The line to Lasigar was finally finished, all that was needed was an engine or two to run it. Things got complicated though: the LMS, still wanting control of the NWR, had become pushier than ever, and began claiming the NWR would fail without them now that they had no board. This frustrated Lord Harwick and the Fat Director, who decided to hire new board members. Interviews, though, didn't prove satisfactory.

"And what makes you qualified to join our board?" Lord Harwick asked an applicant.

"Well, I have a degree in economics, I say we could lower salaries to buy engines…"

"Next!"

This lasted until a former Furness railway Director asked for one.

"I've heard you're in need of a board?" he asked.

"Yes, we are, why do you ask?" asked the Fat Director.

"I want to be head of it."

The Fat Director was taken by surprise.

"You want to join our new board?" he asked.

"I heard about how one of our old engines pushed an entire train up a hill," said the director. "And that your previous board was fired for not wanting to keep him on. I want to fix that, I want to lead a board that allows any engines to keep working, no matter what."

"What's the catch?" asked the Fat Director.

"Well, this is only a suggestion: perhaps kicking off all your board members wasn't a good idea, I mean, you do need a board, right? Perhaps we could rehire some of the board, namely those who are willing to back up any ideas you have," the director said. "That said, I can also bring in a few of my former board members onto the team."

Lord Harwick and the Fat Director looked at each other, nodded, then turned back to the director.

"Alright, we'll accept your deal," said the Fat Director.

"Excellent! Duford Cunningham, at your service."

Mr. Cunningham proved to be not only capable, he also kept his word. Before long, all of the new board began thinking of reasons to give to the LMS why the NWR should stay independent and not be absorbed by them, a discussion that took months. During this discussion, one of the board members said something that shocked everyone.

"I don't think it's us the LMS want."

"Come again?" asked the Fat Director.

"I'm not really sure," admitted the member, "but I have a feeling our ferry service from Kirk Ronan to Dublin makes the LMS feel threatened somehow. I mean, think about it: whenever you try to dissuade them, they always bring up the ferry, sometimes randomly."

The Fat Director thought about it.

"Now that you mention it, Jonah," he said, "the LMS do have ferry services, at Heysham and Fleetwood to name two, going to Dublin. Most likely, they want to get rid of the competition. We can't allow that. Maybe, however," he said, "we can compromise with them."

"A compromise, huh? Got anything in mind?" asked Lord Harwick.

"We could reduce how often the ferry sails," suggested Mr. Cunningham.

"Most likely so, but I have a feeling they'll want more than just curtailed ferry services," said the Fat Director thoughtfully.

"Such as?" asked Jonah. "Wait, aren't you looking for engines to run the Lasigair Line?"

All the board members stared at Jonah, then each other, before grinning: NOW they had their compromise.

Once all was in agreement, the Fat Director and Lord Harwick took a train to London, so they could talk with the LMS Board of Directors about their ideas to keep their independence while also allowing cooperation with the LMS. It took several days for them to arrive, and a lot more to get to an agreement, but eventually, the LMS agreed to let the NWR keep their independence and run up to Barrow-in-Furness. In exchange, the LMS would be allowed to operate services on the Lasigar Line, with the NWR's ferries to Dublin being changed from daily to Tuesdays and Fridays only, with part of the revenue going to the LMS. The deal was closed in early October, and thus, plans were put in place to move the headquarters from Vicarstown to Tidmouth.

So what happened during that time? Well, the NWR was in the middle of the summer rush, and the now complete Ballaswein line proved to add not only revenue, but workload. The new mayor had demanded the station be grand, with a large shunting yard. This backfired quickly, as two engines would be needed to pilot the station. Before heading off to London, Lord Harwick pleaded with the mayor.

"I'm telling you: this station's way too big for a line like this!" he pointed out.

"Ever since I went to London Crystal Palace, I knew that's how I wanted my city to have a station. You want a smaller station, build it on the suburbs."

"You do realise Ballaswein's not that big of a town, right?" asked Lord Harwick.

"I'll make it bigger. That's what I was elected for. Expansions, my friend!"

"There's expansions, and then there's this. If you ask me, I think you're trying to compensate for something."

"Compensate?! Do I look small to you?!" snapped the mayor.

"Doesn't mean you aren't compensating," said Lord Harwick.

"Whatever! You build my station like London Crystal, and we're all good."

"Very well," sighed Lord Harwick. On the way home, he began thinking of possible loopholes. He eventually decided to grant the wish, and build the station like London Crystal… On a smaller scale.

The day of the grand opening of the line came. 5 new stations connected Waterwaite with Ballaswein. The mayor was proud indeed…until he saw the station that had been built.

"What on Earth?! This isn't what I asked for! I made it clear I wanted the design to be based on London Crystal Palace!"

