Chapter 11: A New Career Stage

(Friday, February 10th, 2012 – 8:30am; Tidmouth Depot)

In this chapter, Carrie is gonna finally get a chance to work on one of the railway lines of Sodor aboard one of the original characters of the Reverend Wilbert Awdry. Which engine will it be? Please tune in to find out!

Carrie and her father, Ralph, arrived at the main building in the depot at Tidmouth at about half past eight and, after clocking in, went straight up and into the changing rooms to change into their uniforms. Carrie and the other recruits getting ready for their next day of work ahead didn't know what they were in for today, whether it would be working within the depot or actually moving into the next stage and actually working on the footplates of the engines out on the line.

After getting dressed for the day with her friends in the ladies changing room, Carrie and the girls made their way downstairs and outside to where they met up with the boys and waited for the jobs they were going to be assigned to doing today.

In the last few weeks, the weather had changed; it had grown somewhat milder as the weeks went on and the temperature had risen a little bit, which caused much of the snow on lower ground, and particularly near the coastlines, as well as on the lower slopes of many hills to melt and which caused quite a few of the rivers on Sodor to rise somewhat, and also caused some minor flooding in a few low-lying areas near the coast, but nothing worse than that.

Though the weather was still cold at times, particularly on some nights, there was a feeling and a scent of spring in the air; some shops in the different towns had springtime flowers start appearing in them, and advertisements for Easter breaks started appearing in the windows of the travel shops and on posters at the different railway stations throughout the length and breadth of Sodor.

In the many different farms throughout the countryside, farmers were also getting ready for the arrival of spring, so they could make a start on getting their fields ploughed up and then to plant their crops.

At the same time, preparations were underway by many people around the Island of Sodor to get ready the many tourist attractions and hotels for tourists to arrive in the coming summer.

Carrie looked round at the others; they seemed just as uncertain as she was about what the day was gonna be like, whether they'd be working in the depot as they'd done for the last few weeks or if they'd be working out on the engines out on the line for a change.

Then, the Fat Controller arrived in his car and the recruits looked towards him as he stepped out of the car and came over towards them.

"Good morning, everyone…well...I'm pleased to announce to you all that today's the day. Today, you'll all have the chance to go out onto the engines of your choice and work out on the lines today." said the Fat Controller. And on hearing that piece of news, all the recruits, including Carrie and Simon, cheered loudly for a few moments before quietening down.

"And just like the day last December where you were given the choice to go on an engine of your choice, the same thing will be done here. In alphabetical order, you'll choose what engine you want to go on, two to a tender engine or Garratt and then one at a time to a tank engine." said the Fat Controller.

And so, just like in early December, all the teens choose the engine they wanted to first work on, before they were then given their jobs for the day. Then finally, it came to the turns of Carrie and Simon.

"So, Carrie…who will you go on?" asked the Fat Controller.

"I'll go on Duck today, sir." Carrie said, as she pointed to the bright green 0-6-0 Great Western engine sitting in the berth at Tidmouth Sheds. Duck smiled, as he was pleased that Carrie had chosen to travel on him today.

"And I guess I'll go on Edward, sir." Simon said, as he looked towards Edward, who was sitting on the line beside Duck.

"Very well, you two. I was hoping two recruits would go on Edward today, but then again…I guess we'll just have to take what we have." said the Fat Controller.

"It's all right, sir. I don't mind if I have one or two recruits with me today." Edward said.

"Very well, Edward…I understand." smiled the Fat Controller, before he then turned to speak to Carrie, Duck and his crew.

"Okay, you two…your jobs for today are on Duck's branch line, the Little Western. Duck, you're to take a load of empty coaches from Tidmouth Station all the way to the line's northern terminus, and then you're to go and take a good long line of fish wagons from the Arlesburgh yards back down to the Seaside Village. The fishermen are due to arrive back there later today, and the vans need to be sitting on the dockside and ready for the fish to be loaded aboard them as soon as the fishermen arrive back in dock." said the Fat Controller.

"Yes, sir." Carrie, Duck and his crew said.

"And Edward...the jobs you, your crew and Simon have today will be on your line between Wellsworth and Brendam Docks." said the Fat Controller.

"Yes, sir." said Edward.

"And I think we'd better be going. After all, I'm sure there'll be more jobs along the branch line that'll need to be done today." said Duck's driver.

"Very well, and good luck out there today." said the Fat Controller.

"And I'll see you back here later on today, Simon…dad." Carrie said, as she looked toward Simon and her father.

"Okay Carrie, and best of luck out there today. And I'll see you back here when we're done for the day." Simon said.

"And good luck to you too, Simon." Carrie said with a smile, as she climbed onto Duck's footplate.

Soon, with a loud toot on his whistle, Duck, after being turned on the turntable, left Tidmouth Sheds and headed down to Tidmouth Station to pick up the coaches.

After watching Duck and Carrie leave, Simon turned to look up at Edward's cab where the driver and fireman were waiting for him to board.

"Are you all ready to go, Simon?" the driver asked.

"Sure am, driver." Simon said, with an enthusiastic smile.

"Good man! Jump in!" the driver said, and Simon did just that. A few moments later, after the turntable had been set, Edward puffed forward, was turned and headed off to do his work for the day. Ralph and the Fat Controller stood and watched Edward leave the yard.

"I expect you know what your jobs for the day are, Ralph?" asked the Fat Controller.

"Yes sir…more iron ore workings today." Ralph said, with a heavy sigh as he put on his peaked railway cap. Though the iron ore workings were important - especially considering the revenue they helped bring to the railway - they weren't the cleanest of jobs on the Sodor railway network due to the dust that could often be generated.

Luckily, there was the chance of some rain later on today, which would hopefully help to keep the dust down in the hopper wagons for a while.

"I know how you feel about it, Ralph, and I pity you…but it's a job that has to be done." said the Fat Controller.

"Yes, sir. Anyway…let's get on with it then." Ralph said, as he and his fireman made their way to their assigned engine, B.R. Standard 9F 2-10-0, No.92064, who was another veteran of the iron ore runs on the line that ran from Tyne Dock to Consett. (12)

"Okay, No.92064…it's working iron ore trains for today." Ralph said, as he and his fireman approached their charge for the day and climbed aboard the footplate.

"Very good, sir…it certainly brings back memories to me of working on the line that ran between Tyne Dock to Consett." No.92064 said with a smile, as memories of his previous life on British Railways North-Eastern Region flowed through his smokebox.

After getting themselves ready, including adjusting the reversing gear and brakes accordingly, Ralph sat on the driver's seat and reached forward for the whistle handle before him.

"Okay, No.92064…it's time to go." Ralph said, as he reached for the handle to blow the whistle and blew it loudly for a few seconds.

"And off we go!" No.92064 said with a smile, as dense clouds of white billowing steam shot out from the cylinder drain valves before him. They rolled slowly out of the depot in reverse and out onto the main line. Ralph then worked the reversing gear into full forward and, giving another toot on the whistle, they went on their way.

(12): The B.R. Standard 9F 2-10-0 heavy freight engine (No.92000 – N0.92250) was the very last major steam locomotive class introduced onto the British Railway network, with the very first example of the class, No.92000, being outshopped from Crewe Works back in January 1954.

The class was easily one of the very best classes of steam locomotives to be used in Britain, with 251 examples being built, 198 at Crewe and the remaining 53 at the former Great Western Works at Swindon. They were perfectly capable of taking any train they were tasked with, be it general freight traffic, which was what they normally pulled on any given day, or even passengers trains.

Of all of the 12 Standard Steam Classes, consisting of 999 locomotives, built by British Railways, the 9F was easily the very best of them all. Though able to haul trains of up to 900 tons in weight, they were easily able to haul freight trains of even heavier weights than that. This was proven back in September 1982 when preserved 9F N0.92203 Black Prince, set the record of hauling the heaviest freight train ever pulled by a steam locomotive in Great Britain, down at Foster Yeoman Quarry in Somerset, where No.92203 hauled a stone train weighing 2,178 tonnes.

