle can be heard for miles, and his voice almost sounds like a Giant.
I was instantly terrified, as I stared into his dead soul, head-on. Around two minutes later, the ghost guard's whistle blew, and he immediately winked at me, telling me to get off the tracks. He let out his mournful cry of a deep-toned whistle, and he departed heavily, by the big puffing of cold red steam, so cold that it nearly froze my veins. The train was soon puffing away into the countryside and disappeared into the hills.
The encounter, as far as I remembered, took no more than five or ten minutes. When my parents came up to me, they comforted me, saying that they were immediately lying, about remembering a certain engine that they witnessed when they were young adults on a field trip up the Wasatch Mountain Line. They were immediately heartbroken, about seeing their favorite train on such an unfortunate accident.
Never would I imagine, in my entire life, would I ever meet, one of the experimental engines for the Union Pacific, Colossus the Ghost Giant, or what the workmen call him, "The Scourge of the Union Pacific".
Synopsis: The Entire Story of The Last Ghost Giant
60 years after his crash, Colossus made his way into Sodor, after petrifying a signalman who knows Jessica with the same fear she gave to him. The next morning, the American locomotives, who were at the events of the Clinchfield Curse, were joined by two diesels who knew Colossus as Sodor was preparing for the Cinco de Mayo up in Ulfstead Castle. That night, the two diesels inadvertently told David, Ariel, Louise, Rosie, Thomas, Emily, Edward, and Gordon about the backstory of Colossus the Ghost Giant, when Percy suddenly burst in, saying that Colossus was in Sodor last night. Meanwhile, Clinchfield 311, fresh out of the curse, has heard everything.
The next day, everything was going well, until Sir Topham Hatt decided it was best to send in more engines to do the work at the oncoming event, while the other engines were still thinking about that story of the Ghost Giant. It was on the very next night, that Alfred #98462, along with Crovan #87546, and Spencer, Gordon's cousin, soon heard of the Ghost Giant, and Thomas, reminiscing about a story called "The Eyes" by Duncan, was the one thing that Percy only saw in fright. That night, the fog came down, and Timothy 0, the Ghost Train of Sodor, appeared beside his brother, Thomas. The continued encounter by Percy ended abruptly by saying that Colossus would send Thomas down to Hell for Timothy. Luke, who was at Ffarquhar Sheds along with Thomas, Toby, Percy, Spencer, Alfred, and Crovan, also reminisced about the encounter with the Ghost Giant after that, and the other engines could only look at Timothy 0, wishing that the encounter with the Ghost Giant would be their last.
Two hours later, a repeated ghostly encounter occurred during Gordon's night express to Vicarstown, and it was not the ghost of Alfred this time, it was the Ghost Giant, who repeated that accident like he wanted to do it out of spite. At 5:30 early the next morning, an investigation quickly went up, and in the footage, they could see the Ghost Giant thundering through the station, with a matching profile of the Ghost Giant himself. They soon reported this to Allan and Josh, who were caught speeding by Officer Joey, initially proving that this was the Ghost Giant, right before they were taken away to Railgate Prison. Ariel soon talked to Officer Joey about having doubts about Sodor and the different anomalies that happened to Sodor, aside from the Ghost Giant's, whilst talking about the personalities of policemen from America and British. That night, Colossus grills Timothy 0, about making his next move while swearing revenge for having types of diesel locomotives on Sodor as well as the same situation in America. Timothy was worried that the railway would be torn apart, but he liked the plan anyway.
The next morning after that encounter, Gordon and Henry were being patched up. At the same time, Sir Topham Hatt discussed the paranormal situation they had on Sodor with Officer Lenny after the two engines were discharged, then having Joshua covered up for Henry, and Francis covered up for Gordon. Benson immediately arrived soon afterward and assigned James, Ariel, Louise, Thomas, Edward, and David to go about their usual jobs, while Officer Lenny was assigned to watch over Allan and Josh. The day soon ends when Joshua crashes into a stalled empty freight train whilst having his brakes malfunction. Afterward, Merlin, straight from the steelworks, arrives to clean up the mess. At the same time, an investigation pointed out for Donald and Douglas, which scolds straight to Paul, who serves as a replacement for Joshua, despite a backlashing from Jason as he arrived with Sir Topham Hatt on board. After the argument, Paul has announced that there will be new American visitors visiting the Island by tomorrow, to help out with the increase of work. After that scuffle was done, it was already three o'clock in the morning, and Colossus made his next move, kidnapping Thomas from his place, horrifying everyone sleeping in Tidmouth Sheds.
