Chapter 45: Carrie's Horrible Nightmare (II)
(Friday, August 31st 2012 – 6:15pm, Tidmouth Sheds)
Okay people, this is gonna be the second chapter where Carrie experiences a horrible nightmare when she sleeps after another hard day of work on the railway. For this part of the story, I'm also taking some inspiration from a Thomas story known as Henry and the Ghost Train for a part of the nightmare sequence in the chapter, as well as some of Carrie's own personal fears and bad memories too.
"Well, I guess that's it for another day of work. Let's go out and get something to eat. I think we've all earned it." Simon said, as he, Carrie, and the other four girls in the group all left the crew building at Tidmouth Sheds after getting themselves cleaned up and clocking out, and then went off to get some well-earned dinner after another long day of work.
"I'm looking forward to having a good dinner this evening. As well as a good night's sleep afterwards, and believe me…I'm just knackered after today." Carrie said, as she yawned while covering her mouth with her hand. And she certainly was knackered after such a long day of work; having been up at 7:00am this morning and having clocked in for the day at 8:00am, she had been assigned to work for the morning on the footplate of veteran W.D. Austerity Class 2-10-0 No.73650, which was painted in the original W.D. green livery, which had been cleaned and polished to a high shine.
Once she had been assigned to work with No.73650 and his crew for this morning, they were assigned their first jobs for the day, and were assigned to take a very long and heavy, and thus a very SLOW, freight train from the yards neat to Knapford Station all the way across the island on the Southern Main Line to Vicarstown, and stopping at each station along the way to pick up more trucks. When Carrie heard everything about the job she was given and what it entailed, she knew she was gonna be in for a long and slow morning as they made their way across to the other side of the island, which likely meant they were going to be arriving at Vicarstown in time for lunch.
Leaving the sheds at 8:30am, they went straight to the yards at Knapford where they picked up the freight train assigned to them which at that time consisted of around 36 wagons, including the brake van. Once coupled up to the train, and as soon as they were given the all-clear to depart, No.73650 departed from Knapford Yards with his first train of the day at 8:55am sharp. Going slowly along, as the train was a fully loose-coupled freight, they went through Knapford Station and from there out onto the Southern Main Line. As they passed by on this first part of the journey, Carrie took the job of stoking the boiler and was able to do a good job of it too, especially with the fireman assisting her and giving her little tips on how to stoke a firebox more efficiently.
For much of the morning, they went along the line at a steady pace of around 30 to 35mph along the line, with them stopping for a brief period of time at each station along the Southern Main Line in order to pick up some more trucks to add onto the train, and then they would be on their way again. The weather for much of the early part of the day was heavily overcast with very heavy rain at times as well, but as the cab of No.73650 was quite sheltered from such weather, Carrie, as well as the driver and fireman, were able to work in solid comfort from the damp weather with the heat from the fire providing a comforting heat for them, as well as doing the all-important job of keeping the tea-cans, which were sitting on the warming plate over the firehole doors, warm.
As they went along the main line through the heavy late-summer rain, they were passed by a number of other different trains, which were either heading back towards Knapford Station or which overtook No.73650 as they made their way eastwards along the Southern Main Line. Among the other engines they had come across as they made their way along were L.N.E.R. K3 Class 2-6-0 No.1935, who was making his way to Knapford with a long line of insulated refrigerated vans…L.N.E.R. V4 Class 2-6-2 No.3409 Challenger, who was making his way from Brendam Docks to the centre of the island with a passenger train of 12 coaches…B.R. Standard Class 9MT-1 No.91075 Michael, who was on his way from Knapford to Vicarstown with one of the morning passenger trains…BoCo the diesel, who was taking another long freight train from Wellsworth to Brendam Docks…B.R. Standard Class 9Fs No.92064 and No.92098, both of whom were heading back to the freight yards at Knapford with a very long line of empty Tyne Dock – Consett iron ore hopper wagons behind them…B.R. Standard Class 8P No.71002 Duke of Norfolk, who was heading to Knapford with one of the morning passenger trains…and G.W.R. 49XX Hall Class No.4905 Barton Hall, on his way from Sodor International Airport up to Arlesburgh with a long line of box vans.
By the time No.73650 finally arrived at Vicarstown Station with his longer freight train at around 11:30am, he, as well as his driver, fireman, and Carrie, were feeling somewhat tired from the slow journey, but pleased they had managed to get the train to their destination without incident. By the time they arrived at Vicarstown, their freight train had grown from 36 wagons in length to around 72 wagons in length, having picked up more wagons at each station along the way.
Once they were uncoupled from the train, they made their way over to the engine depot to ready themselves for their next jobs later on in the day.
After taking her lunch break from 12:00pm to 1:00pm, where she took the chance to have a good lunch and rest up, Carrie was assigned to work on the footplate of L.M.S. 5XP Jubilee Class 4-6-0 No.5682 Trafalgar for the rest of the day. After being introduced to the driver and fireman, they set to work readying Trafalgar for his train, which was due to leave Vicarstown Station at about 2:05pm. During that time, Carrie helped the driver and fireman ready Trafalgar for his job, including building up the fire in the firebox, oiling up the motion and other moving parts, rubbing down the paintwork, and polishing it down until it shone brightly. By this point of the day, the rain that had dominated for pretty much the entire morning had finally stopped, and most of the thick clouds had cleared away, allowing bright sunlight to shine over the Island of Sodor again.
Once everything was ready to go, they set off from the depot to Vicarstown Station to pick up their train, which was a special late-summer tourist train consisting of 14 Pullman coaches filled with many people who were out to see the sights of Sodor as the summer came to an end and autumn drew in. The train departed from Vicarstown bang on time at 2:05pm and made its way along the Southern Main Line, before turning off along the line running through the centre of Sodor at Kildane Station. Running through the line that went through the centre of Sodor offered some of the most spectacular scenery anywhere on the island, including the high hills, waterfalls, forests, different rock formations of various heights, and many other different sights as well. For some, it reminded them of the sights on the Settle and Carlise Line in Northern England, while for others on the train the sight reminded them of the lowlands of Scotland, while still others were reminded of the rolling hills of the south of England.
