Chapter 17: A Day on Thomas' Branch Line


(Friday, March 2nd 2012 – 8:20am; Tidmouth Sheds)

In this chapter, Carrie is finally gonna get the opportunity to work with the most famous of all the characters that have been created by the Reverend Wilbert Awdry…it's gonna be none other than Thomas the Tank Engine himself!

Carrie stepped out from the crew building in the main motive power depot at Tidmouth Sheds with Simon and the girls she was friends with, and then they made their way over to the sheds to be assigned to the engines they would be working with today. The morning air was a little bit cold and the sky above was covered with a light white overcast that stretched for as far as they eye could see, but it promised to warm up a little as the day went on. All the recruits were wearing their overalls, work boots, and bright orange Hi-Viz vests, ready for the day ahead.

A few of the other teenagers in the group were still feeling a little bit tired from the early start, and virtually everyone in the group had a cup of hot tea or hot chocolate in their hands, as well as a pastry from the main canteen in the crew building. By now though, from what she'd done so far, Carrie was well used to the early morning starts, and always looked forward to getting up early in the morning and getting ready to go to work, as she always liked to be kept quite busy when working out on the railway and seeing what adventures the day would bring. And each new day always brought with it different adventures for her to experience on the railway.

Only the previous day, she and Alice had worked together on the footplate of GWR 47XX "Night Owl" 2-8-0 No.4719 for much of the day, where they had been kept quite busy working with the driver and fireman in moving two long and fully fitted freight trains, one of which went from Knapford Station to Brendam Docks and the second one from Brendam Docks all the way over to Vicarstown Station. Then in the afternoon, they worked a long passenger train, of ten coaches in length, from Vicarstown Station all the way back to Knapford Station.

For much of that day, both Carrie and Alice had taken turns in stoking the boiler with the shovel, as well as keeping a very close eye on the single water gauge glass to check the water level in the boiler and doing any other jobs that needed to be done during the course of the day. By day's end, they were both absolutely knackered and dirty from a long day of hard work and both took the opportunity to take long hot showers before they got changed and left for home that evening.

Soon, all the recruits in the group had arrived at Tidmouth Sheds, where many of the engines were being readied by the fitters and shed staff for the long day of hard work ahead. Wisps of grey and black smoke wafted from the chimneys and wisps of white swirling steam could be seen from cylinder drain cocks and safety valves as the engines stood waiting to start their day. Some of the engines were already gone, as they had jobs which required them to leave the sheds earlier in the morning than some of the other engines. Among them were Gordon and Henry, who had early trains to take from the Knapford area to other parts of Sodor, including Gordon taking the early express from Knapford to Vicarstown, and Henry taking an early freight train.

After everyone was accounted for, and they all had the gear they would need with them, including bright orange hi-vis vests, gloves, and railway caps, they were assigned by one of the inspectors to the engines they would be working with for today. Alice was assigned to work with Edward for today on the line from Wellsworth to Brendam Docks, while Saoirse and Olivia would be working on the footplate of WD Austerity 2-10-0 No.90770, and Sophie would be working on the footplate of James. In the meantime, Simon would be working on the footplate of Arthur on his branch line that ran along much of the south-western part of the Island of Sodor, where there were some very good views out to the open sea.

Finally, it was Carrie's turn to be assigned to an engine for the day at last.

"All right, Carrie…" said the inspector, "…for today, you're gonna be working with Thomas on his branch line." And Carrie was very pleased, as she had never had the chance to work with Thomas on his branch line yet. Thomas was also very pleased to be given the chance to work with Carrie.

"Thank you, sir. I've always wanted to work with Thomas." Carrie said, with a big smile on her face.

"And you don't mind having Carrie working with you today, Thomas?" the inspector asked, as he looked towards Sodor's Number One engine.

"No, sir. Not at all. I've always wanted to work with Carrie." Thomas said, with a smile.

"That's a good engine, Thomas. Sir Topham Hatt will be very pleased with you." the inspector said with a smile, as he then turned back to his clipboard and moved onto the next engines with the remaining teens in the group.

"Well then, congratulations on being assigned to Sodor's Number One engine for today, Carrie. He's one of the most useful engines on the Sodor Railway system." Ralph said with a smile on his face, as he looked over his excited daughter.

"Thanks, dad. And I'm wondering what the day ahead will bring." Carrie said, as she climbed onto Thomas' footplate and stepped into the cab.

"And what are you going to be doing today, Ralph?" Thomas asked.

"Well then, Thomas…I'm gonna be out working on one of my favourite jobs for today…taking an express passenger train all the way across to the other side of Sodor behind one of my favourite express engines…one of the L.M.S. Duchesses." Ralph said (27). He really loved driving express passenger engines, but Ralph's most favourite express class were the L.M.S. Princess Coronation Class Pacifics, because they exuded power, elegance, and strength all combined into one.

"Well, good luck out there today, Ralph." Thomas said.

"Thank you, Thomas. Now I'd best go and get myself ready for my train." Ralph said, and he headed off to another part of the depot to join his fireman at the engine they were assigned to work on for today.

(27): The L.M.S. Princess Coronation Class 4-6-2 Express Passenger engines, also known as "Duchesses" to railway enthusiasts and "Big Lizzies" to their crews, were some of the most iconic steam locomotives ever to be built in Great Britain. Designed by Sir William Stanier, and with 38 locomotives built at Crewe Works between 1937 and 1948, they were built in honour of the 1937 Coronation of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth. The engines of the class were named after British Royals, British female aristocrats, and British cities. However, two examples were named differently from the rest of the class; No.6244 was originally named City of Leeds, but in April 1941 she was renamed King George VI, with the name City of Leeds being moved to No.6248 when it was built in October 1943. The second engine to be named differently was No.6256 Sir William A. Stanier F.R.S., named in honour of William Stanier himself when it was rolled out of Crewe Works in December 1947.

Built to compete with Gresley's streamlined A4 Pacifics on the East Coast Main Line of the L.N.E.R., they supplemented Stanier's previous express passenger design, the Princess Royal Pacifics, and hauled some of the heaviest passenger trains of the L.M.S. system non-stop on the stretch on the West Coast main line, a distance of over 400 miles between London Euston and Glasgow Central in about six hours. They were amongst some of the most powerful express passenger steam locomotives ever built, with four cylinders - each being 16.5in in diameter with a 28in piston stroke - a boiler pressed to 250psi, and 6ft 9in driving wheels, they class had a tractive effort of 40,000 pounds. The Duchesses had 3,637sq ft of heating surfaces - compared to 2,967sq ft on the Princess Royals - yet they were only one ton heavier in weight than the previous engines.

The Duchesses had a much larger and better boiler than the Princess Royal Class, with increased superheating capacity, and they also had all the internal steam passages streamlined. They had larger driving wheels, only two sets of Walschaerts valve gear driving all four cylinders and a much, much freer steam circuit altogether. The tenders the members of the class were paired with carried up to 10 tons of coal and 4,000 gallons of water.

The first ten members of the class, from No.6220 Coronation to No.6229 Duchess of Hamilton, were built with a very distinctive streamlined casing fitted over their boilers, which was described as being like a bathtub covering the locomotives. The tenders of all of these first ten engines were also streamlined. When travelling at high speed, the streamlining served a useful purpose by reducing air resistance and releasing more useful horsepower at the tender drawbar to pull the train. In fact, the streamlining fitted to the L.M.S. Princess Coronation Class proved to be more efficient at doing this than the wedge shaped streamlined front of the L.N.E.R. A4 Pacifics. However, wind tunnel tests that had been undertaken on small models with the simulated casing had also shown that drifting gases and exhaust smoke would be more likely to obstruct the view of the drivers.

The first five engines of the class, No.6220 Coronation to No.6224 Princess Alexandra, were painted in a very distinct Caledonian Railway blue livery with four silver horizontal lines along the sides of the locomotives. The other five class members, No.6225 Duchess of Gloucester to No.6229 Duchess of Hamilton, were painted in a red crimson lake livery with four golden gilt stripes along the sides of the locomotives. And the engines were given rolling stock to match their liveries, with the coaches painted either in Caledonian blue with silver stripes or in crimson red with golden gilt stripes.

The next five engines to be constructed, No.6230 Duchess of Buccleuch to No.6234 Duchess of Abercorn, were built without the streamlined casing fitted, as it was felt by some in higher authority that the streamlined casing added extra unnecessary weight and made the daily maintenance of the engines a much more difficult task for the shed depot crews. But removing the streamlining revealed the handsome outline of the mighty engine in all its glory. Some other batches that followed were built with the streamlining fitted and some without it, until the last two examples to be built, No.6256 Sir William A. Stanier F.R.S. and No.46257 City of Salford, were turned out from Crewe without any streamlining in December 1947 and May 1948 respectively.

The 38 members of the Princess Coronation Class were numbered and named as follows:

No.6220 Coronation, No.6221 Queen Elizabeth, No.6222 Queen Mary, No.6223 Princess Alice, No.6224 Princess Alexandra, No.6225 Duchess of Gloucester,

No.6226 Duchess of Norfolk, No.6227 Duchess of Devonshire, No.6228 Duchess of Rutland, No.6229 Duchess of Hamilton, No.6230 Duchess of Buccleuch, No.6231 Duchess of Atholl,

No.6232 Duchess of Montrose, No.6233 Duchess of Sutherland, No.6234 Duchess of Abercorn, No.6235 City of Birmingham, No.6236 City of Bradford, No.6237 City of Bristol,

No.6238 City of Carlisle, No.6239 City of Chester, No.6240 City of Coventry, No.6241 City of Edinburgh, No.6242 City of Glasgow, No.6243 City of Lancaster,

No.6244 City of Leeds (later King George VI) , No.6245 City of London, No.6246 City of Manchester, No.6247 City of Liverpool, No.6248 City of Leeds, No.6249 City of Sheffield,

No.6250 City of Lichfield, No.6251 City of Nottingham, No.6252 City of Leicester, No.6253 City of St. Albans, No.6254 City of Stoke-on-Trent, No.6255 City of Hereford,

No.6256 Sir William A. Stanier F.R.S., and No.46257 City of Salford.

The tenders of the Duchesses were also fitted with special steam operated coal pushers which helped to push down coal from further up inside the coal space in the tenders down to the firing plates. This helped the firemen greatly in their work in keeping the engines supplied with a good head of steam on their long non-stop journeys, as the firemen didn't have to climb up into the tenders in order to push any of the coal down to the firing plates themselves. And just like with many steam locomotives that were built for long distance express trains, their tenders were fitted with water-scoops, which allowed them to refill their tender tanks with water from water-troughs between the rails while they were in the move.

Some modifications were made to the class during their working lives on the L.M.S. and later during their day on British Railways; the first 15 engines to be built, No.6220 to No.6234, were fitted with single chimneys. But from No.6235 onwards, the Princess Coronation Class were fitted with double chimneys, which made a massive difference improvement in the ability of the class to steam freely, and the first fifteen engines built were later refitted with double chimneys. One example of the class, No.6245 City of London, was experimentally fitted with a Kylchap double blastpipe exhaust system, but due to wartime related problems, including with tube cleaning, resulted in the system being replaced with a standard double chimney.

The class were initially not fitted with smoke deflectors, as they only had single chimneys fitted. However, when they were fitted with double chimneys, the problem of smoke drifting and obstructing the view of the drivers. So in 1945, both No.6232 and No.6252 were fitted with smoke deflectors as an experiment, which was deemed to be a success. As a result of that, all members of the class were fitted with smoke deflectors, including on the streamliners when the streamlining was removed.

In their later years, all the members of the class were fitted with an Automatic Warning System (A.W.S.) so as to alert their crews to the state of signals along the lines they travelled and to avoid potentially disastrous accidents. Two examples, No.46256 and No.46257, were fitted with electric lighting as well as a Stones steam turbo generator, but the other members of the class were never fitted with this system.

