| “ | "Eternal order is prescribed by the sacred engine: all things flow from the sacred engine, all things in their place, all passengers in their section, all water flowing. all heat rising, pays homage to the sacred engine, in its own particular preordained position." | ” |
| — Minister Mason to the tail in Snowpiercer | ||
The Sacred Engine was the the engine and propulsion method of the rattling ark known as Snowpiercer. The engine was powered by a perpetual motion engine and generated energy for the entire train, while also collecting snow to turn into drinking water in the Water Supply Section.
History[]
Background[]
The engine was built by Mr. Wilford when he realized CW-7 would freeze the world in 2014 using a perpetual motion engine. Children on-board has been taught about Mr. Wilford and the sacred engine as sacred figures. For 17 years the sacred engine continued pulling Snowpiercer without signs of slowing down or any issues.
Throughout the Film[]
17 years after departure, parts become extinct. As machinery spaces in the engine only allow for a very small child, Wilford starts bringing kids from the tail to keep the engine running.
After passing the Yekaterina Bridge, the sacred engine (as well as the entire rest of the train) entered it's 18th revolution.
During the Great Curtis Revolution, Curtis meets Wilford, and to his shock learns that he and Gilliam had been working together to stage Curtis' rebellion as to reduce the population to sustain life on the train. Wilford orders 74% of the tail passengers to be killed. Wilford then offers Curtis to take his role in leading the train. Curtis appears ready to accept when Yona overpowers Claude, rushes in, and pulls open a floorboard to reveal a child from the tail section, Timmy, working the engine as a slave. Appalled, Curtis knocks out Wilford and rescues Timmy from the machinery by sticking his arm in-between the gears. This puts the engine into a critical shut-down, making a brain-washed Andy to rise from one of the shelves and enter what looks to be a manual input cockpit, despite Curtis yelling and telling him to not go in it. Curtis gives Yona matches to light the fuse for the Kronole placed in the Machinery Car, while Namgoong fights and kills Franco, who had followed them. As the door to the engine room will not close because of an electrical issue, Curtis and Namgoong use their bodies to protect Yona and Timmy from the blast
The engine derailed like the rest of the train when the bomb went off and the avalanche was triggered, unable to complete it's 18th revolution. Only Yona and Tim made it out of the wrecked engine alive.
Technology[]
The engine was autonomous and powered by a perpetual motion engine. The Machinery Section is implied to help the engine run in some way.
There are intakes which collect snow from the outside and sends them to the Water Supply Section, where the snow is turned into water and the water is treated to be safe to drink, before it is supplied throughout the entire train. It's also said the engine heats the water to boil the new years eggs.
Inside, there is a Wilford Industries logo on one of the walls that is a telephone. Mr. Wilford used this to communicate with Gilliam many times. He also later used it to communicate with Egghead at the back of the train.
Interior[]
Most of the walls look to be bare, though lined with electric circuit boards lighting up with open shutters covering them. At the back there is a big vault-like metal door that can be opened by a lever, and the flooring seems to be uncovered steel. There are also gray metal cabinets placed on either side.
Towards the middle, the floor is elevated (for machinery space) and luxuriously tiled, with the design of them having the Wilford Industries logo. There are wooden cabinets on either side which all seem to serve a different purpose. One of them is a grill to cook meals and another is used to store spices. In the Art of Snowpiercer book made for the film, it's confirmed one of the cabinets is a bed that Wilford sleeps in.
Towards the front, it returns to a more industrial style, with cat-walks leading up to the core, or the heart of the engine. If a critical engine shutdown is due to occur, the front of the core opens up and what seems to be a circular manual input cockpit is retracted for a manual restart of the engine. The ceiling all across has big, rectangular lights running all the way to the core.
Exterior[]
The exterior of the sacred engine seems to be inspired off of 1930s stream-lined steam locomotives, complete with a silver livery. The engine is equipped with a plow/"ice-breaker" at the very front. The top of the engine that has a hump, curving back down to the regular car height at the rear, with 2 wing-like shapes at the top of the hump. Despite the lack of windows, there are multiple headlights, with one being placed at the very nose. Further complimeting the silver streamlined look of the engine are 2 stripes, one colored a gold-ish yellow, the other colored a dark red to possibly symbolize organs and muscles.
Trivia[]
- Mr. Wilford built the engine when he realized CW-7 would freeze the world.
- The exterior seems to be inspired by 1930s art deco streamlined locomotives, specifically a stream-lined New York Central Hudson.
- In some concept art, the locomotive was supposed to have a deployable plow at the front, which would deploy when the train needed to break through ice. This was replaced with a simple plow that is not deployable.
- When Claude shoots up towards the ceiling, Mr. Wilford gets worried and tells her to mind the engine and that she has been getting a bit sensitive. It's implied Wilford is talking to Curtis about Claude getting sensitive, however he could be implying that the engine instead is getting sensitive.
- It is implied the core of the perpetual motion engine doesn't need to be "active" at all times to keep the locomotive going, as before Wilford and Curtis step up to it, the core isn't spinning, and when it starts spinning, Wilford tells Curtis "she is waking up now."
Gallery[]
Movie
Artwork/Promotional
Concept Art
