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Description
After hearing about this fan character contest being held by and thinking it over, I decided to give it a shot.

Fan Character Story Contest Entry for

Created by me

Bio: Daniel is an L-1 class 4-8-4 Northern, built in 1942 by his own railroad, the St. Louis Southwestern(a.k.a the Cotton Belt Route), in Pine Bluff, Arkansas, the last of his class. He, along with his 19 siblings, was built to haul fast freight trains over the SSW mainline between St. Louis, Missouri and Dallas, Texas, he did occasionally pull passengers, but he still prefers freight. During his early years, he and his siblings hauled long heavy troop trains(it was the height World War 2 afterall), was on call around the clock, rain or shine, and got very little rest, but they knew it was for the good of their country. After the war, things got a bit easier, but not for long, that's when diesels came along and started taking over.

After 11 years of service, Daniel was retired in 1955. While his siblings fell prey to the scrapper's torch, Daniel was put on display in a Pine Bluff city park as a monument to the city's railroad past. By the mid 70s, he had been reduced to a rusty, part-stricken, grafitti-covered eyesore. But then, in 1983, Daniel was given a second lease on life when he was restored in the same building he was built in. After restoration, he became a mainline excursion engine and ran special fan trips on the old Cotton Belt Route from 1986 to 1993.

During that year, Daniel was in need of an overhaul. It was only halfway complete when the organization that owned ran out of funds to complete the overhaul. And so, Daniel sat quitely and sadly in the run-down shop, collecting dirt and cobwebs, and wondering if there's any hope for his future.

But then, on October 23, 2012, the organization thought it would be best that Daniel be sold to new home, since they could no longer afford to keep him. But then hope came to him in the form of Sir Topham Hatt from the Island of Sodor. He offered to buy Daniel and put him to work on his North Western Railway. After much nogotiation, Daniel was sold to Sir Topham Hatt and was shipped by boat to Sodor. After a miraculously swift restoration at the Sodor Steamworks, Daniel was steamed up again on November 6, 2013.

Persona: Daniel is generally a very friendly engine. Although not quite as social as a lot of the other engines, he is still open to others. He is very defensive of his friends, family and other things that mean to him, but sometimes that can get out of hand. He also sometimes makes jokes and comments just for laughs. He's normally very patient, though it does have its limits, especially when it comes to the Troublesome Trucks You'll mostly see him pulling his prefered trains, fast mainline goods trains, though he does occasionally help out with passenger trains, including Gordon's Express. His least favorite jobs are garbage trains. During his early days working on Sodor, he was so enthusiastic about hauling goods again, that he didn't think that the trucks were as much trouble as the other engines said they were. But of course, he was proven wrong...the hard way.

Livery: Daniel is painted black with a dark grey smokebox. He carries the SSW logo on his cylinders. He originally carried the number 819 on his tender, but now he carries the number 57 along with N.W.R. As for his cab, he orginally had ST. L-S.W. on the side, but now he carries his name.

Story: danielarkansanengine.deviantar…

Description
After hearing about this fan character contest being held by and thinking it over, I decided to give it a shot.

Fan Character Story Contest Entry for

Created by me

Bio: Daniel is an L-1 class 4-8-4 Northern, built in 1942 by his own railroad, the St. Louis Southwestern(a.k.a the Cotton Belt Route), in Pine Bluff, Arkansas, the last of his class. He, along with his 19 siblings, was built to haul fast freight trains over the SSW mainline between St. Louis, Missouri and Dallas, Texas, he did occasionally pull passengers, but he still prefers freight. During his early years, he and his siblings hauled long heavy troop trains(it was the height World War 2 afterall), was on call around the clock, rain or shine, and got very little rest, but they knew it was for the good of their country. After the war, things got a bit easier, but not for long, that's when diesels came along and started taking over.

After 11 years of service, Daniel was retired in 1955. While his siblings fell prey to the scrapper's torch, Daniel was put on display in a Pine Bluff city park as a monument to the city's railroad past. By the mid 70s, he had been reduced to a rusty, part-stricken, grafitti-covered eyesore. But then, in 1983, Daniel was given a second lease on life when he was restored in the same building he was built in. After restoration, he became a mainline excursion engine and ran special fan trips on the old Cotton Belt Route from 1986 to 1993.

During that year, Daniel was in need of an overhaul. It was only halfway complete when the organization that owned ran out of funds to complete the overhaul. And so, Daniel sat quitely and sadly in the run-down shop, collecting dirt and cobwebs, and wondering if there's any hope for his future.

But then, on October 23, 2012, the organization thought it would be best that Daniel be sold to new home, since they could no longer afford to keep him. But then hope came to him in the form of Sir Topham Hatt from the Island of Sodor. He offered to buy Daniel and put him to work on his North Western Railway. After much nogotiation, Daniel was sold to Sir Topham Hatt and was shipped by boat to Sodor. After a miraculously swift restoration at the Sodor Steamworks, Daniel was steamed up again on November 6, 2013.

Persona: Daniel is generally a very friendly engine. Although not quite as social as a lot of the other engines, he is still open to others. He is very defensive of his friends, family and other things that mean to him, but sometimes that can get out of hand. He also sometimes makes jokes and comments just for laughs. He's normally very patient, though it does have its limits, especially when it comes to the Troublesome Trucks You'll mostly see him pulling his prefered trains, fast mainline goods trains, though he does occasionally help out with passenger trains, including Gordon's Express. His least favorite jobs are garbage trains. During his early days working on Sodor, he was so enthusiastic about hauling goods again, that he didn't think that the trucks were as much trouble as the other engines said they were. But of course, he was proven wrong...the hard way.

Livery: Daniel is painted black with a dark grey smokebox. He carries the SSW logo on his cylinders. He originally carried the number 819 on his tender, but now he carries the number 57 along with N.W.R. As for his cab, he orginally had ST. L-S.W. on the side, but now he carries his name.

Story: danielarkansanengine.deviantar…