But the most significant change made to the class was that the locomotives that had been streamlined had their streamlined casings removed during and after the Second World War, as they were of little value at speeds below 90mph and were unpopular with shed crews as they were a hindrance with day to day maintenance. All the de-streamlined locomotives were fitted with smoke deflectors on the sides of their smokeboxes and could be easily distinguished from the non-streamlined engines by the shape of their running plates alongside their smokeboxes. All members of the class were also fitted with smoke deflectors on the sides of their smokeboxes to prevent drifting smoke from obstructing the views of the drivers.

Only one example of the class kept its streamlining casing fitted with a B.R. number into B.R. days, albeit very briefly; No.46243 City of Lancaster kept her streamlined casing until May 1949, when it was removed just like with the other members of the class that had been fitted with a streamlined casing, thus becoming the very last of the streamlined Duchesses to be de-streamlined. Two other members of the class also kept their streamlined casings fitted into early B.R. days, but they didn't have their B.R. numbers put on; these two locomotives were No.6226 Duchess of Norfolk and No.6229 Duchess of Hamilton.

On June 29th, 1937, the first engine of the class, No.6220 Coronation, broke the British steam speed record by reaching a speed of 114mph while hauling a special train of invited guests from London Euston to Crewe, and taking the previous British steam speed record of 112.5mph which had been held by the L.N.E.R. The brakes were applied a little too late and the train entered a series of crossover points at Crewe a little too fast, but luckily No.6220 Coronation and her train managed to remain upright and on the rails. However, in the process of braking and stopping the train, much of the crockery that was in the dining car ended up being smashed on the floor.

This record only stood for a little over a year, as on July 3rd, 1938, Gresley L.N.E.R. A4 Pacific No.4468 Mallard managed to gain both the British steam speed record from the L.M.S. and the world speed record for steam traction from Germany by achieving a speed of 126.4mph while descending Stoke Bank along the East Coast Main Line, a speed record that still stands to this day.

On 26th February 1939, No.6234 Duchess of Abercorn hauling a train of 20 coaches, including a dynamometer car, which weighed well over 600 tons, from Crewe to Glasgow and back, and managed to achieve the highest ever recorded horsepower of 3,330. Despite the very heavy weight of the train, it managed to climb to the summits of Shap and Beattock at unprecedented speeds. However, this feat of achieving such a high record horsepower was well beyond the ability of a single fireman to accomplish, so two firemen were aboard the footplate to achieve this remarkable feat. It's quite possible that this record may have been beaten in preservation by B.R. Standard Class 8P No.71000 Duke of Gloucester.

In 1939, No.6229 Duchess of Hamilton swapped identities with doyen of the class No.6220 Coronation and was sent over to the United States for the 1939 New York World's Fair, along with a specially built Coronation Scot train. The liveries weren't changed, so there was a blue No.6229 in the United Kingdom and a red No.6220 over in the United States. After the war broke out in September 1939, the engine and coaches were stranded over in the U.S.A., but in 1942, due to increasing demand for heavy motive power, No.6229 was shipped back from the United States, and she and No.6220 Coronation had their identities swapped back the following year. The coaches were returned to the U.K. in 1946, after the war ended.

The final two examples of the class were delivered in 1947-48, and they were No.6256 Sir William A Stanier F.R.S. and No.46257 City of Salford, and they differed from the rest of the class as they were built under the auspices of H. G. Ivatt, who was the C.M.E. of the L.M.S., and he introduced a number of different features to these final two engines. Both engines had Timken roller bearings with manganese steel liners on all axles except for those on the leading bogie, and they were also given rocking grates, hopper ashpans and self-cleaning smokeboxes. Their trailing trucks were also redesigned as a one-piece casting, and they were also fitted with electric lighting. As they were the final development of the Princess Coronation Class, both of them were considered to be Britain's finest express passenger designs.

After nationalisation in January 1948, the class, after having 40000 added onto their numbers, so that were were numbered from No.46220 to No.46257, went to work on the London Midland Region, and they generally ran very well in hauling heavy passenger trains at fast speeds and proved to be popular with their crews. However, in October 1952, No.46242 City of Glasgow got involved in a serious accident at Harrow and Wealdstone in London when it overran a signal at danger and crashed into a local passenger train sitting at the station. Another express train collided with the wreckage not long afterwards. However, No.46242 City of Glasgow was repaired after the accident and continued working until she was withdrawn from service in October 1963.

In 1956, three examples of the class, No.46237 City of Bristol, No.46254 City of Stoke-On-Trent, and No.46257 City of Salford, were loaned to the Western Region due to problems that were being experienced with the 60XX King Class at that time with their front bogies.

The entire class was withdrawn from service on B.R.'s London Midland Region between December 1962, starting with 46226 Duchess of Devonshire, and October 1964, with the last seventeen class members of the class being withdrawn from regular service in October 1964, by which time many of them had to make due with parcels trains, regular stopping trains, empty coaching stock workings, or even on freight trains in remote areas of the former L.M.S. instead of hauling their usual top link passenger trains along the West Coast Main Line. The very last example of the class in service that was withdrawn, and which was also the last Stanier Pacific in service, was No.46256 Sir William A. Stanier, F.R.S. By the end of their working lives, the Duchesses were often seen hauling freight trains instead of their normal fast passenger expresses.

Thankfully however, three examples of this magnificent class of locomotive have survived into preservation. These three locomotives are;

No.6229 Duchess of Hamilton – a part of the National Collection at the National Railway Museum in York. Built in September 1938 and withdrawn from service in February 1964, after covering 1,517,250 miles during her career, and initially preserved by Sir Billy Butlin at his camp in Minehead, along with LB&SCR A1 0-6-0T Knowle. In 1976 No.46229 was moved to the National Railway Museum on a 20 year loan and was towed by rail to York. After restoration, she returned to work on the main line in 1980 as the NRM's flagship and ran until 1985. In 1987, she was purchased from Butlins and underwent another overhaul before she returned to the main line in 1989. She was withdrawn from the main line in 1996 when her boiler certificate expired. From 1998 until 2005, Duchess of Hamilton was on static display in the NRM, often standing next to L.N.E.R. Gresley A4 No.4468 Mallard. But from late 2005 until May 2009, with help from a fundraising effort assisted by Steam Railway magazine, Duchess of Hamilton had its streamlined casing reinstated, thus returning her to her original streamlined condition, with the work being undertaken at Tyseley Locomotive Works. The new streamlined casing has been built to a slightly lower height than the original, so as to allow No.6229 to return to the main line when the opportunity for it arises. Now, No.6229 is back on static display in the NRM.

No.6233 Duchess of Sutherland – the oldest of the three surviving locomotives. Built in July 1938 and withdrawn from service in February 1964, after covering 1,650,000 miles during her career. She too was preserved by Sir Billy Butlin at his holiday camp at Heads-of-Ayr in Scotland until she was moved to Bressingham Steam Museum in 1971, where she offered footplate rides there for the next three years until she was withdrawn with firebox problems. In 1996, No.6233 was bought by the Princess Royal Royal Class Locomotive Trust at the Midland Railway at Butterley, where she was restored to full working order from 1998 to 2001. To allow the locomotive to run on the main line, No.6233 was fitted with Train Protection and Warning System (TPWS) and On-Train Monitoring Recorder System (OTMR), as well as a Automatic Warning System (AWS) so that the locomotive can run on the main line. Since being restored to working order, No.6233 has run extensively all over the U.K., on the main line as well as on various heritage railways, and has been overhauled twice so as to keep her on the main line. As of 2023, No.6233 Duchess of Sutherland is the only member of the three surviving locomotives who's currently running on the main line.

No.46235 City of Birmingham - the youngest of the three surviving engines. Built in July 1938, she was withdrawn from service in September 1964 from its base of Crewe North, and preserved immediately upon withdrawal. She was initially moved to the Birmingham Museum of Science and Industry, which was built around the locomotive. But since 1997, No.46235 has been a static exhibit at the Birmingham ThinkTank Science Museum. She's the only member of the three surviving locomotive who hasn't been steamed in preservation.

Of the three locomotives, only No.6229 and No.6233 have run on the main line in preservation, with No.6229 Duchess of Hamilton making her last run in preservation to date back in 1998, when it was in its de-streamlined appearance, painted in its B.R. lined maroon livery and carrying its B.R. number of No.46229. However, No.6229's new streamlined casing has been built to a slightly lower height than the original to allow No.6229 to return to steam on the main line again if and when the chance for it presents itself.

In this story, a number of different members of the class will be appearing as and when necessary, and all of which will be locomotives that were scrapped in real life. Some of them will be in their original streamlined states with original L.M.S. liveries and numbers, while others will be in un-streamlined condition with liveries worn either while they were under L.M.S. or B.R. ownership. A major change to the engines will be with their tenders; here, their tenders will be a little longer in length, in order to take more water in their tanks, and so the tenders are long enough that they'll be running on four axles as opposed to the original three.

It wasn't too long before Thomas was ready to leave the yard and collect his coaches, Annie, and Clarabel, before he went off to Tidmouth Station to pick up his first passengers. Once his driver, fireman and Carrie were aboard the footplate and ready to go, they set off, with Thomas giving a toot on his whistle as they went on their way. After first picking up Thomas' two coaches in a nearby coach shed, they headed out of the depot, onto the main line and off to the nearby Tidmouth Station.

From the fireman's side of the cab, Carrie leaned out and looked along the top of the right-hand water tank and ahead of Thomas; the number one blue tank engine of Sodor was running very smoothly, and his two coaches were following along smoothly behind him as well. Carrie then looked up into the sky; it was still lightly overcast, but she could see the area where the sun was shining. Hopefully, the sun would break through the light overcast soon, and bring a sunny day to the Island of Sodor.

(A short while later)

It wasn't too long before Thomas arrived at Tidmouth Station, and came to a gentle stop along Platform 1, on which stood the passengers waiting for him to arrive. The porters opened the doors on the left-hand sides of both Annie and Clarabel, and the passengers started boarding the train with their luggage.

As they waited for their passengers to board, Carrie leaned out from the fireman's side of the cab and watched ahead, keeping a close eye on the signal gantry and the signal for their line to drop and show its green light.

Then, they heard the sounds of a deep-toned, Caledonian style whistle and the sharp blasts of exhaust coming from a chimney from somewhere behind them, and Carrie turned to have a look and gasped in awe; what she saw was another engine, and a very big and impressive looking one at that, coming towards them on the middle set of tracks. It was an L.M.S. Princess Coronation Pacific, or a Duchess, and she was making her way down the line towards Knapford Station with her train so as to pick up the passengers waiting for her there.

As she came closer to where Thomas was standing before going by, Carrie could see that the Duchess was in its original streamlined look and was painted in a very smart crimson red livery with golden gilt stripes down the length of the locomotive's sides and tender. The paintwork had been cleaned and polished down to a very high shine, which was so much so that Carrie could have seen her face reflected in it. After another moment, Carrie could see the engine's name and number, No.6227 Duchess of Devonshire, and then, looking along the engine's left-hand side, she could see the familiar figure of her father, Ralph White, in a blue boiler suit and sitting on the driver's seat on the left-hand side of the locomotive guiding the engine and the very long train through the station.

As Duchess of Devonshire went by, sounding her deep-toned whistle again as she did so and calling out "Morning Thomas!" to which Thomas replied "Good morning!", Ralph turned his head and saw Carrie leaning out from Thomas' footplate and waving as the train went by. Giving his daughter a smile and waving back as they went by each other, Ralph turned back to watching the controls and the track ahead of him as the train continued on down the line.

As the train went past them, Carrie counted all the coaches in the train, and there were twelve of them in all. And what really amazed her was that each of the coaches were painted in the same livery as Duchess of Devonshire and also had four even spaced golden gilt stripes running along their lengths. And each of the coaches had also been polished down so that the smart paintwork and windows shone brightly.