"You did," said Lord Harwick, and he handed him a miniature model. "And I delivered, here you go!"

The mayor tried not to laugh, but eventually gave in.

"Well played, I'll admit. At least this station's still got the glass ceiling."

Things weren't as smooth on Wellsworth. Ever since Jewelie's pregnancy, Thomas had become much more boastful and worrisome. He did now understand that he wasn't as important as he thought he was, and was eager to learn all about trucks.

Despite his humbling, the rest of his attitude was still the same, and Luoc was driven crazy by it, especially when Thomas kept asking Conan if Jewelie was ok. At last, he had enough.

"Knock it off!" he shouted one night. "You've been talking nonstop about Jewelie and it's driving me mad!"

"You got some nerve saying that, Luoc!" snapped Thomas. "She could be in trouble, do you have any idea how painful pregnancy is?!"

"Of course not, I'm an engine! And engines worry about engine things, not human things," said Luoc.

Thomas blew steam at him.

"What was that for?!" asked Luoc.

"For saying I shouldn't worry about Jewelie! She's my driver's wife and she cares for me, more so than you ever have!"

"Stop arguing!" shouted Rolf. "It's too late for that, we need sleep. Please wait until morning, you can go back to arguing then."

Edward was more patient with the two, and MacHarold, well, he wisely kept out of their way, having found that Luoc would try to drag him in if he didn't.

"We may be brothers, but don't drag me into your problems," he told him. Luoc rolled his eyes.

Next morning, the stationmaster came up to them.

"Lasigar Harbour is in need of a shunter," he said. "All stationmasters, including me, have been asked to…"

"I'll do it sir!" Luoc interrupted. "Anything to get away from this big blue mass of worrying-weight."

"Very well, I'll let them know," said the stationmaster. "Thomas, take Luoc's goods train down to Brendam." And with that, he walked away.

"Finally, a chance to get away from you!" shouted Luoc.

"Have you actually done shunting before?" asked Thomas.

"There you go again, worrying too much," scoffed Luoc. "I'm the oldest one here, I know what I'm doing."

"I thought you and I were the same age," MacHarold pointed out.

"DON'T RUIN THIS FOR ME!" shouted Luoc.

As Thomas began shunting the trucks for the goods train, he noticed in a siding a couple of trucks he hadn't seen before: a small coach, some flat trucks, and two giant cranes.

"Where are those trucks going?" he asked Conan.

"I'm not sure," Conan admitted. "But the cranes seem to have faces. Come on, let's ask them."

Thomas steamed up over to the cranes, who were sleeping, and blew his whistle.

"Excuse me, hullo!" he called.

"Judy!"

"Jerome?!"

"Emergency!"

"Where's the accident?"

"Is an engine off the rails?"

"Or is it a breakdown?"

"A fire!"

"A bridge out!"

"What's all the commotion about?" asked Thomas, confused.

"You woke us up, right?! That means there's an emergency!" Jerome shouted.

"No there isn't," said Thomas. "I just…wanted to know where you were going."

The two cranes stared at him.

"Are you saying…you woke us up…for nothing?" Judy asked slowly. Suddenly, she began to grow angrier. "YOU SELFISH BASTARD!" she shouted, startling everyone. "HOW DARE YOU WAKE US UP WHEN THERE'S NO EMERGENCY!

"Judy, please!" called Jerome.

"DON'T YOU KNOW ANY…"

Rolf quickly blew his whistle, putting a halt to the conversation.

"I'm out of here!" the fireman shouted, and he ran off.

"That's enough, Judy," said Rolf. "Thomas here hasn't seen you before, there's no need to shout at him."

"That doesn't excuse him waking us up for no reason!" snapped Judy.

Rolf gave a sigh and turned to Thomas.

"Thomas," he said, "Judy and Jerome here form what we call the Breakdown Train. When there's an accident, the workmen get into the coach, and an engine couples up and takes them quickly to help the hurt people, and to clear and mend the line. The cranes, Judy and Jerome, are used to lift heavy things like engines, coaches, and trucks, they're needed to recover the derailed engines and stock… if that is possible. The point is, don't touch them, not unless it's an emergency and they're called for."

Thomas was embarrassed. He looked back at the cranes: Judy was still scowling, while Jerome just gave an apologetic smile.

"Sorry to disturb you," said the E2, and he went back to shunting.

"You know, Judy, you really shouldn't get so riled up over nothing," said Jerome. "Like Rolf said, he didn't know we were meant to only be woken up in emergencies."

"He still shouldn't have woken us up so carelessly!" snapped Judy.

"Also, why are we always asleep? Today's a beautiful day, we should enjoy it while we…"

The cranes yawned and went back to sleep. Rolf chuckled and steamed off.