The train went very smoothly along the line until they reached Peel Godred Station, where they had to make a scheduled stop, firstly, as some of the people on the train were to disembark from the train as they were going to be staying in one of the nearby hotels in town, but also to top up the water space in the tender tank with more water. While they were stopped at the station, the driver also took the opportunity given by the stop to refill the tea cans with more tea, as well as to acquire some brownies from the station coffee shop. He returned with the brownies and a fresh refill of tea not too long afterwards, much to the delight of the fireman and Carrie.
After setting off from Peel Godred Station a few minutes later, they made their way along through a long valley and made their way back to Knapford Station, but they had to pass through the very busy rail junction at Heathfield before they did so. Here they had to wait for a bit as a freight train that was going a bit slower than had been expected had gone by the junction, and once it was clear they made their way out onto the Northern Main Line and from there down on the last part of their journey to Knapford.
Now though, tired after a long day of work, Carrie was eager to have a good dinner with her friends and socialise with them for the evening before she had to go home. The group made their way from the crew building at Tidmouth Sheds and over towards one of their favourite places to eat. After they entered the place, they were quickly seated at one of the tables upstairs, which was up on the first floor and outside on the balcony area, where they could enjoy a good view much of the town of Tidmouth, as well as a view of the railway lines in the distance where they could see the trains go on by.
By this time of the day, the weather was still quite nice compared to how the morning was, with warm temperatures, clear skies, and the sun seen setting off to the west, and so the group of friends was able to sit out and really enjoy the evening while they enjoyed their dinner.
Once the friends had looked at the menu and placed their orders with the waitress on duty, the six friends sat back to chat about their day and what had happened. At this time of the month, with almost all of the holiday-makers and tourists having left the Island of Sodor, this eatery, as well as many others around the island, was quieter than it had usually been for most of the summer. There were still some tourists sitting and eating in this place, but they were now far fewer in number than at the height of the summer season, as there were now more local Sudrians in there at this time of year. There were also a few of the other teens on the apprenticeship scheme inside the restaurant as well, sitting at tables upstairs and downstairs, and they were waiting for their meals to arrive as well.
"I'm looking forward to having a really good night's sleep once I get back home later on. I'm just tired out after the day I had." Carrie said, as she took a sip of her Coca Cola.
"Yeah, me too. I had to work with Edward on the line from Wellsworth Station down to Brendam Docks all day today, taking people and all different sorts goods from Wellsworth down to the docks where they got aboard the ferries that were going off to Dublin, or down to Liverpool, or wherever they were going to. And then we had to take people who had gotten off the ferries to Wellsworth to catch their trains to wherever they were going to." Sophie said.
"Same here. I was working with Emily today on that runs from Knapford Station all the way to the centre of the island where we took the last of the tourists and holidaymakers to and fro the different sights here on the island." Saoirse said.
"Well…there were no passenger trains for me to work on today. I was assigned to work with No.94000 and the jobs we did today was to help take various different shipments that had arrived at the airport. And that's what we did was shuttle back and forth from the airport to the yards at Knapford all day, taking heavy trucks laden with whatever it was that had arrived at the airport to Knapford, and then, after being turned on the turntable, going back to the airport for more, while taking more empty trucks along with us." Simon said.
"That must have been quite boring at times." Alice said, as Simon chuckled for a moment.
"Oh, it was quite boring at times. Although I am curious to know what it was that was inside all those crates and such that we took on those runs from the airport." Simon said, as he took a sip of his drink.
"Well…that's not really our business to know what's inside the crates on the trains or what else we're helping to deliver. Our jobs are to simply help deliver the goods and make sure they arrive safely at where they need to be." Olivia said.
"Yeah, I guess you're right there." Simon said.
The friends were quiet for a long moment or two while they sipped their drinks and listened to the low sounds of music that was being played over a set of small speakers mounted on the wall over the door that led back inside the restaurant. Close by, they heard the sounds of a train on the move, along with the sounds of a steam whistle blowing loudly, and looking over towards it they could see a thin cloud of grey-white smoke rise over the roofs and chimneys of the various different buildings, and then they saw the engine in question; it was No.1925, the S.R. W Class 2-6-4T, and he was on his way past them with a long line of specialised 22-ton cement powder wagons following along behind him. He blew his whistle as he went on by, and then headed on towards the north.
"Where do you think he's going to?" Saoirse asked, as she watched the train disappear.
"Well, there's a construction project going on up along the north west coast of the island right now. I think that there's a hotel up there having some renovation work done, as well as having a major extension being added to it." Simon said.
"Hence the reason for all those wagons of cement powder for that work, and courtesy of the Sodor Cement Works." Sophie said.
"Where are the Cement Works by the way? I've been around a great deal of the island by now, but I'm not sure where they are." Carrie said.
"They can be found on the Kirk Ronan Line, not too far away to the north east of the town of Kirk Ronan, and off a double-track junction from the line about half-way along that spur." Saoirse said, as she took a sip of her drink.
"And what engines work there?" Carrie asked.
"A small rail traction engine called Fergus works there, and he's the pride of the Cement Works…he's worked there for many years. However…" Alice said.
"However…?" Carrie said, with some concern at Alice's change in tone. This clearly indicated there was some sort of catch in the story.
"Well…Fergus does mean well…but the problem that many of the other engines have with him is that he's a stickler for the rules, and many engines do get annoyed with him because of that…and especially with his "Do it right" attitude." Alice said, as she rolled her eyes up.
"Oh dear…that doesn't sound like someone I'd like to be around." Carrie said, as she thought of what such a personality like Fergus would be like.
"Indeed…and many of the other engines see Fergus as a silly old fusspot, and his constant insistence of doing everything according to the rulebook can really be annoying to many other engines." Olivia said.
"Well…I'll reserve judgement of him until I actually see him face to face." Carrie said.
"Sounds fair to me." Simon said. Then their conversation was interrupted by the waitress, who was arriving at their table with their starters.
As they ate, the six discussed about what they should do together the next day, which was a Saturday and the weekend, where they could go out and relax and charge their batteries for another day of work on Monday morning.
