Power and Speed

Power and Speed is the fifth episode of Pride of the PRR. It was released on March 3, 2019.

Plot
One day, Shawn is hauling a very heavy manifest along the Pittsburgh Line, complaining about how hard it is to carry, even with the additional units. That evening, he tells Josiah about it. Mr. Edwards then decides to tell them a story his grandfather told him from May of 1956.

Nick and Elaine are in the M1 class. They were used for hauling heavy loads, including during wartime. One day, Nick is talking with Richard while waiting to get assigned. Richard tells him that a few months ago, Gary (a crew member) visited Cheyenne, WY and took black and white photos of trains, including the mighty Union Pacific Big Boy and Challenger locomotives. Then a hostler arrives to take Richard to the service track.

Two days later, Mr. Edwards (PRR) asks Nick to take a fast freight to Columbus, OH. His journey goes smoothly and another engine compliments him. Nick enjoys doing fast freights for the next week, but he doesn't realize that changes are right around the corner.

One day, Nick (having not seen the waybills) is shocked to find a GP7 named Howard doing what he expected was his job of taking a high speed merchandise train to Harrisburg. He complains to Mr. Edwards about it, who replies that he can take a coal train to New Jersey. But afterwards, Nick has a slower freight to take home, where an eastbound train overtakes him on the way out.

Nick tells this to Joey, but Joey tells him that with the Southern completed dieselized and with other railroads continuing to get rid of steam engines, he could have had it worse. But Nick feels like he's been demoted with diesels doing his original assignments.

One day, he speaks about it with another M1, who tells him that they were built for these heavy trains and that even if he was warned that this was going to happen, you should always heed warnings, using the Battle of the Bulge and the Pearl Harbor attack as examples. Nick is then assigned to another slow freight that stops at every yard to add or drop off cars. He even finds Joey working one yard, who adds on extra boxcars. Nick now has a really long train and he feels like he has trouble keeping up, especially when the Spirit of St. Louis passes by him with some E units doing the work.

The next day, Nick plans to ask Howard for his trains back. Alfred tries to talk Nick out of it, as it won't do him any good. His advice proves correct, as Howard tells Nick that he can't do anything about it. Howard is then put on an express reefer train as he later overtakes Nick's slow freight.

That night at the shed, Richard assures Nick that he'll be okay, pointing out that high speed isn't as important as the amount of tonnage he can pull, as the M1s were built for heavy freight trains.

Nick takes Richard's advice and tries to make the best of the slower freight work, talking to other engines as he arrives in the yards. This includes a brief conversation with Roy while Nick does his yard work at Highland Valley.

That night, Nick parks in the roundhouse after a hard day's work. Alfred, Nick, and Howard talk about how even if they're going to be replaced, at least they can see it coming. The replacement may have been abrupt, but there are still things you can predict in life. Nick warms up to Howard as the three engines go to sleep.

Josiah and Shawn are impressed with the story as Nicholas arrives and asks what he missed. After Josiah summarizes it briefly, Nicholas asks about World War II references and explains how the story reminds him of Precision Railroading as well as one night in his Conrail days when he had to combine trains with another Conrail train in Altoona. After a brief talk about SD40-2s, SD45s, and SD45-2s, Josiah and Shawn decide to turn in.

Characters

 * Shawn
 * Josiah
 * Mr. Edwards
 * Nick
 * Richard
 * Howard
 * Mr. Edwards (PRR)
 * Joey
 * Alfred
 * Roy
 * Nicholas
 * NS ES44DC #7680 (not named)
 * PRR I1sa #4311 (not named)
 * PRR M1B #6746 (not named)
 * Nick's engineer (not shown)
 * Howard's conductor (not shown)
 * Douglas (PRR engineer; not shown)
 * Joe (PRR fireman; not shown)
 * Elaine (does not speak)
 * Colton (cameo)
 * Barry (indirectly mentioned)
 * Matthew (mentioned)

Locations

 * Highland Valley
 * Pittsburgh Line
 * Sherman Hill
 * Columbus, OH
 * Conrail NJT
 * Chicago Line
 * Tidewater
 * Industrial Wasteland
 * Altoona

Trivia

 * This episode marks the first of a few things:
 * First episode to use the Car 54, Where Are You? style intro.
 * First episode where Elaine and Frank do not speak: Elaine has a non-speaking role while Frank does not appear at all.
 * BerkshireRailfanProductions joins the cast.
 * First time Roy is voiced by Carolina Foamer.
 * The idea for this episode came from the PRR M1s getting reassigned from fast freights to slow and longer freight trains toward the end of their careers.
 * When Nick says "Those dieseals took my train!", it is a reference to an episode of Thomas The Tank Engine.
 * Stock footage from the Season 1 intro is used.
 * References to the attack on Pearl Harbor, The Battle of the Bulge, the bombing of Japan, the 18th amendment, and Abraham Lincoln's assassination are made.
 * The PRR engineer who run Nick on a slow freight run has a British accent.
 * A reference is made to Barry's accident in January 1956.
 * The events of Episode 3 are referenced.
 * The short story Mr. Edwards tells about an engineer promising to buy him a communications device from World War II is a reference to a similar story told by Stone Landrum.
 * Stock footage from the cancelled Rails of Highland Valley episode "The Conrail Era" is used for Nicholas' flashback.
 * Nicholas talking to Shawn about SD40-2s, SD45s, and SD45-2s is a reference to that said special.

Goofs

 * A notification sound is heard when Mr. Edwards (PRR) speaks to Nick toward the end.
 * Lag is encountered on some scenes.
 * PRR M1B #6746 speaks too fast on some of his lines.
 * Some night shots appear to be pixelated.