Starting Over Again Chapter 30: 29: Day on the Little Western, a Thomas the Tank Engine + Carrie Crossover fanfic

Chapter 29: Day on the Little Western

(Wednesday, May 16th 2012 – 08:05am; Tidmouth Sheds)

With a hot cup of tea in her left hand and a pastry in her right hand, Carrie stood with all the other recruits at the motive power depot at Tidmouth Sheds, and awaited to be assigned to their locomotives. She was glad to be going back out on the main line again, as the previous day she and some of the other recruits had been assigned to work within the depot, where they helped to maintain and ready some of the other locomotives for their day of work, including lighting up the fires, wiping down the paintwork so the locomotives looked smart, and oiling up the moving parts. Other work that had been done included disposing of engines at the end of their working day, such as dropping the fires and emptying out the ashpans, as well as cleaning out the smokeboxes, each of which was a filthy job and involved getting covered in dusty cinders and ash.

The work that had been done the previous day had been very good and was certainly very rewarding in terms of getting an engine ready to go out to work, but even so Carrie was very pleased to be given the chance to go back out onto the main line on the footplate of one of the engines. After all, it was so much more interesting to work when the world was passing by right outside the footplates.

The morning was bright and clear, with the sky a bright blue and no clouds to be seen for miles in any direction. The breeze that they could feel blowing in the air was very light, and was just enough to cause the smoke coming from the funnels of the locomotives to blow very gently away from them. It looked like it was going to be a perfect day to work on the Sodor railway system.

By this point of the morning, Carrie's father, Ralph, had already set off for work, as he was assigned to take Gordon along the Southern Main Line over to Vicarstown with the first express of the day, which always left from Knapford Station as precisely 8:00am, and always arrived in Vicarstown Station at 9:15am.

It wasn't too long before the recruits were soon being assigned to their engines they were to work on for the day, with the inspector and yard foreman assigning each recruit to one of the locomotives that were waiting. It wasn't too long before it was Carrie's turn to be assigned to an engine.

"Okay, Carrie…" said the inspector, as he looked through his clipboard, "…you're going to be working with No.7801 Anthony Manor today." And Carrie looked over towards the G.W.R. Manor Class 4-6-0 standing a few meters away from her. His paintwork was wiped down so that it shone in the morning sunlight, and his brass had also been rubbed down and polished so it shone like gold.

"Is that all right with you, Carrie?" the inspector asked.

"Yes, sir. I've no problem with working with Anthony Manor today." Carrie said, as she looked at the inspector.

"Very good, Carrie. And you'll be working on the Little Western for today. You're first job will be to take passengers from Knapford up to Arlesburgh, and then you'll be doing whatever other jobs need to be done on the Little Western today. Is that all right with you, Anthony?" the inspector asked, as he looked towards Anthony Manor, who simply liked to be called Anthony.

"Yes, sir. I've got no problems with doing that." Anthony said, with a smile.

"That's a good engine. And the passenger train you're to take to Arlesburgh isn't due to leave Knapford until 9:30am, so there's plenty of time to get ready until then." said the inspector.

"Yes, sir." Anthony said.

"Well, I guess that'll give us the time we need to get everything oiled up, and have some breakfast cooked on the shovel before we go." the driver of Anthony said, as he and his fireman clambered onto the footplate.

"Oh, absolutely! I know something like that's a must!" the inspector said, with a chuckle. Then he looked down to his clipboard, before then turning to Simon.

"Okay then, Simon…you'll be working with No.31801 for today. And you and his crew will be taking a passenger train from Knapford Station down to Brendam Docks. The train is scheduled to be leaving the station at 9:00am, and the passengers will be heading to catch the ferry over to Dublin at 11:00am."

"I understand, sir. And what jobs will need to be done after we deliver the passengers to Brendam Docks?" Simon asked.

"Well, whatever jobs that need to be done, such as delivering freight, shunting, or whatever needs to be done." the inspector said.

"Yes, sir." Simon said, and with that Simon met up with No.31801 and his crew, and then they set about getting the U Class 2-6-0 ready for his first job of the day.

Carrie and the crew of Anthony also set about getting ready for the day ahead; first, they started by oiling up all the moving parts, including the coupling and connecting rods, as well as the oil boxes on the bearings, the slide-bars on the two outside cylinders, as well as the mechanical lubricators on both sides of smokebox. Once they task was done, a J.C.B., being driven by one of the workmen, set about getting the coal space in the tender filled up with fresh coal from a tall pile of coal in one corner.

For a few minutes, Carrie stayed back and watched as the J.C.B. slowly filled up the coal space, before going back and refilling its front bucket, and then going to place the coal into the tender. It was a loud process and some dust was thrown up as the lumps of coal tumbled loudly into the tender, but it wasn't long before the job was finally completed. Once it was finished, Carrie and the fireman climbed onto the back of the tender with shovels in their hands and set to trim the coal so that none would come loose when they finally set off on their first job of the day.

Carrie was also impressed by how clean Anthony Manor was, and how his brass-work shone brightly. The driver told her this was just a tradition taken from those who had worked on the G.W.R. Manors on the Cambrian Coast Line in Wales back in the day, where the Manors who worked on that line would always be kept in a spotlessly clean condition.

In the meantime, the boiler pressure slowly climbed on the main steam pressure gauge as water boiled inside the boiler, and the fire burned brightly in the firebox as the fireman placed fresh coal into the fire every now and then to keep it burning.

But soon, the work to ready Anthony for his first job was soon completed, and there was plenty of time to spare that they could have a fry-up on the shovel before they could set off. And Carrie was really looking forward to getting some food into her before they began their first job.

After using water from the slacking pipe on the footplate to thoroughly clean down the shovel, some oil was poured into it, and then it was set over the fire to get really hot. While it was heating up, Carrie went and washed any dirt off of her hands, and then went back to the footplate, where the oil was sizzling nicely by the time she got back.

"And we're all ready to start off." said the driver, as he slowly pulled the shovel out from the firebox, where Carrie could see thin whisps of smoke rising from the sizzling oil, as well as the sounds of the sizzling.

Right, let's get cooking then." said the fireman, as the driver then placed between half a dozen and a dozen sausages into the hot oil. There came a loud sizzling sound as the sausages were placed into the oil, and then the fireman slowly pushed the shovel back over the heat of the fire. In a few seconds, the sizzling increased in intensity as the sausages cooked in the oil, and, kneeling down and looking inside the firebox, Carrie watched for a few seconds before she then stood up again.

"Will it be long before they're done?" she asked.

"No, not long, Carrie. And then once they're done, we'll put on the bacon and eggs as well." the fireman said.

"Good, I can't wait." Carrie said.

"We've also got tea available too, Carrie." the driver said, as he produced a white tea-can with a cup on the top.

"Oh, yes please." Carrie said, as the driver filled the cup with tea, and then handed it to her. Taking the cup, Carrie leaned on the front of the tender and sipped from it while she waited for the cooking to be finished.

A few moments later, there came the sounds of steam whooshing and the sounds of a whistle being sounded. Carrie looked over, and saw No.31801 slowly moving off from the line he had been standing on, and out of the depot. From the footplate of No.31801, Carrie saw Simon waving to her as he and the S.R. U Class 2-6-0 set off on their way.

"I'll see you later on, Carrie!" Simon called, as he waved to her.

"Okay, Simon! And good luck today!" Carrie called, as she waved back to him.

"Thanks, Carrie! And good luck to you too!" Simon called, as the driver of No.31801 sounded his whistle and set off through the yard towards the main line.

It wasn't too long before the cooking on the shovel was finally complete, with the sausages, slices of bacon, some eggs, as well as some slices of bread being fried on the shovel, and they were at last ready to eat.

"Oh, I'm looking forward to this. Always a good thing to have before a day of work." said the driver, as he, the fireman, and Carrie assembled what had just been cooked into sandwiches, on a flat area on the front of the tender.

"Indeed, and I always look forward to having something cooked on the shovel." Carrie said, with a smile. Ever since she had seen food being cooked on the shovel back during the previous December, Carrie had grown to liking having a sandwich with breakfast food cooked on the shovel over the heat within the firebox.

They soon had their sandwiches fully assembled, and then they settled back to enjoy them, with cups of hot tea, from tea-cans kept warm on the warming plate over the firebox doors, close at hand.