Though they had driving wheels that were five feet in diameter, they could achieve speeds of up to and in excess of 90mph, particularly whenever they were pulling express passenger trains, with the fastest speed achieved by a 9F being about 94mph. Reaching a speed up to and in excess of 90mph was a very impressive feat, and something that would have been just impossible for any other class of heavy freight engine. However, concerns that the high rotational speeds involved in fast running would cause excessive wear to the cylinders and plain bearings, and so it prompted British Railways to stop using the 9F's on passenger trains.

The class took over many of the most arduous and dirtiest freight jobs on British Railways, like the Tyne Dock to Consett Iron Ore trains in the northeast of England, the Newport to Ebbw Vale Iron Ore trains in South Wales, as well as oil trains with over 100,000 gallons of oil, and weighing over 1,200 tons, from Southampton to Birmingham. And generally, they handled all kinds of heavy freight work throughout the U.K., including fast fitted freights, lengthy mixed freight trains, heavy anhydrite trains from the Long Meg Mine in Cumbria to the I.C.I. plant in Widnes, very heavy and lengthy coal trains, heavy fish and perishables trains, as well as many other types of freight trains too.

They were also used on heavy mineral and coal traffic in the British Midlands, where they replaced the Midland 2-6-0+0-6-2 Garratts, and a few examples were also used for banking duties on the steeply graded Lickey Incline, where they replaced the famous Midland 0-10-0 banker, No.58100 "Big Bertha", and where they proved excellent at the job of banking trains up the Lickey Incline.

One of the 9F's used for banking on the Lickey, No.92079, inherited "Big Bertha's" big electric headlamp, which was fitted on the front of the smokebox over the smokebox door, and would be used to assist in buffering up to the rear of a train if banking needed to be done during the hours of darkness. No.92079 also had a small part of the tender coal retainer cutaway in order to assist in re-coaling the engine at Bromsgrove.

Though the 9F's proved to be very good at working passenger trains, particularly when subsidising for failed locomotives on express passenger trains, or when pulling special excursions or even trains down to seaside coastal and holiday resorts in the height of the summer months, they were not fitted with steam heating apparatus for heating passenger coaches and so were unable to work passenger trains in the winter months.

They proved to be a great success, particularly on the steeply graded lines of the Somerset and Dorset Route in the southwest of England, where they proved able to easily pull heavy trains of up to 12 coaches in length up the Mendip Hills without any assistance, either from a pilot engine or a banking engine.

There were a number of different variations within the class; ten examples, from No.92060 to No.92066 and from No.92097 to No.92099 worked on the Tyne Dock to Consett Iron Ore workings, and these examples had twin Westinghouse air pumps, for operating the doors on the iron ore hopper wagons, fitted in a pair along the running plate on the fireman's side of the engines. The pumps allowed a nine-wagon train full or iron ore to be discharged in under a minute at the Consett Steel Works.

Three examples, No.92165 to No.92167 were fitted with mechanical stokers to help with maintaining steam pressure, but the experiment proved unsuccessful – particularly as the firemen could often shovel in coal fasten than the mechanical stokers could put it in – and the three engines eventually had the mechanical stokers removed.

No.92250, which was also the very last steam locomotive to be built at Crewe, was fitted with a Giesl ejector, to try and reduce back pressure in the cylinders and make the engine steam more efficiently. The experiment didn't achieve any major results, but No.92250 kept the injector fitted until it was withdrawn.

Ten engines, from No.92020 to No.92029, were fitted with experimental Franco-Crosti boilers, which were unique as they had a pre-heater barrel fitted underneath the main boiler, and the normal chimney atop the smokebox was only used for lighting up purposes; in normal working the chimney would be closed up and the exhaust redirected to the pre-heated barrel under the main boiler and then it would be exhausted out through a chimney fitted along the fireman's side of the engine in front of the cab.

The intention of using a Franco-Crosti boiler was to make more efficient use of the heat generated by the boiler, but unfortunately the experiment didn't deliver the hoped-for results. Though there was some increase in boiler efficiency, it was nowhere near what had been hoped for, and thus the results gathered meant it didn't justify the experiment's cost and complexity.

Not only that, but the Franco-Crosti 9F's had the added problem of very unpleasant working conditions for their crews; in a crosswind, the smoke from the chimney on the fireman's side would often be blown right into the cabs, making conditions very difficult for the driver and fireman. The addition of a smoke deflector over the chimney really didn't help matters that much.

There was another problem with the experiment that hadn't been foreseen; the preheater barrel suffered from unexpected corrosion issues, and as a result the experiment was declared a failure. The preheaters were eventually removed, and No.92020 to No.92029, after spending time in long-term storage, were all rebuilt to more conventional working, though they retained their unique appearance.

But the variation that worked best for the 9F class was the fitment of double chimneys and blast pipes from No.92178 upwards, and some older 9F's were retrofitted with this modification, including No.92000. The double chimneys and blastpipes allowed the 9F's to steam more freely and generate higher power ranges.

The very last 9F built was also the very last steam locomotive built for British Railways, No.92220 Evening Star, who was unveiled at Swindon Works in March 1960. In 1962, No.92220 Evening Star had the honour of pulling the very last Pines Express on the Somerset and Dorset Route on September 8th that year.

The 9F's were withdrawn from B.R. service between 1964 and 1968; with the last one in service, No.92167, being withdrawn from service in July 1968.

Thankfully, nine of the 9F's have been preserved; No.92134 (the oldest 9F and only surviving example with a single chimney), No.92203 Black Prince (preserved directly from B.R. in late 1967 by the late artist David Shepard, who named her Black Prince), No.92207, No.92212, No.92214, No.92219, No.92220 Evening Star (currently on display at the National Railway Museum in York), No.92240 and No.92245.

In this fanfic, a number of different class members will be appearing in the story as and when necessary, including Murdoch.

Carrie took her position along the back wall of Duck's cab and watched as the driver worked the controls before him, working the regulator as needed, applying the brakes and sounding the whistle as well. She watched as the fireman stoked the boiler, by shovelling coal into the firebox, and kept an eye on the steam pressure gauge fitted on the back of the boiler.

"Do you wanna have a try, Carrie?" the fireman asked, as he offered the shovel to Carrie.

"Sure would, sir." Carrie said, as she took the shovel and got into position to stoke the boiler.

"We're approaching Tidmouth Station now, you two." the driver said, as he shut off steam and gently applied the brakes.

Duck came to a gentle stop close to Tidmouth Station; sitting at Platform 1 were half a dozen empty coaches, in red and cream livery, ready to be taken to the northern terminus of Duck's branch line. After Duck went into the yard by the station and was turned on the turntable, he was backed gently down onto the coaches.

After the coaches were coupled to Duck and the brake pipe on the first coach connected the Duck's rear brake pipe, the driver, using the injectors, created a vacuum in the brakes pipes to take the brakes off, and then fixing his eyes on the brake gauge before him. There were two indicator arrows in the gauge; one for the train and the other for the locomotive.

"Okay Carrie…" he said, "…we need to have those arrows anywhere between 20 and 25 before we're ready to set off." the driver said.

"And that's the normal thing to expect?" Carrie asked, as she watched the two arrows slowly rise up as the injectors hissed away softly.

"Absolutely, and we always have to wait for the two indicator arrows to come up. And when they stop rising, it means the brakes on the train are off." the driver said.

Carrie turned her attention back to the two indicator arrows in the gauge; they were climbing much more slowly now, considering there was nearly enough vacuum in the train pipes. They both stopped moving when they went past 20 and reached about 23.

"And there we are…all ready to go." the driver said with a smile, as he reached for one of the ejectors and shut it off.