"How about we go over to Vicarstown on the first train from Knapford tomorrow morning? I haven't been over to the town of Vicarstown for a while, and would like to go over there for a few hours." suggested Carrie.
"Yeah, that sounds like a good idea to me. What do you girls think?" Simon said, as he looked to the other four girls.
"Count me in, Simon!" Alice said.
"Me too!" Saoirse said, as she raised her hand a little.
"And me!" both Sophie and Olivia said at the same time.
"And also, there's also the new flight path that's starting tomorrow where flights from Maine in the United States are going to be coming over to Sodor." Sophie said.
"Hey Sophie…I think it's probably the best that we don't talk too much about that. After all…that airport in Maine where those flights are coming from isn't too far away from the town where Carrie grew up before she came here…and I don't want to see her upset." Simon said to Sophie, with some concern in his voice. Sophie looked at Simon for a moment, and then turned her attention towards a somewhat worried Carrie.
"Oh, sorry, Simon. I didn't mean anything at all. I was just pointing it out." Sophie said.
"It's all right, Sophie. It's not you…it's just my worries acting up." Carrie said in reassurance to her friend, and then they continued on with eating their food.
(Later on; the White residence; 12:45am)
With nothing to be heard at all from anywhere, and with her curtains closed up, Carrie was under the warm duvet of her bed and sleeping quietly away. After she had finished up with Simon and the girls earlier on in the evening, she went home with her father afterwards, and then decided to go to bed not too long after she and her father returned home. Tired after such a long day, Carrie, after changing into her pyjamas and brushing her teeth, went straight to bed and had no difficulty at all falling asleep after she laid her head upon the pillow.
As Carrie slept on in the warmth and comfort of her bed, she heard the sound of something outside, and it didn't sound like a train. Opening her eyes, she sat up in bed, turned the bedside light on, and stepped out of bed. Going over to the window, she pulled one of the curtains aside a little and looked outside; there was nothing much to see out there, except the stars shining brightly in the dark night sky with the moonlight lighting up the landscape below. There were a few streetlights to be seen here and there, along with lights inside a few buildings she could see from her bedroom window, with a few lights being turned off as Carrie looked around. Turning her attention down to the garden below, Carrie couldn't see what the source of the noise had been, and still feeling tired she turned away from the window and got back into bed.
After turning the light off and laying her head back down onto one of her pillows, Carrie fell back to sleep again. And as she slept, she began to dream and the visions of that dream she was now experiencing caused her to roll in bed a little while groaning a bit as she did so.
(Start of dream sequence)
Carrie found herself standing inside the showers of the ladies changing room in Ewen High School and showering after another gym class. She was alone in the showers, as the other girls had already showered, and in the distance in the changing room, she could hear the sounds of all the other girls in her class as they all talked and laughed with each other as they dried off and changed.
Carrie rubbed the hot water into her hair and then, taking a bar of soap, she proceeded to rub the soap over herself to get a lather so she could clean herself off. As she did so, the bar of soap suddenly slipped out from her grasp and fell to the shower floor and, before she could even reach down to pick it up…she suddenly saw blood on the palms of her hands, and then she saw it running down the insides of her legs as well. Suddenly full of fear and panic, she called out "Help! Help me!" and grabbing a towel to cover her bare front, ran out from the showers in a panic towards the other girls in the changing room.
Grabbing the white shirt of one of the other girls, leaving a bloody red handprint on the fabric, she tried to ask the girls for help as the pain below her abdomen built up, causing her to bend over somewhat to try control the pain. However, the other girls didn't help her at all…no surprise there…and they just laughed and mocked her, and they moved in on her, chucking tampons and sanitary napkins at her all the while chanting "Plug it up! Plug it up!" at her, over and over again. Carrie retreated back into the shower, where she collapsed onto her back and used her feet to push herself further away from the other girls, but it proved futile as she came upon the wall behind her which prevented her going any further. And the girls crowded round her, still tossing sanitary napkins and tampons at her, and chanting "Plug it up! Plug it up! Plug it up!" again and again. She pulled the towel, now wet and bloody, closer to her to try and protect herself from what the girls were throwing at her.
(Insert soundtrack - Main Theme of "A Nightmare On Elm Street" 1984)
Suddenly, the scene changed again and the sight of the girls changing room and shower space, as well as all the girls before her, disappeared from Carrie's sight and she then found herself in a very different place; she was dressed in overalls and work boots, and saw that she was standing on the footplate of a steam locomotive, but she didn't know which one it was. It was then that Carrie realised she was standing on the footplate alone and the engine was in motion, and heading on down the line. Getting to the driver's position on the left-hand side of the cab and sitting down on the seat, Carrie looked outside and ahead to see where she was; to her consternation, she saw they were rolling along through a thick mist, and the outlines of dead trees off the side of the line could be seen as dark and haunting shadows in the swirling fog.
"What's all this?! Some sort of joke?!" Carrie asked, as she looked all round in panic. But no reply came…only a rather chilling noise, which went "Ohhhhh, Arrrgh!" And then out from the mist, a ghostly white shape floated towards her, and Carrie was terrified as it passed over her.
"Argh!" went Carrie, as the ghost went past and disappeared. Looking back outside and ahead, she saw the track turn to the left in a very gentle curve, and wondered for the first time where they were going to. Taking a quick glance over to the open firehole doors, she could see from the bright glow that the fire inside was burning very brightly and making plenty of steam. Then, after turning her attention back to look ahead of them as they made their way along, Carrie placed her right hand on the regulator handle and her left elbow upon the edging of the open window and tried to make herself as comfortable as she could.
The journey down the foggy line, with dead spooky trees that lined either side, seemed to go on for miles without anything to be seen. But on and on they went, through the swirling ghostly fog. Then at one point, an evil laugh seemed to come out from nowhere, which shocked Carrie out of her already nervous wits even more and wondered what she would see next emerging from the mists ahead of them. She soon found out, as not too long afterwards they came upon a station ahead of them with the outlines of some figures standing on the platform, which helped to make Carrie feel a little bit better…until she saw who it was that was standing on the platform; Freddy Krueger, along with Jason Voorhees, Michael Myers, Leatherface, the Creeper, Chucky and his bride Tiffany, Pennywise, Pinhead, Samara, the Candyman, Jack Torrance, and Ghostface. And there was blood on their weapons, which meant they had been killing people. Also on the platform was a skeleton staff, ghostly passengers that floated around and wailed eerily, and what seemed to be a very thin controller. There was even a vampire, a zombie, and a witch waiting to catch the next train.
