Big Alice

“	She's low-torqued. We can outrun her.	”
	— Melanie Cavill

Big Alice is a prototype^[1] of the Eternal Engine that was used as the locomotive for a secondary supply train. It carried a 40-cars long train (initially 43-cars long), containing supplies and parts for Snowpiercer. It was built by Wilford Industries.

History[]

Big Alice was a prototype. It served as a testbed for the "Perpetual Motion Engine" used by the Wilford Industries Global Express, later Snowpiercer. Before The Freeze, it was connected to a 43-car long supply train, that was intended to carry out supply runs to Snowpiercer should it need them along its journey. However, because it was a prototype, the Engine was not operational by the time the train departed, and because they didn't have time to fix it, the Big Alice Engine, along with its supply carriages, was abandoned. It was, however, later fixed, presumably by Mr. Wilford and his engineers, because Big Alice later met up with Snowpiercer and as such, it became operational by then. It is also told that they have been enroute for at least 4 years at that point.

When Melanie Cavill carried out her coup against Wilford, she abandoned him at boarding. Snowpiercer left the station without Wilford, leaving Wilford no other alternative than retrofitting Big Alice to survive. Wilford also appears to have gathered enough Wilford Industries staff to fully crew Big Alice. Alexandra Cavill was with her grandparents and was meant to arrive at Snowpiercer at boarding, but did not arrive in time, she then somehow found her way to Big Alice and survived.

Wilford got Big Alice to low idle and managed to hunker down in a shed for a couple of months. By the time Snowpiercer was on the other side of the world, out of satellite view, Big Alice was repaired, fully outfitted to be operational. According to Alex, Big Alice started with 200 passengers, but Wilford culled half of them in order to save resources. In the first year after the Freeze, Big Alice had departed with 43 cars, however, 3 cars (one of which was a lemon) were disconnected on a secondary track in Southeast Asia, near Thailand, when Wilford had made the decision to lose weight, cut down on resource usage and culled half of Big Alice's population at night, when the passengers were sleeping. The ones he saved he deemed the essentials. The event was called The First Year Cull of Big Alice.

Big Alice then followed Snowpiercer on the mainline (and secondary line shortcuts) for almost seven years, before taking a shortcut over the old Rocky Mountain Test Track, nicknamed Neckbreaker, to get to Snowpiercer.

Snowpiercer was then chased down by Big Alice, which connected through a 'Jack' system, and brought Snowpiercer to a stop. Melanie cut the uplink, planted a bomb, and got Snowpiercer moving again.

Snowpiercer later invaded Big Alice and captured Kevin, in an attempt to free Melanie from Wilford, but was stopped by Icy Bob. Wilford then stopped the trains again and attempted to disconnect from Snowpiercer, leave the passengers to die, and then return to retrieve the train afterward. However, the bomb that Melanie had planted earlier, destroyed Big Alice's connecting mechanism, as Wilford had overbuilt it, something that Melanie had warned him about before. As a result, Snowpiercer and Big Alice were left permanently connected. With no other choice, Wilford reluctantly started the trains moving again.

Big Alice later helped Snowpiercer get over Neckbreaker, by using its booster, to get Melanie to the Breslauer Weather Station.

Wilford subsequently had Icy Bob walk atop Big Alice and Snowpiercer, to sabotage the Engine, by jamming a giant spike in one of the Engine's port intakes as part of his plan. However, the plan went south, when Wilford could not fix the Engine, because of Melanie's hack, leading to the Engine Crisis. Big Alice was then forced to push Snowpiercer powered down, in order to restart the boogie motors. This led to Wilford taking full control of both trains.

When Wilford learned that Snowpiercer was trying to rescue Melanie, he used Big Alice's torque and the momentum to push Snowpiercer over the crest of Neckbreaker, preventing them from rescuing her and presumably killing her.