Later, Luoc arrived at Norramby Harbour. He immediately set to work shunting trucks around. The Q Class was most surprised when Emily came into Norramby with a small goods train.

"What brings you down here, Em?" he asked.

"Don't…talk to me," groaned Emily.

"Why not? I thought you liked conversation," said Luoc.

"I feel sick," she groaned, as she gave a little burp.

"I just don't understand it," said her driver. "She's been like this ever since July: one minute, she works fine, the next she randomly becomes sick. A few times, she's even become snappy for no reason."

"YOU CALLING ME A BITCH?!" shouted Emily.

Luoc wasn't sure what to say.

"What on Earth is going on here?" asked the Harbourmaster.

"For some reason, Emily's gotten sick," answered Luoc. As if on cue, Emily vomited out some burnt coal. "Geez, no need to show it!" snorted Luoc.

"Ugh, take this engine back to her shed," said the Harbourmaster. "Luoc, finish the run of this train and come back afterwards: we'll just have to deal with the potential backlog until you do return."

"Yes sir" Arrangements were made and Luoc set off for Lasigar with the goods train, while Emily slowly went back to Vicarstown.

Luoc managed to make good time, but was nearly out of water after crossing the bridge. To make matters worse, there were no water towers nearby.

"Water… I need it… I'm thirsty…"

"Well this isn't good," said the driver. "We go any further, we'll run completely dry."

"We can't just stop in… the middle of the line!" insisted Luoc. "Can't we just take on water from the sea?"

"I don't think that's a good idea," said the driver. "Seawater isn't suitable for us humans to drink, and it could clog your pipes. We'll just have to carry on until we find a loop. Should at least be a siding near North Lasigar Halt."

Indeed there was. North Lasigar isn't really a large station: just a halt mainly used by fishermen. A siding had been built at this station for loading fish. They stopped before and the fireman changed the points, then went to telephone for help while Luoc steamed slowly into the siding.

Later on, Olive came on over.

"You could've taken a tanker with you for extra water," she told him.

"Nevermind the extra water, just get me to a tower!" snapped Luoc.

Olive rolled her eyes and did so, pushing the train all the way to Lasigar. Once there, Luoc was shunted over to the water tower, where he had a nice, long drink.

While he took on more water, the driver and fireman began discussing ways on how to get back to Norramby. The Q class clearly didn't have enough water to make the return journey, and overfilling the tanks would risk priming, which could lead to serious damage. In the end, they decided to go with Olive's suggestion of filling a tanker with water and coupling it behind Luoc.

However, a set of points had jammed against them in the yard after Luoc was coupled. Another shunter had to be found for the docks while workmen were called to mend the broken points. It seemed to take an oddly long time for the workmen to arrive, and it wasn't long before the Lasigar Stationmaster came running along.

"A fishing boat collided into some of the supports of the bridge," he told them. "Nothing's allowed to pass over until they've been inspected, all trains going to and from here are cancelled."

"Oh botheration!" groaned Luoc. "That means I'm stuck!"

"Sorry boy, nothing for it," said the driver. "On the bright side, this does mean we can give Lasigar's famous Lobster Sandwiches a try. Want one, Luoc?"

Luoc didn't know if he could eat anything, so he declined. The crew dropped his fire and left him alone, heading off to a nearby restaurant.

"What's next? Dog sandwiches? Honestly, people will think of anything to make a sandwich out of."

For Luoc, the rest of the day was boring. Passengers ended up taking ferries to Norramby like they did before the bridge was built. He had a lot of time to think about what happened with Emily. He never knew it was possible for engines to puke out coal. A man with a white beard came up.

"You feeling bored?" he asked. "I recognise that look anywhere. Name's Jonathan Junes."

"You mean Jones, don't you?" asked Luoc.

"No, Junes. Not the same as Jones. What's your name, engine?"

"Luoc."

"Well, Luoc, since it seems you don't really have anything to do, how's about I tell you a story?"

"What kind of story?" asked Luoc.

"An old legend about a reptilian creature said to prowl this little island," said Junes. "This creature, often called the Longmair, is said to be the size of a Great Dane, with a long, hooked snout and walking like a mammal."

"How do I know you're not making it up?" asked Luoc suspiciously.

"Oh this legend existed long before I was born," said Junes. "According to it, the creature is nocturnal, it roams at night looking for food. Many believe it likes to hunt little children who stay out too late. I remember hearing about one particular encounter. It goes like this: late one evening, a newly-wed couple were walking along the beach, too distracted to care. As they walked, the man spotted something unusual: it looked like a small canoe. They walked near, and the man bent down to pick it up. Suddenly, something clamped down on his hand! It wasn't a canoe, it was a jaw! A hooked, bone-gripping jaw! The man screamed, and his wife tried to free him. But it was no good. The creature dragged them into the water… And were never seen again."