As there were still a few minutes to go, Carrie and the fireman went to the front of Duck with the headlamps that were to go onto the lamp-irons at the front so as to indicate to the signalmen what train they were pulling. The headlamps were securely put onto the right and middle lamp-irons, where the signalmen would clearly see them.

"And there we are." Carrie said, as she put the middle headlamp into place.

"Well done, Carrie. And that's how it's done." said Duck.

"Oh, it's no problem at all Duck. But there's one thing I don't understand…why are you called Duck? Is that your real name?" Carrie asked, hoping she didn't offend Duck by asking that question. But to her surprise and relief, Duck wasn't offended at all.

"Well, my real name is actually Montague…but the reason everyone calls me Duck is they say I waddle. I don't really waddle, Carrie…but I do like to be called Duck better than Montague." said Duck, and Carrie giggled a little.

"Oh, I just wanted to know that's all." Carrie said, with a smile.

"That's all right, Carrie." smiled Duck.

"Hey, come on Carrie! It's nearly time for us to leave." the driver called from Duck's cab.

"Okay!" Carrie called, and she quickly ran back to the cab and clambered aboard.

The next few minutes went by, with Carrie wondering if they would ever leave the station at all. And then, the guard who was in the coach immediately behind Duck stepped out the door, blew his whistle loudly and waved his green flag before he quickly stepped back aboard the coach and closed the door firmly behind him.

"Okay right away, driver!" Carrie said to Duck's driver.

"Very good, Carrie!" the driver said, as he reached for the whistle chain and pulled it. The whistle sounded for a few seconds, and then the driver opened the regulator and, with a whoosh of white steam, Duck set off on his trip.

(Insert soundtrack – Duck's Season 2 Theme)

Now they were clear of the station, Duck picked up speed as they headed onto his branch line, known as "The Little Western" where he and many other G.W.R. engines had worked on for many years. As it ran along the coast for much of its length, it was inevitable that there would be a very cold wind coming off the sea today, but Duck didn't mind that at all.

From the cab, Carrie looked out from the fireman's side as they rolled along. They approached a river where the line went over it over a single-track girder bridge and Duck puffed over it, while Carrie looked down to the river below; the surface of the water was dark and she couldn't see anything within the water as they passed overheard.

After passing over the bridge, they rolled on without incident towards the next station where a G.W.R. 72XX 2-8-2 tank engine, No.7205, sat waiting at one of the platforms with a long line of empty coal hopper wagons behind him. (13)

(13): The G.W.R. Class 72XX 2-8-2T tank engines (No.7200 – 7253) were the only class of 2-8-2 tank engines to run in the U.K., and the largest class of tank engine used on the Great Western Railway network. Fifty-four examples of the class were built and some examples were re-builds of the G.W.R. 42XX and 5205 2-8-0T tank engine classes.

The class were mainly used on heavy freight trains, including coal, stone and iron ore traffic, within the South Wales area of the G.W.R. as well as within the Home Counties outside of London, going wherever weight restrictions would allow.

The class was withdrawn from B.R. service from 1962 to 1965. Thankfully though, three examples of the class have survived into preservation; No.7200, No.7202 & No.7229. All three were rescued from Woodham's Yard at Barry in South Wales. Although extensive restoration work has been done on all three engines since they were bought, none of the three have yet been restored to working order.

Giving a friendly toot on his whistle, to which No.7205 replied with a friendly toot of his own whistle, Duck carried on up the line, where the double tracks carried on into the distance to the next station.

"Hey, Carrie…" the fireman said, as Carrie turned his attention to him, "…do you want to try your hand at the shovel?"

"You bet I would, sir!" Carrie said enthusiastically, as she took of the shovel and got into position ready to use it.

"And remember, Carrie…take your time." the fireman said. Giving a nod, Carrie then went to start stoking the firebox. Thrusting the shovel into the bunker, she then pulled it out and thrust the lumps of coal into Duck's hot firebox, which, considering the heat coming out the fire hole doors, on a cold day like today felt very good. After Carrie popped the shovel of lumps inside, she turned to refill the shovel from the bunker behind as the fireman closed the fire-hole doors to minimize the intake of cold air into the firebox. Then Carrie turned and the fireman opened the fire-hole doors again for the next load of fresh coal.

For a few short moments, Carrie put more coal inside, with only a few lumps each time, and making sure to place the coal into the back corners and along the sides of the firebox. The work helped to build up the sweat and gave her a good workout, which helped to burn off some calories and thus help her lose some weight.

After a while she stopped, and the fireman took the shovel from her.

"Feeling okay there?" he asked.

"Yes, I am…that felt good." Carrie said, as she stood up and took in a deep breath, before she took off one of her gloves and wiped down her sweaty face. The fireman chuckled.

"I'll take over for a while, Carrie." the fireman said. Smiling gratefully, Carrie then turned and looked out of the side of the cab and felt the welcome cold breeze on her sweaty face. They were now passing through a shallow cutting with grey stone slopes rising up on both sides, which blocked out the view, before they then went through a more open area and over a bridge that crossed over a tidal estuary marsh area. Carrie could see that the tide was all the way out and as a result, the wide, open mudflats, with reeds and rushes lining the edges of the high-water mark were exposed on both sides of the estuary. Carrie could also see wooden piers and jetties of different lengths extending out over the grey mudflats, and some boats could also be seen sitting on the mud high and dry.

With a toot on the whistle, Duck continued on up the line and Carrie, after a short while, could almost see more cliffs lining the other side of the line in the distance.

Soon in the distance ahead, Carrie could see a small coastal village on the right of the tracks just a short stretch inland from the beach, where people could be seen going about their daily business. Beyond the village, another grey cliff could be rising up along the tracks ahead. A long stretch of beach could be seen right by the track they were travelling along, with wooden and concrete pilings forming a supporting wall to help keep the track in place. On the beach itself, Carrie could see a number of different barges and varieties of fishing boats which were sitting on the sand, most of which were close together and a few of which were place right up close to the low sea wall. (N)

(N): What I'm describing here is the coastal village that was seen in Season 4; e.g., look at the episode "Fish" for the shot where Henry pulls the Flying Kipper along the coast.

But then, the line made a gentle turn to the right by the lighthouse on a point that jutted out towards sea a short way, and Carrie could see they were now travelling along a part of the line that followed the coastline for some distance, with the wide and open Tidmouth Beach stretching ahead as far as the eye could see. In the high summertime, this long stretch of beach would usually be crowded with holiday makers, but right now it was nearly deserted, with only a few intrepid people, all braving the cold wind, taking a stroll along the sands or even going fishing with their rods set up on the beach.

Carrie could also see parts of the cliff jutted out some distance and over the two railway lines, but workmen had cut through them forming very short tunnels through the stone, and it was a surreal experience in a way to pass beneath them.

After making a gentle turn inland a little while later, they continued on down towards the next station, which soon come into view ahead; it was the seaside station of Tidmouth Hault, with its two platforms, each with a red-tiled building on it and connected together by a foot bridge at one end of each platform, and its yards and engine shed off to one side.

A few people could be seen standing arounds on the platforms, possibly a few passengers waiting for the next train back to Knapford with some members of station staff, while in the yard, workmen could be seen loading a variety of different styles of box vans, sitting in the sidings or inside the engine shed, with crates and other things with the help of some orange painted forklift trucks.

Puffing through Tidmouth Hault, Duck, giving a loud whistle, went smartly over the bridge and by the signal box and rolled into the tunnel cut through the cliff ahead of the station, plunging into the darkness.

Emerging out from the other side a minute or so later, much to Carrie's relief, they began to slowly climb as the two lines slowly went uphill on a very gentle gradient. Carrie could see they were getting a little higher as through gaps in the cliffs to the left, she could the ocean get a little further away each time. When they reached the top of the climb, Carrie smiled at the view she saw as they rolled along easily along the line towards the Suddery Coastal Village not too far ahead of them.