After Josie Wellstead destroyed The Aquarium and the Pirate Train was created to rescue Melanie, Big Alice was forced to push and pull Snowpiercer without the support of its Engine, until the Pirate Train returned. The train was hobbled and slow as a result. According to Bojan Boscovic, "Big Alice has enough juice for systems to survive...", which meant it was powering Snowpiercer. Big Alice then switched to reverse, headed south bypassing Neckbreaker and began chasing the Pirate Train for 6 months. Wilford followed their trail trying to guess intentions, near term destinations versus long term trajectory. Wilford knew he couldn’t catch them and had to intercept. About 3 months in, Wilford thought he caught a break, a track switch signal near Marseille, Big Alice followed it there but found no sign of the Pirate Train (it was later revealed to be Melanie).

Although Big Alice alone powered the remaining 1,023 cars, without Snowpiercer's engine output, the energy it provided was only enough to run essential systems on the train. As a result, it was minus degrees inside the train and all resources were rationed. First Class on Snowpiercer was even decommissioned by Wilford to save energy. Big Alice thus became Wilford's Rolling Gulag.

After detecting an EMP from Big Alice, the Pirate Train returned and engaged in a game of cat and mouse in a rail yard (located in northeast China) where the much smaller and more nimble Pirate Train had the advantage. The Pirate Train attempted to use debris on the track to slow down Big Alice, after passing Big Alice at speed, but it got through. Despite having the upper hand at first due to damaging the other train with a harpoon, resulting in the loss of 4 cars from the Pirate Train, Big Alice's lack of power proved to be a major weakness for Wilford as the train lacked the power to escape on its own, literally crawling up a hill and coming to a stop mere feet away from the parked Pirate Train. Simply bumping Big Alice with Snowpiercer's Engine sent the other train rolling back down the tracks until Wilford applied the brakes and powered down in order to force the Pirate Train to reconnect.

After defeating Wilford and the reconnection of the Pirate Train, Big Alice fell under Andre Layton's control along with Snowpiercer. Wilford himself was imprisoned in a cell in the Engine of Big Alice, while a Brakeman stood guard. Big Alice's Engine was left abandoned with the remaining Engineers operating solely from Snowpiercer.

Snowpiercer later came across the 3 abandoned cars disconnected as part of Wilford's cull and dropped off Bennett and Alex to release the clamps, while the train reversed, came back and pushed the cars out of the way. At the same time, Brakemen Michael was guarding Wilford, when Lead Brakemen Sam Roche relived him, attempting to kill Wilford in revenge for the death of his wife, who died in the Drawers. As he recovered, Wilford was transferred to the First Class Library Car on Snowpiercer where he remained imprisoned even after his recovery rather than being returned to Big Alice.

After Layton's takeover of both trains, Mrs. Headwood continued to work in her lab aboard Big Alice, secretly treating Bojan Boscovic for his injuries from the destruction of the Aquarium. When Pike attempted to assassinate him, Layton retreated to Big Alice's Engine with Zarah and their newborn baby girl Liana as it was the safest place on the train. Following Pike's death, Layton and his family moved back into their carriage in First Class.

Following Melanie's return and her betrayal, Layton once again retreated to Big Alice's Engine which he used as his headquarters as he prepared to go to war against Melanie who was working from Snowpiercer's Engine and Wilford who took over the Night Car. Bennett Knox took up driving Big Alice, deliberately slowing the train down to buy them some time as the turn for the Horn of Africa approached.

After the decision was made to separate the trains at Ag-Sec, Big Alice took those who wanted to go to New Eden while Snowpiercer took those who wanted to stay on the train. The bad track to the Horn of Africa derailed Big Alice, but only slightly, with the Engine coming to rest at a walkable tilt and the other visible cars remaining more or less upright. However, the journey also wrecked the old Trestle Bridge that Big Alice had crossed before derailing. The train and passengers survived and find New Eden to be habitable, emerging safely from Big Alice's halted cars to enjoy the outside world for the first time in years.