"Hmm…delicious." Carrie said, as she savoured her sandwich and the still-hot sausages, slices of bacon, and egg within it. Up front, Anthony simply dozed quietly, with a small smile on his face, and waited for the moment where they could set off for their first job.

The clock soon showed the time as being 9:15am, and it was finally time for them to leave the depot, and head down to Knapford Station to collect their train. With their sandwiches and tea finished, and with them feeling satisfied, the driver, fireman, and Carrie were ready to set off for their first job.

"Okay, Anthony…time for us to be off!" the driver said, as he released the brakes.

"All right, driver!" Anthony called, as the driver then sounded his whistle for a few seconds, and then opened the regulator. Slowly, Anthony felt steam flow through his steam pipes and into his two outside cylinders, and then slowly he moved off, in reverse, out from the steam and out onto the main line, where he reversed at a steady pace towards Knapford Station, where he would collect his train.

As they reversed steadily along, Carrie leaned out from the fireman's side and looked back along the track; the track they were on stretched all the way into the distance towards Knapford, while there were still no other trains to be seen on the other tracks to the sides as of yet. Carrie felt the breeze blow onto her face, and it still felt quite cool as of now, though there was no doubt that the air would slowly warm up as the morning went on.

It wasn't long before Knapford Station came into view behind them, and they were on the track that would go along to Platform 2. And sitting at Platform 2, waiting for Anthony Manor to pick up, were eight coaches, which were painted in the G.W.R. colours of cream along the top, and chocolate brown along the bottom. The coaches had been polished down and cleaned so that they looked very smart, and now the passengers were boarding the train. Many of the passengers looked as though they were ready for a day out and to enjoy themselves, either at the seaside, considering the Little Western ran along the coast, or else to enjoy the sights and sounds of the various tourist places along the Little Western.

Gently backing down onto the front coach, Anthony was coupled up to the train and had the brake pipes connected. As the driver worked the injectors to create a vacuum within the train, Carrie set about having a go at keeping the fire stoked with fresh coal. With the shovel in her hands, she placed about 10 pounds of coal in one shovelful into the first go, making sure that it was evenly spread in the space under the firehole doors. Carrie then placed three more shovelfuls of coal into the fire, while the fireman kept the firehole doors open and watched as she went about the job.

"Okay, Carrie, I think that's enough coal on the fire for now." the fireman said, as he brought his arm up and indicated for Carrie to pause.

"All right then." Carrie said, as she handed the shovel back to the fireman, and then went over to lean out from the fireman's side of the cab so she could look back along the platform.

It wasn't too long before the last of the passengers had boarded the train and, just as the last of the doors of the coaches were closed, the guard turned round and blew his whistle and waved his green flag. Then he quickly boarded his compartment at the front of the leading coach and closed the door behind him. It was 9:30am exactly, and it was time for them to be on their way.

"Okay, right away!" Carrie said, as she turned to the driver.

"All right…here we go!" the driver said, as he pulled on the whistle cord for a few seconds and then opened the regulator a little. Slowly, with clouds of condensed steam blowing out from the opened cylinder drain cocks, Anthony moved forwards out of the station, with his coaches following along behind him.

"Come on…come on…" Anthony said, as he took up the strain and rolled onwards. On the footplate, Carrie leaned out and looked ahead. The signal ahead of them was down, showing the way ahead was clear for them to depart.

"Well…Arlesburgh, here we come." Carrie said quietly, as they set off on their way.

Now they were clear of Knapford Station and heading out onto the open lines, the driver opened the regulator a little more and then wound back on the reversing gear to lengthen the cut-off of steam from the boiler. Slowly, Anthony picked up some more speed and, as the train made its way past the extensive yards a little to the north of Knapford Station, they went along over the wide red-brick viaduct, where they could see all the activity taking place in the yards below.

As they went along, Carrie could see what was going on down in the yards below and over towards Knapford Harbour; Diesel could be seen going along and shunting trucks in one of the longer sidings; WD Austerity 2-8-0 No.90361 was seen moving out from Knapford Harbour with a long mixed freight behind his tender; B.R. Standard Class 4 2-6-4T No.80101 was seen moving a long line of empty coaching stock over to the station close to Knapford Station; Percy was seen moving a line of empty trucks out from the yards, and James was seen hauling a train of different box vans out from the yards and towards the main line.

After going over the bridge that crossed over the estuary, where Carrie saw a number of powered barges, each laden down with all sorts of cargo, going up and down the river, the driver shut the regulator and put on the brakes. They were now approaching Tidmouth Station, where they were to collect more passengers before they went onto the Little Western. Approaching Platform 1, they were going slowly enough that Carrie could lean out from the fireman's side and see all the passengers waiting to be picked up, with some of them just stepping out from the waiting room. Many passengers had luggage with them, and looked like tourists or holiday makers who were on their way to the coastal resorts that dotted the length of the Little Western.

"Looks like we're gonna have a full train today." Carrie said to the fireman, as the driver gently brought the train to a stop at the platform.

"Well, that's quite common at this time of year with the summer coming. Virtually ALL the passenger trains that run on Sodor during the summer are always full of passengers who are on their holidays." said the fireman.

The doors to the coaches were opened and the passengers on the platform began to board the train. As Carrie, the driver and fireman waited, there suddenly came the sounds of another whistle from a little further up the line. Going over to the driver's side, Carrie looked ahead and saw the engine was No.96100, the U.S.A.T.C. S160 2-8-0 that she and Simon had worked on together on their first day of work back in January. No.96100 was hauling a long, and very heavy, mixed freight train, made up of all different kinds of wagons, from Vicarstown to Knapford Yards.

"Morning, No.96100." Anthony said, as the American engine approached him

"Morning! Can't stop I'm afraid!" No.96100 said, as he went on past with his long train. From where she stood, Carrie watched as the long train went on past, and she was impressed by how many different wagons were in the train, including box vans, open-topped trucks, tankers, steel wagons, flatbeds, and other wagon types as well. It wasn't long before the brake van went on past them, and the sights and sounds of the train slowly faded from view back in the direction of Knapford. Carrie didn't even try to count the number of wagons going past as there were so many of them.

Then there came the sounds of the whistle being blown by the guard, which snapped Carrie back to reality.

"Time to be off again!" the driver said, as he blew the whistle and opened the regulator. Slowly, Anthony rolled forwards, taking his train out from the platform with the new passengers safely and comfortably aboard.

They soon approached, and then turned off at the junction that would take them to the Little Western. Looking back along the fireman's side as they went through the junction and onto the Little Western, Carrie watched as the coaches smoothly followed along behind them. Looking along the length of the train, Carrie could see the heads of a few passengers leaning out from some of the windows, with a few looking as though they had cameras in their hands and were recording the journey. Others were leaning out and waving out to anyone they saw who were close to the side of the line as they went along. Sometimes, those by the side of the line would wave back to the passengers as they watched the train go by.

"Looks like we're gonna have a lot of satisfied passengers. I saw some of them lean out from the coach windows." Carrie said, as she turned to the fireman.

"Oh, that's quite common, Carrie. Especially at this time of year, when the weather is getting warmer. And some of them, no doubt, want to see the engine working hard up front, and they like that adrenaline thrill." said the fireman.

"Yeah, I can understand that." Carrie said, as she quickly checked the water gauge glass on the backhead; the water level was at the three-quarters level.

They soon went on the single line stretch, where they crossed over the steel girder bridge that ran over the river below it. Looking out from the side of the cab, Carrie could see that the water level of the tidal estuary below them was quite high up, and the water was covering the mudflats that would normally be exposed at low tide. From both banks of the river, she could see the different wooden jetties and the concrete boat ramps going into the water, as well as different boats that were moored to some of the jetties, as well as a few that were tied to moorings in the middle of the river.

After going over the bridge and then going back onto a double-track section where they went through a long tunnel that went under a hill before arriving at the first station, which was the seaside station, and they came to a gentle stop at the platform. The doors opened and the passengers who were waiting on the platform began to board the train, as those passengers who wanted to go to the beach for the day disembarked from the train.

As Anthony, his crew, and Carrie waited for the time they could set off, they heard the sounds of another whistle coming from along the line further up ahead of them. A minute later, they saw another engine coming round the bend a few hundred yards ahead them and then come towards them with a train following along behind. The locomotive was No.3610, who was one of two examples of the G.W.R. 36XX Class 2-4-2T tank engines (48) which were on the Island of Sodor, with the second example being No.3620.