"Get me out of here!" Carrie called in a panic-stricken fright, as the engine puffed on down the line without stopping at all. Soon the station, with all the horror characters on it, disappeared far behind them, much to Carrie's own personal relief.
They continued on down the line for what seemed like endless miles until the engine began to gently slow itself down of its own accord and then it came to a halt. Carrie tried to open the regulator again, but the handle wouldn't move at all. Suddenly, Carrie had become aware of the fact of where they had stopped…which was on a crossover section where one railway line crossed over another. And then, Carrie heard the sounds of another engine coming towards them, and her senses were telling her that it was off to the left. Quickly turning her head in that direction, Carrie noticed that the sounds were getting louder and louder, and then she saw a light pierce through the swirling mist which meant that another engine was approaching fast. She tried to get up and jump off, but she found she couldn't as she was frozen in place. The other engine rapidly closed in, its whistle blaring loudly, and before it impacted the engine she was on, Carrie shut her eyes tightly and braced herself, awaiting the terrible event that she couldn't even imagine.
Nothing happened; opening her eyes, Carrie looked round to see what was going on, and saw, much to her relief that she was now standing in the middle of a street, and she realised that it was in Chamberlain. It was the middle of the night and the stars shone brightly in the dark sky, while around her there was silence, with the sights and different buildings along the street lit up by street lights. Cars sat silently in the driveways, and there wasn't a single person around to be seen anywhere.
But then, and much to Carrie's own fears, there came the slow and gradual sounds of footsteps from somewhere nearby, and they were getting closer and closer to her all the time. Slowly turning round and listening carefully, Carrie tried to find out where the sounds of the footsteps were coming from, and then she realised they seemed to be coming from behind her. Turning round to see who it was, Carrie only saw the shadowy outlines of three people standing in the shadows, but she couldn't see who they were. Then, the three of them slowly stepped forward out from the dark shadows to reveal who they really were…and they made Carrie's blood run cold; it was Chris Hargensen, along with her two trusted lackeys, Tina Blake and Donna Kellogg.
"Hello there…FREAK! Did you miss the three of us in the time you were away?" Chris asked, as she flashed a devilish and wicked smile at Carrie, as her two lackeys also smiled evilly at Carrie.
"We've got a score to settle with you…for ratting us out like that!" Tina said, as she took another step forward, and this caused Carrie to turn and then run on down the street as fast as her own two legs would carry her.
"Get her!" Donna shouted, as the three bullies took off after Carrie.
Carrie ran down the street, and then through a number of different back gardens, down a few alleyways, through lanes, and along pathways until she ended up in front of Ewen High School. Stopping in her tracks she looked all round, wondering which way she should go next. But then, Chris, Tina, and Donna appeared from nowhere and cornered her in a place where she couldn't escape from easily.
"Right…time to get back at you for what you did!" Chris said, as she and her two lackeys moved on the cornered Carrie. Watching them close in, Carrie shut her eyes and awaited the blows that were to fall.
(End of dream sequence)
Carrie sat up in bed, awaking with a gasp, and looked round in a slight panic until the realisation of where she was suddenly sunk in; she was still in bed. Taking in a few deep breaths to calm herself down, she switched on the bedside light, and then rubbed her hands over her face. It was only then at that moment she noticed her pyjama top was slightly damp in spots with sweat, including on her front and under her armpits. Pulling the duvet aside, Carrie got out of bed and unbuttoned her pyjama top, and then she put it down on the bed before going over to the wardrobe. Taking out a spare coat hanger, she put the pyjama top on it and then place the hanger on the knob of the wardrobe door so it could dry off. Going into the bathroom, Carrie dried off any sweaty spots under her armpits and elsewhere around the upper half of her body with a small hand towel. And once that was done, she took her white bathrobe off the hook on the back of the door and put it on, while tightening the sash around her waist.
Stepping out from the ensuite bathroom, turning the light off behind her, Carrie felt somewhat better now, but the horrible nightmare she had still played on her mind, and she hoped that she would never have to go through something like that again. Wondering what the time was, she quietly stepped over to the bedside table and checked her phone, and then her watch; both of them showed the time as being 5:15am, and she had gone to bed just a little after 9:10pm. Carrie then went over to the curtains and, pulling one of them aside a little, took a look outside the window; it was now getting somewhat brighter outside, as off to the east it was getting nearer to sunrise. The sun hadn't yet risen, but there was a line of pink on the eastern horizon with two shades of dark blue above that, which indicated that daybreak was near, with the stars still to be faintly seen in the slowly brightening sky.
Feeling pleased to see the early morning sky, Carrie closed the curtain and then made her way back to her bed. Laying herself back down on top of the duvet, she turned off the bedside light and tried to get back to sleep, as she had set the alarm on her phone to go off at 6:30am exactly. For a while, Carrie rested back in bed and tried to get some more sleep and, although she managed to get another 50 or so minutes of whatever sleep she could get, she eventually gave up and decided to make a start on getting ready for her day at 6:05am. After checking the time again, she put her phone on to charge up, and then quietly set about getting herself dressed into some fresh clothes that would be suitable for the day ahead, while keeping as quiet as she could all the while so as not to wake her father up.
She soon finished dressing into the clothes she wanted to wear that day, and then quietly stepped into the ensuite bathroom. When she emerged a few minutes later, having hung up her bathrobe, brushed her teeth and done everything else that she needed to do, she went over to the pyjama top, which was still hanging up on the coat hanger on the knob of the wardrobe door, and checked it; by now the pyjama top was fully dry, and so Carrie took it off the hanger and put it back on the bed, and then put the hanger back into the wardrobe. Then, there was a buzzing from her phone as her alarm went off, which meant the time was now 6:30am. Going over to her phone, Carrie turned off the alarm.