A year later, the Big Alice cars have been partially removed from the tracks and used as the housing that New Eden is built around with some having their outer metal shell partially removed as building materials, presumably used at least partially in the repairs to the old trestle bridge. Layton mentions that shelter is next on the list of things after they finish repairs on the trestle bridge. The Engine has been moved to a nearby hillside and is often visited by Alex to study the strange earthquakes in the area. She also figured out how to use the Engine at low idle to generate power for the community with Big Alice's Engine serving as New Eden's primary source of power.

Following the murder of Zarah and the abduction of Liana by the International Peacekeeping Forces, Layton attempted to take Big Alice after Snowpiercer, but he was opposed by Ruth Wardell who was concerned about the implications of losing the Engine, particularly as it was New Eden's primary source of power. Javi managed to figure out a way to rig up power for New Eden for three weeks without Big Alice and Sam Roche convinced Ruth to put it before the people of New Eden for a vote. Despite Ruth's opposition to the plan, the people of New Eden voted in favor of allowing Layton to take the Engine and a few cars along with whoever volunteered for the mission. However, Layton had to return within three weeks. Layton agreed to the terms and departing in Big Alice, now consisting of the Engine, two Big Alice cars, and two Snowpiercer cars. The Tailies, Ruth, and Alex volunteered to join him, with Ruth citing her need to ensure the Engine's safe return while Alex was concerned that New Eden's warm spot was only temporary, and she hoped to seek answers with Melanie. However, New Eden's wild weather caused the colony to quickly start to struggle without the Engine there to provide power.

When Big Alice caught up to Snowpiercer a week later, the original plan was to covertly dock and rescue Liana, but Snowpiercer detected the other train's approach. Instead, Layton and Josie jumped between the trains and snuck aboard Snowpiercer while Alex and Ruth delayed Admiral Anton Milius who demanded that they dock. Eventually, Milius made a deal with Layton where he would take Layton to his daughter in return for Big Alice. On Layton's instructions, Ruth reluctantly had Big Alice dock with Snowpiercer, although Bennett purposefully left a backdoor open in the hopes of later undocking for an escape. Both trains were taken to the Silo where Wilford -- having been rescued from the Track Scaler by Milius' forces -- was revealed to be behind the kidnapping of Liana and the trade. Wilford later insisted to Layton that if he hadn't, Milius' forces would've simply invaded New Eden in order to take Big Alice by force. The International Peacekeeping Forces then began working to add Big Alice to their plans to launch a compound to break up the CW-7 in the atmosphere and end the Freeze despite the fact that doing so would endanger New Eden's safety.

However, Bennett, Ruth and Bess Till managed to escape and took as many of Snowpiercer's passengers as they could aboard Big Alice for an escape. Unable to uncouple the trains through the computer system, Bennett chose to sacrifice himself to pull the manual override, which was located outside. Snowpiercer and Big Alice were successfully separated and Big Alice, now driven by Miles, headed for New Eden, leaving behind Layton, Josie and Alex, the latter of whom chose to remain at the Silo. The passengers were left with low supplies and low morale following their ordeal. In order to honor Bennett's sacrifice, Ruth and Till led the passengers in a ceremony where together they carved an inscription -- a B surrounded by a circle -- over the helm, binding the Engineer to the Engine and its eternal light.

Big Alice makes it back to New Eden, which is now nearly out of power, but it is forced to stop before it can cross back over the trestle bridge due to concerns about booby traps on the tracks.

Population[]

Estimated to be around 100 as said by Kevin, Head of Hospitality on Big Alice, as of Smolder to Life. According to Alexandra Cavill, the train started with 200 people but Wilford culled half of the population (men, women and children) in order to save resources.

