John Gilbert > Great Locomotive Caper 5

The Great Locomotive Caper by John Gilbert
CHAPTER 5

When the mayor arrived at his office on Monday morning Sam’s little group was already waiting.

“Good morning Mrs. Caudell,” he said greeting his secretary.

“Good morning Mr. Mayor, “ she returned. “Mr. Sam Thomas and party to see you.”

“Don’t I have a 9:00 appointment with Mr. McGuire?”

“That’s tomorrow morning, sir.”

“What about Tom Baxter?”

“That was Friday morning, sir.”

“How about my brother-in-law?”

“You’re having lunch with him, sir.”

“Tell them I’m busy. Tell them to come back some other time,” whispered the mayor.

“I’ve already told them your morning is open, sir.”

“Oh, very well, send them in!” he snorted as he stormed into his office.

“Mayor Pugmyre will see you now,” announced Mrs. Caudell.

“Good morning Dan,” greeted the mayor as the group entered his office.

“Good morning Mr. Mayor. And it’s Sam.”

“Oh, I knew that, Sam. Good to see you Barney. Are you still raising tomatoes?” asked the mayor.

“Good to be here Harvey and yes, my tomatoes are the biggest in the county,” Barney bragged.

“And who might these two young fellows be?” asked the mayor.

“This is Mike Morris and Milton Blumquest, two friends of mine,” Sam answered.

“Well, what can I do for you this fine spring morning?” asked the mayor.

“Mr. Mayor, I’ve been talking to my friends about the train in the park and we all agree that we don’t want to see the engine scrapped, “ stated Sam.

“Well now Sam, you will remember that I said that was only a remote possibility. I wish that you would forget that silly rumor and let me worry about the park situation.”

“Harvey,” interrupted Barney, “You and I have known each other for a long time. Give it to us straight. Is Northside Park going to be turned into a shopping center?”

“Barney, I can’t believe that you’d think that I’m keeping something from this young man. Why, I told the people of this town during my campaign-“

“Harvey, a simple yes or no will do,” interrupted Barney.

“Yes or no what?” asked the mayor.

“Is the park going to be turned into a shopping center? Yes or no?”

“Barney, I’ve got to look out for the best interest of this community and if we don’t grow we’ll die. Now I can’t say for sure that the park will be sold but it’s a prime location for development. Now that’s all I can tell you. I think this whole thing has gotten out of hand,” complained the mayor.

“We’ve got a plan,” interjected Sam. “We feel that the locomotive is a valuable part of our community and should be preserved. Instead of selling it to the junkyard, why not let us raise the money to buy it. Then we could fix it up to run and the city would have the money and we would have the engine.”
The mayor sat back in his chair and thought for a moment.

“Do you have any idea how much you’d have to raise?” he asked.

“Oh, I know it would be a lot,” Sam answered. “We’ll hold yard sales and bake sales and beg a lot.”

“All right, I’ll make you a deal. If you can come up with the money to purchase the locomotive AND the money to have it moved before the city has to have it moved, then you can have the engine,” offered the mayor.

“Do we get the whistle too?” asked Sam pointing to the shelf on which it rested.

“The whistle too. Good luck,” said the mayor rising to his feet. “You’ll need it.”
Everyone shook hands with the mayor and left his office.

“He knows we can’t raise the kind of money it would take to buy that locomotive,” grumbled Barney as he stepped onto the sidewalk.

“But he made us an offer,” insisted Mike.

“You see boys, that engine doesn’t belong to him. He can’t make deals with anyone without permission of the city council. He made that deal just to get us off his back. He’s up to something. I can feel it in my bones,” said Barney.

“What do we do now?” asked Milton.

“I say we go to the paper,” suggested Sam.

“That’s probably the best suggestion yet,” said Barney. “When this hits the paper I’d bet old Harvey will turn ten shades of red.”
The group made it’s way around the block and to the office of the Evening Gazette and asked to see Mr. Grimsley. Mr. Grimsley listened intently as Sam explained the situation.

“What makes you think the park is going to be closed and the engine is going to be sold?” he asked.

“Would it sound trite if I said I had my sources” asked Sam. “I mean you guys have your source’s you can’t reveal.”

“Yes, I suppose you’re right,” admitted the editor. “What would you do with the engine if you had it?”

“It would be good to move it to another park but what I’d really like to see is the engine running again. Maybe pulling a tourist train between here and Melville. I think people would come from all over to ride the train. It would pay for itself and be a real plus for our community.”

“Sam, this sounds like a real good story. I think it’s a good thing that you’re taking such an interest in community affairs. I like to see young people take an interest in their community.”

“So you’re going to print a story?” Sam asked.

“Yep. It’ll be in this evening’s paper. In fact I’d like to get a photo of all of you at the train if you have a few minutes you can spare.”

