I picked this story out of the 1,800 Thomas stories to read, mainly because it sounded interesting, and involved a Southern Pacific Daylight OC. It's my favorite train, after all.

I read this story straight through, non-stop, for six hours. I didn't intend to, but I couldn't put it down.

This is the best Thomas and Friends story I've ever read, bar none. The way you get to see Erika's life from beginning to current is just... awesome. It really helped me learn a lot about the history of the train.

I've never had a story make me cry before, and I've read some pretty sad stuff. But this story... it broke me apart violently. Never has a story made my emotions go so high, then shoot them down so low in one chapter.

The part that made me cry the most was when Erika was being pulled from the Roundhouse she sat in with Mitzi and her cousin... whose name I can't remember. The thought of spending time with those two for so long, rusting away together, and then having to leave them with nothing you can do about it... it nearly killed me. Mitzi saying "Good luck" and the cousin saying "I'll always love you." made me cry for a good while.

And then there were other parts were I nearly shouted out in joy, like when Erika first stood up to Adolf in the scrap yard, biting him and all. I nearly shouted "Fuck yeah Erika!" out loud.

I fell in love with Erika's character during this story. Such a beautiful, innocent girl, changed and hardened through such an awful life. 35 years old, and she's been through more than most people will ever go through. I just want to hug her, and make all her bad memories go away. Losing her sister, her love for Sam, sitting and rotting, Adolf... all of it. I kind of fell in love with Erika herself.

The amount of detail in the story was top notch. I could clearly see everything going on in my head at all times, which sometimes wasn't great, like during the awful crashes.

You clearly did your historical research, and that's one of the best things about this story. The life of a GS-4 Daylight, not all it's cracked up to be.

If I was a controller of a railway with trains that were alive, I would use all of them, regardless of efficiency, cost, or otherwise. The thought of imprisoning a living thing for so long infuriates me. It really made me sad to see Erika's other sisters go, rotting in the back of a museum, sitting for scrap for months, or being killed in a wreck.

This story kept me up most of the night, mainly because I just couldn't stop thinking about it. It's so much to process, and so much to enjoy.

The only thing I didn't really like was the ending. I mean, the ending itself was great, reuniting with Adolf and all. It's more the ending paragraph that bugs me. I kind of wanted it to end with Erika saying something meaningful, about how her life was finally looking up, or something. Not with Caitlin being stupid about Gordon, and Erika saying "This is going to get weird." Oh well, your story, not mine.

I had a lot more I wanted to say, but I'm forgetting a lot of it. I guess what I'm saying is... amazing story. Top notch, ten out of then, will read again several thousand times, amazing story. You're an amazing author, and I will definitely read your other works, once I can rebuild my emotional train wreck.

Heh. Okay, not funny.

Seriously though, best thing I've ever read, without a doubt.

I like how you used Blue and did NOT make him a deranged lunatic obsessed with N&W J's. An Americanized version of Gordon, if I may. I like it.

NOOOOO not a break-up! It's fine though. Kind of wish Erika and Gordon would have stayed together.

I love this story! I can't wait for the next chapter!

A quite interesting and confronting story. Wonder how Erika will decide and how she will bring it up towards Gordon.

Its back. I love this story. Question is when is Adolf going to show up and will gordon and him get in a fight ? Just wondering.

I sense drama afoot

The plot thickens...again.

Wow, I am so glad i found this story. Someone recommended it to me, and wow, this is really well written. I am usually no fan of too many OC's but this is just done right. You've given them depth and issues and made them likeable, and having a purpose other than just ending up as a canon character's crush. I am going to read this in depth now... I just slipped through to see if it caught my interest, and it sure did!
I might drop a few more reviews on the way, if I don't get too lost in the story to remember.

Great chapter. Glad to finally see how you created Christine's look. Brent would definitely be pleased.

When is Christine going to stick her strap-on in Erika? 8

Christine! \ o /

That is all.

That truck had it coming, fuck trucks, fuck kids, and fuck that woman with her kid. ;) Anyways great chapter as always hoe!

I still ship Er/A so hard. And always will X3

1) C.P. Huntington Awesome! I must draw him at once!

2) Erika, you must learn that you're in 1970s America. You're foul language will have parent's groups raining down on you like no tomorrow.