Shortly after that, Colossus dumps him at the place where Timothy is to take him to Hell himself. Afterward, he appears in Ulfstead Castle, alongside Jessica for his next move. While Paul overhears the conversation, Colossus tells Jessica of the strike on his anniversary run, telling him that he will run on Timothy's route to the viaduct where he crashed, and then move on. News of Thomas' sudden kidnapping suddenly soon spread, while at the same time, as Paul predicted, new visitor diesel locomotives soon arrive. But as soon as Vance, Kimberley, and Joseph went off to their jobs, many more visitors from San Juan immediately flocked to Sodor, after hearing of Thomas' disappearance, such as Wes, Dan, and Sydney, and they agreed to help with the workload they were experiencing as self-assigned engines. Allan, David, and Gordon were impressed by their performances that night in the sheds, as Kana soon arrived after Vance reminisced about The Ghost Giant's appearance, leaving Edward uneasy about Thomas' disappearance, praying that his anniversary will not haunt everyone on Sodor.
Throughout the next day, Edward decided to plan to meet up with the Ghost Giant, and he surely did. Late that evening, when he helped Percy deliver the main train when he broke down after his work was done, he heard the whistle, and the Ghost Giant's voice. He soon appears, and he reminisces his backstory after his crash. He explains why steam locomotives became obsolete, and why diesel locomotives took over. He decided that he wanted to revenge himself, and although he admits that he nearly killed Henry and Gordon, and put Diesel 10 into repairs, he pleaded against Edward to get back at those diesels to help him move on. Edward declines and reminds Colossus that Allan and Josh are here, and so are the other diesels. Colossus immediately scolded Edward for being a slave to man and plans to get back at the remaining diesels himself. Jason immediately overheard this, yelling at him to back off, but Colossus immediately caught on, crossed at himself for letting his death be in vain and shining his bright red lamps both front and back, telling all three engines from outside that he would kill Francis the next day, and after that, the Ghost Giant will murder Allan and Josh for their disbelief. And he did after Paul and Vance were reminded of Thomas' disappearance. After the two diesels saw a runaway chemical tanker train, they were immediately shocked that Francis was supposed to pass by them that day. Francis passed by Gordon, who was stuck at Cronk, but was terrified of the chemical tanker train, and switched rails, but it was too late: the tankers collided head-on with the passenger coaches, killing everyone, and the entire train blew up, along with Francis, as the wreck lay in a fiery ruin. Despite that it was Kimberley's fault for leaving the tanker train there, Sir Topham Hatt decided to talk with the other engines after her work was done.
Late that night in the sheds, the engines were gathered to share their encounters with the Ghost Giant, much to Paul's dismay. Henry started first, recalling the encounter from the same events as Alfred #98462. He appeared out of nowhere, saying that he was the same as Alfred: adored, admired, and glorified, until his disgrace against something his dislikes angered him. After that, he threw a boxcar from Henry's train into the signal-box, before Henry fled. Paul was confused, and Josh answered by saying that they were far superior to steam engines. Later, Ben from the clay pits arrived, who is carrying Duncan on a flatcar. Duncan shared a story about the Ghost Giant's eyes he encountered in Cros-Ny-Curin, and that it was his eyes that he was watching Duncan. Sydney and Kimberley chuckled about Duncan and Percy's scared encounter, as to why their headlamps are like eyes in the night.
However, one encounter has shocked them all. It was from a kid, who saw the encounter himself, explaining that he was dropped off by his bullies who thought he was scared of ghosts. Eventually, the Ghost Giant caught up to the bullies, gave them a bad scare, and then comforted the kid as he was crying. He was warned by him not to venture out at night, but he needed him for a Halloween project interview to see if ghost trains are bad. Things quickly turned sour as the engines were immediately shocked, at the very fact that Colossus the Ghost Giant is a friendly ghost train. As things escalated, with Thomas' disappearance growing with concerns of striking him down at his anniversary, he declared that the Cinco de Mayo party should be canceled. This was quick to backfire when Carlos, all the way from Mexico, appeared before the engines, to not have the party canceled. He told them and Sir Topham Hatt, that if they don't get the party continued without the Ghost Giant interrupting it, Carlos will be sent to Sodor as a permanent resident before the next party and departure. Edward comforts Carlos by simply praying hard that the party will go off as planned, all the while Colossus looks on with anger, and anxiety as to attempt to undo the deed Timothy 0 has wanted.
