Victoria Falls

Toby, Henrietta and Victoria's main job is taking workmen up to and from the Anopha Quarry past Ffarqhuar. It is a more peaceful trip than go along the main branchline due to the nice country air and people coming past very friendly and always waved to them as they passed. The quarry, however, was very noisy and dusty and the peace was broken as soon as Toby pulled into the quarry. Mavis was usually too busy to chat to them. A few days after the photographers train, Mavis managed to squeeze in some time.
"The trucks are becoming more and more frustrated due to the heat." She told them. "They are complaining more than ever and are becoming more restless, but the manager just tells me to deal with it."
"I wish we could do something to help her." Victoria sighed as they left.
"Like what, carry the stones? I am not having my upholstery ruined because you are feeling emotional." Henrietta growled.
"Mavis will be alright." Toby assured. "She's tough, she'll pull through."

The next day, Mavis was having a pleasant dream about taking a train without trucks when she was rudely awoken by her engineer.
"What do you want?" Mavis yawned.
"They are blasting today, remember." He replied. Mavis let out a groan. She had been so busy she had completely forgotten that they were doing the dangerous job of blasting.
Normally, Mavis wouldn't have woken up for another hour. But she was required to organise all the trucks early so that the blasting process would be smoother than previous times. Mavis was shunting a lone line of trucks towards one of the blasting sites.
"We're not going over there!" The front truck snarled.
"We don't want to be destroyed!" Another two shouted in unison.
"Oh shut up and get into line!" Mavis growled and gave them a bump. The trucks very grumpy and kept bumping each other until one of the middle trucks derailed.
"Oh perfect." Mavis sighed as workman rushed to fix the dilemma.

By the time Toby was ready for the workman's train, Mavis had already shunted over a dozen lines of trucks and was shunting another when Toby trundled in with Henrietta and Victoria.
"Oh my goodness!" Victoria gasped, staring at the long lines of trucks.
"Now this is why we need two coaches." Toby commented as he pulled up to the platform. The workman, rather unenthusiastically, piled out of the two coaches. As they walked over to the sites, the quarry manager hurried up to Toby.
"About a dozen extra workmen arrived after you left." He explained. "Could you go back for them please, we need as many as we can get."
"Of course." Toby's driver replied and Toby proudly trundled onto the small loop and headed back. As they left the quarry and came to the hilly bit, Toby suddenly reversed into a siding. It was surrounded by rocks and the area around it sloped down.
"We have to leave you here Victoria." The guard said. "We have to get there as quickly as possible."
"That's alright. Be back soon though." She said, smiling. Toby rang his bell as she was uncoupled and they hurried off.

Victoria was happy resting in the siding. She was tired from rushing around every day and wanted to have a nice peaceful rest. She was unaware that years of heavy stone trucks shunted into the siding had damaged the old buffers and the guard had forgotten to apply her brakes. But Victoria was rather happy resting.
"I do hope Toby and Henrietta get back soon." She thought to herself. "I wouldn't want to stay here too long."
Toby and Henrietta were pulling into Ffarqhuar Station as she thought that.
"I hope there aren't too many." Henrietta sighed as they stopped. Fortunately, most people on the platform were waiting for Daisy and the few for them scrambled in. However, a porter hurried up to them.
"You can't head back yet, Mavis has had to bring some empty trucks up due to a shunting problem." He explained.
"That's annoying." Toby's driver sighed. "But we can't do anything about it. I just Victoria will be alright.

A few minutes later, Mavis let out a loud blast of her horn as she head off with the empty trucks. Workmen scrambled out of her as the trucks clanked and giggled behind her.
"Make sure you behave yourselves." Mavis said crossly to them. "If you misbehave I'll let Percy take you to the wharf and push you into a barge like Bulstrode!" The trucks stopped giggling. They had all heard of that story from other trucks and they didn't want to end up in the ocean. So they came along behind Mavis very calmly.
Soon they pulled out of the quarry and headed off along the line. As they trundled past Victoria, the coach smiled at Mavis.
"I am sure Toby will be back soon, I have had to hold him up." The diesel called back.
"I am fine here, tell him not to rush. He'll run out of water the silly thing." Victoria replied and Mavis couldn't help laughing as she rounded the bend and started to climb the hill. Victoria looked at the track as Mavis rounded the bend. Victoria let out a sigh. She was starting to grow bored and hoped Toby did come back soon.

As Mavis started to climb the hilly area, the couplings all strengthened to pull the weights behind them. One of the couplings near the front of the train stretched and tightened but it started to break. The trucks didn't seem to notice until it was too late. With a loud snap, the coupling broke and around twenty trucks hurtled down the hill. Mavis jerked forwards and her driver quickly braked.
"Oh dear, that is trouble." The driver gasped. The trucks hurtled back down the hill. Victoria looked around for the source of the noise and gasped as they hurtled around the corner. The heat wave has caused the bolts, plates and chairs holding the lines and sleepers together to heat and expand, making some tracks loose. The quarry line was no exception as the trucks sped towards the points the tracks came loose and the trucks came off the line but kept moving along the Earth. The smacked into Victoria and the coach started to move backwards…

Mavis had to rush to Ffarqhuar to alert Toby about the crash. Toby and Henrietta had then raced to the scene to find Victoria lying on her side at the bottom of the sloped bit. The trucks had all hit her and pushed her threw the buffers and down the slope. Most of her windows had smashed, her left side and front buffers were badly damaged and one of her wheels had come off.
"Oh my goodness!" Henrietta gasped.
"How are you Victoria?" Toby called out.
"I feel fine, no need to worry." She croaked back.
"We'll have you out in no time!" The tram cried. Toby and Henrietta moved so Thomas could bring the works train. The line had to be replaced so they could get to her and took around quarter of an hour. Then they moved forwards and lifted her onto a flatbed. When the mess was cleared Thomas took her and quickly to Knapford where Henry would take her to the Works.
"Oh damn." Henrietta snapped.
"What?" Toby asked, distracted by Victoria's predicament.
"We forgot to drop off the workmen!"