Once the train had gone ahead into the distance down the line in a thinning cloud of steam and smoke, Carrie felt herself smile somewhat, and then she turned to speak to the driver and fireman.

"That's quite an impressive train that." she said, still amazed by the sight and sounds of it.

"Yeah, it is. And it's one of the most impressive trains to run on the Island of Sodor. And also one of the most comfortable trains to travel on too, especially considering how popular it is, not only with the public on Sodor, but with the large numbers of visitors from outside the island who come year after year." said the driver.

"Wow…I wish I could travel on that train one day." Carrie said, as she imagined that it was like to travel on a train as popular as that one.

"Well...you never know, Carrie. Maybe someday you will." said the fireman.

It wasn't too long before they could leave, and as the guard blew his whistle and waved his green flag, the signal dropped, and the points were set. And as Thomas blew his whistle, the driver opened the regulator, and they were off. Carrie felt herself smile as they finally set off for another day of work, and she was eager to see what events this day would bring.

In the cab, the fireman set about putting fresh fuel into the firebox, but due to the size of the cab and with three people standing on the footplate, he had to take care not to thrust the shovel into the legs of Carrie or the driver as he stoked the boiler up.

The train rolled on smoothly along the line through the countryside to Knapford Station, passing by a small airfield at one point and under a bridge over which passed another two sets of railway tracks and then going through Lower Tidmouth station.

After passing through Callan Station, they passed over the Callan River and onto the large red brick viaduct that went over the extensive yards at Knapford before they finally arrived alongside Platform 1 at Knapford Station itself, on which stood the passengers Thomas was to pick up this morning.

As they sat and waited for the passengers to get aboard the train, Carrie heard another loud whistle, but this time it was from somewhere ahead of them, in the direction where the lines led out from Knapford. Thomas looked up and, after a moment, saw another streamlined locomotive coming towards him on the line that went adjacent to Platform 5. It was painted in bright L.N.E.R. Garter Blue livery, with side valances over the driving wheels and the letters of L.N.E.R. were fitted as silver steel letters on the large tender behind it, as were the numbers on the locomotive's cab-side. The approaching engine was an L.N.E.R. Gresley A4 Class streamlined Pacific, and it was No.4500 Sir Ronald Matthews, who just simply liked to be called Ronald. (28)

Behind him were a dozen very smartly turned-out L.N.E.R. teak coaches with their windows cleaned down and their sides polished to a high standard. As Ronald came closer to the station, he was slowing down, as Knapford Station was his final stop on his long journey from Vicarstown Station. After giving a loud and long toot on his characteristic chime whistle, which Carrie could see was fitted on top of the sloping smokebox right in front of the double chimney, Ronald pulled into Knapford Station and came to a gentle stop right at the end of the platform with all twelve of his coaches alongside of it. The porters opened the doors and all the passengers disembarked from the train.

Carrie was amazed to see such a powerful and iconic-looking steam locomotive, and one that was built for high-speed running with his streamlined front end. She wondered how fast an engine like Ronald could go if he was given the chance to do so.

(28): The streamlined L.N.E.R. A4 Pacific Class, designed by Sir Nigel Gresley, is one of the most famous and most iconic classes of steam locomotives ever built in the U.K. With their iconic sloping streamlined appearance, they were amongst some of the fastest steam locomotives ever built. Introduced in 1935, and built at the L.N.E.R.'s Doncaster Works, 35 examples were built between September 1935 and August 1938. Equipped with three cylinders - two outside and one inside - that were each 18.5in in diameter with a 26in piston stroke, a boiler that was fitted with superheating elements and pressed to 250psi, and six driving wheels that were 6ft 8in in diameter, the A4 Class had a maximum tractive effort of 35,455lbf.

Based on Gresley's previous and highly successful A3 Class Pacific design, Gresley's A4s were very different from the A3's as they were fitted with higher pressure boilers, with the boiler pressure at 250psi as opposed to the A3s boiler pressure of 220psi, had all their internal steam passages streamlined, had an extended firebox to form a much larger combustion chamber and had the cylinders slightly reduced in size so as to allow slightly larger diameter piston valves. This helped to produce a very powerful and free-steaming design well within the restrictions of a three-cylinder locomotive, and also allowed for much better economy, particularly in terms of coal and water use which were much less than on an A3 Pacific. They also had a v-shaped cab, which had first been tried out on Gresley's six P2 Class 2-8-2s, which allowed better aerodynamics, as well as better forward visibility for the crews.

The A4s wedge-shaped streamlined front was inspired by a Bugatti railcar which Gresley had seen in France. With help from the wind tunnel facility at Toddington's National Physical Laboratory, the design was refined, though there was some difficulty in making sure the drifting smoke didn't obstruct the driver's view ahead. During testing in the wind tunnels, it was found that someone had inadvertently left a thumb indentation just behind the chimney on the plasticine model. The model was retested with indentation in place, and it was found to lift the smoke well clear of the cab.

The very first example of the Gresley A4 Class to enter service, No.2509 Silver Link, hauled its first train on 27th September 1935 as a demonstration run from London King's Cross to Grantham. In the process, Silver Link managed to reach a top speed of 112.5mph, thus breaking the previous British steam speed record. During that run, Silver Link also managed to achieve an average speed of 100mph over a distance of 43 miles.

Not long afterwards, the first major train to be hauled by the A4s, The Silver Jubilee, entered traffic running on the East Coast Main Line from London King's Cross to Newcastle. The train - named after the celebrations of the 25th year of King George V's reign - initially had seven coaches, but the train proved so popular with the public, particularly in the fact that it cut down the travel time between London and Newcastle to just four hours, it was eventually extended to eight coaches. Three further A4s with the word "Silver" in their names were built to haul the service; these engines were No.2510 Quicksilver, No.2511 Silver King and No.2512 Silver Fox. The engines proved so reliable on The Silver Jubilee service that only 10 instances of mechanical problems were recorded. Eventually, The Silver Jubilee service was extended all the way to Edinburgh.

At one point, the L.N.E.R. prepared a special run with No.2512 Silver Fox to try and attempt to beat the world steam speed record. Coupled up to a special dynamometer car, the attempt took place between Newcastle and London, and was driver by Driver Haygreen, who had previously pushed No.2509 Silver Link to 112.5mph. But Haygreen had never been told he was trying to set a world speed record, and thus when they reached Stoke Bank between Grantham and Peterborough, he had neither sufficient speed nor reserve boiler pressure to attempt the record. But he did try, and by pushing No.2512 to her very limits, he managed to get her up to 113mph, but in so doing, the locomotive paid the price. While this train holds the record for the fastest revenue earning steam train ever to run in Britain, the locomotive's middle big-end suffered damage and it eventually limped into King's Cross seven minutes late.

The first true intercity express trains were hauled by the A4 Pacifics, including one that ran from London King's Cross to Edinburgh Waverly, and named in honour of the Coronation of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth. This particular train was known as The Coronation and was painted in a two-tone blue scheme and made of articulated coaching stock with special beaver-tail observation cars in place at the rear of the train. For hauling The Coronation, another five A4s were built, including No.4488 Union of South Africa, No.4489 Dominion of Canada, No.4490 Empire of India, No.4491 Commonwealth of Australia and No.4492 Dominion of New Zealand, and were painted in the L.N.E.R.'s garter blue with red wheels.

In these express trains, it proved that the A4 Class had a reserve of power and that a train of 10 coaches was a feasibility for trains running from London to Glasgow. Speeds of up to or in excess of 100mph became commonplace with the class, and both Gresley and the L.N.E.R. became railway heroes. Due to the very fast speeds that the A4s regularly achieved on their daily express runs, they were known to railway enthusiasts and train-spotters as "Streaks".

Many members of the A4 Class were named after birds, as Gresley himself was a keen birdwatcher, such as No.4484 Falcon and No.4467 Wild Swan, while others were named after L.N.E.R. directors, such as No.4499 Sir Murrough Wilson and No.4494 Andrew K. McCosh, British Empire countries, including No.4491 Commonwealth of Australia and No.4490 Empire of India, and two were given names connected to the wool trade, as they were intended to haul a train known as the West Riding Limited that ran from London to Leeds and Bradford. These two engines were No.4495 Golden Fleece and No.4496 Golden Shuttle, the latter locomotive was later renamed Dwight D. Eisenhower.

The 100th Gresley Pacific to be built, which was rolled out from Doncaster Works in October 1937, was an example of the A4 Class, No.4498 Sir Nigel Gresley, and it was named in honour of its designer.

The numbers and names of the 35 Gresley A4 Class when they came first came into service were;

No.2509 Silver Link, No.2510 Quicksilver, No.2511 Silver King, No.2512 Silver Fox, No.4482 Golden Eagle, No.4483 Kingfisher, No.4484 Falcon,

No.4485 Kestrel (later Miles Beevor), No.4486 Merlin, No.4487 Sea Eagle (later Walter K. Whigham), No.4488 Union of South Africa,

No.4489 Woodcock (later Dominion of Canada), No.4490 Empire of India, No.4491 Commonwealth of Australia, No.4492 Dominion of New Zealand, No.4493 Woodcock,

No.4494 Osprey (later Andrew K. McCosh), No.4495 Great Snipe (later Golden Fleece), No.4496 Golden Shuttle (later Dwight D. Eisenhower), No.4497 Golden Plover,

No.4498 Sir Nigel Gresley, No.4462 Great Snipe (later William Whitelaw), No.4463 Sparrow Hawk, No.4464 Bittern, No.4465 Guillemot,

No.4466 Herring Gull (later Sir Ralph Wedgwood), No.4467 Wild Swan, No.4468 Mallard, No.4469 Gadwall (later Sir Ralph Wedgwood),

No.4499 Pochard (later Sir Murrough Wilson), No.4500 Garganey (later Sir Ronald Matthews), No.4900 Gannet, No.4901 Capercaillie (later Sir Charles Newton),

4902 Seagull, and No.4903 Peregrine (later Lord Faringdon).

Initially, apart from the first four A4s, which were painted in a grey and silver livery, a number of the early A4's were painted in the L.N.E.R.'s iconic apple green livery as was painted on Gresley's famous No.4472 Flying Scotsman as well as on the other Gresley A1 and later A3 Pacifics, however those early A4s, as well as all the ones that would follow along, were eventually painted into the L.N.E.R.'s Garter Blue Livery with red driving wheels.

But the greatest moment for Gresley's A4 Class, the one that would forever seal their mark on railway history, was the achievement of the world speed record for steam traction. This achievement took place on 3rd July 1938, when four-month-old No.4468 Mallard, under the control of Driver Duddington and Fireman Bray, and with seven coaches behind her including a 1906-built North Eastern Railway dynamometer car, achieved the world speed record for steam traction on Stoke Bank just to the south of Little Bytham Railway Station when it reached a recorded maximum speed of 126.4mph, an impressive record that still stands to this day. In the process, Mallard took not only the previous world speed record from Germany - which had achieved a speed of 124.5mph back in 1936 with DRG Class 05 4-6-4 05 002 - but also the British speed record of 114mph, which had been previously held by the L.M.S. with Princess Coronation Pacific No.6220 Coronation.

However, in the process of achieving this impressive world speed record, Mallard's inside big end bearing on the inside cylinder overheated - melting all the white bearing metal as a result - and so she had to stop at Peterborough and then be taken back to Doncaster Works for repairs, while the train was taken on to King's Cross in London behind an Ivatt Atlantic Class 4-4-2. Gresley thought that a higher speed of 130mph could be achieved with the A4s, but the start of the Second World War put an end to any further record breaking attempts.

However, Mallard's triumph in achieving the record-breaking run wasn't entirely by chance, as she was the very first member of the A4 Class to be fitted with a double chimney twinned with a Kylchap exhaust system, which increased her exhaust flow when she was at speed. This feature proved so successful, it would eventually be fitted to all the other A4s as well, starting with the final three locomotives to be built, No.4901 Capercaillie, No.4902 Seagull, and No.4903 Peregrine, which had the added benefit of reducing the coal consumption of the locomotives.