Approaching, and going along the cliffside over the village a few minutes later, Carrie could see the expanse of the village and tidal estuary laid out, almost like a model set, below her. She could distinctly see small details below, such as the boats sitting partially on their sides on the mudflats in the small harbour, people walking about on the streets and even the colours of some windowsills on some of the buildings. The driver pulled on the whistle chain, allowing Duck to say "Hello" to the people below before they continued over the town and went down the gentle descent to the next station.

As they descended, Carrie went over to the driver's side and looked forward. Looking along an arrow-straight section of the permanent way, she saw another steam locomotive in the distance on the other line coming towards them. As they got closer, Duck blew his whistle and called "Hello No.2800!". And No.2800 whistled back, calling out "Hello Duck!" as he went by; he was pulling a long, and very mixed, freight train of about 40 wagons of various different types, back to Knapford. (14)

(14): No.2800 is the doyen of a very successful class of G.W.R. freight locomotives known as the 28XX Class. Designed by George Jackson Churchward for very heavy freight work, they were the very first class of 2-8-0 to be built in the U.K. and proved to be very successful freight locomotives.

Introduced in 1903 and built until 1919, the class, which eventually numbered 84 locomotives in total, worked heavy goods and freight traffic on the G.W.R. network, and later the Western Region of British Railways, for many years.

Charles Collett, Churchward's successor and C.M.E. of the G.W.R., introduced his own version of the class, the G.W.R. 2884 Class, from 1938 to 1942. Numbered from No.2884 to No.2899 and from No.3800 to No.3866, 83 examples of the Collett version were built and they differed from the Churchward engines in that they had outside steam pipes and more modern side window cabs for their crews.

Six examples of the Churchward 28XX Class have been preserved, with a seventh example being used to provide parts for other projects. No.2807 is the oldest example of the class, being 117 years old as of August 2022.

Nine examples of Collett's 2884 Class have also survived into preservation, all of which were rescued from Woodham's Yard at Barry, South Wales.

One thing that caught Carrie by surprise was the sounds of the freight train as it went by, and she was astonished by how loud this train moved by back in the other direction. But soon it went by and she looked back, to see the brake van, with a red tail lamp at the back, heading back up the line. After a moment, Carrie then turned her head back to watch the line ahead.

It wasn't too long before they reach a more level spot which was much nearer to sea level, and as a result running along was much easier. After another turn at the shovel for a few minutes, as well as using the injectors to top up the boiler with water, Carrie looked outside the driver's side of Duck's cab. She could now see they were approaching a coastal village, the roofs of some buildings which she could see in the distance.

The signal light ahead was showing yellow, which meant "Proceed with caution", so the driver closed the regulator and gently applied the brakes. With a gentle screech, Duck slowed down as they came closer and closer to the village.

With a blast on the whistle, Duck came round the gentle curve and rolled along the long concrete dockside. Looking down from the fireman's side, Carrie could see the rails, of both through tracks passing through the dock and the long siding along the quayside, were set within the concrete and not sitting on ballast atop the concrete. Looking over to her left, Carrie could see there were a number of fishing boats and other craft tied up together along some parts of the dockside, and there were some men working away on the dock, such as repairing fishing tackle or maintaining dockside machinery. Beyond the dock, a few hundred yards out to sea, a long concrete breakwater could be seen protecting the dock and the boats tied up to it.

Quickly going over to the driver's side, Carrie looked over the village and could see various different buildings, including an inn, some coastal pubs and a few other buildings lining the main road on the other side of the stone wall separating the road from the railway and the main dockside.

Passing by the engine shed close to the dockside, they carried on up the line.

Soon, after a few more miles, including some on one stretch where they travelled very close to the waterfront with the cliffs towering high over them, they arrived at their destination: Arlesburgh, the main terminus for The Little Western. From the main station, the line continued on a little way until it reached a junction where it joined up the main line that ran parallel to The Little Western only a few miles inland.

After arriving at the main station and being uncoupled from the coaches, Duck made his way over to the Arlesburgh Yards not too far away to be serviced and readied for his next tasks. As they pulled in, Carrie could see other steam locomotives of different G.W.R. classes being readied for their next turns of duty. Smoke, ranging from black to dark grey to nearly white, wisped from the chimneys, many of which had a broad copper band wrapped round the top halves, and into the cold late-winter, early-spring air.

Duck soon came to a stop in a siding by a water-tower, where work could be carried out, including refilling the water tank and cleaning the fire, before he began his next job.

While the fireman worked on getting the fire in order, Carrie and the driver set about getting the water tanks replenished. The driver swung the arm to Carrie, who had already climbed onto Duck's left side water tank, placed the arm with hose attached into position over the open lid and called "Water on!" to the driver. The driver turned the valve, and water soon poured into Duck's tanks. Soon, with the tanks very close to full, Carrie shouted "Water off!", and the driver turned the valve in the other direction. Once the water had stopped the arm was swung back in away from the tracks and Carrie clambered back down to the ground.

It wasn't too long before the fireman had gotten the clinker out from inside the firebox, spread out the coals as evenly as he could and had put a few shovelfuls of fresh fuel on, making the fire burn nicely. Now with that done, Duck felt much better and was ready to get back to work.

"Now then…shall we get those fish vans back down to the fishing village?" Duck asked, as Carrie stepped out in front of him.

"Certainly, Duck…but first, let's wait for the yard manager to tell us where they are." Carrie said, with a smile.

"And here he comes now." Duck said, as the sound of footsteps approached them. Carrie turned her head and saw the yard manager approach them.

"Now then Duck…" said the yard manager, "…you'll want to know where the fish vans are." said the yard manager.

"Yes, sir." smiled Duck.

"They're in that siding over there." he said, as he pointed to the siding in question. Duck and Carrie looked over; in the siding, they could both see a line of eight fish vans of a number of different styles, types and with different vents at each end, and with a brake van coupled at the end.

"And you're to take all those down to the fishing village. The fishermen are due in later on today." the yard manager said.

"Yes, sir." Duck said and, after Carrie, the driver and fireman climbed into his cab, Duck blew his whistle and moved off to collect the fish vans.

A few moments later, Duck had backed up to the eight empty fish vans, which also had a brake van coupled behind them, and was coupled up to them and had the vacuum pipes connected up.

"So, Duck...why are we taking these fish vans down to the Fishing Village to be filled up there and then bring them to Knapford Harbour when the fishing boats could just take their fish down to Knapford Docks with all the other fishing boats and have them loaded onto a train down there?" Carrie asked.

"Because Carrie, the docks at Knapford aren't the biggest on Sodor, and don't have the capacity to take lots of fishing boats there. So having all the fishing boats go there to unload their fish would cause a bottleneck on the quays there, which means there's a chance the fish may spoil." Duck said.

"Oh, I see." Carrie said, now fully understanding the logic of taking fish from one port to meet up with a train at another one so as not to cause any congestion. "And is some of the fish sent to shops in the towns around Sodor?" she asked.

"It is, and the rest of it is taken away in a very special train to other places far away. This is the train that the railwaymen on Sodor call the Flying Kipper." said Duck.

As Duck, his crew and Carrie sat in the siding and waited for their chance to leave the yard and head down to the Fishing Village, they heard a whistle coming towards them. A moment later, Oliver rolled into the yard with a line of a dozen trucks behind him and his brake-van, Toad, coupled to the rear of the train.

"Morning Oliver!" Duck said cheerfully, as Oliver came to a halt near him.

"Hello Duck…I'll be glad to have a rest for a while. These trucks have been causing me trouble all morning. I'll be glad to get started with my passenger train." Oliver said, as he let off steam in some frustration.

"I know how you feel about that…I just need to deliver these fish wagons and I'll be able to start with my first passenger train of the day." Duck said.

