Scout, Cedric, and Johnny were lined up at the station by nightfall. Cedric had an empty flatbed, and Scout was pulling a few covered wagons with an unknown cargo. Johnny was running light.
Mark Capp and Dulcie climbed aboard Scout. Dylan watched from Marion's cab.
"Try not to wreck this place too much!" called Dulcie.
"Please! I've run this place a million times on my own, and you know it. In fact I think that I . . . "
The rest of his statement was drowned out by the noise of the trains as they pulled away.
The journey down the mountain was faster than the journey up. Soon they were rumbling back down toward the diesel lines.
They slipped past towns and stations under the cover of the darkness. Once or twice, a distant headlight had shone in the distance, and the cavalcade pulled into a siding and held their breaths until the trains were gone.
Scout had explained the plan that afternoon. They were going to intercept a freight train at a junction, and steal the cars. The trucks were full of mechanical supplies bound for a scrap yard. If they succeeded, they would both be helping steamies and foiling the diesels.
At last they approached the junction. Scout and Cedric braked to a halt. From behind them, Johnny could just make out a two-track branch line splitting from the six-track main line.
They waited for a while with bated breath. Then, in the distance, a headlight breached the darkness.
"Right on time," muttered Mark through the radio. He disembarked from the track and placed a small black box (a "torpedo" in the railway lingo) on the track and turned it on. Then he grabbed a red flag and started waving it.
In the very far distance, Johnny could just make out a long train of flatbeds and vans. All he could see of the locomotive was a long, sleek rectangle. This was a passenger engine, the B3, with more speed than strength. It had been rostered onto the train at the last minute. This was part of the reason why Mark had chosen this train.
Then, as the train grew closer, Johnny saw two boxy diesels on either side. They were switchers, with eight coupled wheels. They were R5s, the spiritual descendents of the ubiquitous BR 08. They were big and brawny, and could hold their own in a fight.
Mark cursed softly. "We've got an escort."
"Should we abort the mission?" asked Dulcie from Scout's cab.
"No time. We'll just have to think of something."
When the train was about a quarter of a mile away, an explosion echoed across the land and smoke rose around the B273's wheels. It had entered the range of the torpedo's radio broadcast, and had activated a warning system and the emergency brakes. Soon the R5s were also shrouded in smoke.
Sparks flew from the locomotives' wheels as they braked to an automatic halt. They came to a halt just before the points, as hoped. Mark waved the red flag until there was no trace of movement. Then he ran up to the B3's cab, where angry shouting could already be heard.
Johnny heard the conversation over the radio. "What the hell is going on?" asked the driver angrily.
"I told you freight trains were no good," muttered the B3.
"The bridge down the line is out. The maintenance crew's working on it, but it won't be ready for a few hours," said Mark.
"Get into position, Cedric," came Dulcie's voice.
Cedric steamed quietly in front of the freight train. The B3's driver was too busy shouting at Mark to notice him.
Scout pulled up behind Cedric. However, she was apparently too loud, as one of the R5s peered around suspiciously.
"Watch it," said Johnny. "They're on to you."
"Is there another train due on this line?" asked the B3's engineer.
Cedric swore. "Just go," said Dulcie.
Everything fell apart after that.
Mark ran to the back of the B3 and uncoupled the vans. Cedric reversed over the points into the B3. He snorted forward, dragging the protesting diesel behind him.
"It's a steamie!" shouted an R5.
Scout reversed into the train, and started hauling them on the homeward track.
The R5s hurtled forwards towards her.
Cedric jettisoned the B3 and rolled up behind Scout's train, desperately trying to move the heavy trucks and get away from the diesels.
An R5 slammed into Cedric's tender. He winced, but kept puffing. Luckily, the diesel had not been able to couple up to him.
The freight train was gaining speed now, but they would never make it away from the diesels in time.
Johnny gritted his teeth. "Here's to a good first impression," he muttered into the radio.
Blowing his whistle loudly, he darted past the R5s. They caught sight of him and set off in pursuit.
"Second time lucky, I hope?" Johnny said to no one in particular.
He accelerated to his full speed, with the diesels trailing not far behind.
Johnny was doing what he did best: speeding. His followers were having a hard time keeping up with him. Johnny breathed in deep the rushing air. Despite it all, he laughed out loud.
"WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"
He hadn't felt this good since- well, since back on the Old Line, with Alice and Fred-
He jerked back to reality. The diesels, he noted, were at least half a mile away. He ducked into a siding and waited. Soon the R5s roared past, without them even noticing him.
Johnny eased back onto the main line and puffed back the way he had come.
The radio, which had been spitting out static for a while, finally came back on line.
"Good show!" said Dulcie cheerily.
"Didn't think we were gonna make it out of that," said Scout.
"Ya done good, kid," said Cedric.
"Maybe we'll keep you," said Mark Capp.
Johnny just smiled as he chugged back to his new home.