A few days went by without any noticeable events. The railway ran as per usual with no particular incidents, especially after the past weeks' ups and downs. One Friday afternoon, the Fat Controller was at his office trying to work out the new time tables for the upcoming year as he always did this in late September, when there suddenly was a loud banging sound coming from outside. Only moments later, his office door swung open, crashed against the wall and the station guard was standing in the doorframe, panting heavily.

"Sir, I think we may need you at the yards. Henry just broke a connecting rod. His fireman said it broke most likely due to water getting into his cylinders," the guard managed to get out, slowly catching his breath.

The Controller got up, nearly knocking his chair over, "Where is Henry now?"

"Right here at platform 4, Sir," the guard replied, "We better get an engine to take his goods train to Elsbridge and have him taken to the steamworks as soon as we can."

Both men quickly made their way to the platform Henry was sitting at. They surveyed the damage while Sir Topham Hatt was making a couple phone calls as to which engine was currently available to take on Henry's train and arranging for the breakdown train to be brought to Knapford as well. Meanwhile, the guard was talking to Henry's crew who were trying to calm their engine as well as taking the broken connecting rod off.

Only moments later, Tina came in from Knapford docks. She had taken a slate train from the quarry at Thomas' branch line to the shipping yard and returned a light engine to the station, tender first. Being the one to arrive on scene and not having any more jobs for that day, she was to take Henry's trucks to Elsbridge. Since Henry was still sitting at the platform, unable to move on his own, his crew uncoupled the trucks for Tina to pull them out the station, then heading for the turntable to face the right way and be coupled to the front of the train. Without much of a fuss, she took on that last job for the day and headed towards the junction and on to Elsbridge.

In the meantime, Aindrea had come in with the breakdown train, but they couldn't lift Henry onto the flatbed under the station roof, they had to get him out into the yard first. The breakdown train was placed in a siding next to the station entrance and Aindrea went to pull Henry out of the station where the workmen quickly loaded him onto the flatbed for the Caledonian engine to take the Black Five to the steamworks. All the while, Henry didn't say a single word, his face only lined in pain which grew once he was pulled towards the station entrance.

"Ye sure wull be back at wirk in na time," Aindrea tried to cheer Henry up as they went down the mainline.

Tina was well on her way, passing through Dryaw where she overtook Thomas, whistling at him. He was surprised to see her and not Henry, but didn't have much time to think about it as his guard just blew his whistle for him to depart as well. When the Battle of Britain arrived at Elsbridge she shunted the trucks into the siding before being uncoupled and heading back to Tidmouth via the loop line. Shortly after her arrival at the sheds, James came onto the turntable too, being backed up into his berth after being spun around. He had a smug grin on his face, which made Tina raise an eyebrow, wondering what he was up to. She watched his crew coming up to face him and discussing something she couldn't quite hear as they spoke in a rather low voice. His driver gave him a small pat on the buffer beam before he walked off with the fireman.

"You surely are up to something," Tina questioned, "Why the smug looks?"

"Ohh, that is only for me and my crew to know about," he replied, his grin growing even bigger, "Just wait until tomorrow."

"Of course…" she rolled her eyes at him.

As evening drew closer, more engines started to return to the sheds for the night. James' crew also came back from their dinner to prepare him for his evening run with Sandy, carrying a crate which they loaded into his cab. Tina had watched this with a wondering look on her face and hoped it wasn't any prank he wanted to play. As James was leaving the sheds towards the station, Aindrea was backed into the berth next to Tina, striking up a conversation with her.

At Tidmouth station, Sandy was already waiting at platform 1 while Percy shunted her coaches. She was conversing with her crew when James arrived, settling behind her.

"Good evening, hasn't it been a wonderful day?" he chimed while being coupled to her.

Surprised to hear him in such a good mood, Sandy stammered, puzzled, "Uh… If you say so? Henry's accident wasn't that wonderful though."

James rolled his eyes, apparently she wasn't catching his drift, but he was also glad about that in some way. He sniggered, she didn't have a clue at all what he had planned. Suddenly he felt a small bump from behind.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to," Percy exclaimed, while he pushed the coaches into place.

James' fireman got down to couple the train to him. Getting back into his cab, he signalled the driver everything was well and ready to depart. The passengers boarded the train, some snapping photos again before getting to their seats. As the guard blew his whistle, the two engines pulled out of the station smoothly, but also noticing the slightly heavier train than usually. Once they departed Knapford, they had forgotten about the heavy train, only to be reminded of it once they arrived on the incline to Gordon's Hill. James started to push against Sandy, urging her to pull harder, their wheels slipping occasionally. The Austrian's big wheels didn't make things very easy though, so her driver had to use the sanding gear to stop her wheels from spinning too much and taking damage from it.