"Surely people can tell the difference between a canoe and a jaw!" scoffed Luoc. "I mean, jaws have teeth for crying out loud!"

"Ah, very true, Luoc," said Junes. "However, can you say for certain you can easily see things in the dark?"

"No, I guess not," admitted Luoc. "All the same, how can a large reptile live in a cold climate like this? It would freeze to death!"

"Think what you like," said Junes, "but many people will tell you that the Longmair is out there. My grandpappy claimed to have seen it, and so did some of his friends. Just because you haven't seen physical proof of something doesn't mean it isn't real. After all, didn't the NWR recently deal with an angry ghost?"

"Yes, it did," said Luoc.

"My point exactly," said Junes. "Well, I better get back home: my wife is making me some lobster soup. See you around Luoc!"

And he began to walk off.

"Mr. Junes, wait!" Luoc called. "Does the Longmair like metal?"

"I doubt a giant engine like you would be desirable for a dog-sized reptile like the Longmair," chuckled Junes. "You'll be fine!"

Night soon fell, and with it came fog. Luoc looked around: the fog made everything look spooky. Luoc felt his teeth clattering.

"Get a grip, Luoc," he told himself. "Nothing's different, it's just the fog playing tricks on your eyes. See? That tall thing with arms, just a lamppost. And those things over there? It's just a line of trucks. And that…"

He was interrupted as he heard a low growl. Glancing to his left, where the growl came from, he spotted what looked like a tail slide into the fog.

"Must be my imagination," he huffed. The growl then came again. He looked ahead, and saw it: walking towards him was a creature he had never seen before. The creature, obscured by the fog, was as big as a dog and walked like a mammal, but the skin, it seemed, was covered in reptilian scales. What he could clearly make out were two yellow eyes glowing in the dark. The creature seemed to be walking towards him, growling as it did. Luoc suddenly felt terrified.

"Stay away!" he called. "I'm not food, keep your ass away!"

This did nothing: instead, the creature let out what sounded like a roar, opening its mouth. Then, Luoc saw it: the end of the upper jaw was hooked downwards, and there were teeth in that hook. Suddenly, without warning, the creature lunged at him!

The next morning, Luoc's crew returned to check on their engine. They were most surprised to find him shivering.

"Luoc, are you ok?" asked the driver. "Surely it's not that cold!"

Luoc couldn't answer: he just kept shaking.

"Come on, Luoc," said his driver, walking up to the front. "There's no need to…oh my god!"

His driver noticed something missing: his right buffer.

"What on Earth happened to your buffer?!" he asked in shock.

"I don't know…" admitted Luoc, still shaking. "Something…prowled…then…"

"Alright, alright, calm down," soothed his driver. "Most likely it was vandals who snuck in while you were sleeping and snatched it off. Clearly didn't do a good job of it either, considering the fact there's now a whole piece of ripped metal."

"I don't believe it was vandals," said the fireman, who had gone up close to the spot where the buffer was. "Look what I've found." The driver did, and gasped: there, stabbed above the bufferbeam, was a tooth. Part of the gum was still attached to it.

"Nope. We'll ignore it. No more supernatural shit!" insisted the driver. "Besides, looking at it…I feel grossed out! Just throw it aside and we'll get a new buffer when we get to Crovan's Gate."

"So I take it the bridge is safe?" asked Luoc, managing to recover a little.

"Yep. A slow order is in place, but it's safe enough to cross if we obey it. Emily should be coming down soon with workmen to fix the points."

Luoc sighed with relief, for more reasons than one. He looked at the tooth as it was taken out and tossed onto the ground. The Q class didn't know if what he encountered was a supernatural occurrence or if he actually witnessed an undiscovered animal.

"At least I'm not dealing with Thomas worrying about Jewelie's pregnancy more than her husband," he puffed. Emily happened to have just arrived at that moment and overheard.

"What's this I hear about a pregnancy?" she asked. Luoc just sighed. The points were fixed and Emily took him to Crovan's Gate. Privately, he figured putting up with Thomas being worried about Jewelie would be ten times better than risking getting eaten by a predatory creature that randomly attacked anything it saw…

(Author's note: The description of the Longmair is based on Proterosuchus fergusi, a prehistoric relative of crocodiles that lived in South Africa 252 million years ago during the Early Triassic, before the dinosaurs. In real-life, Proterosuchus was as big as a Komodo Dragon, the size being increased here to make it more possible for it to attack Luoc. Of course, the two are identical, but not really the same creature. You may recognise Proterosuchus from BBC's Walking with Monsters, where it was referred to as a chasmatosaur.)