TS03 BulleTrain for Yahoo - …

1 TOM SWIFTAnd TheTranscontinental BulleTrainBYVictor Appleton IIMade in The United States of America2 Technical Editing: Greg Hall opyright 2010 by the author of this book (Victor Appleton II - pseud. of T. Edward Fox). The book author retains sole copyright to his or her contributions to this book is a work of fan fiction. It is not claimed to be part of any previously published adventures of the main characters. It has been self-published and is not intended to supplant any authored works attributed to the pseudononomous author or to claim the rights of any legitimate publishing NEW TOM SWIFT INVENTION SERIESTom Swift And The Transcontinental BulleTrainBy Victor Appleton IISwift Enterprises wins part of a governmental contract to provide high-speed (150 mph+) freight train service between Los Angeles and New York City.

2 The contract comes with an unrealistic schedule, an unknown set of partners, and someone in the Department of Transportation out to do the Swifts financial 's approach would be to construct a tunnel under the entire continent linking the two cities. His main rivals during the bidding phase each promoted above ground railways, one who plans to build by leasing Tom's own Repelatron Skyway runs afoul of two of these one-time competitors, and faces issues of underground stability.

3 Can Tom develop methods for creating a tunnel that is both stable and flexible? Will his enemies find ways to discredit him? Or, will his new transcontinental railway system be a 's reputation and Swift Enterprises future may hang in the book is dedicated to the nameless, faceless individuals, mostly indentured Chinese from the west and underpaid Irish from the east, who built the nation's first transcontinental railroad. Many of them died during the build and were placed in shallow graves in the middle of nowhere.

4 I grieve for your spirits. Be at peace. Your efforts and sacrifices made a difference. I m just not certain if it all is ending up for the moved the lights around and could immediately see that they were in trouble. The cavern extended farther up and down than their powerful spot lights could reach. PAGE 1585 TABLE OF CONTENTSCHAPTER PAGE1 The Little One That Could 9 2 We Regret To 19 3 What To Do? 29 4 Crisis in Mid-Air 37 5 45 6 Party Pooper 55 7 The Gopher 63 8 We Have Your Father 73 9 Desert Trial 81 10 Go, Swift Racer, Go!

5 91 11 A Reluctant (Almost) Flier 99 12 Collapse 109 13 Power Problems 115 14 Labor Relations 125 15 Going Up 133 16 The New Machine 143 17 Cavern of Doom 151 18 Uneasy Partnership 163 19 The First Meeting 173 20 Bicoastal Run 181 6 AUTHOR S NOTE:Wow. Three books down and I now have a list of at least five more to write. I am beginning to see a pattern, too. My Tom stories seem to have a bit more ecology to them than any other series or individual book. And, I suppose this is not a bad am also seeing that Tom is maturing and his relationship with Bashalli is progressing nicely.

6 My hope is the Tom purists don t see this as a betrayal of trust. I mean, at least I don t have these books full of angst-ridded teen vampires, slightly fey werewolves with anger issues or child wizards. I m not that far out!I am also learning that no matter how many different word processing or page layout programs I run these through, and even after a fourth read through, I still fine the occasional typo or spot where auto correct has sabotaged what I actually typed in. If you do spot a problem, I ask that you understand that in this modern world of self-publishing there is no such thing as an editorial team checking each comma, period and semi-colon for you.

7 Ditto there being no painstaking search to find want to thank those of you who have searched out and purchased my first two novels. Even if it had only been a single copy but is has been more than that! it is gratifying to see that there are others out there who want more Tom Swift. As I said, I now have eight on my list, so there are at least five more after this. _____Quality paperbound copies of all of this author s works may be found at the following web address: Swift and His Tectonic InterrupterFOREWORDOne of the earliest large-scale engineering projects undertaken in the United States was the transcontinental railroad, a project that finally united both coasts of this great nation.

8 With it came progress, prosperity, the almost total death of the American bison, disease and human , it is remembered for connecting east to west. Nobody talks much about it. School kids probably have no idea where the golden spike was driven. My nephew once said it was, Apple Matrix or Chicago, some right? Oh, my dear, sainted aunt!And, practically nobody is utilizing thousands of miles of tracks that once were the only connecting point between towns and cities.

9 Some tracks that are in use should be declared unsafe. Pity. It s part of our nation s the population has demanded faster and faster gratification, the railroads haven t been able to keep pace. Huge, ponderous diesel-electric locomotives are fairly efficient on a cost-per-mile basis, but can still take a week or more to cross the nation with all the stops they need to to make money!I was astounded when Tom and Damon were asked to help revitalize this once-proud method of transportation. And, I was pretty near dumbfounded when I heard just how they wanted to do I can say is that it was a true pleasure to chronicle this Swift Enterprises project.

10 Enjoy!Victor Appleton II8 CHAPTER 1 /THE LITTLE ONE THAT COULD"WOW, TOM," exclaimed Bud Barclay, young friend of Tom Swift the famous inventor. "This new engine of yours puts out more power than anything I've ever driven!"Blond haired, blue-eyed Tom replied, "I'm glad you approve. It's something I started working on back when I was in junior high. It just took me until now to get it built."The two best friends were standing next to a low-slung sports car parked next to a test track at Swift Enterprises, the sprawling four-mile-square experimental facility near Shopton, New York, where Tom, his father Damon Swift, and their employees developed all of the magnificent inventions for which they had become rightfully asked Tom to go over all of the details of the new engine.