"Begging your pardon, Mr Duck…but sometimes trucks have to be moved around the island so as to deliver the goods that they carry…if you forgive me for mentioning it." said Toad, from the back of Oliver's train.

"Of course, Toad." Duck said, with a small smile.

Then James pulled into the yard with his own freight train from Knapford Station, a mixed one of wagons covered with canvas sheeting, box-vans, some tankers and a few con-flats with containers.

"And here we are…" he said, as he came to a stop, "…I'll be glad to get to my next train. I'm just glad that there isn't as much snow about on the island now as there was earlier this year." James said.

Carrie felt herself smile and decided to speak up.

"Well James…can I just say just be glad that you and all the other engines on Sodor don't live in Maine, where I come from. Believe me, I've lived in Maine for most of my life, and the winters, the cold and the snow there can be pretty brutal at the best of time, with very deep snow and a really deep, biting cold that seems to never go away." Carrie said.

James, Oliver and Duck looked at Carrie for a moment, and all three wondered what a severe Maine winter right here on Sodor would be like to deal with.

"Well in that case…I think I'll be glad to stay here on Sodor instead of going over to Maine." Oliver said, as he shivered a little at the thought of working in snow far worse than anything that could be found on Sodor.

"So would I." came another voice, as another G.W.R. engine rolled up beside the group. It was G.W.R. 1000 County Class 4-6-0 No.1005 County of Devon. (15)

(15): The G.W.R. 1000 County Class 4-6-0, of which 30 were built and numbered from No.1000 to No.1029, was the most powerful 4-6-0 to see service on the G.W.R. network. It was the final development of the original Churchward Saint 4-6-0 that had been introduced back in 1901.

Designed by F.W. Hawksworth and built at Swindon Works between August 1945 and April 1947, and coupled to large 4,000 galloon slab sided tenders, the class was intended to be used on mixed traffic work on the G.W.R. network. It was the first G.W.R. class to be fitted with a double chimney and had a boiler pressure of 280psi, which was later reduced to 250psi.

They had a mixed reception with some G.W.R. crews, but they generally worked well with everything they were tasked with, including passengers, parcels and freight.

Withdrawals of the class began in September 1962 with the last example, No.1011 County of Chester, being withdrawn in November 1964.

Sadly, no examples of this class have survived into preservation. But luckily, there is a project underway to build a replica of one of the original locomotives at the Didcot Railway Centre. The replica will be of No.1014 County of Glamorgan, in recognition of Dai Woodham's Yard at Barry in Glamorganshire, from where many steam locomotives were saved for preservation.

"Yeah, well at least summer is on its way in a few months. And it means that we'll be able to pull the tourists around when they arrive." Oliver said.

"Summer? Huh! Summer's too hot and tiring a time to work in. It's the springtime that really gets me all fired up!" James said.

"And speaking of which…Thomas and Percy told me about the time you really DID get fired up with all those fuel tankers. Well done, James!" said County of Devon, with a chuckle.

"Shut up!" James said crossly, as he glared at County of Devon.

"Hold it…what do you mean by "fuel tankers"? What happened?" Carrie asked, as she looked towards County of Devon.

"Well…quite a few years back, Carrie…James was pulling a long line of fuel tankers in another part of the island on a nice spring day. But unbeknownst to him, one of the fuel tankers was leaking, and some stray sparks from James' funnel ended up setting the fuel trucks ablaze…hence why I teased him about being "fired up"." said County of Devon.

"Oh, no…" Carrie said, with a giggle as she looked towards James in an amazed way, as James glared at her while rolling his eyes up.

"You mentioned that the countryside run got you all fired up, James…though I don't think you literally meant it in quite that way." teased Duck.

"Pah! It was the stupid truck's fault, not mine!" James snorted, as he rolled his eyes and looked up to the sky.

"Come on, Carrie…it's time for us to take these vans down to the Fishing Village!" Duck's driver called from the cab.

"Okay, sir!" Carrie called, as she clambered onto Duck's footplate. The driver blew Duck's whistle and, with steam shooting out front, the train slowly moved forward out of the siding, through the yard and out onto the main line.

Soon, they cleared the yard and were heading south in the direction they had come from not too long before. Carrie took the shovel for a short while and placed lumps of coal into the firebox, making sure to place the coal where it would make the most steam.

Eventually though, the fireman took over the shovel and Carrie looked out from the driver's side of the footplate, where she had a good view of the coastline and sea whenever they came very near to it. The feeling of the cold air on her sweaty face felt good after working hard at stoking a hot firebox, and it also felt good to stand up straight and rest her back after being bent over for a time while shovelling coal into the firebox.

They soon arrived in the Fishing Village, and rolled slowly over the points and into the long siding that ran along the quayside. As they came to a halt, Carrie could see there was plenty of space between the siding and the edge of the dockside where the fishing boats would tie up to so that the catches of fish could be unloaded from the boats, packed into boxes and then loaded into the vans.

Carrie and the driver climbed down from the footplate and stepped behind Duck; they disconnected the vacuum brake pipes and uncoupled the vans, as workmen on the quayside made sure the brakes were secure on all eight vans.

As they waited, Carrie took the opportunity to take a few steps forward and have a good look round. At one end of the quayside there was a large functional building, that was old and with outside walls that certainly looked as though they'd seen better days. Over the faded and weathered red-painted front entrance doors was a sign that said "Ice Plant" in blue letters that were faded and somewhat covered by a thin green mould, so Carrie knew right away this building provided the ice that the fishermen needed to keep their catches fresh.

Then Carrie heard sounds behind her, and she turned round to see what it was; she could see the workmen going along the length of the train on the side closest to the edge of the quay and opening the van doors, ready for the fish to be loaded aboard as soon as the boats arrived.

Then, the sound of a boat horn was heard out to sea. Carrie turned and saw one of the fishing boats come round the breakwater and make its way slowly towards the quay.

"It shouldn't be too long before these vans are loaded, and then they'll have to be taken down to Knapford Harbour. There they'll be attached to another load of vans filled with fish from the boats that go there, and then it'll all be taken to the mainland." Duck said to Carrie.

"Okay, I suppose that makes sense." Carrie said, when suddenly there came the sounds of a whistle. Carrie turned and saw Douglas approach with a long line of trucks behind him.

"Morning Douglas." Duck called, as Douglas came to a stop.

"Morning Duck, how busy are the yards up at Arlesburgh?" Douglas asked in his distinctive Scottish accent.

"They were quite busy when I left with these fish vans earlier on, but I imagine it should be a little quieter by now, so you shouldn't have a problem getting those trucks stored away." Duck said.

"Thank you, Duck." Douglas said, before he then noticed Carrie standing beside Duck's front buffer beam.

"Oh, hello there young Carrie." Douglas said.

"Good morning, Douglas. What's in those trucks?" Carrie asked, as she noticed the twelve heavily laden trucks behind Douglas' tender.

"Just coal that needs to be delivered to the engine depot, wee lassie. All us steam engines need coal if we're to keep going." Douglas said.

"Oh, of course." Carrie said, with a smile. Just then, the signal dropped, showing Douglas it was time for him to leave.

"Ooh, time to go!" Douglas said, as he blew his deep-toned Caledonian whistle and, with white steam whooshing, set off up the line. As he puffed away, Carrie watched the train go by and counted the laden coal trucks as they went by; there were a dozen of them altogether, and their sides were streaked with layers of coal dust, some denser than others, and the coal could be seen piled up over the tops of the trucks.

Soon the guard's van went by and, stepping cautiously out, Carrie watched as the train pulled away from her and went round the bend to the right and disappeared from view. She could clearly see the bright red tail lamp shining brightly at the rear of the guard's van as Douglas's train vanished round the bend.

A few moments later, after she stepped back to the quayside and arrived by the driver and fireman, the harbour master stepped up to them.

