It was evening and the engines of the Tall Controller's Railway were completing their last jobs of the day. At Whitehaven Station, two coaches were waiting at the platform when Marcus steamed in. "Good evening, Sir," he whistled. "I heard you have one more job for me."

"I do, indeed," said the Tall Controller, but a little quieter than usual.

"Is something wrong?"

"Oh no, Marcus, but please try to be quiet. Those coaches are filled with porters for the Sleeper Train leaving the Port in Barrow tonight. They will be busy all night and they need their sleep."

Marcus was puzzled. "I thought the Sleeper Train was a Main Line train."

"It is," the Tall Controller replied, "but there's trouble on the Main Line, so they have to travel on our line. You, Marcus, are the nearest engine, so I need you to take the porters to meet the ship."

"Yes, Sir, I'll get them to Barrow on time."

"That's a good engine, but please remember that the porters need their sleep, so try not to make too much noise."

Marcus buffered up to the coaches as gently as he could and when everything was ready, he tried to whistle just loud enough to let everyone know he was there. He made his way along the line quickly and quietly, but then, Nathan rolled up with a heavy load of pipes making a rattling noise.

"Nathan," whispered Marcus, "can you slow down? Those pipes are rather loud."

"What did you say?!" called Nathan. "I can't hear you!"

I must get away from Nathan, thought Marcus and he started to go faster.

"Oh! so you want to race!" Nathan picked up speed and quickly raced ahead of Marcus.

Then, Marcus had an idea. "I know, I'll take the track through the Dark Woods. It will be much quieter there."

So, Marcus took the junction track to the Dark Woods, but he had forgotten about the steep hill on the way. The heavy coaches pushed against him, and it was hard for him to keep them under control.

Marcus' brakes screeched. "Oh," he groaned, "I wish I had a brake van." Luckily, they reached the bottom safely. Marcus was happy…until he heard thunder rumbling. "Bust my buffers."

Then, Marcus saw a tunnel up ahead and when he was inside it, he slowed to a stop. "What are you doing, Marcus?" asked his Driver.

"I don't want the storm to wake the porters."

The Driver sighed. "The Sleeper Train runs through storms all the time and we can't be late."

Then, they heard a whistle and Kenneth came up behind them. "Why have you stopped, Marcus?" he asked.

"Shhh," whispered Marcus, "I'm trying to keep quiet, so I don't wake the porters for the Sleeper Train.

"Oh," Kenneth whispered back, "maybe I can help. I have to collect my last delivery from the same Port anyway."

Kenneth came up behind and off they set. The storm passed quickly, but Marcus was worried. "I should've stayed on the main route," he puffed.

"Why are you on this track anyway?" asked Kenneth.

"It was trying to stay away from the other engines so the porters wouldn't wake up, but now I might be late."

"Then it's a good thing I'm here. With the two of us working together, we can get to Barrow faster." And that's just what they did. The two engines began to speed up. They rolled as smoothly as they could, but were careful not to go too fast so as not to rattle the coaches about.

Finally, Marcus could see the Port up ahead. "Great work, Ken," he whispered. "We're almost there."

Kenneth smiled. "I knew we would make it."

Then there was trouble.

"Oh no," puffed Marcus, "cows on the line."

"Try flickering your lamp," said Kenneth.

Marcus did so, but the cows took no notice. "It's not working."

"Try whistling."

"But I've only been whistling when I have to."

"Well, you have to now or we're going to crash," wheeshed Kenneth urgently.

Marcus whistled as quietly as he could, but the cows still didn't move. He knew there was only one thing to do. "I'm sorry, everyone, but this is an emergency." Marcus whistled as loudly as he could and flickered his lamp once more. "Get out of the way!" he shouted.

At last, the cows moved, and they cleared the tracks just in time. Marcus and Kenneth rolled into the Port safely.

"What is that noise?!" called one of the porters crossly.

"I'm sorry, Sir," said Marcus, "but there were cows on the line."

Then, they all heard a very loud horn, and everyone looked to see the ship sailing into Port.

"Our passengers," said another porter. "We're right on time. Thank you."

The porters quickly climbed aboard the Sleeper Train and waited for their passengers. "Well done, Marcus," said Kenneth, but there was no reply. "Marcus?" But Marcus had fallen asleep. Kenneth could only smile. "Keeping everyone else asleep must have been very tiring work. Sleep well, Marcus. You deserve it."