It's certainly possible that some of the other A4s in the class may have reached ever higher speeds than Mallard's recorded 126.4mph record, with speeds of up to 130mph or even as high as 140mph being reported by some of the drivers who drove them on a regular basis, but there's no documentary evidence to back up any of these claims.

In World War II, the streamlined express services were stopped and the A4s that were based at King's Cross were initially put into storage, but they were then reinstated to work on trains for the war effort. The A4s proved that they could haul loads far heavier than those they had originally been intended to haul, although reduced maintenance, particularly with their conjugated valve gear, did cause some problems. To help aid maintenance, the side valances that were fitted to the engines, and which partially covered the driving wheels, were removed. It was a major boon for the shed crews, as it allowed for much easier maintenance, particularly when oiling up around the motion, as well as for bearing cooling when the engines were running, and upon the end of the war the side valances were never reinstated.

A more unusual wartime change was the removal of most of the chime whistles from the class, as it was felt that these may be confused with air raid sirens. The whistles were all removed from the A4s and destroyed in 1942, but brand new ones were built for the class after the war ended.

On 29th April 1942, the only A4 to be destroyed during the war took place when No.4469 Sir Ralph Wedgwood was hit by a bomb during a German air raid on York when she was at York North Shed (now the site of the National Railway Museum). By the time the raid was over, No.4469 and a B16 4-6-0, No.925, had been damaged beyond economic repair. However, the nameplates of Sir Ralph Wedgwood were reused on A4 No.4466 Herring from January 1944, and its tender was also reused, this time on Thompson A2/1 Class No.3696 Highland Chieftain. A plaque now sits on the spot where No.4469 was destroyed, which was unveiled on the 50th anniversary of the raid, on the 29th April 1992.

After the war, the A4 Class continued with their high-speed and top-link services along the L.N.E.R., and then on the Eastern Region of British Railways, particularly hauling expresses like The Elizabethan, which ran non-stop from London to Edinburgh. To help with these long non-stop runs, particularly along the East Coast Main Line between London King's Cross and Edinburgh Waverly, many of them were coupled to special corridor tenders, which allowed the crews to change over while the trains were still on the move. These tenders were also equipped with water scoops, which allowed the water supplies to be topped up on the move whenever the trains ran over water troughs.

At one point, a number of the A4s had their inside cylinders slightly reduced in diameter from the original 18.5in down to 17in, which reduced the tractive effort of the converted A4's to 33,615lbf. Of these A4's, only No.60003 Andrew K. McCosh, No.60014 Silver Link and No.60031 Golden Plover later had their original sized inside cylinder diameter of 18in reinstated by B.R.

No other British steam locomotive class had a longer or more consistent record for high-speed running than the A4 Class did, with speeds of up to or in excess of 100mph being very commonplace. On 23rd May 1959, the highest post-war steam speed record was achieved by No.60007 Sir Nigel Gresley when she reached a speed of 112mph while hauling a 400-ton train that was full of passengers down Stoke Bank. The driver had hoped to beat Mallard's 126.4mph 1938 record, but was told to slow down.

In the post-war period, the reliability of the A4 Class improved when better alignment methods, with the help of the Zeiss optical system to line of the frames, cylinders and main axle bearings, particularly with Gresley's conjugated valve gear led to tighter tolerances for the bearings, and the inside big end was replaced with a Great Western type. The results of these were the result of the A4 Class being much more reliable, with the problems they'd previously had - including with their middle cylinders - solved, and would remain so, providing that maintenance levels were respected and regularly carried out.

The A4 Class was also very unique in the fact that unlike other classes of British steam locomotives that had been streamlined and then had the streamlining removed, the A4s kept their streamlining fitted to them right away until the end of their working lives.

In the summer of 1948, the newly formed British Railways performed a series of locomotive trials, where they compared the different locomotive classes of the former Big Four railway companies on each other's former territories. The A4 Class produced some good results and they also had the lowest coal and water consumption figures of any of the express locomotive classes that were tested. Unfortunately, there were a number of failures, which were all related to the conjugated motion. These are thought to have been due to poor wartime maintenance as Gresley's conjugated valve gear, which only worked at its best if it was well maintained.

In August 1948, very heavy rains caused a number of breaches along the East Coast Main Line between Berwick and Dunbar, which meant that the long non-stop trains which ran from London King's Cross to Edinburgh Waverley had to be diverted along an alternative route that ran from Edinburgh to Carlisle via the Waverley Route and then down the Settle and Carlisle Line to Leeds and Selby. While this alternative route was only 16 miles longer, there were no water troughs and included a section where the line ran up a gradient of 1 in 70 where the maximum unassisted load for a Pacific was about 400 tons. This all combined to add 70 minutes to the schedule. It was during this time that the longest non-stop run ever undertaken by a steam locomotive up to that point in time was achieved, which was done by No.60028 Walter K. Whigham when she travelled non-stop from Edinburgh to London King's Cross via the Settle and Carlisle route and Leeds, a distance of 408.65 miles. This impressive long distance record would stand until 1988, when it was beaten by Gresley A3 Class No.4472 Flying Scotsman which travelled 422 miles on a non-stop run during its 1988 - 1989 tour down under in Australia.

In 1954, a film called Elizabethan Express, which is a British Transport Film, came out and which showed the The Elizabethan Express running along the East Coast Main Line from London King's Cross to Edinburgh had one of the A4 Pacifics in the starring role, No.60017 Silver Fox. The film also depicted certain aspects of how the A4 Pacifics operated on a day to day basis, including seeing a crew change through the corridor tender, as well as seeing the water pick-up scoop on the tender being used when No.60017 needed to take on water from a water trough.

Eventually though, the end had to come for the A4 Pacifics, with brand new Deltic high speed diesels, which could produce 3,300 horsepower and maintain a constant speed of 100mph, taking over many of the top class duties, starting with those that were based at King's Cross Station. In December 1961, No.60022 Mallard, coupled to a corridor tender, hauled the final steam-hauled Elizabethan Express north to Edinburgh. Towards the end of their working lives, the A4s would often haul more mundane freight trains in place of the high-speed passenger trains they had usually hauled.

The first five examples of the class, including No.60003 Andrew K. McCosh, No.60014 Silver Link, No.60029 Walter K. Whigham, No.60030 Golden Fleece and No.60033 Seagull, were withdrawn from service in December 1962. The remainder of the class followed between 1963 and September 1966 when the final two examples in service at that time, No.60024 Kingfisher and No.60019 Bittern were withdrawn. Some of the final A4s in service saw out their last days of work in Scotland, where they ran heavy passenger trains on the route that ran from Aberdeen to Glasgow, improving the running times on that line between the two cities from 3.5 hours to just 3 hours.

Thankfully though, six examples of this fine class of locomotive have survived into preservation. Two examples of the class are currently on static display in museums over in North America. These two engines are;

No.60008 Dwight D. Eisenhower; built in September 1937 and withdrawn in July 1963, and originally named Golden Shuttle. After being withdrawn, she was sent over to the United States, and put on static display at the National Railroad Museum in Ashwaubenon, Wisconsin.

No.4489 Dominion of Canada; built in May 1937 and withdrawn in May 1965, and originally named Woodcock. After being withdrawn from service and given a cosmetic restoration, she was sent over to Canada, and is currently on static display at the Canadian Railway Museum just outside Montreal.

The other four surviving examples of the class, No.4464 Bittern, No.4468 Mallard, No.4498 Sir Nigel Gresley and No.60009 Union of South Africa all remain in Britain. All of them have run on the main line under their own power since the end of steam.

No.60009 Union of South Africa; built in June 1937 and withdrawn in June 1966, she ran on the main line and on heritage railways all over the U.K. for many years, and was recently retired from service due to boiler problems. After being withdrawn, she has been put on display in a museum alongside Gresley K4 Class 2-6-0 No.61994 The Great Marquess. During her lengthy career, No.60009 had the honour of achieving the highest mileage ever covered by all the A4 Pacifics, including on long non-stop runs between London King's Cross and Scotland, as well as hauling the Royal Train in 2015. She was briefly given the name of Osprey in the late 1980's and early 1990's due to the political opposition against the apartheid regime in South Africa at the time. She's also famous for being the very last steam locomotive to be overhauled at Doncaster Works. She's also unique in the fact that the tender she's currently paired with was once coupled to Gresley's unique Class W1 4-6-4 No.10000.

No.4498 Sir Nigel Gresley; built in October 1937 and withdrawn in February 1966, she was the 100th Gresley Pacific to be built and was named after the great designer himself, and also the holder of the post-war steam speed record of 112mph. When she was withdrawn, her driving wheelsets were in very poor condition and so she was paired with the driving wheelsets from fellow A4 No.60026 Miles Beevor. She's owned by The Sir Nigel Gresley Locomotive Trust Ltd and has travelled extensively all over the U.K., both on heritage railways as well as on the main line, and she underwent a number of extensive and lengthy overhauls to keep her in good running order. She recently returned to working order after a lengthy overhaul which took place at the National Railway Museum in York, as well as at a few other places. After being run in at the Severn Valley Railway, she's currently running out on the British national network painted in her iconic B.R. blue livery and carrying her B.R. number of No.60007. She's also the only example of the class who's currently in steam.

No.4464 Bittern; built in December 1937 and withdrawn in September 1966 as B.R. No.60019, she's currently on static display at the former Hornby factory in Margate, with its main line certificate having expired in 2015, while the funds are being raised for its next overhaul. In late June 2013, No.4464 achieved the highest speed for a steam locomotive in preservation up to that time when it reached a speed of 93mph, a figure that was only broken in April 2017 when the brand-new L.N.E.R. Peppercorn A1 Class Pacific No.60163 Tornado topped the ton when it reached a new preservation speed record of 101.6mph. No.4464 has also carried the identities of a number of its scrapped classmates, including No.2509 Silver Link, and more recently as No.4492 Dominion of New Zealand. At one point in preservation, No.4464 ran with two tenders coupled behind her while she was out on the main line, in order to carry more water so that she could travel longer distances between stations without having to stop often for water, including in July 2009 when she ran non-stop from King's Cross to York. An overhaul for the engine is planned for 2024, when she'll be moved to North Yorkshire for the overhaul.

No.4468 Mallard; built in March 1938 and withdrawn in April 1963 as B.R. No.60022, she's the fastest steam locomotive in the world, having been the holder of the world speed record for steam traction ever since 3rd July 1938, and thus the most famous member of the Gresley A4 Class. Having originally been on static display at the British Transport Museum at Clapham in London, she's currently on static display at the National Railway Museum in York, painted in the L.N.E.R.'s famous garter blue livery and is coupled to the very same North Eastern Railway dynamometer coach that recorded her world speed record. She did return to working order on the main line for a brief period from 1986 until 1988, in order to celebrate the 50th anniversary of her record-breaking run. However, she hasn't run under her own steam out on the main line since late August 1988, and likely may not run again for some time. However though, I do have my hopes that it may happen one day. She has two plaques, commemorating the world speed record, fitted to her sides, which say; "On 3rd July 1938 This Locomotive Attained A World Speed Record For Steam Traction of 126 Miles per hour."

From late 2012 to early 2014, all six surviving A4s were reunited at the National Railway Museum in York in order to commemorate the 75th anniversary of Mallard's record-breaking run. For the event, both No.60008 Dwight D. Eisenhower and No.60010 Dominion of Canada were returned to the U.K. for the first time since the 1960's and both of them were given a much-needed cosmetic restoration. Dominion of Canada was repainted into the original L.N.E.R. Garter Blue livery, her side valances were reinstated, and she was given her original number of No.4489 with chrome numbers of 4489 on the cab-sides and chrome letters spelling L.N.E.R on the sides of the tender, as well as having a Canadian-style chime whistle fitted and a commemorative bell that had originally been fitted when No.4489 was brand new, as well as having the single chimney and blastpipe reinstated. Dwight D. Eisenhower was also given a much needed cosmetic restoration, which included receiving a brand-new coat of paint, which was the B.R. Brunswick Green livery, and in the current shade, as the once she had been painted in over in the U.S.A. wasn't the correct shade.