“Yes! We can go there right now,” exclaimed Sam.
Sam and his group wasted no time getting to the park. Shortly the photographer arrived and snapped half a dozen pictures of the boys and Barney on various parts of the train then left.

“Okay gang, this newspaper article may be just the thing to kick off our fund raiser,” observed Sam.

“Maybe we should open a bank account so we can deposit the money we raise,” said Milton. “I want to be the treasurer. I’m good with money.”

“Yeah, you’ll run for treasurer, get the money and keep on running,” joked Mike.

“We need to make some money first,” returned Sam. “Hey Milton, your dad runs a printing shop. Do you think he’d print us some flyers and stuff?”

“Yeah, I guess so,” Milton answered.

“And Mike, your dad works at the radio station. Do you think he would help us out?”

“I think so. They’ve got to allow so many hours a year for public service announcements. This sounds like a good public service project to me.”

“Good!” exclaimed Sam. “I’m really excited. All of this will give us a good start.”

“Okay,” said Mike as he and Milton started for home. “We’ll get started on our parts right away.”

“Well Sam,” said Barney with a grin. What can I do”?

“Do you really want to help?”

“You bet your bottom dollar I do,” said Barney patting one of the driving wheels. “I want this old gal around so when I’m gone my grandchildren and their children can enjoy her.”

“Well, you’re the guy we really need. You have the technical know how to get her running again. People are bound to ask if there’s anyone who knows how to work on this engine and we’ll be able to tell them we have you. I’m sure if they know we have a mechanic on board they’ll be more willing to help,” suggested Sam.

“I want to take a good close look at her just to see what shape she’s in,” said Barney. “If you don’t have anything to do for a while, would you like to join me?”

“Hey, you don’t have to ask me twice!” exclaimed Sam.

The two spent the next several hours crawling in, over, and around the locomotive. Barney even managed to get the smoke box cover open. He found a few dozen old wasp nests but otherwise everything was in good shape.
When Sam arrived home late that afternoon he was greeted by an obnoxious, squeaky voice.

“Oh, here comes my famous brother who’s picture made the front page of the paper.”

“Oh, you’re just jealous Sharon. Let me see the paper,” Sam called.

“No way. Gotta’ catch me first,” said his sister as she ran into the house.

“Mom! Tell Sharon to give me the paper!” Sam called.

“Give your brother the paper,” his mom called from another room.

“Here’s your stupid old paper,” said Sharon throwing it onto the sofa.

As Sam sat down to read the article his father came in from work.

“Hey dad, I’m in the paper!” Sam exclaimed.

“Oh good. Read it to me.”

“It’s good to dream big but when local resident Sam Thomas dreams big it weighs 100 tons. When Thomas, a senior at Washington High School, heard a rumor that Northside Park was going to be closed and that engine # 468 was going to be scrapped, he decided it was time to act. ‘I don’t want to see the engine scrapped. I would like to see it pulling a tourist train between here and Melville or maybe Hillsboro’ said Thomas in an interview this morning. Thomas says that Mayor Harvey Pugmyre has offered to let him and a cadre of friends try and raise the money to buy the engine from the city in the event the park is closed. However, the Mayor has a different story. ‘I don’t know where these boys have gotten the idea that the park is going to be closed. I guess it’s just the product of an over active imagination’. The Mayor says he’s made no deals with anyone about selling the locomotive and he doesn’t know what Mr. Thomas is talking about.”

“Why that lying dog!” Sam shouted. “He said if we could come up with the money we could buy the locomotive and he would throw in the whistle.”

“Keep reading,” coaxed his dad.

“The Mayor went on to say that the city is experiencing rapid growth and that some changes would be necessary in the future, although he did not elaborate on what those changes would be. Seventy year old Barney Albright, a member of Sam’s group has a special interest in the engine. ‘I’m the one who drove the engine to where she is today,’ he said in the same interview this morning. ‘I think it’s time we put the old girl back on the tracks again. Too much of our history has already gone to the scrap yard and this engine needs to be preserved for posterity.’ Anyone interested in helping with the project can call Sam Thomas at 555-7842.”

“That’s a good article,” said Sam’s dad.

“Do you think so? I wonder if anybody will call,” Sam pondered.

“Somebody already has called,” said Sharon from the den.

“Who?” Sam asked.

“Becky Mulholland. She thinks you’re cute. I think she want’s you to ask her out.”

“Becky Mulholland’s a dweeb,” returned Sam. “Tell her to get some nerd to take her out.”

“Why do you think she want’s to go out with you?” snickered his sister.

“Get out of here!’ shouted Sam throwing a pillow.

Now read Chapter 6 of "The Great Locomotive Caper"

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