(48): The Great Western 36XX Class 2-4-2T tank engines were designed by William Dean, and were built at the G.W.R.'s works at Swindon in three batches between 1900 and 1903.

The very first exampled to be built was No.11, which emerged from Swindon Works in December 1900. Later on, in 1912, No.11 was renumbered No.3600. In 1902, the second batch, consisting of 20 class members numbered from No.3601 to No.3620, emerged from Swindon between February and August 1902. The last 10 locomotives of the third batch, No.3621 to No.3630, emerged from Swindon Works in 1903.

The locomotives of the 36XX Class had two inside cylinders that were 17in in diameter with a 24in piston stroke. Combined with a boiler that was pressed to 200psi, and driving wheels that were 5ft 2in in diameter, the class had a tractive effort of 19,020lbf.

Due to the fact this class were fitted with cabs that were larger and unusually spacious compared to other G.W.R. tank engines, they gained the rather unusually name of "Bird Cage." The larger than average cabs allowed plenty of space for their crews to move around in.

The class were mainly used for hauling trains filled with commuters within the suburban areas of major British cities, such as within London and Birmingham. For that work, the class were fitted with steam reversing gear, steam brakes, and two steam-operated water pick-up scoops for the side tanks, so they could take on more water from water troughs if they were running in forward or reverse.

Though the class spent much of their lives working on suburban trains in the areas of London and Birmingham, a few were allocated to work passenger trains from Chester to Birkenhead. A few were even allocated to working in South Wales.

Eventually though, the 36XX Class were superseded on their normal everyday duties by Collett's new classes of 2-6-2T tank engines, such as the G.W.R. 61XX Class. As a result of that, the 31 members of the 36XX Class were withdrawn from service between late 1930 and late 1934. Sadly, no members of the class have survived into preservation, which is a real shame considering how useful they would have been on many of Britain's heritage railways today.

Carrie could see that No.3610 was painted in G.W.R. green livery, and the words GREAT WESTERN were painted on the side tanks in yellow paint, and there was a brass plaque with the number fitted in between the two large letters. Then she could see the train that was behind No.3610 consisted of older-style G.W.R. coaches, which had a raised section that ran along the length of the middle of the coach roofs. Gradually, No.3610 came to a gentle stop at the platform along the other line.

"Good morning, No.3610." Anthony said, as the 2-4-2T tank engine came to a stop.

"Morning, Anthony." No.3610 said, as the doors of his coaches were opened up and his passengers waiting on the platform stepped aboard.

"Been busy so far today?" Anthony asked.

"Oh, it's been a fairly typical morning for me. Just taking my passengers from where they were to where they need to be going to." No.3610 said.

"Same for me. Is there anything up ahead that I should be concerned about?" Anthony asked.

"No, the line's clear further up. Just keep an eye out for the signals, junctions, and level crossings." said No.3610.

"Will do." said Anthony.

Soon, the last passengers had boarded Anthony's train, and it was time for them to be on their way again, with the guard blowing his whistle and waving his green flag. Ahead of the platform, the signal arm dropped, showing the way ahead was clear.

"Oh, time for us to be off! See you later, No.3610!" Anthony said, as his driver sounded the whistle and opened the regulator.

"I'll see you later, Anthony!" No.3610 said, as he watched the G.W.R. Manor slowly set off on his way north up the line. The sounds of the coaches rolling along the tracks had hardly disappeared up the line, when the guard for No.3610's train also blew his whistle and waved his green flag, which meant the 2-4-2T tank engine could see off on his way again too. Giving a short blast on his whistle, No.3610 slowly set off down the line, with his coaches following along behind him.

(With Anthony Manor)

Carrie leaned out from the fireman's side of the cab as they went rolling along up the line, and she like the feeling of the air blowing into her face, as well as seeing whatever sights that there were to see as they rolled along. They were now going along by the stretch of line that ran along close to the coast. Off to the right was part of the coastal village, with tall, craggy cliffs that rose up on either side of it. On the road running along the front of the village, between the buildings and the railway line, people could be seen going about, including a few vehicles went by on the road. Lining the wall at the edge of the road, a number of children, all of whom were suitably dressed for a warm summer day, were seen waving as the train went on by. Up ahead, a footbridge, painted in fresh dark-green paint, crossed over the two railway lines, going from the road and over the railway to the other side.

Off to the left of the two lines was a long concrete quayside where there were a few boats, including fishing boats, tied up to the capstans and rings that were dotted along the quay, along with light poles that ran evenly spaced along the length of the quay. Some of the boats were tied up either with two or three boats side by side. On some parts of the quayside, some workmen were seen, and they seemed to be doing work on repairing something for one of the boats; it looked like a large engine that had been lifted out from a boat.

Out on the water, a few boats could be seen going out to sea and passing through a wide gap in the breakwater, which had bright harbour lights placed on both sides of the mouth of it. At once, Carrie could see this coastal village wasn't the same one as the coastal village where, when she had gone to work with Duck, they had taken the loaded fish vans down to Knapford Harbour, but a completely different one entirely. As they made their way down the line and away from the village, Carrie looked out along a rocky point that jutted out to sea and saw a lighthouse sitting very near to the end of the point as they went around a curve that turned to the right, and went along the coastline.

For a little bit longer along the line, they went along the coastline, with the tall white-cream cliffs towering over the two railway lines to the right and past beaches of white-yellow sand on their left, where Carrie could see there were people relaxing on the beaches, including families with children. Soon, they reached the stretch where they went by another coastal village where the boats could be seen high and dry on the sand near the upper edge of the beach. As they went past, the driver pulled the whistle chain and sounded the whistle long and loud to those who were waiting for them to go by, whether they were on the beach, or within the town on the other side of the tracks. Quite a few of those who were relaxing or walking on the beach waved out as Anthony went on past with his train.

They then were going along Tidmouth Beach, which was the stretch of line where parts of the cliff jutted out and the tracks ran through them through short tunnels which had been cut through the rock. Going along, the driver reduced the steam a little as he knew they were approaching their next station, which was Tidmouth Hault, where they were also scheduled to stop at and collect more passengers. As they went round the turn ahead to the right and inland away from Tidmouth Beach, they came upon Duck, who was heading in the opposite direction with his own morning passenger train.

"Morning, Anthony!" Duck whistled, as he approached and then went on past.

"Morning, Duck!" Anthony called with a whistle of his own, as he slowed down a little, ready to make his stop at the up platform at Tidmouth Hault.

It wasn't long before Tidmouth Hault came into view ahead of them. Leaning out from the cab, Carrie could see there were a few passengers waiting on the platform, with a few more people standing on the footbridge connecting the two platforms, who didn't appear to be rushing to catch the train. Closing the regulator, the driver reached for the brake level and gently worked it back and forth, slowly, and steadily bringing the train to a halt. With a gentle squealing of the brake blocks on the driving wheels, Anthony came to a stop at the platform, with him sticking out just a little past the footbridge and standing on the steel bridge that crossed over the road beneath them.

"And there we then…next station safe and sound!" said the fireman.

"Indeed." Carrie said, as she leaned out from the cab and took in the view of the ocean out to their left. In the distance, and stretching along much of the horizon, she could see the dark grey, low-lying shape of the eastern coast of the Isle of Man. It couldn't have been more than a few miles away across the stretch of water known as the Sudrian Sea. She could see various boats and watercraft going back and forth across the strait, including what was one of the large vehicle and passenger ferries that shuttled back and forth across the strait on a daily basis, including to Douglas, the largest settlement on the Isle of Man.

Carrie took in a deep breath; it was really nice to feel the fresh sea breeze as it blew over her and around her. She felt herself smile somewhat as she took in the early summer scene, of a bright blue sunny sky, gentle breeze, and the bright blue sea stretching out before her. It was just the sort of day where the tranquil scene and the nice weather made one feel happy to be alive.

From the footbridge just above and behind the tender, the people who had been seen standing were railway enthusiasts who had come over from Ireland for a short break away from everyday life back home, and some of them were getting pictures of the railway life on Sodor, including as many of the engines as they could. Eventually though, the tourists walked off the footbridge and stepped aboard the train as well.

Behind and a little off to the right, work could be heard being done in the yards, as trucks were being sorted out, ready for the next engine to arrive to take the trucks away. Carrie couldn't see which locomotive was doing the work, but she could tell that the locomotive was working very hard at getting everything ready.