After putting on her shoes, Carrie opened the curtains; by now the sun was rising above the horizon, and was lighting up the sky above and the land below. In fact, there was enough light about now that Carrie could see many different details of town from her bedroom window. Opening the window, Carrie leaned on the windowsill and took in the early morning scene before her on this day, Saturday September 1st 2012; she heard the sounds of birds singing in the trees, the low sounds of vehicles moving on the roads close by, as well as other different sounds that anyone would expect to hear in the morning.
Then she heard the, by now, very familiar sounds of chuffing coming from somewhere off to her left, as one of the early morning trains that was on its way down to Knapford approached. Turning her head to the left, Carrie heard the sounds of a steam whistle blowing out, with the chuffing sounds getting a little louder as the train got closer. A few moments later, Carrie saw which engine it was; L.N.E.R. O2 Class 2-8-0 No.3965, and he was making his way along the line with a long line of empty 16-ton steel mineral wagons rattling along behind him. Carrie watched as No.3965 went on by along the line past the house, and she listened to the sounds of the all the empty unfitted wagons, about 60 of them in total, as they went on by down the line. Watching the long train go on by, Carrie was quite sure that the noise a train like this made would probably wake up many people who lived in this area, even to those like her who were well used to having such trains pass by on quite a regular basis.
She watched as the last part of the train went on past and then disappeared into the distance off in the direction of Knapford, with Carrie turning her head to her right to watch it. The last she saw of the train was the brake van at the back of it, with the red tail-lamp fitted to a lamp-iron at the rear of the van. With silence now descending again, Carrie pulled herself inside, closed the window, and then turned round to go out the bedroom door and downstairs for an early breakfast.
(n); for those of you interested on where I got the idea for a part of Carrie's nightmare in this chapter, look at the episode "Gordon and the Ghost Train" on YouTube, watch?v=Oqbj_JBRIx4
Also look at the episode called "Henry and the Ghost Train" by Wardleton Productions on YouTube.
(A little later on; Knapford Station; 7:30am)
"Have a good time over in Vicarstown today, Carrie! Good luck!" Ralph said through the open window of his car, as Carrie made her way into Knapford Station to meet with Simon and the girls, and then go buy their tickets.
"Thanks, dad! I'll see you later this evening!" Carrie said, as she waved to her father before she stepped into the station. After watching Carrie step inside the station, Ralph turned his car round and left the station car park and headed back to the house. He intended his have his own breakfast there, and then he had to get ready for what he planned to do today; he and many of the drivers and fireman he was friends with were going to be heading up to the golf course to have a tournament.
After Carrie met up with Simon and the girls in front of the ticket office, they lined up and bought their tickets at the ticket office. They bought tickets to travel first class on the 8:00am train from Knapford to Vicarstown, and they had special employees' discounts which meant they could buy the first-class tickets for whatever trains they wanted to travel on at a much-reduced price.
"I can't wait to get on that train, as I want to enjoy the full English breakfast that they serve in the first-class coach in the morning." Simon said.
"Yeah, me too. But I want to see which engine is going to be pulling us to Vicarstown this morning, and if it'll be a glamorous express engine." Saoirse said.
"Hey, it'll be whichever engine it is." Alice said, as the six friends stepped out onto Platform 1. There were quite a few other passengers standing about on the platform and waiting for the train to arrive, with many of them chatting with each other, reading the morning paper, or sipping from cups of coffee. Over at the line that ran adjacent to Platform 7, a slow and very lengthy mixed freight train being hauled by L.N.E.R. Class O3 No.3494 go by through the station on its way to the freight yards located a little way off to the north. The line of heavily-laden trucks rattled, clanked, and clunked along as they went on by through the station and on towards the yards.
"I hope the train gets here soon. It would be a shame if it arrived here late and caused all these people to be late too." Sophie said, as she sipped from a cup of tea she bought from one of the stands close by.
"Well, I hope there's not much…" Olivia said, before she suddenly paused, and then listened intently.
"What can you hear?" Carrie asked.
"I think I can hear the train coming now." Olivia said, as she turned her head to the right. And she was quite correct, for coming along the line adjacent to the platform was the train they were to catch to Vicarstown. At the front of it was a bright green engine. At first Carrie thought it was Henry, but then she saw it was in fact a very different engine; in fact, it was actually L.N.E.R. B17/6 Class 4-6-0 No.2835 Milton, and he had 12 Pullman coaches coupled up behind him as he slowly rolled into the station to pick up his first passengers of the day (80). His L.N.E.R. apple green paintwork shone brightly in the morning sunlight, as did all his brass parts, and the coaches also looked very smart as well, with them having been washed down and polished during the night.
"I think we're going to have quite a comfortable trip to Vicarstown this morning." Simon said, as he, Carrie, and the other girls in their little group watched Milton rolled along the platform, and then come to a gentle stop at the end of it, with a groan from his brakes.
"Yeah, I think so too." Carrie said, as the other girls murmured in agreement.
(80): The L.N.E.R. B17 Class express passenger 4-6-0 engines were designed by Nigel Gresley for hauling passenger trains on lines that normally ran along the former Great Eastern Main Line, which ran from London to Norwich in East Anglia, via Cambridge and Ipswich. The class came about as there was a desperate need for a new and powerful class of engine that could run on the Great Eastern Main Line, which had to be light enough in order to deal with the severe weight restrictions on many on that line, particularly as by 1926 the older Great Eastern B12 Class 4-6-0s were no longer able to cope with the increasingly heavy traffic, including the heavy express passenger trains, that were running from London to East Anglia.
Due to the severe weight restrictions on the former Great Eastern Main Line, as well as the restricted loading gauge, Gresley was unable to use his larger and more powerful classes on that route. A few of the K2 Class 2-6-0 engines did displace some older types, but they weren't really suitable for the needs of hauling heavy express passenger trains. In the time immediately after the General Strike of 1926, a shortage of quality coal led to appalling performances, as well as the virtual failure of a number of stopping services on the lines to Cambridge and Southend.
In order to deal with this problem, the L.N.E.R. management quickly ordered Gresley to design a brand new 4-6-0 design to supplement the B12 Class on heavier passenger services, as well as a new 2-6-4T tank engine design for services to Southend. However, the plan for a new 2-6-4T tank engine was dropped by the end of 1927, with an order placed for 10 more B12s.
