Item #: SCP-1992

Object Class: Keter

Special Containment Procedures: If the existence of an SCP-1992-1 is confirmed, Foundation agents are to attempt to persuade passengers to disembark. Foundation personnel are advised to not board the train, regardless of how persuasive the arguments of the passengers are.

Should Foundation personnel fail to keep an instance of SCP-1992-1 from crashing, MTF-Gamma-5 ("Red Herrings") are to secure the crash site, disseminate information concerning the crash, and identify all passengers. Survivors are to be taken to hospitals under Foundation control until release to their residency and given Class B amnestics. Cover stories are to be fabricated for the deceased at the discretion of MTF-Gamma-5.

Description: SCP-1992 is a worldwide phenomenon focused around various forms of media including novels, music, movies, television programs, video games, comic books, and internet-based media. SCP-1992 physically manifests in the form of an autonomous passenger train, designated SCP-1992-1. Multiple instances of SCP-1992-1 are capable of existing at once.

SCP-1992 events begin with the announcement of a piece of media that is met with widespread enthusiasm; a variable researchers have tentatively termed "hype." However, an instance of SCP-1992-1 will not manifest for every anticipated piece of media. It is unknown how exactly SCP-1992 selects its sources, though it it hypothesized it selects media that will cause the most damage. It is theorized SCP-1992-1 will only preemptively manifest to represent media that are met with a largely negative reaction upon release. If true, it is unknown whether SCP-1992 is able to predict the quality of upcoming media, or retroactively affects the source media upon manifestation or media release, as the creators of the media are often confused by the negative reception.

Upon manifestation, individuals who hold interest in the relevant upcoming media are subject to a minor compulsion to board the train. SCP-1992-1 will disappear shortly after departing from the station. As more people board the SCP-1992-1, the range and strength of the compulsion increases. Those aboard SCP-1992-1 are theorized to subsist on "hype" rather than typical sustenance of food and water.

Upon the media's release, the relevant SCP-1992-1 will manifest somewhere on a rail line in the media's country of origin. The SCP-1992-1 will travel at a velocity dependent on the total number of those who have boarded. It will continue along the rail line until it either arrives at the next station, or derails due to excessive velocity.

Addendum: Notable Confirmed Manifestations:

Media
Type
Release year
Result

Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace
Movie
1999
Major damage upon derailment. Possible retrocausal effect deteriorating the quality of the original trilogy. Those who survived appear to have been self-amnesticized, claiming the prequel trilogy never occurred.

The Matrix Reloaded
Movie
2003
Upon derailment, the train was subjected to an erratic temporal anomaly that caused it to randomly slow down for brief periods of time, colloquially "bullet time." After several rolls the train somehow managed to land back on the rails. It successfully reached the next station, where it exploded and killed everyone in the train and the station.

Sonic the Hedgehog
Video Game
2006
Despite the only moderate amount of passengers, the train was able to spin upon derailment and accelerate to supersonic speed. Notably, several cars of the train were filled with thousands of insects and several kilograms of fecal matter. No survivors.

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
Movie
2008
Model of SCP-1992-1 was severely outdated, but appeared to have been recently painted. An unidentified flying object, assumed to be part of the SCP-1992 phenomenon, appeared to attempt to abduct the train. The UFO crashed into a water tower, and the train derailed, killing all inside. A single passenger was found several kilometers from the crash site, having apparently sought shelter in the train's kitchen refrigerator. He was also dead.

Metroid: Other M
Video Game
2010
Although the instance of SCP-1992-1 was traveling at speeds much higher than is recommended, it did not derail for almost two hours. It was not until a male voice of indeterminable origin gave the train permission to crash that the train derailed, killing all its passengers.

Duke Nukem Forever
Video Game
2011
After almost a decade of inactivity, the relevant SCP-1992-1 suddenly began manifesting again. Notably, a large gearbox had been installed on the engine car. Upon release, the train immediately accelerated to full speed. The horn sounded, blaring references to media long since irrelevant. Train crash caused no building damage due to the location of its derailment, 80% passenger mortality rate.

Diablo III
Video Game
2012
Unlike other final materializations, the relevant SCP-1992-1 final materialization initiated with it pulling into the [REDACTED] train station. Passengers were asked to disembark and wait, due to "technical difficulties." Reports indicate that the train somehow did not have enough seats for the passengers. When it finally did depart with its passengers, it quickly derailed into a nearby auction house, and despite being off the tracks it was able to propel itself through a Sony building several kilometers away. Strangely, a high percentage of the passengers survived and despite their complaints would board another train from the same engineers.

Prometheus
Movie
2012
Severe damage to the domestic area it derailed into. Reports indicate residents of the area could have avoided death if they had simply fled at an angle.

Half-Life 2: Episode Three / Half-Life 3
Video game
N/A
SCP-1992-1 is unique in that it is the only steam-powered locomotive to date. Current estimated velocity upon release nears the speed of light. XK-Class Scenario hypothesized upon the release of the game.