Chapter 2: Preventing an accident
As Carrie walked along the pathway overlooking the railway line towards the nearby village, she knew deep down that she couldn't live alone out in the country like this for all the time she was here on Sodor, especially as she knew her money and the supplies she had wouldn't last for a very long time. She knew that she would have to get a job, get to know the people who lived here and settle down to enjoy life in her new home.
Those thoughts worried her greatly, as she didn't know any of the people over here and was concerned that should they know the fact she'd run away from home, then they could send her back there again, and she didn't want that to happen regardless of what they might think.
She also knew that she couldn't stay outside for much longer; it was late November and, though there was no wind and no snow had fallen yet, it was still very cold outside, with the temperature often falling to well below 0 degrees C at night.
It was so cold at times that even the ground, along with any puddles or muddy patches that were on it, froze solid and often to about two or three feet below ground. Even though Carrie was very well-bundled up to guard against the cold, including a warm and thick windproof coat, warm waterproof boots with a scarf, gloves and woollen hat that had ear flaps, she still shivered at times, and she could see her breath come out from her mouth in thick white clouds. So, she kept on walking to keep warm and keep her blood flowing.
It wasn't too long before Carrie came upon a part of the branch line where the double tracks went through a long shallow gorge with a low shallow woodland hill on one side of the line and a steep rocky cliff-like side along the other, along the escarpment by the top of which were jagged rocks and trees, all bare of leaves due to the winter weather.
Carrie paused under one of the trees within the woodland for a little bit to rest her feet and have a look round. After a few minutes, she heard what sounded like small rocks falling, and then the sound of larger rocks falling to the ground with loud thumps and crashes.
Looking over to the other side of the line and up at the cliff with curiosity, she then noticed smaller rocks falling from above; throwing her head up, she gasped in horror when she saw a large part of the cliff along the top was beginning to collapse, no doubt due to the natural erosion caused by the cold weather. Quickly taking cover behind the tree she was leaning against, Carrie looked out and watched as tonnes of loose stones, large rocks and trees came crashing down from the top of the cliff and landed on the two railway lines, kicking up a large cloud of dust and creating a loud noise, the likes of which Carrie had never heard before.
When the dust settled, she looked out and was shocked to see the two lines were covered with a heap of debris and rocks, earth and fallen trees. Quickly going through a gate in the fence and rushing over to the debris pile, and still pulling along her bag behind her, she stopped by the debris pile. She knew that if any trains came along, on either side of the blockage, there would be an accident. It would be bad if it was only a freight train, but if it were to be a passenger train, then it would be quite a different story.
But then, from along the line leading back to Knapford, she suddenly heard the sound of a whistle in the distance…and it seemed to be getting closer. Luckily, from where the debris pile was, the tracks were very straight for a long distance so hopefully the crew would be able to see the accident site before they crashed into it. But Carrie knew she had to warn the approaching train of this, though she didn't have any red flags or anything like that with which to warn the crew.
(A little down the line)
Arthur, the maroon red 2-6-2 tank engine with LMS on the sides of his water tanks, was puffing along from Knapford Station to Farquhar with a mixed freight of 12 wagons and a brake van trailing along behind him. In the cab, his driver kept a close watch on the track ahead and his fireman shovelled coal into the firebox to keep the fire burning and kept a close eye on both the water gauge glass, to ensure there was enough water in the boiler, and the boiler pressure gauge to ensure they had an adequate supply of steam.
Rounding the curve and heading along the straight stretch at a reasonable speed, Arthur suddenly gasped in horror and the driver, who'd taken a quick look at the steam pressure gauge, looked out and suddenly saw the rockfall ahead! Quickly, he closed the regulator, shutting off the steam, and then applied the brakes. But it was only then that the driver noticed there was someone standing by the landslide, waving their arms frantically to stop them.
Carrie stopped waving her arms as she saw the train come closer and closer to her, as the sound of the brakes being applied came loud and clear. It looked as though it would never stop in time, but then Arthur came to a stop only a few inches from where Carrie stood with a hiss of steam. Carrie, in shock, fainted by the side of the tracks.
"Are you all right, Arthur?" his driver asked, as he jumped down from the cab.
"I'm okay, sir. That was just in time." Arthur said, as he let out a sigh of relief before he and his driver noticed the fainted girl on the side of the line.
"Miss…are you okay?" Arthur asked, seeing the unfamiliar young woman lying on the ground near to him.
"Oh, my goodness, miss, are you all right?" the driver asked as he and the fireman went over to where Carrie lay on the cold ground and checked to see if she was all right, as Arthur looked on with some anxiousness.
"She seems to be okay. Let's get her and her bag onto the footplate and we'll take her back to Knapford Station." said the fireman.
Just then, the guard, a long warm overcoat over his uniform and a warm woollen hat on his head, arrived from the brake van. He'd just been finishing off a nice big mug of hot cocoa in the warm comfort of his van when he suddenly heard Arthur apply his brakes and felt the wagons bump into each other as the train came to a sudden stop. Curious as to what had happened, he grabbed his camera, left his van and quickly ran forward. He stopped when he saw the extent of the landslide in front of him and how much debris there was.
"Oh, my goodness. Are we all okay?" he asked.
"We're fine. This young woman saw what happened and was waving for us to slow down." the driver said, indicating to the fainted Carrie.
"Deary me, is she okay?" asked the guard, with some concern.
"She seems to be…she's just fainted that's all." said the driver.
"We'll bring her back to Knapford and inform Sir Topham Hatt of this." the fireman said.