"Come along, I have some more trucks for you to take away." he said.

"Okay, sir." Duck said, as his crew and Carrie climbed back into his cab. After being told where the trucks were and the points were set, the driver blew the whistle and Duck rolled forwards to collect the trucks.

Pulling into the siding, Duck rolled forward into the siding and buffered up to the trucks. There were only eight of them, and they were empty and due to head back to the yards at Arlesburgh to get filled up and assembled into a train.

As they waited to go, and while the driver examined the couplings between each truck, Carrie looked up into the sky; there were very dark banks of clouds slowly rolling in from the west south west, and there was sure to be rain coming with them too. Then she continued on with her task of oiling up Duck's coupling rods and motion with an oil can, and rags to wipe excess oil away. She soon finished the task and stepped out in front of Duck.

"And there we are…all done with the oiling." Carrie said, as she looked up at Duck.

"Well done, Carrie. That means we'll be running well and with no problems too." Duck said, with a smile. Carrie smiled back, but then she groaned a little and leaned against the forward buffer beam as she stretched her left leg out a little.

"Are you feeling all right?" Duck asked, with some concern.

"Oh, I'm fine, Duck. It's just that my feet and lower legs are killing me a bit…I've been on my feet all morning, and I'd like to have a sit down soon." Carrie said, as she then stretched her right leg out.

"Don't worry, Carrie. You'll soon be able to have a rest once we get back to the yards." Duck said, reassuringly.

"Thanks, and get some food into me too." Carrie said, as she looked at her watch; it was 11:34am, and she was amazed at how fast time had gone by since she had started. She then turned and went back to the cab, and clambered aboard.

Once the headlamps were put in place on the lamp-irons fitted on the back of Duck's bunker, they were soon on their way again, and running in reverse up the line to Arlesburgh. For Carrie, this was another new experience to be running in reverse while the train was coupled to the engine's front. But they were able to see more of the track they were travelling along as they didn't have the whole front of the locomotive out before them.

After taking a turn at the shovel and stoking the firebox, Carrie leaned out from the fireman's side and looked along the line up ahead. As they came round a shallow bend onto a long straight stretch of double track, she saw Oliver coming towards them on the down line with three coaches and his brake van Toad coupled behind him.

Carrie reached for the whistle chain and sounded a short toot on Duck's whistle, and Oliver whistled back in reply as the two engines went by with their trains. The driver and fireman smiled at Carrie; it was clear to them that Carrie was learning the ropes quite well and, to them, she would soon prove to be a real good railwayman in her own right.

They soon arrived back at Arlesburgh good yards and parked the trucks into an empty siding very close to the building where the engine crews would rest, take breaks and meals and wash up and change clothes at the end of the day.

"And there we are, that's those trucks parked up." the driver said, as they slowly reversed out of the siding.

"So, with that done…what's to do now?" Carrie asked.

"Well, we'll park Duck and go and get something hot to eat and drink. I think we've earned it after the work we've done this morning." said the driver, as the hissing sounds of the injector putting water into the boiler filled the cab.

"Very good…I'm starving after all the work we've done." Carrie said, as she took off her cap and wiped her sweaty forehead, leaving a small mark of dirt behind.

Once Duck was safely parked in a sheltered siding, they went over to the crew's building, where they took the chance to wash their faces and hands before they went to the canteen to get some good food into them.

Entering the warmth of the canteen, the smell of good hot food at the long buffet counter drifted into Carrie's nose. There was a light buzz in the air as a few drivers and firemen, as well as some members of the shed team, were sitting down to lunch at the tables lined up on both sides of the room.

The scene at once reminded Carrie of the cafeteria back at Ewen High School, only that this place was meant to be working for much longer periods of time and to serve a different variety of customer than any high school cafeteria back home.

Grabbing a tray as well as a knife and fork rolled up in a napkin and lining up at the buffet, Carrie cast her eyes over the mouth-watering selection of hot food on offer today; there were such things like beefs burgers in an onion and pepper sauce, pork chops with apple sauce and beef stew, as well as mashed and boiled potatoes, French green beans, mashed carrots and boiled peas. There were also salads on offer too, as well as a station where two members of staff would prepare sandwiches.

There was also a choice of two soups on offer for today; leek and potato in one pot and carrot and coriander in the second.

And finally, at the other end of the buffet, and close to where drinks could be obtained, was a selection of mouth-watering desserts, but all those could wait until afterwards.

Carrie ladled some steaming hot leek and potato soup into a clean bowl, and then put a burger with some of the sauce, as well as mashed potatoes and vegetables, onto a plate. After getting a drink at the end of the buffet, she went over to sit down at one of the tables. She was very eager to rest her feet for a while and get some hot food into her after the morning of work she'd done.

She had just tucked into her bowl of hot soup, when she heard a voice.

"Hey there, Carrie." and Carrie looked up to see Alice standing by the table with her own tray of food in her hands.

"Hey, Alice. Would you like to sit down?" Carrie asked, as she gestured to a spare seat by her.

"Sure would!" Alice said, as she placed her tray down on the table and then sat down.

"So…how's your day been so far?" Carrie asked, as she took in another spoonful of soup.

"Fine so far, but I'm really eager to get some rest for our lunch hour. Especially after the work I've done so far today." Alice said, as she started eating her own food.

The two were silent for a few moments, as they enjoyed and savoured their food before they spoke again.

"So, what jobs have you and Duck to do after lunch?" Alice asked.

"I don't know yet, Alice…but we delivered a number of fish vans down to the Fishing Village a little earlier on, and then we had to bring empty trucks back here." Carrie said.

"That sounds fair enough, but I and No.7835 Standen Manor (16) had some difficulty earlier on this morning before we left to leave with our passenger train from Knapford Station. A small issue with the brake pipe which meant that the brakes on the train wouldn't come off, but we managed to get the problem fixed before too long which meant we could leave on time." Alice said.

(16): No.7835 Standen Manor is an unbuilt example of the G.W.R. 78XX 4-6-0 Manor Class, of which 30 examples (from No.7800 to No.7829) were built at Swindon Work in two batches between 1936 and 1950. Another batch of 10 (from No.7830 to No.7839) was meant to be built in B.R. days, but the order was cancelled for unknown reasons.

The class was a lightened version of the 68XX Grange Class and was intended for use on cross country routes and branch lines – such as the Cambrian Coast Line – that other G.W.R. Classes, such as the Halls and the Granges, were forbidden to go.

Initially, the class did suffer from steaming problems earlier in their lives, but alterations to their blastpipes, an increase in air space in the fire-grate as well as the fitment of a new type of narrow chimney to give a sharper blast massively improved the draughting and eliminated the steaming problems the class had originally been plagued with. Once their steaming problems were overcome, they worked mainly within the West of England and in Mid and South Wales, where they could go anywhere, thanks to their light axle loading of just over 17 tons.

The entire class was withdrawn from service on the B.R. Western Region between April 1963 and December 1965.

Nine examples of the class have survived into preservation, all of which have run under their own steam since being restored to working order and four of which have run on the main line. The last example in service with B.R., No.7808 Cookham Manor, was purchased directly from B.R. upon its withdrawal from service in December 1965, with the remaining eight locomotives being rescued from Woodham's Yard in Barry.

"That sounds fair enough, and you didn't have any further problems with your first passenger train?" Carrie asked.

"No, not at all. We made it to Arlesburgh without any trouble at all, and our passengers all managed to get in bang on time." Alice said, before she took a sip of her drink.

"And are you gonna be doing more passengers trains today?" Carrie asked, as she took in another spoonful of soup.

"I'm not sure as of yet what we're gonna be doing as of yet, but whatever job we're assigned to do after lunch, it's our job to do it well." Alice said.