The initial design for the B17 Class was for a three-cylinder 4-6-0 with the cylinder and motion arrangement borrowed from the D49 4-4-0 Class with a tractive effort of 25,000lbf. However, in the event, settling on a final design that was within the weight restrictions would prove a major challenge, as Doncaster Works had many problems in finalising the design, including having a taper boiler and fluted brake hangers in order to reduce weight. Eventually, the North British Locomotive Company took over the design and managed to produce drawings for two designs, one with an 18-ton axle loading and the other at 19 tons. Although neither design met the initial requirement for an engine with a 17-ton axle loading, the 18-ton design was chosen. But the L.N.E.R. had to accept that the extra 1 ton in axle-loading would restrict the B17s route availability to certain main lines in East Anglia and not the full range that had originally been intended. So, on 17 February 1928, an initial order for 10 engines was placed.
The final design for the B17 Class borrowed many features from a batch of A1 Pacifics which had been built by North British in 1924, with the cab, cylinders, and motion all being directly copied or slightly modified. Much of the design for the boiler came from the K3 2-6-0 and O2 2-8-0 designs. Some changes were made to the new design, including increasing the cylinder diameter from 17in to 17.5in, and lengthening the firebox by 5in, along with lengthening the frames and using lighter springs. Due to the way the cylinders were laid out, it was impossible for them all to drive on the middle-coupled driving axle just like on many of Gresley's other designs, and so a divided drive system was used on the B17 Class, with the centre cylinder driving onto the leading driving axle, while both of the two outside cylinders drove on the centre driving axle. In fact, the B17 Class was the only Gresley design to ever use divided drive, due to the necessity of the area where the class was intended to work. The two outside cylinders used Walschaerts valve gear while the inside cylinder was driven by Gresley's conjugated valve gear.
The very first member of the B17 Class, No.2802 Walsingham, was delivered on 30 November 1928, 13 weeks late, and was the first engine of the batch of 10 B17s to be built at the North British Locomotive Company, and they were numbered from No.2800 to No.2809. They were paired with small tenders that could carry 4 tons of coal and 3,700 gallons of water.
In total, 73 members of Gresley's B17 Class were built between 1928 and 1937, with 10 of them being built by the North British Locomotive Company, with Darlington Works building 52 examples, and the final 11 engines being constructed by Robert Stephenson and Company.
The B17s were known as "Sandringhams", and were also known as "Footballers" as a few members of the class were named after famous English football clubs. The B17 Class were numbered and named as follows;
No.2800 Sandringham, No.2801 Holkham, No.2802 Walsingham, No.2803 Framlingham, No.2804 Elveden, No.2805 Burham Thorpe (later Lincolnshire Regiment),
No.2806 Audley End, No.2807 Blickling, No.2808 Gunton, No.2809 Quidenham, No.2810Honingham Hall, No.2811 Raynham Hall, No.2812 Houghton Hall,
No.2813 Woodbastwick Hall, No.2814 Castle Hedingham, No.2815 Culford Hall, No.2816 Fallodon, No.2817 Ford Castle, No.2818 Wynyard Park, No.2819 Welbeck Abbey,
No.2820 Clumber, No.2821 Hatfield House, No.2822 Alnwick Castle, No.2823 Lambton Castle, No.2824 Lumley Castle, No.2825 Raby Castle, No.2826 Brancepeth Castle,
No.2827 Aske Hall, No.2828 Harewood House, No.2829 Haworth Castle, No.2830 Thoresby Park (later Tottenham Hotspur), No.2831 Serlby Hall,
No.2832 Belvoir Castle (later Royal Sovereign), No.2833 Kimbolton Castle, No.2834 Hinchingbrooke, No.2835 Milton, No.2836 Harlaxton Hall, No.2837 Thorpe Hall,
No.2838 Melton Hall, No.2839 Rendlesham Hall (later Norwich City), No.2840 Somerleyton Hall, No.2841 Gayton Hall, No.2842 Kilverstone Hall, No.2843 Champion Lodge,
No.2844 Earlham Hall, No.2845 The Suffolk Regiment, No.2846 Gilwell Park, No.2847 Helmingham Hall, No.2848 Arsenal, No.2849 Sheffield United, No.2850 Grimsby Town,
No.2851 Derby County, No.2852 Darlington, No.2853 Huddersfield Town, No.2854 Sunderland, No.2855 Middlesbrough, No.2856 Leeds United, No.2857 Doncaster Rovers,
No.2858 Newcastle United (later The Essex Regiment), No.2859 Norwich City (later East Anglian), No.2860 Hull City, No.2861 Sheffield Wednesday,
No.2862 Manchester United, No.2863 Everton, No.2864 Liverpool, No.2865 Leicester City, No.2866 Nottingham Forest, No.2867 Bradford, No.2868 Bradford City,
No.2869 Barnsley, No.2870 Manchester City (later Tottenham Hotspur, then City of London), No.2871 Manchester City (later Royal Sovereign), and No.2872 West Ham United.
The B17 Class had three cylinders, which were 17.5in in diameter with a 26in piston stroke, six driving wheels that were 6ft 8in in diameter, and a boiler pressed to 200psi and fitted with superheating, all of which combined to give the B17 Class a maximum tractive effort of 25,380lbf.
The B17 Class were divided up into a number of separate sub-classes, depending on what modifications or changes were made to them. These sub-classes include;
B17/1: this originally covered the first 48 members of the class which were fitted with G.E.R. tenders.
B17/2: these engines were formerly B17/1s which suffered from a number of problems with their frames cracking. In an attempt to fix this, these engines were built with lighter springing in their axleboxes, and stiffer bogie springing.
B17/3: these came about as fractured frames continued to plaque the B17s, and so engines in this sub-class were fitted with horn blocks for the middle driving axle instead of guides. The spring arrangement was amended and the axle-box lubrication mechanism was changed. Although these modifications led to a number of changes to the arrangement of the springs, the B17 Class would always have a reputation for being rough riders.