Attempts were made to secure two other A4 Pacifics for preservation, No.60014 Silver Link and No.60024 Kingfisher, but unfortunately due to various problems, including cost reasons or mechanical problems, the attempts to save these two A4s were unsuccessful.

In this story, a number of different examples of the class will be appearing as and when necessary, including Spencer. Some examples will be painted in L.N.E.R. liveries with corridor tenders and side valances over the driving wheels, while others will be painted in B.R. liveries with no side valances and non-corridor tenders couple behind them.

In moments, the sounds of passengers making their way through the station could be heard as they made their way over the footbridge to the station exit. From Thomas' cab, Carrie watched as the passengers made their way out from the express to the exit, until her thoughts were finally interrupted by the sound of the guard for Thomas' train blowing his whistle loudly, indicating it was time for them to leave the station.

"Time to go!" the driver said, as he blew Thomas' whistle and opened the regulator.

"Come along! Come along!" Thomas called to Annie and Clarabel, as they set off.

"We're coming along! We're coming along!" Annie and Clarabel called, as they left the station and headed down to the junction leading to the Ffarquhar Branch line.

(Insert soundtrack – Thomas' Branch Line Theme – Season 1)

They turned onto the branch line and went past the bus depot that was right beside the line before they came upon a long straight stretch of double track, with lush green farmland and fields on both sides. Soon they came upon a level crossing with an old-fashioned cottage, used by the crossing gatekeeper, sitting beside it. The gates were closed to road traffic and, after sounding his whistle to warn anyone by the gates, Thomas went by over the crossing and on up the line as people standing by the gates waved as he went by.

They soon came upon a canal run-by, with a canal wide enough to take two narrow boats side by side running beside the double track for several hundred yards in an arrow straight line. Coming round a gentle bend, and going under a stone road bridge and then by a grey stone windmill on a hill to the right of the line, Thomas ran along smoothly as Carrie took the chance to have a go at stoking the boiler; as she had expected, in a cab of this size, it wasn't that easy a task, but she persevered at it and managed to get half a dozen shovelfuls of coal into the firebox. After closing the firehole doors, she stood back up and stretched out while placing her hands on her lower back.

"You feeling okay, miss?" the fireman asked.

"Fine, it's just that stoking the boiler in a cab this size and when the firehole doors are that low isn't the easiest of tasks." Carrie said.

"Don't worry, miss. You'll get used to it. I certainly did over time." said the fireman.

"Yeah, well…not in too much of a hurry." Carrie said, as she handed the shovel back to the fireman. Then she turned and leaned out the fireman's side and looked forward as Thomas puffed smoothly along the line.

It wasn't too long before they arrived at their first stop of the day, Dryaw Station and its adjacent airfield. As the driver gently put on the brakes, Carrie looked out from the driver's side and saw a few passengers standing together on the platform and waiting for Thomas to arrive and pick them up.

Giving them a cheerful blast on his whistle, Thomas came to a gentle stop at the platform and the porters opened the doors to allow the passengers on the platform to board the train. This only took about two minutes, and then the doors were closed again, the guard blew his whistle and they were on their way again.

They headed on up the line, and it wasn't too long before they came upon a familiar place; it was the gorge that had been blocked by the landslide back in November. As Carrie looked out as they went past, she was pleased to see there was no rubble blocking the two tracks and that the way was clear for them to go by. Looking up at the cliff that lined the left-hand side of the two tracks, she could clearly see the spots close to the top where the rock had fallen, as well as places where other unstable areas of rock had been demolished with explosives so as to make the top of the escarpment safe.

"After the rockfall here back in November, Carrie…" said Thomas, "…this section of the branch line had to be closed for a few days so that the rubble could be cleared. And I also helped out in removing the rocks from that landslide, as well as from the demolition work the workmen had to do."

"How did the passengers cope with that?" Carrie asked.

"There were buses that took the passengers from Dryaw up to Elsbridge and back again, while the trains only had to go to Dryaw from Knapford, and the trains only had to go as far as Elsbridge from the other direction." Thomas said.

"Are you pleased to be able to run the full distance now without having to stop for anything?" Carrie asked.

"Yes, I am. And it was thanks to you preventing a nasty accident, Carrie, that the cliff we just went by was made safe." Thomas said.

"I was happy to prevent an accident, Thomas. And I'm hoping I can prevent more accidents like it while I'm here on Sodor." Carrie said, with a big smile.

Soon they were rolling along down a shallow valley with the land sloping up at a gentle angle on both sides of it, and they approached and then passed under a red brick road bridge that crossed over the two lines. Continuing on down the line, the two lines soon became single track and they soon came upon a wide and open area, with the railway line going along a wide raised embankment. Off to the right, Carrie looked out and saw another windmill, and this one was sitting on a small area of raised land with marshes dotted all around it. (N)

(N): The windmill that I'm describing here is the one that's always seen in the opening shot of the classic series where Thomas goes by it in the background.

As they went by, Carrie watched the windmill until they were going past it, and then she turned her head to continue looking forward again to check for the signals.

It wasn't too long before they finally arrived at their next stop, Elsbridge Station. And when they pulled in, there was already another engine sitting on the main line side of the platform with a line of about eight red coaches behind him as Thomas and his two coaches rolled in on the branch line side of the platform. As the driver gently brought the train to a stop, Carrie could see that the other engine was No.67905, the L.N.E.R. OS1T 2-8-4 tank engine and he was waiting for Thomas to arrive. The porters on the platform opened the doors and the passengers from No.67905's train caught their connection to the Ffarquhar Branch.

"Ah, here at last Thomas. I've been waiting here for the last three minutes, and I thought you'd never arrive!" No.67905 said, in a slightly boastful way. Thomas frowned at this; he had arrived at the station bang on time and made good progress on his journey.

"I'm here right on time, No.67905. You just arrived here a few minutes before I did." Thomas said, as he rolled his eyes in annoyance.

"Doesn't matter, Thomas. I always like my passengers to get in a little early, and I'm sure you know that by now." said No.67905, as he blew his whistle and puffed away. As he watched the larger tank engine puff away, Thomas sighed heavily and rolled his eyes in annoyance.

"Is No.67905 always like that, Thomas?" Carrie asked.

"Yes, Carrie…he can be. He always seems to have this idea about getting his passengers to their destinations a little earlier than what the timetables show. I think it's gotten into his smokebox by now." Thomas said, with a heavy sigh.

"Hmm, I can see that." Carrie said, as she looked along the line in the distance as the last coaches of No.67905's train disappeared round the bend in the distance. The attitude of that particular engine seemed to mirror, in a few respects at least, the attitudes of Chris Hargensen and a few of the other girls, as well as a few other students who used to bully Carrie back in Ewen High School, Chamberlain.

After another minute or two, the last of the passengers had gotten aboard the train and it was time for them to leave Elsbridge. After the guard blew his whistle and waved his green flag, Thomas' driver blew his whistle for a few seconds and opened the regulator, and Thomas set off again along his branch line. Continuing along the main line for another two or three minutes, they eventually turned off at a junction where two railway lines turned off to the left and headed along the line and over a level crossing before going up a slight gradient.

It wasn't long before they reached the top of the slight climb and the line levelled out, but it also went from double track to a single track. As they rolled along, they soon passed over a steel bridge that crossed over a deep and narrow cutting. Looking down from the footplate, Carrie could see there were two sets of railway lines far below them with a signal box along one side of the line a few hundred yards away.

Pushing on further along, the single line soon became double track again and they went down a gentle gradient until the line became level again, and they passed over the Elsbridge Viaduct over the River Els. Looking to the left a little up the river after she had done another round of firing, Carrie could see a road bridge crossing over the river that connected the town on the bank they had just been on to the other side of the river.

For the next few miles, they passed through open countryside and passed a few farms all the while before the two lines came upon another quaint little country station with a level crossing beside it and a small yard with a few short sidings a little way up the line from it.

"And here we are at out next stop, Carrie…" said the driver, "…this is Maithwaite Station."

"This sure looks like a nice little station." Carrie said with a smile, as they came up to the station and slowed down gently. The level crossing gates ahead were closed to rail traffic so as to allow some road traffic to pass through, but it didn't matter for now as there were passengers waiting on the up platform for Thomas to pick up.

As they came to a stop, Carrie looked over the station building that was along their platform; it was quite a quaint little building and it looked like it had been around for quite a long time. There were already a number of pot plants, some with bright flowers in them, hanging from hooks between the windows and doors, which added a splash of colour to the façade of the station building.

As the passengers began to board the train, and a few also disembarked as Maithwaite was their final stop for today, there came the sounds of a whistle from further up the line. Looking ahead to see what it was, Carrie was a little surprised to see a large engine coming down the other line towards them on the other side of the closed level crossing gates. The signal there was set red and so the other engine had to stop. The engine was a B.R. Standard Class 6MT light Pacific 4-6-2, also known as a Clan Pacific, and it was No.72009 Clan Stewart (29). His B.R. express passenger green livery was polished to a good shine, and he had a long line of different types of box vans coupled up behind him.

"Hello, Thomas." Clan Stewart said, as he came to a gentle stop just before the level crossing gates.

"Hello, Stewart. You seem to be making good time today." Thomas said.

"I am, and I'm hoping to get this line of vans delivered down to Knapford Harbour as soon as possible, so their contents can be loaded aboard a ship leaving from there this evening." Stewart said.

"Well, I'm making good time with my first passenger train so far today. I'm going over to Ulfstead today." Thomas said.

"Well, you won't be able to go much further beyond Ulfstead, Thomas. They're carrying out some essential maintenance work on the track and one of the rail bridges further up the line from there today." Steward said, just as the level crossing gates were opened and the signal for the down line dropped, showing that the way ahead was clear.

"Oh, I'd best be off now. I'll see you later, Thomas." Stewart said, as he blew his whistle and then slowly set off over the crossing and through the station down the line.

"See you later then." Thomas said, as the vans, between two dozen and three dozen of them, went on by him as they followed Stewart down the line.

(29): The B.R. Standard Class 6MT Light Pacifics, also known as the Clan Class, were one of 12 classes of Standard Steam Locomotives built for British Railways. Designed by Robert Riddles, 10 examples of the class were built at Crewe Works between December 1951 and March 1952. They were basically a smaller version of the 7MT Britannia Pacifics, and incorporated a smaller boiler and had various other weight saving measures, including slightly smaller diameter cylinders, in order to ensure the class had the widest possible route availability for its intended area of operations, which was on the lines in the west of Scotland. The intention with the class was to have a powerful Pacific locomotive that was also light enough to work in areas and on lines that other heavier classes of Pacific locomotives simply couldn't go due to weight restrictions.

They came about as a member of the Southern Railway's West Country Class Light Pacific, No.34004 Yeovil, had, during the 1948 exchange trials, been sent up to Scotland and used on the ex-Highland Railway line to Inverness. During the trials, the S.R. West Country Class locomotive had shown that a light Pacific design had the potential to revolutionise the timetables over this difficult trunk route. As the Railway Executive intended to eliminate the difficulty of multi-cylinder locomotives as much as possible, it was felt that a two-cylinder Pacific class engine would be suitable for the job.

Numbered from No.72000 to No.72009, the new Clan Class engines were given their names after famous clans within Scotland, some of which had been used on previous engines of the Highland Railway's Clan Class 4-6-0 engines, the last example of which had been withdrawn from service in January 1950. The B.R. Standard Class 6 engines were numbered and named as follows;

No.72000 Clan Buchanan, No.72001 Clan Cameron, No.72002 Clan Campbell, No.72003 Clan Fraser, No.72004 Clan MacDonald,

No.72005 Clan MacGregor, No.72006 Clan MacKenzie, No.72007 Clan MacKintosh, No.72008 Clan MacLeod and No.72009 Clan Stewart.