"Yeah absolutely, that's about all we can do when we're working on the railway." Carrie said. She soon finished her soup, and then set about tucking into her burger. The rich and thick onion and peppercorn sauce was smelt really nice to her,, and she was really eager to enjoy this delicious meal while it was still hot.

"Hmm, that's really nice…and that sauce goes really well too." Carrie said, as she savoured the nice flavour of the burger.

"But I'd bet you'd really like to have one of these pork chops." Alice said, as she ate through her pork chop with apple sauce.

"Well…maybe another time I'll choose the pork chops." Carrie said, as she and Alice continued on with their lunch.

After they finished lunch, they went through the buffet line to choose desserts to finish off their meal; Carrie chose a slice of apple pie with ice cream, while Alice had a slice of very rich chocolate cake with cream on the side. Once they finished their desserts, they just sat at the table, mugs of hot tea close at hand, and spoke with each other for the rest of their lunch hour, while many other of the engine crews went either back out to their assigned engines for their next duties or came into the canteen to start their own lunch hour.

At one point, about ten minutes or so before their lunch hour was to end, and they had to get themselves back to work again, it started raining and the rain came down with such intensity that the sound echoed heavily on the roof above the canteen. Alice and Carrie looked out the windows at the rain as it bucketed from the dark clouds high above.

"Oh dear, I was hoping there wouldn't be any rain today." Carrie said, with a heavy sigh as she looked outside at the foul weather.

"I bet that you're quite glad to be on Duck's footplate, Carrie…there's reasonable shelter there." Alice said.

"Yeah, I am…but what's it like on the footplate of Ramsbury Manor in this weather?" Carrie asked, as she looked at Alice with some concern.

"Oh…while there's a cab, it doesn't extend back too far, though we can set up a tarpaulin from the back of the cab roof down to the front end of the tender to give us some added protection of needed." Alice said.

"How much protection does it give you?" Carrie asked.

"Well, as long as we're going forwards and the rain doesn't go in the wrong direction…the tarpaulin is sufficient protection." Alice said with a heavy sigh, as Carrie gave her a small smile and then looked back outside.

They were quiet for a few moments as they watched the rain fall from the sky, and they sipped their hot tea for the few moments they were quiet.

"Your father's working iron ore trains again today, isn't he?" Alice said, as she broke the silence.

"Yes, and I think he's glad that there's rain falling right now…after all, if the rain is coming down as heavily as this, it'll help to keep all the iron ore dust down in the hopper wagons." Carrie said, with a smile. And Alice smiled too; any rain that kept the loose dust down in the trucks was quite welcome.

A few minutes later, as Carrie and Alice finished their tea, the crews of the respective locomotives they were working on came over towards them.

"Hey, come on you two! It's time for us to get back to work!" Duck's driver said.

"Yes, there's a lot more work to do today before we can go back for the evening." said the fireman of Standen Manor.

"All right." Carrie and Alice said together, as they both stood up from the table, put on their caps and raincoats and followed the crews out of the canteen.

As they stepped outside, they could see that the rain had eased off a little, but it was still coming down heavily.

"Let's get back to out engines without getting too wet." Alice said.

"Well luckily…there's this sheltered area where we can walk for much of the way to the engines without getting wet." said Duck's driver, as he indicated to the sheltered walkway.

"Well, let's get going then." Alice said, and they set off.

They soon arrived back at the shed where Duck and some other engines were resting, including Standen Manor. The engines were chatting with each other, while a few others were looking up at the sky and rain coming down hard all-round.

"Oh, I wish we could just stay in here and out of the rain." Duck said, as his driver, fireman and Carrie approached him.

"I know how you feel, Duck…but there's still work to be done for today…so we need to get moving to the next job." his driver said.

"Yes, driver." Duck said with a heavy sigh, not that keen to work in heavy rain.

"Come on, Duck…let's get back to work." Carrie said, as she climbed aboard Duck's cab.

"Very well, Carrie…at least you're doing things the Great Western Way." Duck said with a smile, admired by Carrie's determination to continue on with the job, despite the bad weather they were having this afternoon.

Alice crossed over to Standen Manor and climbed into his cab, then reach down for the shovel and set about checking the fire and adding fresh fuel to it if necessary. She found it was necessary, and soon put a few shovelfuls of coal into the fire to get it back up to an intensity where plenty of steam could be made.

In Duck's cab, Carrie, with the fireman's supervision, also took the opportunity to stoke up the fire and also to put fresh water into the boiler. The driver took the chance to oil up the coupling rods and double-check the brake blocks on the wheels to see they were okay.

Soon, all the checks were completed, and the fire was burning nicely and making plenty of steam; they were ready to go. Checking the boiler pressure gauge, Carrie saw the needle slowly rise as the steam pressure rose.

"I reckon we're all ready to go again." she said to the driver.

"Of course, Carrie…now let's going to our next jobs." the driver said, and he gently opened up the regulator.

Slowly, Duck moved forwards and out of the shed into the pouring heavy rain.

"Ohhhhh…" Duck said, as the cold pelting droplets slammed into him, and he closed his eyes.

"Let's get onto our next job, Duck." the driver said, as he blew the whistle.

"Okay." Duck said, as he rolled forwards and out of the siding.

(Later that day; late afternoon – 4:30pm)

It was very near the end of another day, and close to the end of Carrie's first day of working on a locomotive working on the main railway. She was still with Duck and his crew, and they were at the quayside of the Fishing Village, ready to take the line of fish vans, now they were fully laden with the fish that the fishermen had brought in, down to Knapford Harbour where Henry would take the vans, as well as his own fully loaded fish vans, from the Harbour over to Vicarstown on the other side of the Island. The rain had finally stopped, and the wind had died down giving an atmosphere that would seem pleasant, were it not for the typical smells that hung in the air. It was a mixture of diesel fumes from boats, rotting seaweed and other smells of the low tide, but especially the smell of fish.

Duck was sitting in the siding on the quayside and was coupled to the vans and waiting as the last checks were made to the vans and guard's van before they could leave. He was also waiting for a train going from Tidmouth to Arlesburgh to pass by as well before they could go.

Carrie was standing within the warmth and shelter of Duck's footplate and keeping close to the open fire-hole doors and sipping on a cup of hot tea while she waited. After they delivered these vans down to Knapford Harbour and then handed them over to Henry, they would head on back to Tidmouth Sheds and Carrie would be able to sign off for the day, as well as have a shower and get cleaned up afterwards.

Carrie looked out the driver's side of the cab and saw the driver approach and look up.

"Are all the vans ready to go?" Carrie asked.

"They are, Carrie…but we need to wait for the freight going to Arlesburgh to go by before we can leave." the driver said.

"Very well…I just hope we can leave soon. I'm getting tired of the smell of fish." Carrie said, as she tried not to sniff in through her nose. The smell of fish hung in the air, and Carrie was hoping they could either leave soon, or that the wind would spring back up to blow the smell away.

A minute or so later, there came the sound of a whistle in the distance and soon No.7205, the same G.W.R. 72XX 2-8-2 they'd seen earlier, approach from round the bend with a long line of trucks behind him. Carrie looked out from the fireman's side of Duck's cab as soon as No.7205 came into view.

"Hello, No.7205." Duck said, as No.7205 went by with his train.

"Hi Duck…can't stop I'm afraid…I've got a train to deliver." No.7205 said, as he gave a short whistle before he went on by with his fully laden trucks rattling along behind him. Carrie watched as the train went by where she was and counted all the trucks as they went by; there were 26 of them in all, including the guard's van, which she watched go by as the train went round the other bend at the opposite end of the village, with the bright red tail lamp shining on the back of the guard's van. A moment later, Douglas went by doing on the line in the other direction. He had eight bright orange coaches coupled behind him and was bringing local people back home. Giving a friendly toot on his deep-toned Caledonian whistle, Douglas went on by heading south to Knapford. Carrie could see people sitting within the warmth and comfort of the coaches as they went by, with some looking out the windows at what was passing them by.