Just before they were to leave, they heard the sounds of another whistle, and this one was coming from further up the line and inside the tunnel that was cut through the cliff right ahead of them.

"I wonder who it could be." Carrie said, as she leaned out from the driver's side.

"Oh, it's a very familiar whistle to me, Carrie." Anthony Manor smiled, as he looked towards the dark tunnel mouth as the sounds of chuffing came closer and closer to them. And then the whistle sounded again; some seconds later, Oliver emerged from the tunnel mouth in a cloud of steam, and he had three smartly turned-out coaches behind him, with his faithful brake-van, Toad, coupled up to the very back of the train.

"Morning, Anthony! Can't stop I'm afraid!" Oliver whistled, as he went on past through the station. Oliver wasn't scheduled to make a stop at Tidmouth Hault station on this run, and so he kept right on going through on his way down south towards Tidmouth and Knapford Stations.

"Hello, Oliver! Make sure you get your passengers to where they need to go safely!" Anthony called, as Oliver and his train went on by.

"I will!" Oliver called with a whistle, as his train passed through the station and then headed on down the line.

It was soon time for Anthony to leave with his train, as the guard blew his whistle and waved his green flag. From the signal box just off to the right, the signalman set the signal to show the way ahead was clear.

"Hey, Carrie…do you want to blow the whistle?" the driver asked.

"Oh, I sure would!" Carrie said, as she reached up fro the whistle chain and pulled on it. After less than a second, the whistle fitted in front of the cab sounded loudly. And then Carrie let go of the whistle chain, pleased to have been given the chance to blow the whistle.

"Well done there, Carrie!" the driver said, as he opened the regulator a little. Slowly, with steam shooting out from the cylinder drain cocks with a hiss, and the sounds of an even chuffing to be heard, Anthony slowly moved forwards out from the station, and then went into the tunnel ahead of him. Behind, the coaches followed slowly and smoothly along, with the passengers aboard them comfortably settled and eager to enjoy the rest of their trip.

After going through the tunnel, where they slowly managed to pick up some more speed as they passed through it, they began to climb along the gentle gradient that took them up a little higher as they ran along it. Carrie was taking another go with the coal shovel, while the fireman worked the firehole doors, opening them to allow Carrie to place fresh coal onto the fire, while closing them in-between shovelfuls so as to limit the amount of cold air that was being admitted into the firebox. Carrie made certain to place the coal to where it was needed, especially along the sides of the firebox, and in the back corners.

"Okay, Carrie…I think that's probably enough coal for now." the fireman said, after Carrie placed in a sixth shovelful.

"All right then." Carrie said, as she stood back up again. Handing the shovel back to the fireman, she stretched out and then went to check the main boiler pressure gauge; the indicator needle showed the pressure was at about 220psi and slowly rising as the newly added fuel ignited and began adding heat. Giving a quick check of the water gauge glass, Carrie saw the water level was about three-quarters of the way up the glass.

"So far, so good…" Carrie said quietly, as she went over to the fireman's side of the cab and leaned outside. She could see they were now going along the stretch of double track that ran over the coastal village they could see below them. On the estuary, Carrie could see two boats making their way out of the harbour to the open water, and she could also see some activity within the streets as local people and tourists went about, including a few who were sitting out at outside tables in front of some of the quayside cafés and enjoying the warm weather. The driver pulled on his whistle chain, and the whistle sounded loudly for those down in the village to hear.

They soon reached the peak of the climb and then made their steady descend down the other side, back towards sea level. As they were now making a steady descent, the driver could shut the regulator and allow the train to drift downhill towards the level stretch at the bottom of the gradient. Then, as they rolled along, Carrie, who was now leaning out from the driver's side of the cab, saw another train coming up along the other line, but going uphill in the opposite direction.

The engine was No.1005 County of Devon, and he was on his way back towards Knapford with a long train consisting of parcels vans. With a full head of steam and the exhaust roaring loudly at his chimney, County of Devon, after sounding his whistle and calling out "Hello!", went on by up the line with his long parcels train following along behind him. Anthony's driver sounded his own whistle in reply, and they continued on down the slope.

After reached the level stretch that was close to sea level, the driver opened the regulator up a little more and they head off towards the next coastal village a little further up the line, and this was the one where the fishing boats brought in their catches earlier on in the year to be loaded onto vans, and then Carrie and Duck had taken the laden vans to Knapford Docks where they were coupled to Henry's train, the Flying Kipper.

The signal before the village was at yellow, meaning "Proceed with Caution", so the driver had to close the regulator somewhat and put on the brakes to slow the train down. Leaning out from the fireman's side, the side that was the closest to the sea, Carrie looked out as they slowed down, as she was interested to see which engine was in the siding that ran along the quayside and if there were any fish vans being loaded up from the fishing boats. Slowly, after seeing the rocky features close to the village go by, the ice plant came into view – and it still looked as weathered and old as it did the last time Carrie saw it – and then the siding came into view. And a moment later, Carrie saw another G.W.R. tank engine sitting on the siding, with a line of eight fish vans, of a number of different types, coupled together behind him. The tank engine was a G.W.R. 56XX Class 0-6-2T tank engine, and it was No.5600, the very first member of the class to be built. (49) He was one of three members of the 56XX Class on Sodor, with the other two examples being No.5650 and No.6630.

No.5600 was painted in B.R. Lined Green with late crest on his side water tanks, and his paint had been polished down so that it shone, and the brass of his top-feed on top of his boiler had also been really well polished down to such an extent that it shone like gold.

(49): The G.W.R. 56XX Class 0-6-2T tank engines were designed by Charles Collett and introduced onto the Great Western Railway between 1924 and 1928. In total, 200 examples of this class were built in 5 batches, with 150 examples built at the G.W.R.'s works in Swindon, with 50 being built by Armstrong Whitworth. The class were numbered from No.5600 to No.5699, and from No.6600 to No.6699. The class had the unique distinction of being the only steam locomotive class with the 0-6-2 wheel arrangement to be built by the G.W.R.

The class had two inside cylinders that were 18in in diameter with a 26in piston stroke which, paired with a boiler pressed to 200psi and driving wheels that were 4ft 7.5in in diameter, the 56XX Class had a tractive effort of 25,800lbf.

They weren't the first class of 0-6-2T tank engines to be used on the G.W.R. system, as the type had been used extensively, particularly within the South Wales area, by a number of different railway companies before the Grouping in 1923. Companies that had used the type included the Barry Railway – which had used 72 examples – the Rhymney Railway – which had used 101 examples – and the Taff Vale Railway – which had used 209 examples. The reason the 0-6-2T type had been used to the extent that it was had been due to the fact that the wheel arrangement could handle the sharp curves that could be found in the South Wales area.

Many of the 0-6-2T tank engines that had been inherited by the G.W.R. after the Grouping were rebuilt with G.W.R.-style taper boilers. Many of them managed to make it to 1948 and were absorbed into British Railways when nationalisation took place in January 1948.

When the G.W.R. discovered that Welsh crews liked the 0-6-2T wheel arrangement, instead of building a brand-new design from scratch, they built the 56XX Class to be a Swindon version of the Rhymney Railway M and R Class 0-6-2T tank engines. Both of the Rhymney classes were successful designs and could easily haul heavy coal trains over short distances.

The 56XX Class were quite suitable for working on lines in South Wales, and replaced many older and worn-out locomotives that had been inherited at Grouping. Many of the older 0-6-2 types had been run into the ground by that point. But the Rhymney Railway's more modern 0-6-2T's were in good order and had proved quite successful designs, and both became the blueprint for the G.W.R.'s 56XX Class.

The new design used a lot of standardised G.W.R. parts, and included Churchward's Standard No.2 boiler, as well as traditional G.W.R. safety valve casing and copper-capped chimney. Their side tanks could hold up to 1,900 gallons of water, and their high-domed cab, bunker and tanks were closely related to the G.W.R.'s 31XX 2-6-2T and 42XX 2-8-0T Classes.

Initially, the new 56XX Class, although they were powerful locomotives, didn't prove to be too popular with their crews, as there were a number of issues that occurred with the new design, the most serious, and common, of which were that the axle boxes had a worrying habit of running hot. But it soon became clear was that it was the tight tolerances of the G.W.R. which were the problem, as it meant that the axle boxes didn't have wider tolerances of those that had been used by previous 0-6-2T designs.

