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Generic Co 2-2-2-2 Camelback Steam Locomotive

A long time ago some engineer who was probably insane got mad he couldn't drive his new large locomotive down a trolley line. He retreated to his Generic Co.™ Workshop and after restless nights, much blasting of Dr. Heckyll and Mr. Jive, and a mock-up tender considered for Generic Co.'s 4-6-0's (they ended up using the 4-4-0 one) he came out with this.
He thought he had the most revolutionary locomotive out there, and he went to the trolley line immediately. He was stopped by everything that wasn't the flexibility of his engine.

So now what? It can't do the thing it was meant to, it's somewhat under-powered and weighs down on the track heavily, so... they should probably scrap it, right? They tried to but the engineer defended it very well with a Whitmore 4-Barrel Swivel-Breech Rifle. Then they tried to do it while he was asleep. A man attempted to enter the locked shed it was in. He had busted down the lock with a sledgehammer and then he was killed by J Hall's patent Clock Gun.

In the court trial that proceeded afterwards the Engineer claimed he had put it there for it's intended purpose, scaring birds. Whether or not he actually thought birds were going to harm his locomotive or if it was actually for people is up for debate. Somehow he didn't serve jail time, nor lose his wife, and that meant the locomotive remained un-scrapped.

So now they had to sell it. Generic Co.™ wanted to get their name as far away from this locomotive as possible. The Engineer had told them to suck it up. A company called "Tundra Pacific" attempting to build a railroad between Canada and Alaska showed interest in the locomotive, mostly for it's cost of "considerably less than it's true value." (The engineer, on the cost of the locomotive)

Tundra Pacific fell through for a lot of reasons, one of them being crew conditions. Reportedly the firemen were not too happy about having to work out in the open in the freezing cold on one of the locomotives...
It then went about being bought by many other companies, each purchase cheaper than the last. The tender was replaced with a different one at some point, so it's original Tundra Pacific paint stayed when it was found later.

After awhile it lived to the point where it's creator had died. Another scrapping attempt was had. Someone decided he would get first pickings in the middle of the night. He was found dead next morning near the locomotive. The scrappers decided it held a demon or ghost or something and dared not touch it. There were rumors there was a part about the engine in the engineer's will.

By the 30s it ended up with a desperate tourist railroad, but it ended up going bankrupt in the 50s. Then it just.. disappeared?

Cue a movie director looking for filming locations for a movie that would be destined for Mystery Science Theater 3000 if it fell through. He found a seemingly rundown 1800s home near an old rail shed. However, someone actually lived there. The director was quoted as saying "He spoke as if he had no soul" He never gave a normal description of what the homeowner looked like, and his missus fainted at the thought of the homeowner.

After much begging, the homeowner gave him a tour of the property. The director somehow managed to film it all secretly (although very poorly) with an 8mm camera. Among many strange things and not being allowed in the basement, the rail shed was found to contain many of the engineer's favorite works, including the locomotive.

The director, after various incidents, had to release the secret film as some sort of desperate pitch. After hopping around for about 10 years, the film was given to a collector. The collector recognized the items in the rail shed as "lost" creations of the engineer. He then set out to find the director so he could ask where the house was. The director told him, and he and the collector ended up interviewing each-other. Afterwards the collector set out for the old house and rail shed.

Through unknown methods (Reportedly the collector was seen carrying a violin case inside the home.) the collector had convinced the homeowner to sell the entire contents of the shed, including the locomotive, which had it's original tender back. The one that had replaced it was found downstream underwater. The collector said "He looked like a zombie. Spoke like one, too" about the homeowner.

Since the tracks that connected the rail shed to the main line were long gone, the items had to be carried by trucks. Everything was in remarkably good condition, some better than when they were last seen. The collector had the locomotive thoroughly inspected and tested, and then sent it off to a museum dedicated to the engineer's works, in his workshop and nearby building near the trolley line that started this whole madness so long ago.

The locomotive survives to this day, some say a warning to never ever copy the design, and nothing of note has happened to it since. The homeowner died soon after the engineer's items were bought, and the engineer's relatives are said to be strangely defensive of his actions, even if they never heard of them.

That's all. Hope you enjoy the creation. Much like the creation itself, I have no idea what spurred me to write all of that, but hope you enjoy. This has to be my longest description ever.