| “ | 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.
The story of Big Alice begins after Snowpiercer has departed. 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 then 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 then had Icy Bob walk atop Big Alice and Snowpiercer, to sabotage the Engine, by jamming a giant spike in one of the Engines port intakes (as part of his plan). However, the plan went south, when Wilford could not fix the Engine, because of Melanie's hack. Big Alice was then forced to push Snowpiercer powered down, in order to restart the boogie motors.
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 (first by heading south on the Main line, on the east coast, to the tip of South America and then turning north).
After the train's separated, 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).
At the start of Season 3, it was shown that the engine of Big Alice alone powered the remaining 1,023 cars. However, 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.
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 north-east 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.
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 the train, secretly treating Bojan Boscovic for his injuries from the destruction of the Aquarium. During this time, there was also no longer an Engineer manning the Engine, Bennett, Javi and Alex instead working solely on Snowpiercer. 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.
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, a small handful
- Mr. Headwood - Scientist
- Mrs. Headwood - Scientist
- Icy Bob - Freeze Augmented Breachmen/Bodyguard
- Emilia - The last female australian
- Driscoll
- Oiler Bob
- Damien Ho - Galley Worker
- Hannah - friend of Josie, has a prosthetic left arm
- 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.
- Alexandra Cavill
- Andre Layton
- Astrid
- Bojan Boscovic
- Carly Roche
- Mrs. Headwood
- Javier De La Torre
- John Osweiller
- Josie Wellstead
- June
- Liana Layton
- Lights
- Mia Kai-Sheck
- Mikala Mwanza
- Ruth Wardell
- Sam Roche
- Sykes
- Winnie
- Yoshimi
- Zarah Ferami
- Z-Wreck
- The Tailies
- Some other 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 it's cars carried supplies.
Technology[]
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 it's 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 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 it's speed. The train is also equipped with Drawers onboard.
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 bright yellow caution stripes, in contrast with Snowpiercer's shiny all-chrome finish. 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 wilfords 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.
Alices 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 somewhay 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.
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 | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pirate Train | The rest of the cars | |||
| Pre-series | 1001 | 43 | ||
| 1.1-1.9 | 40 | |||
| 1.9-1.10 | 994 | |||
| 1.10-2.10 | 1034 | |||
| 2.10-3.3 | 10 | 1023 | ||
| 3.3 | 6 | |||
| 3.3-3.10 | 1029 | |||
| 3.10 | Less than 1025 | More than 44 | ||
Appearances[]
| Appearance | EP1 | EP2 | EP3 | EP4 | EP5 | EP6 | EP7 | EP8 | EP9 | EP10 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season 1 | ✔ | |||||||||
| Season 2 | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| Season 3 | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ | |
| Season 4 | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| Appeared | Did Not Appear | F = Flashback | ||||||||
Trivia[]
- Big Alice may be analogous to Icebreaker from the graphic novels, though this is unconfirmed.
- 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 (Javier was in the cockpit once) but were surprised to see it moving.
- When trying to escape from Big Alice in 994 Cars Long, Bennett says 40 cars are nothing for her. However, as revealed in Bound by One Track, 3 cars were separated years before connecting to Snowpiercer, which means that Bennett and possibly the other Engineers must have counted the cars.
- Carrying 40 carriages (27 supply cars, 13 non-supply cars), Big Alice (before separation) had 949 fewer carriages than Snowpiercer. The cars have a second floor used to traverse the train.
- Big Alice also has J-Links as 3 cars were separated during Wilford's purge.
- The cars of Big Alice are equipped with rail clamps, powered by a hydraulic ferrofluid line, that could essentially bolt the cars to the track. Bennett called it, "They've dropped anchor."
- Big Alice was retrofitted by Mr. Wilford sometime during Snowpiercer's first revolution.
- Unlike Snowpiercer, Big Alice's Engine car is at the rear of the train and the Docking Car is at the front. However, this depends on whether the train is pushing or pulling as this was reversed from The Tortoise and the Hare to The First Blow.
- In the Season 2 credits, Big Alice was called a Secondary Supply Train.
- At least 4 Crewmen were killed in the failed invasion.
- After Melanie Cavill blew up the Connecting Mechanism, Alex and Wilford said, "We can apply the brakes, slow to a crawl. Choke out your power, and shut down your systems." […] "My crew know life below zero. We've run a lot of rough miles together. Snowpiercer will tear herself apart. It's a hell of a test for a leader, when the lights go out and the food stops flowing."
- The Compost on Big Alice is called the Swamp.
- Big Alice has Drawers and Protein Bars like Snowpiercer.
- 43 people of one or both trains died in their sleep because of the cold, without Snowpiercer's Engine.
- During the Pirate Train's time away, the train left behind was generally not referred to by name. However, multiple characters called the Pirate Train Snowpiercer, suggesting that Big Alice came to be considered to be the entire train, including the cars of Snowpiercer that were left behind, while Snowpiercer was the Pirate Train alone.
- A harpoon was created to attack the Pirate Train.
- The public address system was connected to Snowpiercer's at some point, presumably after Wilford took control. Their chime sound is different, which identifies which engine the announcement is made from.
- After separating at Ag-Sec, the train is now over 44 cars long, although the exact length is unclear.
- Big Alice's derailment is similar to the derailment of Snowpiercer in the movie, although not nearly as severe. Everyone also survives Big Alice derailing while only two children survived in the movie.
- All of the Tailies went with Big Alice, except for Miles, who chose to remain on Snowpiercer to continue his education as an Engineer.
- Big Alice had a slightly different design at the end of S1, where she appears thinner, has a smaller rear-window, and lacks any warning stripes
- The design seen in Big Alice's blueprints also appeared differently, where she was also slightly longer, and had less detail at the rear.
Gallery[]