Once the issues the class had been overcome and rectified, the 56XX Class proved what they were capable of doing, and became popular with their crews. They were very versatile locomotives, with impressive power and acceleration, and capable of reaching speeds of up to 60mph. Those that were numbered from No.6600 to No.6699 had detailed differences, including parallel buffers replacing the taper type, and having the balance weights fitted inside the driving wheels opposite the crank pins.

However, despite the 56XX/66XX Class showing what they were capable of doing, no more examples of the class were built. That's because the Welsh crews discovered that the G.W.R.'s brand new 57XX 0-6-0 Pannier tank engine class – ironically the same class that Duck is based off of – was even more suitable for the work the 56XX/66XX Class were doing. The reason for it was that the 57XX Class were shorter and lighter, and with nearly the same tractive effort.

During their working lives, the 56XX/66XX Class worked in South Wales, and often in other parts of the G.W.R. system, including in the English Midlands. As the design was quite stable, the drivers would often run the engines in reverse bunker-first, as the placement of the trailing wheels always helped the locomotives enter the curves much better if they ran in reverse. Often, the engines would run in reverse when hauling a heavy load, and would then would run forwards for their return journeys up the valleys.

All 200 members of the 56XX/66XX Class made it to nationalisation in 1948, and passed into the ownership of British Railways. All of them remained in service until May 1962 when the first four examples were withdrawn from service. With the onset of diesel traction, withdrawals of the class continued over the next four years, until May 1966 when the final two examples of the class, No.5605 and No.6697 were withdrawn.

Thankfully, and with help from Woodham's Yard in Barry, South Wales, 9 examples of the class have survived into preservation, with 8 of the surviving locomotives being saved from Barry Scrapyard.

The surviving locomotives include;

No.5619; currently in service on the Telford Steam Railway.

No.5637; awaiting an overhaul at the Swindon and Cricklade Railway.

No.5643; currently in service at the East Lancashire Railway.

No.5668; awaiting restoration on the Kent and East Sussex Railway.

No.6619; awaiting an overhaul at the Kent and East Sussex Railway.

No.6634; undergoing restoration on the Peak Rail heritage railway.

No.6686; undergoing restoration at the Barry Tourist Railway.

No.6695; operational at the Swindon and Cricklade Railway.

No.6697; currently on static display at the Didcot Railway Centre. This is the only surviving member of the class not to go to Woodham's Yard in Barry.

"Morning, No.5600! Are you nearly ready to go with that fish train?" Anthony asked, as he approached, with a short blast of his whistle.

"Almost! There's a few more crates of fish left to load and then we can be off on our way to Knapford Harbour! After all, Henry's gonna be waiting down there with his own train!" No.5600 said, as he watched Anthony go on by with his passenger train.

From the footplate of the Manor, Carrie put two of her fingers on the sides of her nose and pressed it closed for a few moments as they went by, as the air had the smell of fish drifting through it, which was a smell she didn't particularly like that much. But soon they went round the bend to the right and left the fishing village behind, and Carrie was able to release her nose and breath through it again.

Soon, after going inland a little way, they came upon another stretch of single-track line ahead of them. As the driver slowed the train down, they saw that the signal was at green, which mean "All Clear", and they set off along the single track. After taking another coal at stoking the boiler, and then using the injectors to put more water into the boiler, Carrie leaned out from the fireman's side and looked ahead. She saw they were now travelling along an embankment, which was raised over the surrounding terrain, and ahead of them was a brick bridge that crossed over a narrow road.

"That bridge we're about to cross over is known as Bulgy's Bridge, because Bulgy the red double decker bus once got himself wedged under there, and then spent quite a long time in the field adjacent to the bridge, and being used as a henhouse by one of the locals for the whole entire time he was there." said the fireman to Carrie.

"Oh, dear. Well, he must have done something wrong to deserve that." Carrie said, amused at the thought of Bulgy being used as a henhouse.

"He did, by trying to steal Duck and Oliver's passengers from them." said the fireman. And Carrie looked out as they crossed over the bridge and headed on down the line.

It was soon journey's end, and they finally arrived at their final destination of Arlesburgh, and came to a stop at the platform. As the passengers disembarked from the train, Carrie leaned out and looked back, feeling a smile come across her face at the satisfaction of a job well done at getting these people here safely.

"Well, I guess we've done our job for this morning." Carrie said, to the driver and fireman.

"Yes indeed, Carrie. I think that's something to be proud of." said the driver. Looking up to the clock fitted over the platform, Carrie saw the time was 9:55am, and they had arrived at the station bang on time.

Behind the tender, a shunter uncoupled the coaches and disconnected the brake pipes, and a minute later, with a blast on his whistle, Anthony pulled away from the train and headed over to the nearby depot to be readied for his next job.

(The Arlesburgh Depot, a short while later)

Slowly, No.7801 Anthony Manor rolled in reverse onto one of the empty lines in the depot, and then came to a stop just before the buffer stops. They were sitting right over a long inspection pit, where they could empty out the ashpan. Right by the tender was a water tower, where they could top up the tender tank with more water before they set out again.

"Right…let get the ashpan emptied out, and then we'll go and get a cup of tea." the driver said, as he made sure the brakes were firmly on, and the reversing gear was set in mid-gear before he stepped off the footplate.

"All right…let's get it over with then." Carrie said, with a heavy sigh, as she put on his high-vis vest before stepping off the footplate as well. Emptying out the ashpan wasn't the cleanest of jobs, as the dust would often get blown everywhere, particularly if there was any form of wind blowing about. But there was no wind blowing about this morning, and so hopefully the ash wouldn't get blown around. Luckily, Anthony, like almost all of the other steam locomotives on Sodor, were fitted with a hopper ashpan that could be opened from the bottom and allow the ash to simply fall out.

Stepping down to the right-hand side of Anthony, Carrie watched as the driver placed the lever for opening the bottom of the ashpan into the mechanism, and then he stood aside and allowed Carrie to step forward. Taking in a deep breath, Carrie moved the lever back and forth until she felt it go, and then she watched a cloud of grey dust drop out from the bottom of the ashpan. She could hear the sounds of slight hissing, as the hot ash contacted the water at the bottom of the pit.

"And there we go…that's the ashpan emptied out." Carrie said.

"Okay Carrie…now we'll leave the fireman go about the job of removing the clinker from the firebox, while we go underneath the engine and remove the ash from the pit." said the driver.

"Oh, god…I'm not looking forward to that job." Carrie said, as she rolled her eyes and glanced up to the sky.

"I know it's a bad job, but it needs to be done." said the driver.

"I know…come on, let's get on with it." Carrie said, and grabbing the tools they needed, as well as putting on hard hats to protect their heads, they went down into the inspection pit.

There was at least half an inch or so of very dark, slick water at the bottom of the pit, and judging from the state of what the water was like, it looked like it had been there for some time. Bending down a little, Carrie and the driver went underneath Anthony and set about the job of removing the pile of ash. Luckily, there wasn't much to remove, though some bits of ash and clinker would fall from the firebox above as the fireman set about getting the clinker removed from the firebox.

After only two minutes, they had all the ash shovelled into a metal bucket and then they turned and made their way out from the inspection pit.

"Thank goodness there wasn't much in there today." Carrie said, as she removed her hard hat and rubbed down her forehead.

"Yeah, but it's not always like that…particularly after a long day when you've been running all the time, there'd usually be a lot more ash to remove." said the driver.

"I guess I should be thankful we didn't have a long run this morning." Carrie said, as a slight smile came across her face.

"Yes indeed." said the driver, with a smile.

On the footplate, the fireman had soon finished the hot, sweaty job of getting most of the clinker removed from the firebox, and had soon placed some more fresh coal into the firebox to get the fire built up again.

"Well then, that's all done…at least for now. The fire's getting itself built up and the steam pressure is slowly rising on the main pressure gauge." said the fireman, as he rubbed down his sweaty forehead.

"Very good, shall we get a cup of tea now, for a job well done?" asked the driver."

"That sounds like a good idea to me. Let's do that then." said the fireman, and they went over to the crew building that was very close by.

(A short while later)

Once Carrie, as well as the driver and fireman, had gotten a cup of tea, as well as a pastry from the canteen in the crew building, they went back outside. As the driver and fireman strolled over towards where Anthony was, Carrie followed along a short distance behind them, with a hot cup of tea in one hand and a cinnamon roll in the other. She was really eager to rest up for a while before going back to work again.