Meanwhile, down in the depths of Hell, Thomas wakes up in a hellish railway owned by the Ghost Giant and is greeted by Darren the ghost train from the film "Sometimes They Come Back". Thomas soon enters and is waited onto a siding, feeling down, when Darren comes to comfort him. Thomas explains to Darren that he needs to get back to his friends, out of the wrath of his brother, Timothy 0. He is soon terrified when he learns the Ghost Giant has caused a catastrophe on the railway: Francis was killed in a chemical explosion. Devastated, Thomas wishes to get out, and that he will fight to the death to get out alive.
Meanwhile, back on the Island of Sodor, as Gordon is running through with the express, he is suddenly stopped again by his blown-up safety valve in front of David and Louise double-heading the Daylight Limited, with Sydney backing up. The cause of the stoppage was that of Sir Topham Hatt's overweight in the express coaches. Sydney urged to pull the heavy express, despite Louise's warnings of pulling heavy passenger coaches, and she made it to Vicarstown with plenty of strength to spare, as Alfred watched on. He gave Sydney praise for her efforts, especially from Sir Topham Hatt, but the latter was immediately shocked by the new arrivals. They were the engines from Germany, Britain, India, and even from Russia. Although Sir Topham Hatt doubted them a lot on keeping everyone here, they all wanna help make the British Railways great again, despite that it was Carlos who sent the invitations to Sodor to attend the party, after they dealt with the Ghost Giant. Even Lady, who is soon to be revealed as Lady Kate, will also help if she can use her gold dust to stop the Phantom Goliath.
Two days went by, as engines from both the international and American Railways helped the North Western Railway in working conditions, Percy, Ashima, Craig, and Toby's crews were eating their lunch at the sheds when they realized that tomorrow, May 5, Colossus The Ghost Giant is going to strike. Craig and Ashima decided to Percy and Toby, that it was time to put their plan into action. But just one hour until Colossus' plan is put into action, Colossus soon puts insults to the diesel locomotives about how the railway should fall, with every steam locomotive being avenged. Josh suddenly pleads that he and Allan will give their lives for the others and that they should meet at Knapford Harbour.
It's finally three o'clock in the morning, and Colossus is waiting at the platform with the excursion and the freight trains in tow. When the clock finally strikes three, it's full steam ahead, and Percy, who was with Jason and David, runs away for the start of the chase. The diesels, meanwhile, arrive too late, and they could still catch up with the others at Knapford Terminus. Colossus soon disappears behind them, and the three engines in the start of the chase, catch and meet up at the terminus.
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Cheeselover405 03:56, 10 November 2023 (UTC)[]
Hi RedStar2000,
This is a nice story, and I like your use of sensory detail to describe the events of the story. You also go into detail into the lore behind the ghost train, something which other stories fail to do. This adds extra depth to your characters, even though the ghost train isn't a living person.
I only have a few complaints. Firstly, your "synopsis" section of your story is extremely unclear, though your other two sections are both fine. For example, take the first sentence of this section: "60 years after his crash, Colossus made his way into Sodor, after petrifying a signalman who knows Jessica with the same fear she gave to him." I do not know what this means. You also don't introduce any of the characters, so I'm not sure if Clinchfield 311, Sir Topham Hatt, and Alfred #98462 are meant to be humans or trains personified as people. It's okay if your intended audience is just train enthusiasts, but if you want more people to read it perhaps you could simplify or explain the terms here.
Secondly, you switch tenses a lot, so I see lots of verbs in the past, present and future tenses throughout, sometimes switching mid-paragraph. You could switch tenses between sections since some sections are first-person and some are third-person, but in each section you should try to stick with one tense.
Overall, your story is almost ready to upload. You have a solid start and have all the necessary details; just refine it and it'll be ready to publish in no time. Good work!
Reply from RedStar2000[]
Sincerest apologies. My story is not yet ready to upload. I have a few more parts still need simplifying, and my work was immediately cut off due to error on long-term writing.
First off, Clinchfield 311 and Alfred #98462 are simply trains at their own characters. While Sir Topham Hatt is a person, as per Thomas the Tank Engine character identification. Secondly, that signalman was the same character from the first part of the Clinchfield Curse, Stan.
I'm also new to this wiki. So, this fandom would be very new for story publishers. Although, I would really want to make a story on one page and just leave it, so I don't really know what to do here.
Anyways, many thanks for good luck, and standby for publishing.
Jason R. Sembrano (talk) 04:09, 10 November 2023 (UTC)