The former list of passengers include:

Joseph Wilford - CEO of Wilford Industries. Head Engineer. Conductor.
Alexandra Cavill - Engineer
Jupiter - Wilford's dog
Kevin McMahon - Head of Hospitality
Sykes - Head of Security
Unknown number of Jackboots
Mr. Headwood - Scientist
Mrs. Headwood - Scientist
Icy Bob - Freeze Augmented Breachmen/Bodyguard
Emilia - Seamstress
Driscoll
Oiler Bob
Damien Ho - Galley Worker
Hannah - Prosthetics Expert
Cruel Guard - Compost Guard

In The Original Sinners the train's population becomes only those going to New Eden from both trains. They safely disembark after Big Alice derails within the warm zone at New Eden.

In Life Source, the train's population becomes Layton and those who volunteer to go with him after Snowpiercer, mainly the Tailies.

In The Engineer, the train takes on an unknown number of Snowpiercer passengers who manage to escape from the International Peacekeeping Forces, although Layton, Josie, and Alex all remain behind at the Silo.

Ruth Wardell
Bess Till
Miles - Engineer
Doctor Pelton
Tristan
Z-Wreck
The Tailies
A number of other Snowpiercer passengers

Cargo[]

According to Bennett Knox, as of 994 Cars Long, Snowpiercer is coming apart; there are no perpetual motion parts and Big Alice is packed with parts, such as bogie-motors, bovine cultures, a full genetics lab, enough to keep them going. It is unknown exactly how much Wilford retrofitted Big Alice and how different it is from its original form. Big Alice also has Goop, Amazing Alice, Protein Bars and Spam. 27 of its cars carried supplies.

Technology[]

BigAliceGrapple — The Docking Car of *Big Alice* opening up shortly before connecting to Snowpiercer.

Despite having only 40 cars, Melanie believed Snowpiercer could outrun the prototype if all power was pushed to the motors. Eventually, though, Big Alice chased Snowpiercer down and managed to attach itself to the Docking Car of Snowpiercer using a massive connection mechanism concealed within its car. This mechanism also possesses some form of a welder, as it almost immediately began cutting through the Tail hatch once connected. Wilford, however, overbuilt the mechanism which Melanie had warned him about. By blowing up the central lock, Melanie ensured that Wilford could never disconnect the two cars, forever linking the docking cars of Big Alice and Snowpiercer.

The car also has some form of 'jack' system, which was used to connect to Snowpiercer and began shutting down individual systems before finally gaining control of the Engine, and engaged the emergency brakes, bringing the train to a screeching halt. Melanie later managed to cut the uplink with a small axe.

According to Head of Hospitality (Kevin), if agriculture on Snowpiercer dies, Wilford can restart everything.

Big Alice has a Booster that could increase its speed which it used to chase down Snowpiercer and push both trains over the Rocky Mountain Test Track. The train is also equipped with Drawers onboard.

At low idle, the Engine can be used as a power source even while Big Alice is parked. Wilford used it to keep the train at freezing but survivable temperatures during the refit and Alexandra Cavill used it as the primary power source of New Eden.

Big Alice's Engine is powerful enough to power most of both trains all by itself as seen when it was Wilford's Rolling Gulag. However, the power is limited, leaving only essential systems running, subzero temperatures, and slow speeds. Wilford was also forced to decommission Snowpiercer's First Class in order to conserve power, although he refused to jettison the cars themselves.

Uniquely, Big Alice has two helms and is capable of running in both directions. Unlike Snowpiercer, running with the Engine as the first car is typically considered to be reverse on the train rather than forward. As such, Big Alice's Engine typically pushes the train rather than pulls it. The only known time that Big Alice was run in reverse for a long period of time was when it was powering Wilford's Rolling Gulag. Switching helm control involves hitting a series of three buttons on each helm. For the helm facing the rest of the train, the buttons are located to the left of the driver's seat and light up green. At the auxiliary helm, it's on the wall to the right and the switches light up orange.

According to Javier De La Torre, Big Alice's top speed is about 100 kilometers per hour.

Exterior[]

While built on the same rail gauge as Snowpiercer, Big Alice is much larger and taller than Snowpiercer itself. It is also significantly darker in coloration and adorned with orange stripes (in Season 2). She has two cockpits:

Front: This cockpit is primarily used throughout the show as the main control room.