All ten locomotives of the class were painted in British Railways Brunswick Green livery with orange and black lining. All ten engines were coupled to BR1 tenders, which ran on six wheels and could carry 7 tons of coal and 4,250 gallons of water. Paired with two outside cylinders - each being 19.5in in diameter with a 28in piston stroke - 6ft 2in diameter driving wheels, and a boiler fitted with superheating elements and pressed to 225psi, the class had a maximum tractive effort of 27,520lbf.

There were plans in B.R. to build a lot more examples of the 6MT Clan Class. Indeed, there were plans in place to build a second batch with five more members, numbered from No.72010 to No.72014, to be used on B.R.'s Southern Region, more specifically on the Somerset and Dorset Joint Railway, followed by a third batch of another ten engines, from No.72015 to No.72024, to be used on the Scottish Region. In fact, B.R. had a plan to build 118 6MT Clan Pacifics. However, due to the British government's modernisation plan in the mid 50's, as well as due to acute worldwide steel shortages, the construction of the next fifteen engines were continuously delayed, and were eventually cancelled altogether.

If they had been built, then the next 15 members of the Clan Class would have been numbered and named as follows;

No.72010 Hengist, No.72011 Horsa, No.72012 Canute, No.72013 Wildfire, No.72014 Firebrand, No.72015 Clan Colquhoun, No.72016 Clan Graham, No.72017 Clan MacDougall,

No.72018 Clan MacLean, No.72019 Clan Douglas, No.72020 Clan Gordon, No.72021 Clan Hamilton, No.72022 Clan Kennedy, No.72023 Clan Lindsay, and No.72024 Clan Scott.

When the ten members of the class first came out, the B.R. locomotive crews assigned to work on them gave them a somewhat mixed reception, mostly due to the fact they were confined to work within the northwest of the British Railway network. And due to the limited numbers of the class, it prevented enough engine crews being trained effective on how to use the Clan Pacifics to their best effect. They were also based at only two motive power depots for their working lives, at Glasgow Polmadie, and at Carlisle Kingmoor.

Because the class were fitted with a single chimney, which was of a small diameter, it created problems of reduced choke area allowing the fierce blast to escape, which reduced the overall efficiency of the locomotives.

Other issues that occasionally came up was that the class were sometimes used on duties that would have been better left to other engines that had higher power ratings, e.g., they sometimes were rostered to pull trains that should have been pulled by the more powerful Class 7MT Britannia Pacifics. Although the 6MT Clan Class proved to be more than capable of hauling trains like that, they often found it difficult to keep to the allotted timetables. By the end of the runs, the engines of the class were rejected for such duties on the grounds that they were "no better than a good B1."

Due to the rushed production of the class, they had effectively gone from the drawing board straight into production, there hadn't been time to undertake any extensive testing on the class, in particular on the locomotive testing facility at Rugby. And so as a result of that, the class did experience some steaming problems and this, along with a few other issues, led to the class having an undeserved bad reputation amongst B.R. footplatemen.

There's no doubt that if the necessary testing had been undertaken right from the start, and if the correct investments had been made for undertaking the necessary modifications and changes, such as streamlining the internal steam passages and increasing the diameter of the blastpipe, or even changing the exhaust system from a single chimney to a double chimney layout, and even increasing the boiler pressure to 250psi to allow for a higher tractive effort, then the Clans could've easily been powerful and free-steaming machines which would have been equal to the Class 7MT Britannia Pacifics. Had any engines of the second batch been built, no doubt they would have incorporated these improvements.

Nevertheless, despite these limitations, the class did put in some good performances at times, in particular when they under the control of a crew who knew them well and thus knew how to get the best out of them, and proving they were capable machines when handled properly. One of the feats they did undertake quite regularly was to haul heavy trains, sometimes of up 14 coaches in length, up the gradients of Shap and Beattock on the West Coast Main Line without the need for any banking assistance.

Other duties they undertook was regularly hauling trains up along the length of the arduous Settle and Carlisle line, one of the steepest continuous lines in the U.K. Most of the Scottish and Midland Crews found that regularly crewed them found that if used properly, the class could maintain the running times with ease, and these crews rated them as the most sure-footed of any Pacifics available on the Midland Region. They also worked on portions of the Thames – Clyde Express and the Queen of Scots Pullman, as well as on general freight traffic. In general, the Clans proved to be highly successful as an all-purpose locomotive design that was hard-working, easily maintained, highly available and economical in terms of their use of coal and water.

They also worked very well on passengers services from Manchester to Liverpool, Crewe to Glasgow, Edinburgh to Leeds, and Carlisle to Bradford. In early 1965, No.72001 Clan Cameron became the only 4-6-2 Pacific to work over the West Highland Line in Scotland, showing the versatility of the class.

The first examples of the class were withdrawn from service in December 1962 and were stored for a time before being scrapped at Darlington in 1964. The rest were withdrawn between April 1965 and May 1966, with the last example withdrawn being No.72008 Clan MacLeod, which was also the longest serving Clan, having worked on British Railways for 14 years and 3 months.

Sadly, none of the original 10 locomotives have survived into preservation. However, the Standard Steam Locomotive Company, based at CTL Seal in Sheffield, is currently working on a project to build a brand new 6MT Clan Pacific in the form of the first example of the cancelled second batch, No.72010 Hengist. This will be the 1,000th steam locomotive built to a British Railways standard design, and lessons from the work and operation of the previous ten engines is being absorbed to ensure that No.72010 doesn't suffer from any of the problems suffered by the original ten engines, especially as the engine is intended to run on the main line. One change that's being made to No.72010 Hengist is the boiler pressure is being increased from the original 225psi up to 250psi; this will increase the tractive effort to 30,575lbf, allowing the new locomotive to haul heavier trains on the main line, as well as being paired with a BR1F tender capable of taking up to 5,625 gallons of water, allowing for a much increased operating range on the main line.

Among the other changes being made to No.72010 Hengist include incorporating the frame design from No.71000 Duke of Gloucester which will involve three substantial steel casings or combined frame stretchers and spring hangers, in order to address the issues of frame-cracking on the 7MT Britannia and 6MT Clan Classes. The delta trailing truck from No.71000 will be used on No.72010 as it had coiled springs instead of leaf springs on the original Clan design. A new ashpan arrangement incorporating improved operating gear will also be fitted, as well as having improved cab and tender connections including a fall plate as well as gangway doors.

In this story, a number of the original 10 engines built, as well as some of the engines that were planned but never built, will be appearing as and when necessary, and working at different points all over the Island of Sodor, sometime with Carrie on their footplates. They'll also be paired with larger tenders capable of carrying up to 5,000 gallons of water, allowing them to travel long distances without having to stop for water.

Looking out from the right-hand side of the cab, Carrie watched as the train disappeared back down towards Elsbridge Station - with the red tail lamp shining a red light behind it - and then she turned to look at the driver and fireman.

"I'm a bit surprised to see an engine of that size up here." she said.

"What do you mean by that, Carrie?" the driver asked, unsure of what Carrie meant.

"Well…I thought that the Fat Controller didn't want tender engines that big to run on branch lines like this one. He claimed they were too heavy, didn't he?" Carrie said.

"Oh, that's not too much of a problem, Carrie. Many of the bridges and such on many of the branch lines on Sodor have been heavily strengthened or even rebuilt over the last two years so they can support heavier engines and trains." the driver said.

"I see." Carrie said, now that she understood what the driver said.

"Also, that engine and the other engines of his class, the BR Clans, are purpose built for lines like this, and so they're somewhat lighter than many other big engines. There are also a few other classes of tender locomotive that are powerful, but are also purpose built and light enough in weight to run on lines like this" the fireman said.

"Oh, that explains a lot." Carrie said.

It wasn't too long before the last passengers had boarded the train, and they were able to leave Maithwaite Station. Blowing his whistle, Thomas was soon leaving and heading over the level crossing and on up the line to the next station.

(Insert soundtrack – Thomas' Branch Line Theme – Season 1)

The double track soon became single track again, and they soon came upon a road that ran parallel to the railway for the next few miles. At one point, when they crossed over a canal that ran at right angles to both the road and the railway line, Carrie saw that the stone road bridge crossing over the canal was humped in the middle, unlike the rail bridge, so that cars had to go up on one side and then down the other.

After they crossed over the rail bridge, the road and railway line drew closer and closer together until they were running side by side. This went on for about two miles before the road started to rise over the railway line to the left and then they came upon a tunnel and plunged into it. In Thomas' cab, Carrie, who had been having another go at firing, was sudden shocked by the sudden lack of light, until she realised that they were inside a tunnel and relaxed as they came out the other side of it.

Exiting the tunnel, they went through a narrow cutting that curved away to the left a little and went by a cottage that stood on the right-hand side very close to the tunnel entrance, with Thomas blowing his whistle in greeting as he left the tunnel and headed up the line and onto the next station.

Very soon, they came upon Ffarquhar Station and came to a stop at the platform. As the passengers disembarked from Annie and Clarabel, Carrie took the opportunity to look around from Thomas' cab; to the left was a yard with several sidings, some of which had trucks full of quarry stone sitting in them, a turntable in one corner and several sheds, including one used as a loading dock as it had a platform on one side of it and there was a half dozen vans sitting beside the platform.

In the distance, Carrie could see the rooftops and a church spire showing where the town of Ffarquhar was situated in relation to the station serving it. Immediately beside the railway line was the road that went over the line to the carpark at the back of the station and then past the yards and over towards the town of Ffarquhar.

Then she heard the familiar sounds of a bus horn from up the road in the direction they had just come from a short while before. Turning and looking up the road, Carrie could see a red bus, and a very familiar looking one at that, coming over the top of the hill and down the road towards the station. She could see that it was none other than Bertie the bus, and it looked like he had passengers aboard him for Thomas.

"And here we are!" Bertie said, as he came to a stop on the side of the road close to Thomas.

"More passengers for me, Bertie?" Thomas asked, as he noticed the passengers start to get off Bertie and walk to the station so they could buy their tickets to board his train.

"Yes, Thomas. We meant to have them at the last station, but we were held up so we were unable to get them to you in time." Bertie said.

"Well, don't worry about that, Bertie. At least they're here now." Thomas said.

In no time, the passengers Bertie had brought to the station had bought their tickets and had gotten aboard Annie and Clarabel. Now they were aboard, it was time for Thomas to leave and head on down the line to Ulfstead, his final destination for this trip.

Once the guard blew his whistle and waved his green flag, Thomas' driver blew the whistle for a few seconds before he opened the regulator again. Slowly, Thomas pulled away from the station and headed off down the line.

"Goodbye, Bertie!" Thomas called out, as he headed off.

"Goodbye, Thomas!" Bertie called, as he watched Thomas leave the station.

As the train headed off on its way, Carrie took another go at the shovel. Having gone and stoked the boiler a few times during the trip, she was getting used to bending over double and placing the coal into Thomas' boiler. She placed the fresh lumps of coal accurately into the firebox, being careful to place the coal into the middle of the firebox, along the sides, into the back corners and under the firehole door.

By the time she was finished, the fire was burning brightly and the needle on the boiler pressure gauge was close to the red line of 170psi, showing the results of her hard work.

After she handed the shovel back to the fireman, Carrie looked out the cab and saw that they were travelling through a more rugged landscape that showed they were in the wilder more central area of Sodor. The ruggedness of the hills looked like they were going through a very mountainous area.

Leaning out from the right-hand side of the cab, Carrie saw they were now going along a section of double track that ran along through a cutting lined with trees. It wasn't long before they came upon a bridge that had a waterfall falling off the rugged cliff to the left and the water passing under the bridge below them. The view off to the right was quite an impressive one, and looked all over the valley. Various details could be seen, including the course of the river, certain buildings, as well as the farmland.