Arriving back at the side of Anthony, Carrie settled herself down on a bench that was close by, and started sipping on her tea before taking a bite from her cinnamon roll. She was feeling a little bit sore from all the shovelling of coal into the firebox, and her feet in particular were feeling a little from having been standing on the footplate and trying to stay up while they were going along.

As she enjoyed the flavour of the cinnamon roll, she looked up into the sky and took in the view of the clear and sunny sky. Feeling herself smile as she felt the bright sunlight and gentle breeze on her face, Carrie settled back on the bench and enjoyed her tea and pastry.

Just then, there came the sound of another whistle of an engine coming into the depot. Turning her head to look and see which engine it was, Carrie saw that it was another G.W.R. engine, and a 4-6-0 just like Anthony Manor, and this locomotive was No.6991 Acton Burnell Hall, who was a member of the G.W.R.'s Modified Hall Class (50) and one of two members of the class that were part of the Sodor railway system, with the second engine being No.7917 North Aston Hall.

(50): The Great Western Railway's Modified Hall 4-6-0 Class was designed by Frederick Hawksworth, and came into service between 1944 and 1950. The class were a modified version of Charles Collett's earlier 49XX Hall Class 4-6-0 locomotives, hence why they were known as "Modified Halls". In total, 71 examples of the class were built in four batches at Swindon Works, and they were numbered from No.6959 to No.6999, and from No.7900 to No.7929.

The class were fitted with two outside cylinders that were 18.5in in diameter with a 30in piston stroke, and were paired with a boiler pressed at 225psi, and driving wheels that were 6ft 0in in diameter, just like on the earlier 49XX Hall Class 4-6-0. They were also fitted with high degree superheating in their boilers, and this gave the class a maximum tractive effort of 27,275lbf. They were paired with tenders that could carry 6 tons of coal and 4,000 gallons of water.

The numbers and names of the Modified Hall Class were;

No.6959 Peatling Hall, No.6960 Raveningham Hall, No.6961 Stedham Hall, No.6962 Soughton Hall, No.6963 Throwley Hall, No.6964 Thornbridge Hall,

No.6965 Thirlestaine Hall, No.6966 Witchingham Hall, No.6967 Willesley Hall, No.6968 Woodcock Hall, No.6969 Wraysbury Hall, No.6970 Whaddon Hall,

No.6971 Athelhampton Hall, No.6972 Beningborough Hall, No.6973 Bricklehamton Hall, No.6974 Bryngwyn Hall, No.6975 Capesthorne Hall, No.6976 Graythwaite Hall,

No.6977 Grundisburgh Hall, No.6978 Haroldstone Hall, No.6979 Helperly Hall, No.6980 Llanrumney Hall, No.6981 Marbury Hall, No.6982 Melmerby Hall,

No.6983 Otterington Hall, No.6984 Owsden Hall, No.6985 Parwick Hall, No.6986 Rydal Hall, No.6987 Shervington Hall, No.6988 Swithland Hall,

No.6989 Wightwick Hall, No.6990 Witherslack Hall, No.6991 Acton Burnell Hall, No.6992 Arborfield Hall, No.6993 Arthog Hall, No.6994 Baggrave Hall,

No.6995 Benthall Hall, No.6996 Blackwell Hall, No.6997 Bryn-Ivor Hall, No.6998 Burton Agnes Hall, No.6999 Capel Dewi Hall, No.7900 Saint Peter's Hall,

No.7901 Dodington Hall, No.7902 Eaton Mascot Hall, No.7903 Foremarke Hall, No.7904 Fountains Hall, No.7905 Fowey Hall, No.7906 Fron Hall,

No.7907 Hart Hall, No.7908 Henshall Hall, No.7909 Heveningham Hall, No.7910 Hown Hall, No.7911 Lady Margaret Hall, No.7912 Little Linford Hall,

No.7913 Little Wryley Hall, No.7914 Lleweni Hall, No.7915 Mere Hall, No.7916 Mobberley Hall, No.7917 North Aston Hall, No.7918 Rhose Wood Hall,

No.7919 Runter Hall, No.7920 Coney Hall, No.7921 Edstone Hall, No.7922 Salford Hall, No.7923 Speke Hall, No.7924 Thornycroft Hall, No.7925 Westol Hall,

No.7926 Willey Hall, No.7927 Willington Hall, No.7928 Wolf Hall, and No.7929 Wyke Hall.

The introduction of the Modified Hall Class marked a radical change to the practice that had taken place at Swindon Works ever since Churchward's time as chief mechanical engineer, and so the new class were far from a simple modification to the original Hall Class. Hawksworth used plate frames for the Modified Halls, which was very different from previous Swindon practice for two-cylinder locomotives. In addition, the cylinders were cast separately from the smokebox saddle, and were then bolted onto the frames on each side. A stiffening brace was also fitted between the frames and extended to the smokebox saddle, and the exhaust pipes from the cylinders up to the blast pipe were incorporated into the assembly.

In addition, the original front bogie design, which used bar frames, were replaced with a plate frame structure with individual springing on the wheelsets. Other changes were made to the new design above the running board. F.W. Hawksworth also ensured that higher degree superheating was fitted to the new locomotives, as he knew the declining quality of coal being felt during the war and in the years after it meant there would be problems with locomotives maintaining steam pressure and performance. Further improvements were made to the draughting of the new locomotives, and many were fitted with self-cleaning smokeboxes, rocking grates, and hopper ashpans, which made disposal of the engines a much easier task.

As the new class came into service late in the Second World War, their cabs were fitted without windows so as to assist with blackout regulations, and they ran so for two or three years, until cabs with windows were fitted from 1945 – 48. Initially the new class ran without names, but nameplates were subsequently fitted between 1946 and 1948.

Some members of the class were fitted with flat, high-sided Hawksworth tenders which could carry 6 tons of coal and 4,000 gallons of water, but once Hawksworth became C.M.E. many earlier locomotives also received such tenders.

When in service, Hawksworth's Modified Hall Class proved themselves to be very popular with their crews, particularly due to their ability to steam well, run freely, and the ability to achieve high-speed running on many occasions. Once, No.7903 Foremarke Hall set a post-war record for a run from London Paddington to Plymouth when it deputised for a failed Castle Class locomotive. No.7903 managed to complete the distance of 225 miles between London to Plymouth in less than four hours.

The class were also very popular with maintenance staff at various railway depots on the G.W.R. and later on B.R.'s Western Region, as they had self-cleaning screens in their smokeboxes, rocking grates, and hopper ashpans, which meant that disposing of the engines at the end a long day's work was a much easier task.

Withdrawals of the class began in January 1963 when the very first example, No.6962 Soughton Hall, was removed from service. The next example, No.6968 Woodcock Hall, followed in September of the same year. The other engines in the class followed along at regular intervals over the next two years until December 1965, when the final 16 members of the class were finally withdrawn from service.

Thankfully, seven examples of the class have survived into preservation. These surviving examples include;

No.6960 Raveningham Hall; built in March 1944 at Swindon Works, she's the only surviving Modified Hall built during the G.W.R. era. After being assigned to three depots during its lifetime, Old Oak Common, Reading and Oxford, she was withdrawn in June 1964 and sold to Berry Scrapyard. She was rescued from Barry Scrapyard in October 1972, and was restored to working order at Steamtown in Carnforth in 1975. She ran on heritage railways, including the West Somerset Railway, the Severn Valley Railway, the Mid Hants Railway, and the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway for many years, at one point with the tender from No.4930 Hagley Hall, but after being withdrawn from service in July 2021, she's currently on static display at the One: One Collection at the Hornby Center in Margate, and awaiting an overhaul.

No.6984 Owsden Hall; built in February 1948 at Swindon, she was withdrawn from service in December 1965 and sent to Barry. She was rescued from Barry Scrapyard in 1986, and initially went to Bicester where she was stored until she was sold to the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway in 2013. In December 2019, after being at the Swindon and Crickdale Railway for a while, she was sold to the Buckinghamshire Railway Center, and is now currently undergoing a full restoration to running order there.

No.6989 Wightwick Hall; built in Swindon Works in March 1948, she was withdrawn from service in June 1964, having covered 640,000 miles, and was sent to Barry in July of that year for scrapping. She was rescued from Barry Scrapyard in 1978, and was finally returned to full working order in March 2019, with her having moved under her own power for the first time in December 2018. She's normally based at the Buckinghamshire Railway Center, but she's currently running on the Bluebell Railway in Sussex.