In 1937, the B17/1, B17/2, and B17/3 sub-classes were all merged together to form the new class B17/1, and all were paired with tenders that carried 3,700 gallons of water.
B17/4: the engines of this sub-class were intended to be used on routes with few length restrictions, and so they were paired with the larger L.N.E.R. Standard tenders that carried 4,200 gallons of water.
B17/5: in 1937, two members of the class, No.2859 East Anglian and No.2870 Tottenham Hotspur, were rebuilt with streamlining over the boilers and valences over the driving wheels identical to that on the A4 Pacifics for working on the East Anglian train that ran between Liverpool Street and Norwich. The streamlining was for show only and served no practical purposes at the speeds the B17s typically went at. The streamlining was actually fitted over the existing boiler cloth plates, which avoided damage to the lagging around the boiler. And just like the A4 Pacifics, the two streamlined B17s were fitted with chime whistles. In 1951, both engines had the streamlining removed.
B17/6: these engines were fitted with new Diagram 100A boilers, which ran at a higher pressure of 225psi, which increased the tractive effort to 28,553lbf. In 1939, Gresley had proposed fitting the Diagram 100 boiler with thermic syphons fitted to the firebox and an increase in working pressure of 220psi to the B17 Class, but this was cancelled at the end of 1939. But Edward Thompson created his own improved B17 boiler in the form of the Diagram 100A for his B1 Class 4-6-0 mixed-traffic design, but the new boiler didn't have any thermic syphons fitted. Between 1943 and 1958, 55 members of the B17 Class were rebuilt with the new boiler design and these modified members became the B17/6 sub-class.
Between 1945 and 1947, Thompson rebuilt 10 members of the class with Diagram 100A boilers and with two cylinders, thus forming the B2 Class. They retained the original 6ft 8in driving wheels, but had two outside cylinders that were 20in in diameter with a 26in piston stroke, a boiler pressed to 225psi and fitted with superheating, with combined to give the B2 Class a tractive effort of 24,865lbf.
The numbers and names of the B2 Class were;
No.2803 Framlingham, No.2807 Blickling, No.2814 Castle Hedingham, No.2815 Culford Hall, No.2816 Fallodon,
No.2817 Ford Castle, No.2832 Belvoir Castle, No.2839Norwich City, No.2844 Earlham Hall, and No.2871 Manchester City.
The new members of the B2 Class were paired with North Eastern Railway (N.E.R.) tenders, except for No.2815 and No.2832 which had tenders taken from the recently withdrawn L.N.E.R. P1 Class 2-8-2 engines, as well as No.2871 which retained its original tender. No more of the B17s were converted to B2s, as Thompson soon introduced his very successful B1 Class 4-6-0 design onto the L.N.E.R. system in 1942.
In April 1946, No.1671 was designated as the official Royal engine, and for this purpose it was renamed to Royal Sovereign. In September 1958, after No.61672 was withdrawn, the name Royal Sovereign was transferred to No.61632, which then became the official Royal engine.
When the B17 Class first came into service, they first ran on the services to Cambridge, where they proved to be very popular with the public and railwaymen alike. Some of those sent to Colchester did show some teething problems, but the engine crews quickly grew to like these locomotives, However, the services that ran from London to Ipswich were not such a great success, as that line had a number of banks which caused problems for heavier trains. During their working lives, the B17s that ran with Cambridge crews proved to be more popular than those that worked with the Ipswich crews. During their runs into East Anglia, the B17s also worked on the heavy boat trains that ran to the coastal ports there.
As more B17s were delivered, they started to be used on other services, rather than just on services in East Anglia. They worked on the cross-country services from Ipswich to Manchester, as well as being allocated to places like Leicester, where they worked very well on the Great Central Main Line, to Sheffield, Neasden, and Gorton. Those that were assigned to Leicester and Sheffield replace the older Great Central Atlantic 4-4-2 classes, including the C4 and C5 Classes. Although they were more powerful than the Atlantics they replaced, the B17s were never very popular with crews at these sheds, and so in 1943 they were transferred to East Anglia.
On a number of occasions, it was considered building more of the B17 Class for the North Eastern District, but in the event, it was decided to build either K3 Class 2-6-0s or V2 Class 2-6-2s instead, as both of these classes were much more powerful than the B17s and considered more useful for the north east.
In August 1943, the boiler pressure of the B17s was reduced to 180psi as a war-time efficiency measure.
After the railways were nationalised in 1948, the numbers of the B17 and B2 class was changed by having 60000 added to their numbers, and so they were numbered from No.61600 to No.61672. For the rest of their time on B.R. rails, the B17s and B2s would work very well on their usual duties until September 1952, when the first member of the class, No.61628 Harewood House, was withdrawn from service. The withdrawals of the rest of the class continued on through the 1950's and into the 1960's until August 1960, when the final member of the B17 Class, No.61668 Bradford City, was withdrawn from service. The last member of the B2 Class, No.61607 Blickling, was removed from service in December 1959.
Sadly, no examples of the B17 Class have survived into preservation, although the nameplates from a few of those named after football clubs were presented to the football clubs the engines were named after when engines were scrapped.
However, as of early 2024, work is underway by the B17 Steam Locomotive Trust to build a brand-new example of the B17 Class in the form of L.N.E.R No.2873 (B.R. No.61673) Spirit of Sandringham. A number of original parts are going to be used on the new-build locomotive, including an axle from No.61602 Walsingham, the frames of a Great Eastern Railway tender, as well as an original L.N.E.R. tender. The frames for the new engine have also been assembled at CTL Seal Limited in Sheffield, where new B.R. Standard Class 6 No.72010 Hengist is also taking shape, as well as many other different parts and components gathered. It's intended to complete the new B17 by 2029 and have it built to a standard where it can run on the main line.
There was also another project by another organisation, the North British Locomotive Preservation Group, to build a new B17 in the form of a replica of No.61662 Manchester United, and a number of components were acquired for the project, including an original L.N.E.R. tender from a Doncaster scrapyard, as well as having a replica B17 cab built. But, in November 2020, the project to build a replica of No.61662 was cancelled and many of the gathered parts were donated to the project to build No.61673 Spirit of Sandringham.