As soon as they reached the top of the hill and began their descent, the two noticed their brakes weren't working properly. The train kept dragging more and more and was having a hard time moving. Once they reached Maron, they were still a little ahead of schedule, but that advantage was shrinking by the minute. Sandy and James knew their next halt was Cronk, but they were aware they would most likely come to a stop before. Their drivers connected via radio to discuss matters. Luckily, they managed to drag the train along towards the platform at Cronk, merely stopping with two coaches still outside the station. Once they were settled and the guard had informed the passengers about not being able to disembark the last two coaches but instead had to use the third last coach, their crews got off and met halfway between their engines to discuss what had happened, then went through the line of coaches to check for any leaking brake pipes. They also just noticed that there was an additional coach at the end, a second class with luggage compartment, which had never been on their schedule before. So this explained why the train was heavier than on their previous runs, now having eight instead of seven coaches. Passing on to the second last coach, James' fireman and driver suddenly burst out laughing. Sandy's crew was confused at first as to what was so funny, but the red engine's men were quick to explain what had happened years ago. Now they were laughing too, and the engines at the front of the train could only wonder what this was about.

Coming back up to his locomotive, James' driver grinned, "Well, old friend, it seems we might need some bootlaces again."

"B- Bootlaces?!" James stuttered, blushing heavily, remembering the incident years ago when bootlaces were needed to fix one of his coaches' brake pipes after he had bumped them around too hard.

'Oh no, I hope Sandy won't ask about this, it was too embarrassing,' he thought, fearing he would be made fun of once more.

Meanwhile, Sandy's driver had dug through the storage in her tender and proudly held an old but intact brake pipe in his hands, "Can never know when you need one."

In a few minutes, the crews had the damaged pipe removed and the intact one installed to continue their journey. They boarded their engines and the guard sent the train along its way to Vicarstown via Crovan's Gate. An awkward silence settled between Sandy and James, she not knowing how to ask him about this incident which upset him so much and he not knowing how to explain himself in case she asked about it.

Finally, Sandy broke the silence, "You know, there's a reason why I always have a spare pipe stored in my tender…" she briefly paused before continuing, "I once had an accident caused by a leaking brake pipe which made me derail with a couple coaches over a set of points on a mountain section of my usual route back home when I didn't want to stop and the brakes were locked in place on all the coaches. I was stuck there until someone came and alerted a rescue team as this was all way before radio was installed for safety."

She sighed, it wasn't easy to think back, but she had learned her lesson to not pull a train further when the brakes won't come off and always have her coaches checked thoroughly before a journey.

James pressed his lips together, not wanting to talk about his own incident, but finally decided to own up to his past too, "I… I had an accident with a leaking brake pipe once too, you know. I was on my regular passenger duties and the coaches kept making fun of me. I got so angry I bumped them roughly at every station, every signal we had to stop at. That was until one of the brake pipes broke. Having had no other idea or option, my crew went and asked the passengers for… I dare not say it… a bootlace to fix the leak."

He clenched his teeth, afraid of her reaction, but to his surprise she didn't laugh. On the contrary, Sandy was sorry to hear about this and noted this was nothing to be ashamed of. She felt very relieved now that she had told him about her secret and appreciated his honesty of admitting a similar accident with far less bad consequences and a quicker fix to the issue than her version. While they made these confessions, they didn't notice how fast they arrived at Vicarstown. When their passengers disembarked, they thanked the two engines and their crews for being able to catch their connections to the mainland in time.

So much had happened that James nearly forgot about his plan he had discussed earlier with his crew at the sheds. He knew they still had to make their return trip, ending at Knapford, before he could make his plan reality. While Sandy took on water and coal for their return trip, James' crew talked to Sandy's about a surprise their engine had planned when they returned. Her crew agreed to not say a word and have her staying at the station yard for them to arrange everything. Once both were ready, they were coupled to their train for the journey back to Knapford minus the second class coach with the luggage compartment. That one was to stay at Vicarstown.

Luckily, this time everything went smoothly without interruptions. On Gordon's Hill, Sandy secretly admired the already setting sun. Sighing, she remembered the sunset Henry had shown her on her first day to the island, wishing she could see it again in full and not just a glimpse while working. Little did she know, this was to happen again sooner than she thought. At the station, Percy was already waiting to take their coaches away once all the passengers had disembarked. He also wasn't to see what James and his crew had planned, so they waited till he was out of sight, on his way to Tidmouth. Sandy's crew had stopped her on a siding next to the station entrance just like they had previously discussed with the other engine's driver and fireman.