Soon, and much to Carrie's relief, it was time for them to leave. The driver and fireman climbed aboard Duck's cab and took up position. With the fire in the firebox well up and a good head of steam in the boiler, due to the position of the needle on the steam pressure gauge, they were ready to go. With the points set, the signal light at green, the guard stepped out from his van at the back of the train and blew his whistle loudly and waved his green flag before climbing back onto his van.

"And here we go, Carrie!" the driver said, as he blew the whistle loudly for moment before he opened the regulator.

There was a slight jerk as Duck moved forwards and out of the siding out onto the main line and then over another set of points onto the down line, where Douglas had gone by a little earlier on.

"Knapford Harbour…here we come!" Carrie said, as she looked out the fireman's side and over the line ahead. The driver opened the regulator a little more and pulled the reversing lever back a little; slowly, Duck picked up speed and was rolling down the line, white and grey smoke puffing from his funnel as they rolled ahead.

(Insert soundtrack – Duck's Season 3 Theme)

The journey down to Knapford Harbour took no more than 25 minutes – with green signal lights shining brightly all the way there – and, as they passed over the junction and entered the port, Carrie looked round at how busy the place was, even at this time of day; there were tall buildings, with their walls weathered by sea and time, tall dockside cranes that ran on their own rails and with tracks passing beneath them, tall chimneys coming out from the backs of buildings with smoke rising from them as well as the many workshops and repair facilities engaged in repairing or overhauling equipment for ships. Every now and then, Carrie could see welders at work deep in the depths of the darkness of some of the workshops, all engaged in repairing or overhauling something for the machinery of a ship.

Boats and watercraft of all different sizes and types were tied up to the different quays, ranging from small barges and canal boats all the way up to large cargo ships, some fishing boats of various types and sizes as well as some small passenger ferries and harbour tourist boats. There were even repair docks and slipways, where small boats could be seen slung beneath very strong lifting slings with workmen and engineers doing checks and repairs on the hulls, or small cranes could be seen lifting engines out of boats and swinging them over to the repair facilities. Some repair men were working on boat engines on the dockside, and very bright blue-white flashes from their welding torches brightly lit up the scene where they worked.

As they rolled slowly along towards the quayside where Henry was waiting for them to arrive with his own vans, Carrie couldn't help but notice how cluttered the harbour was, particularly with all the different items of cargo that were piled up on the various quaysides and being loaded onto different trucks, or different pieces of equipment stored close to the line. Sniffing the air, Carrie winced a little at the familiar smells she smelt back at the Fishing Village, including seaweed and fish.

After crossing through a turning triangle, they slowly reversed the train along the quayside back to where Henry was. He was already coupled to his own line of trucks, which were being loaded up with fish brought in on the fishing boats a little earlier on. The fish, after being unloaded from the fishing boats, was packed into boxes with plenty of fresh crushed ice from the nearby ice plant and was then loaded into the vans.

"Hello Duck…good work on getting your trucks here." Henry said, as Duck backed his vans on the line beside Henry.

"Thank you, Henry…the reason we're here early is we had green lights all the way here since we left." Duck said.

"And I'll be glad to get this job done, and then get back to the sheds where I can sign off for the day and then take a shower." Carrie said, as she stepped off of Duck's footplate while wearing her own bright orange hi-vis vest.

"Oh, hello Carrie. Are you feeling tired after today?" Henry asked.

"Yes, I am Henry, but I'm looking forward to another day tomorrow." Carrie said.

"Well, at least you and Duck and go back to the sheds. I'm rostered to take the Flying Kipper over to Vicarstown this evening. So, it'll be late before I can go to sleep." Henry said.

"And you'll spend the night over in Vicarstown?" Carrie asked.

"Yes, after I make the deliveries, I'll spend the night in the sheds over near Vicarstown and then I'll take the empty vans back here in the morning." Henry said.

"Sounds like a fair plan to me." Carrie said.

"Come on then…let's not waste any more time and get the vans coupled to Henry's train." said the harbour master.

"Very well, sir." Duck said, and he slowly went in reverse over the points to the empty stretch of line behind Henry's train.

As Duck went to work on getting his vans coupled to Henry's train, Carrie stood aside for a few moments and took the opportunity to have a look at the different vans that made up the Flying Kipper; the vans were of all different types, some with curved or pointed roofs, some were long or short and some were light in colour while others were dark. The vans all differed in height, and there were at least two vans in the train were quite long, with two sets of doors on each side and with four distinct vent slats at both ends.

Duck soon shunted the vans he brought behind the vans of Henry's train, and the shunter coupled the vans to the train and helped to connect the brake pipes between the vans. A few short minutes later, it was time for Henry to leave. Once the points were set and the signal light shone green, the guard blew his whistle and showed his green lamp…and the Flying Kipper was ready to go.

As Carrie and Duck watched from the line beside where Henry stood, Henry gave a loud whistle and, with a whoosh of steam and driving wheels slipping a little on the rails, he moved slowly forward with the vans following along behind. The driver activated the sanding gear, and sand was sprayed onto the rails directly in front of the driving wheels, which helped to prevent slipping and allowed Henry's wheels to get a good grip on the slippery rails.

"Come on…come on." Henry called with a great effort, as he moved forward along the quayside and out of the harbour. Carrie watched from Duck's cab as the train pulled out of the harbour and round the bend and counted the vans as they went by; including the brake van, there were 17 vans of a number of different varieties, in the train. After the train had gone round the bend and vanished from view, leaving a small cloud of smoke and steam in its wake, the smell of fish still lingered about in the air.

"Well, I guess that's it…let's get back to the sheds." Duck's driver said, as he set the reversing lever into full forward.

"Sounds like a plan to me." Carrie said with a smile, as she leaned out of the fireman's side while the driver opened the regulator and blew the whistle. Duck moved forwards and rolled out of the harbour before heading back to Tidmouth Sheds.

(A short while later)

Duck, exhausted after his long day of work, arrived in the depot and rolled up to Tidmouth Sheds, where quite a few other engines were already resting. He puffed onto the turntable and was turned round before he rolled backwards into the empty berth. Other drivers and firemen, as well as the young recruits were there too, all eager to get washed up after their day.

"So, how was your day, Duck?" Thomas asked, as Duck came to a stop.

"It went fine, Thomas. And I'm pleased to report that Carrie did a good job today too." Duck said, with a smile.

"Really?" Toby asked, as Carrie stepped off of Duck's footplate.

"I did, and I really learned a lot out there today." Carrie said, a big smile on her tired face.

"And I think we could both use a wash before we head on home." came a familiar voice. Carrie turned and saw Simon standing close to her. His overalls were covered with a light dusting of coal dust and soot, just like hers were, and he was tired after his long day.

"I'm very pleased to report that Simon did very well today too on his first day of working on the main line." Edward said, as he looked towards Simon.

"Well done there, Simon." Carrie said, as she patted Simon on the shoulder, and he smiled a tired but grateful smile at her. She looked round briefly, and saw that all the engines, though tired, seemed to be in good spirits. Even James seemed to be in a good mood now.

"And I think it's time we all went to shower, get changed and then sign off the day." came a familiar voice. Simon and Carrie looked to their right and saw Ralph White standing a few feet from them. His overalls were covered with a dusting of coal dust, iron ore dust and soot…clear evidence of the hard work he'd been doing all day.

"Indeed." Simon said. Carrie smiled before she then turned to the engines.

"Well…goodnight, everyone." Carrie and the others said to the engines, as she, Simon and her father, as well as other drivers and firemen, as well as the other young recruits, made their way over to the crew rest building close by, where they could washup and change.

"Goodnight, everyone!" the engines called to the group, as the shed crews set about disposing them ready for the next day. The engines were soon talking to each other about their day, as well as how the recruits had managed, before they could go to sleep after their day of work.