Rear: The rear cockpit is used as an auxiliary control room, converted into Wilford's private dining room with a view overlooking the rear tracks. In season 3, the Engine reverses directions and the rear cockpit is then used as the primary control room.

Big Alice's cars vary in design from Snowpiercer, featuring more of a warehouse visual as compared to the streamlined look of Snowpiercer. However, unlike Snowpiercer, Big Alice's locomotive is large and boxy, more similar to a modern diesel locomotive, and is still extremely powerful while pushing / pulling its cars. The Engine is also somewhat larger compared to its train cars, rather than being flush to the profile like Snowpiercer. Like Snowpiercer, she is also adorned with the large 'W' logo of Wilford Industries on its forward nose just above its connecting supports.

BigAliceCGIScale — The Big Alice concept art by Alex Nice, which serves as a basis for the CGI model.

Originating from the concept art by Alex Nice, the train is even larger than Snowpiercer, being 10.8 meters wide, 13.3 meters tall (18.1 at the engine), and 88.2 meters long per car (70.8 meters at the engine). This would make the 40 car train exceed a length of 2.2 miles or 3.5 km. This is probably the closest to the actual dimensions however, the interior scale used for the set is downscaled due to studio space occupied by various interiors.

Number of cars[]

The number of cars of Snowpiercer is told in the intro, it changes over time:

Episodes	Snowpiercer			Big Alice
Episodes	Pirate Train	The rest of the cars		Big Alice
Pre-series	1001			43
1.1-1.9	1001			40
1.9-1.10	994			40
1.10-2.10	1034
2.10-3.3	10	1023
3.3	6	1023
3.3-3.10	1029
3.10-4.3	879		150 (to New Eden)
4.3-4.5	879		5 (rest at New Eden)
4.5	884			(rest at New Eden)
4.5-4.7	879		5 (rest at New Eden)
4.7-4.9	876		5 (rest at New Eden)
4.9-4.10	881			(rest at New Eden)
4.10	both engines with all remaining cars at New Eden

Appearances[]

Appearance	EP1	EP2	EP3	EP4	EP5	EP6	EP7	EP8	EP9	EP10
Season 1										✔
Season 2	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔
Season 3	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔		✔	✔	✔
Season 4	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔	✔
Appeared			Did Not Appear				F = Flashback

Trivia[]

It is possible inspiration for Big Alice came from Icebreaker from the graphic novels.
The name of the train may be a reference to Lewis Carroll's novel, "Alice in Wonderland."
The Engineers were aware of Big Alice's existence (with Javier being in the cockpit once) but were surprised to see it moving.
Big Alice has some form of J-Links, as 3 cars were separated during the cull.
The public address system was connected to Snowpiercer's after Wilford took control. The chime sounds between engines are different, which identifies which engine the announcement is being made from.
After separating at AG-SEC for the journey to New Eden, the train becomes 150 cars long.^[2]
Big Alice's cars on their own weigh 216,800 pounds while having a load limit of 927,200 pounds.^[3]

Gallery[]

References[]

↑ S01E10 - 994 Cars Long
↑

“ ...on Snowpiercer. 879 cars long. ”

— Multiple Characters

Before the separation, Snowpiercer was 1029 cars long. 1029 minus 879 is 150.
↑

New Eden Town Hall Car fascade signage by Sabrina Aguilera West, graphic designer in the art department through Season 3 and Season 4.

[1] S01E10 - 994 Cars Long

[2] 

“ ...on Snowpiercer. 879 cars long. ”

— Multiple Characters

Before the separation, Snowpiercer was 1029 cars long. 1029 minus 879 is 150.

[3] 

New Eden Town Hall Car fascade signage by Sabrina Aguilera West, graphic designer in the art department through Season 3 and Season 4.

[1]

[2]

[3]

“	...on Snowpiercer. 879 cars long.	”
	— Multiple Characters