She raised an eyebrow, "Why are we not going to the sheds like we're supposed to?"

"You just wait and see," her driver replied, climbing up onto her buffer beam alongside the fireman.

Sandy was slightly irritated, but couldn't move on her own anyways, so she just frowned. In the meantime, James' crew had opened the crate they had heaved into his cab before and pulled out a large piece of black satin fabric. They had fixed carabiners to each side of it already and walked over to Sandy, ready to hand the fabric to her crew.

"What is this all about? You are not going to cover my eyes, are you? You know I don't like this!" she gasped, wide eyed.

"Calm down, dear, it's a very soft fabric and it won't be on for too long," her fireman spoke soothingly as he clicked the carabiner onto the smokebox handrail, her driver following suit on the other side.

The female sighed, did she really have a choice? Her driver gave her a pat on her forehead, reassuring her it wouldn't be covering her eyes for long. Meanwhile, James' crew had returned to their engine, coupling him up behind Sandy. They had also instructed her crew on where they were to go exactly so they knew it wasn't far. James pulled her out of the siding and then the two engines set off, through the yard and along the line, passing Knapford sheds on the left side towards the west coast, careful the silk fabric didn't lift too high for her to see anything. After a couple minutes, Sandy felt them slowing down and coming to a stop. She curled her nose, smelling the refreshing air – it was familiar yet she had to let it sink in for a while to find out what it was. Her crew had secured her brakes before getting onto her buffer beam once more to remove the fabric when James gave them the signal to.

Blinking a few times to get used to the brightness, her eyes widened once she saw where she was and what laid before her. Slowly, she opened her mouth to speak, but couldn't. Before her was nothing but a golden sea of soft waves, the sun slowly slipping into the water, a lonely sailing boat on the horizon. A soft blush formed on her cheeks as the light breeze caressed her face, the sun reflecting a golden sparkle in her eyes. Oh how much she had longed to see such a sunset again ever since she arrived. And now she was here at Knapford docks, nothing blocking her view, sighing happily.

James had been parked on the track to her left, his fireman pulling more items out the crate they brought with them: a picnic basket for him, his driver and Sandy's crew with specialties from all around the island, a bottle of champagne and glasses. James' driver slowly walked up between the two engines, carrying something in his hands, but hiding it behind his back. He turned to face Sandy so she couldn't see what it was, leaning against his locomotive's running board slightly behind the smokebox and waiting for his cue.

Carefully, James chose his words, speaking in a soft voice only Sandy could hear, "You know, ever since our little… ahem… accident at Knapford, I had this strange feeling deep inside me. Something I couldn't quite place as I hadn't quite felt like this before," he paused before continuing, "It is a really nice feeling and it started recurring every time I saw you. I already told you about my past and how I discovered you in a book those many decades ago and always wondered if I would ever see you in real. My mind slowly started progressing what this all meant to me and I already partly confessed to my emotions about you. But I guess this feeling has gotten a lot stronger now over the past couple weeks…"

Sandy blushed, deep down she felt that strange, yet good sensation herself, but she first wanted to hear what James had to say before confessing too.

"I… I think I feel something a lot stronger for you than just friendship to be honest," he barely brought this across his lips, blushing a red almost as vibrant as his paintwork.

The Austrian knew it was now her turn, but she fumbled to find the right words, biting her bottom lip, until she finally whispered, "You are aware I had my heart broken quite harshly decades ago… But whenever you are around, a warmth overcomes me, making me all light headed, despite your rudeness the first couple days. That moment in the sheds we shared a while ago after our big crash was something special to me. It made feelings come to the surface I had long forgotten about and not felt for an eternity. I hardly dare say it… I… I feel the same about you."

They sat there in silence for a few minutes, smiling at each other, until James' driver finally revealed what he had been hiding behind his back: a single red rose. He went and fixed it to Sandy's left shunter's pole with a black velvet ribbon before returning to the other crew members for the picnic, winking at his engine. Her mouth hung open, blush intensified, now really speechless and very touched by this gesture, a small tear rolling down her cheek. James smiled at her softly, knowing there were no words needed now.

As the sun slowly disappeared into the sea, leaving a dark crimson hue in the sky, the engines' crews packed up their leftovers. They walked up to the two locomotives as it was time to return to the sheds, they weren't going to Tidmouth though, but to Knapford instead, those usually were empty on weekends. When they arrived, Sandy was backed into a berth tender first, close to the buffers at the back. James followed up into the same berth, smokebox first so they were facing each other. Their brakes were locked with a minimal distance between the two and their crews left for the night. Little did they know, they wouldn't exactly find their engines in the same spot as they left them when they returned the next morning.