"All right, but before we do that, we'd better stop at the last signal box we passed first and have the signalman inform the other boxes along the line of what's happened here." said the guard. Agreeing with this, the driver and fireman lifted up Carrie and helped her into Arthur's cab while the guard handed them Carrie's suitcase before he went forward briefly with his camera and took a dozen snapshots of the landslide before them before he turned and went back to his van.
Just after he helped Carrie into the cab, a photograph fell out of Carrie's coat pocket and the driver reached down to pick it up. Looking at the back, he saw the words "Momma and me" written on the back. Then he turned the picture over and got the shock of his life: there on the photo was Carrie with Margaret, a woman that the driver recognized. He stood stock still for what seemed like ages, but was only for a moment or two.
"My god…" he said, quietly to himself as he looked at the picture.
"Ah driver, are you all right?" Arthur asked, noticing the driver, whose name was Ralph, seemed to be in a stunned trance of some sort.
"Yes Arthur, I'm fine." the driver said, as he shook himself out of his trance before he loaded Carrie's suitcase onto the footplate, climbed up and looked behind to the brake van. The guard, having already set the points to the other line, waved a green flag and, after setting the reversing gear and opening the regulator, the train slowly and gently reversed over the points and came to a stop on the other line. Then the guard reset the points, ran back to the brake van and climbed on before showing his green flag again. With a toot from his whistle, Arthur gently reversed and headed back the way he came.
(At Knapford Station)
In his office in the upper level of the Knapford Station building, Sir Topham Hatt (The Fat Controller), the man in charge of the main standard gauge railway lines on the Island of Sodor, had just put some more pieces of dry timber into the fireplace to help keep his office toasty warm on this very cold day when the phone on his desk rang. Picking it up, he received the report of the landslide on the Farquhar Branch Line and that Arthur was on his way back with his goods train, as well as of the young woman who had warned them of the landslide and was now being brought to the station.
"Very good…I'll be there at once." said the Fat Controller. He put the phone down, went over to the coat stand and reached for his top hat, scarf and overcoat and went out the door to his office and down the stairs to Platform 1.
Percy, the little green engine, was standing out at Platform 2 waiting for his next turn of duty when he saw Arthur and his short freight come reversing slowly back into the station at the line along Platform 1.
"Hello Arthur, you're back early." Percy said, a little surprised to see Arthur back so soon.
"Yes Percy, there was a major landslide and now the Farquhar line is completely blocked up to such an extent that nothing can get past it." Arthur said, as he came to a gently stop as Percy gasped when he heard the news.
The Fat Controller stepped out onto the platform and went up to Arthur's cab.
"Hello Ralph, what happened?" he asked, with some concern.
"A major landslide along Thomas's branch line, sir…in that stretch with the high steep cliff along one side. It's completely blocking both lines…no way to get through." Ralph said.
"We stopped and alerted the signal box before that stretch. And all trains on that line have been stopped." said the fireman.
"Excellent, good job you two." the Fat Controller said, after sighing with relief.
"I also got some photos of that landslide, sir." came the voice of the guard, as he came up from his brake van. He turned on his camera and handed it to the Fat Controller, who studied the pictures one by one. He was astonished by how much debris was blocking the way, as well as the size of some of the pieces of rock that fell from the cliff.
"Good grief…we'd better get that line cleared as soon as possible. I'll get Tim the foreman and his men to the scene to get that blockage cleared at once." said the Fat Controller, as he handed the camera back to the guard before he went up to talk with Arthur.
"Are you all right, Arthur?" he asked.
"Yes sir, I'm all right. We managed to stop just in the nick of time." Arthur said.
"That's a good engine. Better stand by for whatever job comes next." said the Fat Controller, as he went back to the cab. "You mentioned something about a young girl warning you about the landslide when you came onto that stretch."
"Yes sir, we saw this young girl waving her arms and trying to stop us when we came into view and, considering how close we stopped to her, she fainted a few feet from Arthur's buffers." Ralph said, as he and his fireman helped the still unconscious Carrie out from the cab as well as bringing out her bag as well.
"Best bring her up to my office, and get her out of this cold. I've got the fire going inside, and that should help to warm her up a bit." said the Fat Controller, as he rubbed his hands together. So, Ralph and his fireman helped bring Carrie inside and upstairs to the office as the guard followed behind with Carrie's suitcase.
They laid Carrie down on the sofa close to the fireplace, where the fire was burning warmly and merrily, and let her wake up in her own time, while her suitcase was placed by the large solid wooden desk at the other end of the room. The guard and fireman went back down to the platform, leaving Ralph and the Fat Controller alone with Carrie.
"Do you know who she is or any idea as to where she came from?" the Fat Controller asked with some concern.
"No sir, but I think I might have a clue that could tell us." Ralph said, as he reached into his pocket and pulled out the photograph. "This fell out of her pocket when we were loading her into Arthur's cab." Ralph said, as he showed it to his boss. The Fat Controller looked at the two women in the picture; the younger girl matched the one on his couch to a "T", whereas the older woman had a rather sterner look on her face and was dressed in black clothing that made her seem a bit like a witch.
"Hang on a second…isn't that older woman Margaret, your ex-wife?" he asked.
"Yes sir, she is…and she's a woman I hoped I would never have to see again…either in a photograph or in person." Ralph said, as bad memories of his past, which had been long dormant up until now, flashed quickly through his mind.
"But if she's your ex-wife, does that mean this young girl could be your daughter?" the Fat Controller asked.
"She could be, sir…she could well be." Ralph said, with a slight degree of apprehension in his voice. Then a light groan drew their attention and they looked towards Carrie.