No.6990 Witherslack Hall; built at Swindon in April 1948, she's famous for taking part in the 1948 Locomotive Exchange Trials. She was withdrawn from service in December 1965 and sent to Barry Scrapyard in February 1966. She was rescued from Barry Scrapyard in November 1975 and taken to the Great Central Railway for restoration to working order, which was fully completed by 1986, after which she ran for the first time on the metals of the Great Central Railway. After experiencing a number of boiler problems during her career in preservation, a major overhaul was undertaken at Tyseley Works before she returned to the G.C.R., where she's currently based and undergoing another overhaul.

No.6998 Burton Agnes Hall; built in Swindon in January 1949, she was withdrawn in December 1965 and was rescued straight from service upon her withdrawal having been bought by the Great Western Society. As she was in better condition than the other survivors, she was chosen to represent the typical two-cylinder G.W.R. locomotive. During her career in preservation No.6998 saw plenty of service on various different heritage railways, including on the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railway, as well as many runs out on the main line when she was in running order, but she was withdrawn from use in 1996 and is currently in storage at the Didcot Railway Center and awaiting a much-needed overhaul.

No.7903 Foremarke Hall; built at Swindon in March 1949, she distinguished herself in 1951 when she deputised for a Castle Class engine on a boat train from Plymouth to Paddington and was the first engine to cover the distance in less than four hours. She was withdrawn from service in June 1964 and sent to Barry in August of that year. She was rescued from Barry Scrapyard in June 1981 after spending 17 years there, and was fully restored to working order by 2003 on the Swindon Cricklade Railway. Currently based on the Gloucestershire Warwickshire Railways, having visited the Llangollen and Severn Valley Railways in 2005. She recently returned to working order after a long overhaul.

No.7927 Willington Hall; built in Swindon in October 1950, she was withdrawn from service in December 1965. She sat in Barry Scrapyard for many years and was never restored. It was eventually used as a donor locomotive by providing parts to new-build projects, with its frames being used to help recreate a lost 10XX County Class 4-6-0 No.1014 County of Glamorgan, and its boiler being used for new-build 68XX Grange Class 4-6-0 No.6880 Betton Grange.

Carrie sat where she was and watched as Acton Burnell Hall slowly came to a stop on the tracks right beside where Anthony Manor was stabled. With a loud sound of blowing steam and a squealing of brakes, the Modified Hall came to a gentle halt. About a minute or two afterwards, the driver and fireman stepped out from the footplate.

"And there we are…here safe and sound!" the driver said, as he and the fireman went about examining around the driving wheels, including the brake blocks, to make sure that everything was in good condition.

"Did everything go all right on your first run of the day?" Anthony's driver asked to Acton Burnell Hall's driver.

"Yes, I'm pleased to report that everything went all right." said the driver.

"And as soon as we're finished inspecting everything around here, we're gonna go and get ourselves a cup of tea as well. I think we've earned it after the hard work we've done this morning." added the fireman of Acton Burnell Hall.

"And maybe have yourselves a pastry with as well. After all, there's plenty on offer in the canteen." said Anthony's fireman, as he raised his cup as if he was offering a toast.

"You know, I think a pastry would be nice with a cup of tea right about now." said Acton Burnell Hall's driver.

Carrie didn't hear the rest of the conversation between the two crews, as she turned herself away and continued on with enjoying her own tea and pastry; she was still feeling a little tired and wanted to fully recharge her batteries before the next job came up.

(A little while later)

It wasn't too long before Carrie and the crew of Anthony Manor were assigned their next job by the yard manager; they were to take a line of empty vans, along with a brake van down to the fishing village.

After topping up the water in Anthony's tender from one of the water towers, they went over to the yards nearby to collect the line of vans. They found them sitting in one of the sidings that was quite near to the station, and thus closer to the main line. After the shunter coupled Anthony to the line of vans and had connected up the brake pipes, the yard manager came over to speak with the driver.

"After you deliver these vans to the fishing village, you need to bring some more trucks back up to here. You'll be informed where they are once you get down there." said the yard manager.

"Very well, we'll do that." said the driver.

As the driver spoke beside Anthony with the yard manager, Carrie and the fireman were up on the footplate and making sure there was a good head of steam in the boiler before they could set off. Carrie was taking another go on the shovel, and had just placed three heaped shovelfuls of coal onto the fire. Slowly, the fire built up and up until it was glowing white hot and making plenty of steam in the boiler.

"And there we are for now, Carrie. We've got a good head of steam on the gauge." said the fireman. Standing up, Carrie looked at the main boiler pressure gauge, and saw the pointer was sitting at about the 220psi mark.

"Okay, so no more coal for a little bit?" Carrie asked, as she handed the fireman the shovel.

"No, I'd say we're okay for now." said the fireman.

A moment later, the driver climbed back onto the footplate and took his place on the right-hand side of the cab.

"Are we all clear to head off?" the fireman asked.

"We sure are. We just need to wait for the guard's signal and then we'll be on our way down the line again." said the driver.

A few minutes later, they were given the all-clear to go and the guard, standing on his brake van, blew his whistle and waved his green flag.

"Okay, let's go then!" said the driver, as he blew the whistle and opened the regulator a little.

Slowly, with clouds of condensed white steam shooting out front, Anthony moved forwards out from the siding and back onto the main line. Looking out from the fireman's side, Carrie watched as the vans moved out from the siding, one at a time, until she saw the brake van roll out.

"Okay, they're all out of there now." Carrie said, as she turned to the driver, while the fireman opened the injectors to feed some more water into the boiler.

"All right then, let's get some speed up." said the driver, as he opened the regulator a little more and wound the reversing gear a little further back towards mid-gear, before locking the latch and blowing the whistle again for a few seconds.

The trip back down the line toward the Fishing Village went very smoothly and was fairly uneventful, until they actually arrived there. They came round the bend and towards the long concrete quayside, where they stopped at the red signal light before the junction that was before the long quayside siding. After a few moments, the signalman in his signal-box changed the points and they slowly went over the points and onto the long siding where the vans would be very close to the quayside and where it would make loading up the fish onto them from the fishing boats a much easier task.

As they came to a stop very near to the other side of the quay, and the driver made sure the brakes were securely on before the shunter waiting by the side of the line could uncouple the vans from behind them.

Looking out from the cab, Carrie took in a good view of the small harbour and the sea beyond the breakwater; how that the light breeze from earlier on had calmed down, the surface of the water was quite calm, with scarcely a ripple to be seen on it. The bright sunshine gave the sea a bright blue colour, which was the sort of colour that Carrie expected the ocean to be on a bright day like this one. And because there were no fishing boats having fish being unloaded from them yet, the sea air was fresh and Carrie couldn't help but smile whenever she took in a deep breath.

However, Carrie's thoughts and mood were suddenly and very rudely interrupted by the loud sounds of a whistle from somewhere along the line that went down towards the south. Going over to the other side of the cab, Carrie leaned out and looked along the line to see which engine was coming. And she didn't have to wait for very long, as she soon heard the sounds of chuffing coming closer and closer.

Anthony heard the sounds of the whistle and chuffing too; he knew who it was.

"Oh, no…not now. Please not now!" he sighed heavily.

And then from round the bend came Spencer, with his two smartly turned-out coaches behind him.

"Ah, good morning there!" Spencer said, as he approached the quayside on his line.

"What are you doing here, Spencer?" Anthony Manor asked, as he watched the silver A4 come to a stop by the water-tower near to the quay.

"I'm taking the Duke and Duchess of Boxford on a tour of the island, and they wanted to see this line as they've never been along it before." Spencer boasted, as his driver and fireman set about refilling his tender tank with more water.

"Oh, great. Seeing you here on this line is the one thing we don't need today." Anthony Manor said quietly, as he sighed in annoyance and rolled his eyes up.

"And I intend for both of them to see this line, especially while the weather today is like this." Spencer said.

From where she was, Carrie looked towards Spencer with some trepidation; she was feeling somewhat concern and hoped she would never have to work with him, as she didn't thing she could stand working with an engine with a personality as Spencer. After all, he did remind her of some of her bullies back in Chamberlain, and she had run away to try and avoid that sort of negativity. But then again, he was a private engine, and so she knew the chances of working with him were very slim at the best.

