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The world outside the frosted double pane glass

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was a monochrome dream of jagged peaks and

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pillowy drifts.

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Inside passenger car four, the radiator clanked a

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steady, rhythmic lullaby,

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competing only with the muffled asterisk click -clack

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asterisk of iron wheels biting into frozen steel.

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Ahead of them, wrapping around the jagged belly

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of the mountain pass, the massive steam locomotive

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fought the grade.

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It was a masterpiece of Victorian engineering, a

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breathing leviathan of detailed brass rivets,

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polished steel rods, and matte black iron plates.

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Thick, sulfurous plumes of white smoke and soot

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trailed endlessly from its stack,

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instantly whipped away by the howling alpine gales

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to paint the azure sky with ghost -like

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streaks.

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Marcus adjusted his wool scarf and watched the

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great machine heave into a sweeping curve.

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From his vantage point, he could see the

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brilliant flash of the firebox door

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swinging open to feed the furnace, casting a

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brief, hellish orange glow against the blinding white

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snowbanks that lined the tracks.

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The train was a vintage relic defying the

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modern age, a lone streak of civilization carving

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its way through the roof of the world.

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With a deep, resonant shriek of its steam

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whistle, a sound that bounced endlessly off the

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frozen canyon walls,

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the engine conquered the summit. As the locomotive

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crested the pass, the grade finally leveled,

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and the labored coughing of the pistons smoothed

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into a confident, rhythmic gallop.

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Marcus smiled, pressing a hand against the warm

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glass, feeling the thrum of the powerful vehicle

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as it carried them swiftly down into the

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valley below, leaving the majestic, snow -choked wilderness

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in their wake.