CHAPTER X – Tom Swift and His Elec­tric Loco­mo­tive opens with a vis­it from the ever-curi­ous and ani­mat­ed Mr. Wake­field Damon, who arrives at the Swift work­shops eager to wit­ness the progress of Tom’s lat­est mar­vel. Always fas­ci­nat­ed by mechan­i­cal inge­nu­ity, Damon recalls with amuse­ment how one of Tom’s old­er inventions—an elec­tri­fied fence—solved a cat prob­lem on his estate with shock­ing effi­cien­cy. Now, his inter­est lies in some­thing far more ambi­tious: a rev­o­lu­tion­ary elec­tric loco­mo­tive. Tom, dressed in his work­ing gear, walks Mr. Damon through the shop floor, dis­cussing the for­mi­da­ble spec­i­fi­ca­tions of the Her­cules 0001. The machine, designed to deliv­er forty-four hun­dred horse­pow­er via a direct-cur­rent sys­tem, relies on twelve mas­sive dri­ving wheels to achieve both speed and trac­tion. As Damon’s eyes widen, Tom con­fi­dent­ly explains that while steam engines require brute fuel, his inven­tion thrives on engi­neered pre­ci­sion.

Ned New­ton soon joins them, offer­ing a finan­cial update while admir­ing the scale of the loco­mo­tive tak­ing shape before them. Both men express unwa­ver­ing belief in Tom’s vision, even in its incom­plete form. They ref­er­ence out­dat­ed patents and flawed steam designs, sug­gest­ing that noth­ing in cur­rent cir­cu­la­tion can rival Tom’s work. Mean­while, Tom stays focused. He explains that secre­cy is essential—not just to pro­tect his intel­lec­tu­al prop­er­ty, but to main­tain a com­pet­i­tive advan­tage. He and his team have cho­sen to work behind closed doors, lim­it­ing what even their clos­est allies can share. The mas­sive work­shop buzzes not only with tools and machin­ery but also with whis­pered the­o­ries from work­ers and vis­i­tors alike. Out­side the gates, spec­u­la­tion grows. Word of Tom’s project is spread­ing, draw­ing inter­est from rival inven­tors, curi­ous engi­neers, and per­haps more dangerously—those with less noble inten­tions.

Lat­er that day, while run­ning errands for the Swift Con­struc­tion Com­pa­ny, Ned enters a down­town bank to com­plete a finan­cial trans­fer. As he waits, he over­hears part of a cryp­tic con­ver­sa­tion between two men near the counter. One whis­pers, “the inven­tion… five hours and it’s good-night,” before notic­ing Ned’s pres­ence and abrupt­ly end­ing the exchange. Though the words seem vague, Ned’s instincts stir. Back at the shop, he recounts the scene to Tom and Mr. Damon, sug­gest­ing the phrase might point to sab­o­tage. Tom frowns, not from fear, but focus. He knows what’s at stake. The Her­cules 0001 isn’t just a train—it’s a sym­bol of progress, and not every­one wants that progress to suc­ceed.

As the day wears on, Tom ini­ti­ates a dis­creet secu­ri­ty check around the facil­i­ty. While no imme­di­ate threat is uncov­ered, the team takes extra pre­cau­tions. Patrols are increased. Entry points are mon­i­tored more close­ly. Koku, Tom’s tow­er­ing and fierce­ly loy­al assis­tant, is briefed to stay alert dur­ing the night shift. The work­shop now func­tions with a dual pur­pose: to build and to defend. That night, under the dim lights of the hangar, Tom walks the length of the loco­mo­tive. He tests the align­ment of the dri­ve wheels and checks the con­duc­tor brack­ets him­self. To any­one watch­ing, this would appear rou­tine. But to Tom, it’s a per­son­al pledge to guard not only his inven­tion but the vision it rep­re­sents.

In qui­et con­ver­sa­tion, Tom shares with Ned his grow­ing con­cern about indus­tri­al espi­onage. The elec­tric loco­mo­tive, if suc­cess­ful, would dis­rupt freight sys­tems across the country—an out­come not all com­peti­tors wel­come. Tom recalls past instances where rival firms attempt­ed to buy or steal blue­prints. He has no doubt that some would resort to sab­o­tage to delay his progress. But fear has no place in Tom’s work­shop. The best defense, he believes, is to stay ahead—technically, strate­gi­cal­ly, and men­tal­ly. Plans are made to accel­er­ate inter­nal tests. If all goes well, the first major tri­al on the company’s enclosed track will hap­pen with­in days.

The chap­ter ends with a shift in tone. There’s still excite­ment, still optimism—but now there’s also the hum of cau­tion. The Her­cules 0001 stands in its bay like a silent sen­tinel, par­tial­ly com­plete but already embody­ing the future. Tom knows that inven­tion and dan­ger often trav­el togeth­er. Still, his resolve remains. With trust­ed allies beside him, and every wire and riv­et placed by hand, Tom is ready to move forward—even if some­one out there is hop­ing he doesn’t.