However, and much to Carrie's own relief, it wasn't long before Spencer's tender was fully refilled with more water, and he was on his way again. Sounding his whistle loudly, Spencer set off on up the line towards Arlesburgh with his two coaches behind him. As he went on past, Carrie looking into the windows of the coaches; at one point, she thought she saw two smartly-dressed people sitting at one of the tables in the lead coach, but it went by so quickly that she wasn't too sure of it. And then, both coaches went on by and were heading on up the line towards Arlesburgh, with Spencer leaving behind swirling clouds of smoke and steam as he disappeared round the bend.

Carrie was very glad to see Spencer go.

"It won't be long now before more of the fishing boats come in, and then their catches will be unloaded, packed into boxes with plenty of ice, and then loaded onto the vans." said the driver, as he pointed out towards the sea. Turning round, Carrie could see two fishing boats coming in past the breakwater and heading towards the quayside.

"I guess it means we may have to take the loaded fish vans over to where they need to go." Carrie said, as she looked at the driver.

"Possibly, but then again, another of the engines that work along this line may take the vans instead of us." said the driver.

It wasn't long before they were out of the siding and heading to another siding nearby to collect the empty trucks to bring back up to Arlesburgh. As there was no turntable in the vicinity of the Fishing Village, they had to buffer up to the line of empty trucks front first, and then reverse with the train back to Arlesburgh. The empty trucks, about 20 of them in total, were a mixture of box vans, open topped trucks, three tankers, and two flatbeds, and needed to be taken away as soon as possible.

Not too long after they were coupled up, there came the sounds of another whistle, and this one sounded different from Spencer's whistle. Looking out from the driver's side of the cab, Carrie looked back along the line towards the Fishing Village, and a moment later she saw another tank engine coming around the bend and coming towards them. Behind this engine was a line of coaches that were filled with passengers on their way back down the line towards Tidmouth Station. This engine she could see approach them was No.2230, who was a member of the G.W.R.'s 2221 Class 4-4-2T tank engines (51). Carrie had never seen this particular engine before, and she was really surprised to see that a tank engine like this one could have such large driving wheels beneath it.

(51): The Great Western's 2221 Class 4-4-2T tank engines, also known as "County Tanks" were a tank engine version of the G.W.R.'s earlier 38XX County Class 4-4-0 tender engines which were built from 1904 to 1912.

The 2221 Class, which had been designed by George Jackson Churchward, were built in three batches at Swindon Works between 1905 and 1912, and eventually numbered 30 locomotives in total. They were numbered from No.2221 to No.2250. The boiler fitted to the class was the Swindon Standard No.2 boiler. One member of the class, No.2230, was briefly fitted with the larger Swindon Standard No.4 boiler, which was the type fitted to the County 4-4-0 38XX tender locomotives, not long after it was built, but this proved to be unsuccessful and so No.2230 was fitted with the smaller boiler.

The class were fitted with two outside cylinders that were 18in in diameter with a 30in piston stroke. Combined with a boiler pressed to 200psi and driving wheels that were 6ft 8.5in in diameter, the class had a maximum tractive effort of 20,530lbf. In fact, the driving wheels used on the 2221 Class were the largest driving wheels ever to be used on a tank engine on the standard gauge in the U.K.

The class was built to replace the earlier 36XX Class 2-4-2T tank engines, and each of the batches built had slight differences between them, such as having curved framing above the cylinders, superheaters being fitted in some of the boilers, and having the cylinders being fitted lower. Later in their lives, earlier members of the class were fitted with superheaters, as well as larger coal bunkers to bring them into line with other standard tank classes. They were originally fitted with water scoops for their side tanks, but the scoops were eventually removed.

When they were in regular service, the class were concentrated mainly on suburban services in the London area where they ran their services out from Paddington Station, but they had a reputation for being rough-riders, just like their 4-4-0 tender-fitted counterparts. The reason for that was due to their short-coupled wheelbase and their large outside cylinders. The four large diameter coupled driving wheels of the class meant they were suitable to high-speed running on their suburban services, but it also meant that their acceleration was slower than with classes with smaller driving wheels would be.

Eventually, the 2221 Class was replaced on their normal everyday duties by the G.W.R.'s more versatile 6100 Class 2-6-2T tank engines. Withdrawals of the class began in 1931, and the last examples were withdrawn from their normal everyday service by the end of 1934. Sadly, none of the class have survived into preservation, which is a real shame considering how useful they would have been on many heritage railways today.

"Hello, Anthony! Can't stop to chat I'm afraid! I've got passengers that need to be delivered to Tidmouth Station!" No.2230 said, as he went by with his passenger train, while sounding his whistle for a few seconds.

"Good luck with it then, No.2230." Anthony called, as he watched the coaches go on past him. And Carrie watched as this new train went on by, and she counted eight coaches in that train that went past. And she could see many of the passengers sitting back and relaxing in the coaches, with many of them, including the young kids, looking out the windows.

It was soon time for them to be on their way back to Arlesburgh with their train, and with the line clear, the signal having dropped, and the points set from the siding to the main line, Anthony Manor took up the strain of hauling the long empty train and, after taking it out from the siding, they headed back up north along the Little Western towards Arlesburgh. The trip back up along the line went very smoothly, with the trucks behaving themselves as they went along. On the footplate, after finishing taking another go at the shovel, Carrie leaned out from the fireman's side and looked along the line as they went along tender-first. She enjoyed the feeling of the air blowing into her face, as well as seeing the empty line stretching ahead of them as they made their way along.

"This is one of the best views I think!" Carrie said to the fireman.

"Indeed, but one of the problems is that if any of the coal in the tender is dusty, the wind made by us as we move into reverse will blow the dust into the footplate." said the fireman.

"Oh, I see." Carrie said, slightly disturbed by the thought of coal dust blowing into their faces as they went along in reverse.

"But, there's no need to worry. The coal is always dampened down a little with water so as to keep the dust down to avoid that." said the fireman.

"Well, that's good to hear." Carrie said, pleased to know there wouldn't be any coal dust blowing about them today.

(A short while later)

They soon arrived back at the yards at Arlesburgh, and shunted the train into the sidings out of the way. With that job done at last, it was off to the main depot not far away. It was almost lunchtime and the driver and fireman wanted to get Anthony serviced and ready for his jobs later on in the afternoon.

They slowly reversed into one of the roads near to the main crew building in the depot, where Anthony would be looked over and examined, and have his tender refilled with more coal and water, before they went out later on in the day. Shortly after helping out with the first examinations, as well as having to top-up all the oiling points around the motion, bearings, and other places that needed to be oiled up, Carrie and the crew went inside to get a well-deserved lunch.

After washing her hands and face in the ladies' room, and making sure they were really thoroughly cleaned off, Carrie went downstairs to the main canteen, really eager to have a good lunch as she was famished after having been working hard all morning. As she entered the canteen, she took in a deep sniff through her nose and was really eager to see what was on offer today.

After grabbing a tray from the side, she went along the buffet line to try and decide what she wanted for lunch; when she sat down a short while later, she had selected a large port chop covered with a rich sauce, mashed potatoes, and boiled vegetables. The drink she selected was a Coca Cola, and with everything she wanted to have, she went over to one of the tables to sit down and enjoy her food.

As she sat and ate her lunch, she looked around from where she sat at all the activity going on, with engine crews lining up at the buffet for their food, or sitting and eating at the table around her. But there was no one she was familiar with amongst them, as Simon and the other girls she was friends with were working on other engines elsewhere on Sodor today. But Carrie didn't mind, as she was just thankful to be working on the railway.

After Carrie finished her hot food, she went to the buffet line again and got a dessert to finish off her lunch with. She got a slice of rich chocolate fudge cake with whipped cream, and she sat back down at the same spot and enjoyed it. Once she finished it, she settled back, took out her phone and looked through a number of YouTube videos that caught her interest, as well as the news to see what was going on in the rest of the world.

But eventually, her lunch hour came to an end, and with that, Carrie left the canteen and went back outside to the yard, where Anthony Manor was sitting. His paintwork had been rubbed down so it looked smart, his tender was refilled with coal and water, and there was a full head of steam in his boiler.

"Ah, there you are, Carrie. Are you rested up, well-fed, and ready to get back to work?" asked the driver.

"Yes, sir, I am. Let's get to work." Carrie said, as she placed on her railway cap on her head.

"Good girl! Let's go!" the fireman said, as they climbed back onto Anthony's footplate.