December 1972
Dear Silver Pilot,
I’m glad that you wrote again despite not receiving a reply. I know what that’s like and I’m sorry you were left waiting. That letter would simply have said that I was happy for you to be running again and that you were going to be a big hit for your Members Day. It’s for the best perhaps. That message might have been disappointing after such a setback.
A broken valve spring isn’t too bad though. It should be an easy enough fix and you’ll be pulling your train again soon.
In the meantime, being a static display isn’t the worst thing in the world. It’s not as good as taking visitors for a proper ride, but they get to spend more time with you when you don’t have anywhere else to be. Here at the MSI, they can tour my coaches and look at us more closely. If they were still able to eat their lunch in Ceres, maybe they could let visitors tour the rest of your coaches too? Sometimes people even squat down to look at our trucks and get up close to our wheels. They couldn’t do that if we were moving. It’d be too dangerous. Being static lets them admire you in ways they can’t otherwise.
Being stationary can be good that way. It’s a lot like when I was new and we went on tour to let people inspect us before we went into regular service. If you spend a good long while looking over a train, you’re likely to remember him!
I’m sure your volunteers are eager to get you repaired though. You’re so close to being operational and they’ve put so much work in already, they’d be foolish to put it off any further. I’m sure they won’t keep you in suspense like I did.
Your friend,
Pioneer Zephyr