"Get in quickly please, everyone!" Milton said, as the doors to the coaches were opened and all the passengers stepped aboard them. As Carrie, Simon, and the other girls were standing very near to the First-Class coach, they were able to step aboard quickly and then made their way to their seats. Going along, Carrie was amazed by the quality of work done to the inside of this coach, with the upholstered seats looking very plush, as well as with the woodwork inside polished to a high standard. The soft light from above seemed to give a very cosy atmosphere, and the soft carpet on the floor seemed to make everything quieten down.
"Right here." Olivia said, as they arrived at the tables they were to sit at. Carrie and Simon sat a table for two, while the other girls sat at the table for four beside them. Once their bags were in the overhead luggage racks and they were comfortably seated, they began chatting quietly while they waited for the train to leave the station. As they chatted, they were served a complementary drink by one of the stewardesses, which was a choice of either apple juice or orange juice.
It wasn't too long before they heard the sounds of the doors close, and the sounds of the guard blowing his whistle loudly, showing it was time to depart. Looking at his watch, Simon saw that it was 8:00am exactly.
"Here we go!" he said. The driver on Milton's footplate sounded the whistle loudly for a few seconds, and then the group, along with other passengers in the coach, all felt the slight initial movement as the train slowly moved forwards out from Knapford Station and onto the main line.
"Vicarstown, here we come!" Carrie said, as she looked outside the window at the scenery passing by before them.
"Let's hope we have a good day out there today, Carrie." Simon said, as he glanced towards Carrie with a smile.
"Yeah, let's hope so too, Simon." Carrie said, as she too smiled at Simon. Settling back into her seat, Carrie made herself comfortable for the trip to Vicarstown.
(Chamberlain; local time; 3:15pm)
With this being the final Saturday before the start of their Senior Year of high school, both Sue Snell and her boyfriend Tommy Ross were socialising together and enjoying their favourite ice cream sundaes in the very popular ice cream parlour located along Main Street in the centre of Chamberlain. It was the end of a great summer for them, and they had gone on vacation to other places around the United States, with Tommy and his parents going down on vacation to a popular resort in Florida, and Sue and her family going on vacation for two weeks in July over to California. But now though, with the summer finally at an end, and with only one weekend left to go until school started up for everyone, they wanted to make the most of the last of their time off before they had to return to school again.
The ice cream parlour in Chamberlain was old, having been built more than 100 years before, and was still going strong even all these years later. The ice cream products they served there were served out in the original dishes that the parlour had first used when it opened all those years ago, and it was a very popular place with the young kids and teenagers in Chamberlain all year round, particularly during the summer months when it was hot.
Right now, both Tommy and Sue were enjoying an ice cream sundae of their choice together at one of the booths on the parlour, as other teens in the space, including a few of those they knew from Ewen High School, sat at the long marble counter along one side of the parlour where ice cream and milkshakes were served by the people working behind it. There were a number of booths inside the parlour as well, which were covered with red leather and were comfortable to sit on.
"What a summer we've had, Sue. And it just seemed to fly by too!" Tommy said, as he took in another spoonful of his sundae.
"I know, and I'm pleased that the weather for the last few months remained very good for the most part so we were able to go out and enjoy it." Sue said, as she savoured the sweet and creamy flavour of her own sundae.
"I wonder what our senior year of high school will bring." Tommy said.
"Well…I think it'll probably bring a lot work for us all. But also, there's the senior prom to look forward to in late May of next year, and then the graduation ceremony to follow not too long afterwards." Sue said.
"Yeah, and I guess those are the two big things we're all looking forward to attending once senior year starts off." Tommy said.
"But also…" Sue said, with the look on her face now appearing more concerned, "…I'm really concerned if we'll hear anything regarding Carrie's whereabouts. It's been nearly a year now since we've last seen here, and we still owe her apologies with regard to how we all treated her when she was with us." Sue was still clearly worried about Carrie White, and was wondering if she was doing all right wherever she was. Although nothing had been heard with regard to any updates from the police department during the course of the summer months, Sue and a lot of other people in Chamberlain were concerned that the police would reach some sort of dead end which may result in the investigation into Carrie's disappearance being terminated for good.
"Don't worry, Sue. You never know…there might just come a sudden and unexpected bit of information from an entirely unexpected place that'll cause the case to suddenly build up steam again and cause things to suddenly speed up." Tommy said.
"I hope you're right about that, Tommy. I sure hope so." Sue said.
The couple were quiet for a few long moments as they enjoyed their ice cream sundaes, while other young people in the parlour socialised and chatted while enjoying their own ice creams and milkshakes, either at the long marble counter, or in one of the other booths.
Then, Sue spoke up again.
"Hey, have you heard about the new flight route that's starting from the Western Maine Airport today?" she asked.
"Yes, I have. I actually saw it being mentioned by the reader in the news on the T.V. last night, as well as on the radio this morning when I was having breakfast. And the new flight route is going across the Atlantic over to the Island of Sodor, is it?" Tommy said.
"Yeah, that's the place I heard it was going to; the Island of Sodor." said Sue.
"I wonder if we'll ever get a chance to go over there someday." Tommy said.
"Well, you never know, maybe we will…but I don't imagine that we'll get the chance to do so in the near future. And nor will anyone else we know in school." Sue said.
"Do you suppose Carrie might be over there?" Tommy asked. Of course, he was just joking about that, but Sue did rub her chin at the suggestion.
"Oh, I don't think it's very likely that she's over there. After all…Sodor's a very long way away from here. I had a look at the map; it's located in the Irish Sea between England and the Isle of Man. I think she's still probably likely somewhere within the United States." Sue said.
"Hey, I was only suggesting it." Tommy said.
"I know, Tommy. I know. Anyway come on, let's finish off our sundaes and get out of here." Sue said, and they continued on with enjoying their sundaes.
And that's it for this chapter, everyone! In the next chapter that's going to be up, things are going to start changing for Carrie, as there'll be an encounter that'll change the course of things for Carrie in her time on Sodor. And I can promise you that both Sue and Tommy are going to get the shock of their lives when they find out Carrie is in fact on the Island of Sodor after all. Until next time…good reading!