They soon approached a long straight stretch where the double tracks became single track again, but then they saw that the signal just before that junction was at red, so they had to stop by a long wooden platform with a water tower standing beside it.

"What's going on?" Carrie asked.

"There's probably another train coming towards us, Carrie." Thomas said. And he was right, as about a minute or so later, there was the sounds of a whistle in the distance. Soon, they saw smoke rising over the land accompanied by the sounds of chuffing, indicating an engine was working really hard. Then, from round the bend in the distance, they saw an engine approaching with its train following along behind it.

They could see that the engine was a Fowler L.M.S. 2-6-4T tank engine, No.42395, and behind him was a long of empty wagons, including about three empty flat wagons, following along smoothly. Remembering that the line going beyond Ulfstead all the way to Kirk Machan was closed due to some essential maintenance work taking place, Carrie felt that these empty trucks had been used to take supplies and equipment to the workmen undertaking this essential work, with the flat wagons likely taking new steel rails up to the work area.

"Hello Thomas!" No.42395 called, as he slowly approached.

"Hello, No.42395! How are things on the branch line beyond Ulfstead?" Thomas asked.

"The men are making good progress with the work and quite a lot has been completed, but there's still quite a lot more work left to do on one of the bridges and a stretch of line beyond it. But they'll get there very soon, and I need to go and get some more materials for them." No.42395 said and giving a short blast on his whistle, he went over the junction and back in the direction of Ffarquhar, with the wagons rattling along behind.

Thomas and his crew and Carrie only had to wait for a minute or so until the wagons had gone on by them, and then the signalman in his signal-box set the signal to clear, and they could continue on down the line on the last stretch of their journey to Ulfstead. For some of the rest of the trip, Carrie took another go on the shovel and stoked the boiler, and managed to keep the needle in a good place on the boiler pressure gauge.

It wasn't too long before the driver at last said, "And here we are, Carrie…this is Ulfstead!" and Carrie looked out from the driver's side of the cab as they entered Ulfstead. The town was situated in a long and shallow valley with the craggy, rocky ground and hills rising up on both sides of the town. Many of the buildings, including the local church very close to the lineside, were constructed of grey stone, and some of the buildings were tucked up very close to the hillside in some places.

The station they were pulling up to ahead of them consisted of two lone grey stone platforms for the two long tracks that passed through the village. There were a few people standing on one of the platforms, obviously the station staff waiting to help the passengers off the train.

With a gentle squealing of his brakes, Thomas came to a gentle stop at the platform, the porters opened the doors and the passengers disembarked. Looking back, Carrie could see that many of them seemed pleased by the smooth journey from Knapford, considering that she couldn't hear any of them complaining about any bumps or jolts on the trip.

In no time at all, the passengers had left the station and headed into Ulfstead, leaving Thomas and his two coaches alone at the platform with his crew and Carrie.

"So, what shall we do now?" Carrie asked, now knowing their first trip for the day was over.

"Well, we need to get the train turned round ready for a return run, and we should also get Thomas' coal bunker and water tanks topped up as well." said the fireman.

"And to get the train turned round, we'll go down to a turning triangle just down the line a little way and then we'll put Annie and Clarabel in the yard before we go and get coaled and watered." the driver said.

"Sounds like a fair plan to me." Carrie said. A minute or two later, after being given the "all clear", Thomas puffed forward down the line a short way until he reached a junction with another line going off to the left. The points had been set for him to go down that line and he and his coaches went onto and they went up the line until they came upon another junction. Going a little way beyond it, they came to a halt. The fireman stepped off of Thomas' footplate and walked back towards the points and changed them, so that Thomas could reverse onto the other line and from there back towards the main branch line.

Once back at the branch line, Carrie now understood how a turning triangle worked and that they now faced back the way they came. Looking back to the east along the line to Kirk Machan, where they could travel no further due to the maintenance work taking place along it. And with that, they puffed back to Ulfstead and to its small yard and engine depot.

Back at the depot, Thomas gentle parked Annie and Clarabel within one of the carriage sheds and then went over to another part of the depot to be serviced and readied for his next job for the day. Once over an inspection pit, the ash was emptied out from the ashpan and clinker was removed from the firebox, while fresh coal was loaded into Thomas' bunker by a conveyor belt system that slowly brought the coal up to the level of the bunker where the workmen spread the coal evenly out as it went into the bunker.

Further up front, Carrie was helping out with refilling the water tanks. She was knelling down beside the open lid on Thomas' right-hand water tank and guiding the hose of the water tower into place. Once it was, the fireman turned the valve and allowed the water to flow into the water tanks, and it wasn't too long before both tanks were filled to capacity, upon which Carrie called out "Water off!" and the fireman closed the valve and the water stopped flowing into the now full side tanks.

It wasn't too long before the servicing was finished and Thomas was ready for his next job.

"What's the next job for today?" Thomas asked, as his driver, fireman and Carrie arrived back after they had taken a fifteen-minute break in the nearby crew hut, including taking the chance to use the bathrooms and get a hot cup of tea.

"Well…we're to take some empty trucks from here over to one of the quarries near Ffarquhar and then we're to bring some loaded ones back here for the workmen working on the eastern half of the line to use in repairing the line." the driver said.

"Okay, then." Thomas said, as his crew and Carrie climbed back aboard his footplate. Giving a short blast on the whistle, Thomas moved off to the sidings to collect the empty stone trucks to bring to the quarry. He was coupled to eight empty stone trucks with a brake van coupled to the rear of the train, and they were soon on their way back up the line to Ffarquhar.

The journey back to Ffarquhar went smoothly and they soon rolled into the station without too much trouble and rolled on by, heading to the junction that would take them on towards the quarry. They soon turned off and headed to the right when they reached the junction and went down a line towards one of two quarries that were very near to Ffarquhar. It did twist a little in some places, but mostly it ran without too much difficulty and soon they pulled into the quarry. Looking round, Carrie could see a myriad of sights, ranging from heavy machinery working away at the rock face, trucks laden with stone and others that were empty and waiting to be filled, as well as workmen wearing protective clothing and hard hats, considering the very high-risk work they were undertaking in such a dangerous environment.

Various sounds filled the air, from stone being loaded into trucks, the nearby sounds of drilling and other heavy machinery, various vehicles moving about nearby and the sounds of trucks being shunted, ready to be taken away to another part of the island.

Then, from some distance away, Carrie heard the sound of what she thought was another engine, but it certainly didn't sound anything like another steam locomotive.

A few moments later, with the sounding of a horn, the source of the noise revealed itself; it turned out to be a black diesel with six wheels. Looking over this diesel, Carrie could see it had a feminine face on its front and she had side-plates over her wheels and cow-catchers fitted in front and on the back, just like Toby did.

On the side-plates was the name of the quarry company, The Ffarquhar Quarry Co. Ltd, painted in white. Then Carrie saw the engine's name on the side of the cab, also painted in white; it was Mavis.

"Hello, Thomas. More trucks to be filled up today?" Mavis asked, as she approached Thomas.

"Morning, Mavis. Yes, we've got more trucks that need to be filled up, and I understand there's some here for me to take away?" Thomas said.

"Yes, there are, and they're over in that siding." Mavis said, looking towards a siding, in which sat another line of fully laden stone trucks ready to be taken away.

"Okay then, I'll just go get turned around, and then I'll take them back to Ulfstead." Thomas said, as he was uncoupled from the empty trucks by a shunter.

Not too long later, Thomas had been turned on the turntable and had been coupled up to the loaded stone trucks in the siding, and was being readied to leave the quarry with the stone needed for the work on the maintenance on the line east of Ulfstead. Carrie was taking the opportunity to oil up around the coupling rods before they left. Inside Thomas' cab, the fireman was taking the opportunity to get the fire in good order so there would be plenty of steam before they left.

"And there we are…" she said, as she finished the job while screwing the last cork back into the top of the oil reservoir of the coupling rod.

"All done, Carrie?" the driver asked, as he arrived back from checking the brakes and axle-boxes on the trucks.

"Yes, all done." Carrie said, as she wiped the excess oil off the coupling rod with an old rag.

"Very good, and I think we're about nearly ready to go here. I think we should be leaving here in a few minutes. I just need to speak with the yard manager first." said the driver, and he turned and went to the manager's office nearby.

"Excellent, and I'm eager to get out of here as soon as we can." Carrie said, as she climbed back onto Thomas' footplate. The reason for that was due to the loud sounds from some of the nearby machinery, but mostly due to the stone dust that was on the ground and that was occasionally blew up whenever a breeze came through the quarry.

Thankfully for Carrie, it wasn't too long before the driver arrived back and climbed aboard the footplate with a smile on his face.

"It's time for us to be on our way again." he said, as he reached for the controls in front of him.

"Thank goodness! I don't think I could stand this dust for much longer!" Carrie said, with a very pleased smile on her face. And the driver and fireman chuckled briefly, although they both knew it would be a good idea to get away from the dust that a working quarry always seems to generate.

"Let's get going then!" Thomas said, as the driver blew his whistle. Once the guard in his brake van had blown his whistle and waved his green flag, they set off on their way, with the heavily laden trucks following along behind.

They made their way back along the same single line they had travelled over to come up to the quarry and they soon arrived at the junction along the branch line. However, the signal before the junction was at "danger" with a red light, meaning there was another train coming along the branch line and they had to stop and wait for it to go by.

The driver put on the brakes and they came to a stop just before the signal. Looking out from the right-hand side of the cab, Carrie wondered who would be coming by on the line ahead of them. However, they didn't have to wait for very long, for soon they heard the sounds of chuffing coming from the direction of Ffarquhar and the sounds of a familiar whistle; Carrie knew right away that it was Percy.

A few long moments later, Percy, the little green 0-4-0 saddle-tank engine, came into view to the left, and he had half a dozen red coaches behind him. He noticed Thomas waiting at the junction ahead of him, and whistled in greeting.

"Hello, Percy!" Thomas said, as he watched his friend go by.

"Hello, Thomas! Can't stop I'm afraid. I've got passengers to deliver!" Percy said, as he went past with his passenger train. Thomas, his crew and Carrie watched as Percy went past and down the line, with his coaches full of happy passengers following along behind.

A few moments later, the signal dropped showing its green light and the points were switched, and so Thomas could continue on his way again. Moving forwards, he moved off the junction and back onto the branch line, heading back in the direction of Ffarquhar. Once the last trucks and brake van had cleared the junction, the driver opened the regulator a little more and the train picked up some more speed as they headed on down the line.

They soon arrived back in Ulfstead without incident and shunted the loaded stone trucks into a siding, where another engine would take them to the workmen on the sites along the line to the east of Ulfstead. With that job now done, and with it being so close to lunch time now, Thomas puffed over to an empty siding to rest until his next job, while his crew and Carrie went off to get lunch.

Carrie was feeling a little tired after having been standing for much of the morning, as well as feeling a little sore in her lower back from having been bent over shovelling coal into Thomas' firebox whenever she took a turn at firing. Now she was eager to sit down for a while and get some food into her and rest for her lunch hour before she got back to work again.

At Ulfstead, there was no large multi-storey crew building with a cafeteria serving out hot food like there would be at many of the larger engine depots on Sodor, but there were a number of nearby shops that did offer food and drink. Carrie did have some money with her, and so, after she took the opportunity to wash her hands and face of any coal dust and dirt really thoroughly, she went over to one of the nearby shops, bought herself a sandwich and a bottle of fruit juice before she went back to the depot.

After getting back from the shop, she sat herself down on an old bench up against the wall of a shed close to the sidings and tucked into her lunch. As she ate, she looked up into the sky and saw the clear blue sky was, and with very few clouds floating about up there right now. The sun shone brightly, which helped to warm things up somewhat, and there was a very light breeze going through the air, helping to cool things down a little. She felt herself smiling as she ate. After all, it was a nice day to be eating outdoors and to have some time to herself.

Once she finished eating her sandwich and drinking some of her bottle of fruit juice, she rested on the bench and just looked through the news and latest goings on around the world on her phone, and did watch the odd YouTube video as well. Ever since she'd gotten this phone for Christmas, she'd been able to keep in touch with her friends and her father quite easily, and had also been able to keep a close eye on what was going on in the world.

But ever now and then, as she looked through her phone, she did pause and look up to see what was going on in the yard. Occasionally the sound of a train going along the branch line nearby, with wagons rattling behind it would be heard, and workmen would walk past on their way back to work, but not much else would happen.

Eventually though, her lunch hour came to an end, and it was time for her to get back to Thomas and then get back to work. Standing up from the bench, stretching her arms and legs out a little, and making sure to put her sandwich wrapping and empty juice bottle into a nearby bin, and them putting her phone back into its pocket under her boiler suit, she walked back to the siding where Thomas was resting.

"Hello, Carrie! Are you ready to get back to work?" Thomas asked, when he saw Carrie walk up to him.

"Yes, Thomas, I am. I think I can make it through the rest of today…and thank goodness that it's Friday, and then there's tomorrow and Sunday to rest until everything starts all over again on Monday morning." Carrie said.

"Well, at least it's a Friday, Carrie. You've got the whole weekend to rest before you and the others come back to the depot on Monday morning." Thomas said.

"Yeah, and that's something I'm a little thankful for. I don't think I could work a full seven days, good work though it is." Carrie said, with a smile/

"Well, come on, let's get back to work and then when it's done up here, we can all head back home again." Thomas said, and Carrie, giving a smile, clambered back aboard Thomas' footplate just as the driver and fireman arrived back from their lunchbreak. Soon, it was time for them to get back to work again.

"And off we go, Thomas!" his driver called, as he opened the regulator. With a loud toot on his whistle, Thomas headed out of the siding and onto his next job.

(Later that day, later afternoon, 4:35pm)

Thomas was standing at the platform at Ffarquhar Station with Annie and Clarabel coupled behind him and his passengers boarding the train. He was facing in the direction that led back to Knapford and the main line and was ready to take his last train of the day back to Knapford Station before he went back to Tidmouth Sheds.

Carrie was standing on the footplate with the driver and fireman and waiting to set off home again. Once back at Tidmouth Sheds, she would be able to shower and change into some fresh clothes, and then meet up with her friends and go out to eat with them this evening. And she was looking forward to eating with them and then relaxing this evening after another long day of hard work.

It was soon time for them to be on their way, and the guard blew his whistle and waved his green flag, as the signal arm near the platform dropped, showing the way was clear for them to go. Thomas blew his whistle, and set off on his way down the line, with his two coaches following along closely behind him.

"Come along! Come along!" he called to Annie and Clarabel.

"We're coming along! We're coming along!" the two coaches called, as they pulled away from the station and on up the line. From the footplate, Carrie leaned out a little and looked on ahead as they started on their final trip of the day.

They soon approached the cutting before the tunnel, where there was a cottage by the side of the line just before the line went into the tunnel mouth. As they came closer and closer to the cottage, Carrie noticed there was an older woman and her husband standing by their garden fence overlooking the line and waving at Thomas. With a friendly toot on his whistle and calling out "Hello!" Thomas greeted the older couple as he went by them, with his driver waving in greeting too, just before they plunged into the tunnel.

As they emerged from the other side of the tunnel, Carrie turned to the driver.

"Who were those two waving at us just before we went into the tunnel?" she asked.

"Oh, that's Mr and Mrs Kyndley, and they've been living in that cottage for years. And they're always happy when Thomas, Percy, Toby, or any of the other engines who work on this line go by their cottage." the driver said. Carrie felt herself smile on hearing that, and then she turned to have another go on the shovel.

Not too long up the line, after going past Hackenbeck Station and then through Hackenbeck Tunnel, they went along the line that ran parallel to the road before they then came upon another junction and the points at this one had been set to send them down another line. Seeing that, Carrie was somewhat apprehensive about going along it, but the crew reassured her that it would take them back to Knapford Station, which eased Carrie's worries somewhat.

After going over the points and onto the other line, they puffed along it and it opened up to a double track before it slowly turned to the right and went under a road bridge with a town sitting on both sides of it on the land above them. There were children lining one side of the bridge, and they were waving at Thomas as he went by beneath them.

Going under the bridge and passing by a goods station off to the right along the up-line, Thomas continued on down the line when he saw they saw that the signal was down and the green light was showing them that the way ahead was clear.

After passing by a farm off to the right of them, the double track soon became a single track again as they passed over another watermill with a working waterwheel on one side of it.

After passing over Crowe's Farm Crossing, they went through a forest and then, as the line became double track again, they went through a deep wooded valley cutting with trees lining both sides of it before they went by another junction with a line going off to the right and continuing on down until they passed under another road bridge and then reached another junction where the loop line reconnected itself with the main line. The signal just before the points was at red, so they had to stop and wait.

They didn't have to wait for very long, as they soon heard a deep-toned Caledonian style whistle in the distance and then, a few moments later, another L.M.S. Duchess painted in B.R. Lined Maroon red livery, this one being a non-streamlined example, No.46251 City of Nottingham, went by heading down to Knapford Station with her own train she was hauling from Vicarstown along the North Coast Main Line. Counting the coaches as No.46251 went by, Carrie saw this Duchess was pulling 14 coaches behind her, each of which was painted in B.R. maroon livery.

Once No.46251 had gone past the junction and down the line in a swirling cloud of smoke and steam, the signal dropped, and showed its green light, and the points were switched, and Thomas set off on his way again. As the train headed off down the line and over the bridge to Tidmouth Station, Carrie took another go at the shovel and managed to put enough coal onto the fire to keep it burning brightly, and which kept the boiler pressure on the main pressure gauge up. Once she had finished her go, she handed the shovel back to the fireman and handed the shovel back to him before she leaned out from the fireman's side and ahead, keeping her eyes peeled for any signals ahead and how they were set.

As they soon arrived into Tidmouth Station and came to a stop at Platform 1, the doors were opened and the passengers wanting to disembark here got off the train. As Thomas simmered quietly while waiting to set off on the last part of their journey, he heard another whistle in the distance and it sounded like it was coming up the line towards him. Then, after a few moments, the engine came into view; it was L.M.S. Garratt 2-6-0 + 0-6-2 No.47985, a sibling engine to No.47988, the Garratt that Carrie had travelled on back in early December. Behind him was a very long line of heavily laden, and filthy coal trucks of all different shapes and sizes, and all of which rattled along as he puffed on through the station on his way north.

Giving Thomas a greeting on his whistle, to which Thomas whistled back, No.47985 carried on his way, going through the station with his long and very heavy train following along behind him. Carrie tried to count the number of wagons as they went past them, but there were so many of them in the train, and they were going by at such a pace, that she was unable to count them all before the brake van at the rear of the train went past them.

It was soon time for Thomas to be on his way again, now that the last passengers had boarded the train, and the way was clear for him to depart safely. Giving a short blast on his whistle, Thomas set off on his way again, with his two coaches following along smoothly behind him.

(Insert soundtrack – Thomas' Branch Line Theme – Season 1)

As they headed down the last stretch of line to Knapford a few more miles further down the line, they had a relatively uneventful journey and passed through mostly open countryside, though they did pass round Tidmouth Sheds and Motive Power Depot not too long after they departed from Tidmouth Station. They ran along very smoothly with Carrie taking another go at stoking the boiler as they passed through Lower Tidmouth Station, where people standing on both platforms waved to Thomas as he went chuffing on by, and he whistled happily in return.

Inevitably though, it was soon journey's end and they crossed the wide steel girder bridge that crossed over the last river and, after passing by the extensive yards, soon rolled up to Platform 1 at Knapford Station, their final destination for their last train of the day. The passengers, pleased from having had a very smooth trip, got off the train and left the station. Then, Thomas saw none other than the Fat Controller himself stepping out from the door that led to his upstairs office and walk over towards him.

"Hello, Thomas." the Fat Controller said, as he approached the little blue tank engine.

"Hello, sir." Thomas said, seeing that the Fat Controller had a smile on his face.

"Well done, Thomas. You arrived with your last train of the day right on time. I'm very pleased with you." said the Fat Controller.

"Thank you very much, sir." Thomas said, as he smiled at being praised for arriving on time.

And then the Fat Controller made his way over to Thomas' cab.

"And Carrie…I heard that you did very well too out there today." said the Fat Controller, as he looked at Carrie.

"Yes, sir. I think I did a good job in here today." Carrie said, as she smiled a tired smile. Her face was covered with a light dusting of coal dust, as was her dark blue boiler suit and bright orange Hi-Viz safety vest she was wearing over her boiler suit.

"And after a long hard day like you've had today, Carrie…I think you should go back to the sheds and get yourself cleaned up before you and your friends go out this evening." smiled the Fat Controller.

"Thank you very much, sir." Carrie said with a grateful smile, as the Fat Controller turned and headed back to his office with his hands behind his back. Carrie looked up at the clock over the platform; the time was 5:05pm.

"Come on then, Thomas. Let's get back to Tidmouth Sheds." said his driver, and they soon were on their way back up the line to Tidmouth.


(A little later on, Tidmouth Sheds)

After arriving back at Tidmouth Sheds and the motive power depot, Thomas parked his two coaches in a siding near to the main sheds and then went on back to the main sheds. After picking up her things and then stepping off of Thomas' footplate, Carrie stepped round so she was standing in front of the little blue tank engine.

"Thanks for letting me work with you today, Thomas." Carrie said.

"It was no trouble at all, Carrie. I was very glad to be given the chance to work with you today, and I think you proved yourself to be really useful too." Thomas said, as he smiled at Carrie.

"Thank you...thank you." Carrie said, as she smiled. She had really done well today, just as she'd done for all the other days she'd been working and did like to prove herself to be really useful, just like the other engines and people that she worked with. But now, after another long day of hard, physical work, she was tired and eager to get a hot shower before she and her friends went out to eat.

After bidding Thomas and the other engines at the sheds "Goodnight" she went straight to the main crew building and upstairs to the ladies changing room and showers, where she had a long hot shower to get herself cleaned up after such a long day of work. After drying herself off and changing into some fresh clothes she had in her locker, she left the changing room and went downstairs to clock out for the day and meet up with her friends so they could all go out for dinner.

She stepped outside and soon met up with Simon and Saoirse, who had also been waiting for her and the others to arrive.

"So, how was your day today, Carrie?" Simon asked, as he gave Carrie a quick hug.

"Grand, and we did a quite lot of different work up on Thomas' branch line today, ranging from bringing stone from the quarry to Ulfstead and taking vans full of things from Ffarquhar down to Dryaw Station for another engine to take away." Carrie said.

"Well, I spent most of the time working with Arthur and his crew, going back and forth along his coastal branch line and doing various jobs like taking vans full of freshly caught fish to the junction and then bringing passengers along the line to where they needed to be." Simon said.

"And I spent much of the day with Olivia on No.90770 taking a very slow and lengthy heavy freight train along, starting from here over to Vicarstown on the North Main Line, and then taking another equally heavy freight from Vicarstown back to here a little later on in the day. And boy am I tired after a long day like this." Saoirse said, as she yawned a little.

"Well, don't worry too much now. We're finished for another day, and now we can all go and get some much-deserved dinner and relax for the weekend." Simon said.

A moment later, both Alice, Olivia and Sophie stepped out from the crew building having just clocked out for the evening and walked over to the others.

"Well, here we are. Cleaned up and ready for dinner." Olivia said.

"Now we're all here, shall we head off and get something to eat?" Sophie said.

"Of course, now let's go eat. I'm starving after a long day like this." Simon said, and with them all agreeing with Simon, they turned and headed away to get something to eat. After all, they all had earned it.