The next morning, Braedey had collected his coaches for his morning run from Marion to Sodor, with Austin taking care of the shunting work, Liliana heading out onto the Lake District Line to do morning inspection before Shadow could go and take the sunny morning runs around the line. For Max, with his engine still broken, he'll have to be taken to the mechanic's shop to have his engine repaired. He was loaded up onto a flatbed trailer, and a semi-truck began to take him off to the workshop to be fixed.
With the engines now on their way with their work, Mr. Franklin had driven up to the sheds. He walked over to Diana's closed berth shed doors, and he opened them. He entered the berth, and he walked up to the C.R 812 Class engine, her paint shining a little in the sun.
"Good morning, Diana." Mr. Franklin spoke quietly to the royal blue engine. Diana remained quiet, all the while looking to Mr. Franklin silently and with sad eyes. "Listen, Diana. Your friends and my family are very concerned for you, and we want to see you back in steam once again." He gently patted her buffer-beam. "Fortunately, I have something for you to help you with your anxiety and nervousness." Diana looked to him with concern in her eyes. "I can assure you Diana, they can help out any engine or being." He said to her.
A moment later, the sound of a GNR steam whistle echoed out. Diana and Mr. Franklin could see a cloud of steam behind a large cluster of trees. A few moments go by, then a large green locomotive pulled up nearby the sheds, steam hissing from its pistons.
The engine was a Great Northern Railway (GNR) C1 Atlantic, a type of 4-4-2 steam engine. The engine is a female. She is painted in LNER light green with gold linings. The number 288 is painted on her cabs in gold, and the letters 'G.N.R' is painted on her tender in gold.
The C1 Class, as it was known under both GNR & LNER classifications, was designed by Henry A. Ivatt, as an enlarged version of what became the LNER C2 Class. The principle of the design was to produce a powerful, free-steaming engine to haul the fastest and heaviest express trains on the Great Northern. They could thus be seen as the start of the East Coast 'Big Engine' policy.
"Hello, Alice." Mr. Franklin greeted to the GNR C1. "I trust that your journey wasn't too arduous."
"No, sir. It was rather enjoyable, and it was nice to go down your line." Alice then noticed Diana sitting in her berth. "You must be Diana. It's nice to meet you." She greeted. Diana remained silent, and Alice respected this. "I see. She's been like this for a while?" She asked to Mr. Franklin.
"Unfortunately, this has happened ever since the 1950's and 60's." Mr. Franklin replied, much to Alice's surprise. "She's just scared of being ridiculed and being treated as a lower-class engine, with other putting her down." He added on.
"Very well." Alice acknowledged. "Mr. Franklin, I'll do what I can." With a nod, the manager walked back to his car, climbed in, and he drove away. Alice slowly puffed up onto the turntable, and inches forward, stopping just outside of Diana's berth. "Diana. You don't have to feel afraid. I'm a friend."
"Wh... why are you here?" Diana whispered quietly.
"I'm here to help you out." Alice replied to her in a calm tone. "I can see that you are in need of some self-confidence." She slowly rolled forward, her buffers bumping up to Diana's, now coupling up. "Please. Trust me. I'm here to help with your anxiety, and to get you back on your six wheels." She said gently.
"How... how can you do so?" Diana whispered softly. She wasn't sure if she could trust this GNR engine.
"My driver is a psychiatrist and psychologist." Alice replied calmly. "She can speak with the worst of folks, and can calm them down." Slowly, Alice began to gently pull Diana out of the sheds. Diana didn't resist, as Alice pulled her up onto the turntable, then she uncoupled from her. "Let's get you turned around, and fired up." She said.
Diana sat on the turntable, as she was spun around. Once done so, she was coupled up from behind to Alice, and she pulled the Caledonian engine over to the coal bunker and water tower. Water was soon flowing into Diana's boiler, making her shudder from the cold water flowing in. Alice then watched as her driver walked up to Diana's cab, opening her firebox, and began to shovel coal into the empty firebox. Once done so, she covered a lump of coal with some kind of flammable liquid, lit the coal, and she tossed it into the firebox. At once, a fire erupted in the firebox, and it was going along nicely. Diana could feel the heat inside her firebox, and the warmth started to spread through her boiler, heating up the water. She breathed a small sigh, while Alice pulled up alongside her.
"Are you ready to take your first train, Diana?" Alice asked calmly. She then noticed Diana was shaking on her six wheels, almost like she's having a panic attack.
Alice's driver, who is a brunette that goes by the Jenny, gently placed a hand on Diana's regulator, almost like taking someone's hand. "It's okay, Diana. I'll be by your side." She whispered calmly, now releasing Diana's brakes.
Diana took some deep breaths, as she slowly puffed towards the station, where two coaches have been set up at the platform. She slowly backed down to the coaches, coming to a stop, as she was coupled up.
"Diana, I know this is your first time, but trust me." Jenny whispered to Diana, gently patting the regulator. "I'll stay by your side, and be with you. I promise." She added.
Diana was very nervous about taking her first train in forever, but she took some deep breaths, and did her best to calm down. With a toot of her whistle, as the passengers finished boarding the coaches, Diana began to slowly pull out of the station, clouds of steam coming from her funnel and pistons, as she left down the line.
"Easy does it... easy..." Diana whispered to herself, keeping her eyes on the rails ahead of her.
Meanwhile, over on Sodor, Braedey had arrived at Vicarstown Station on time, and without delay at all. He was happy to have arrived on time, and plus, it was nice to travel to Sodor again.
"Excuse me." The GWR 4900 Class engine looked over to a stationmaster walking up and standing on the platform. "There's a goods train bound for Crovan's Gate, and there's no other engine available at the time. Can you take the train?" He asked.
"Of course." Braedey acknowledged, uncoupling from his coaches.
"The goods train is in the shunting yard nearby. I'll notify to your controller about this, and he'll send an engine to take your train back." The stationmaster added, and Braedey whistled in acknowledgement, as he chuffed off to find the goods train.
'At least Mr. Franklin will understand why I'll be late home.' Braedey thought to himself.
Braedey soon collected his goods train, consisting of four open trucks full of wood, two flatbeds of steel rails, as well as three tar wagons, along with about five boxes wagons, plus a brakevan. Once coupled up, the GWR 4900 class locomotive chuffed out of Vicarstown, heading off down the line.
As he went on his way, Braedey passed by some of the landmarks on the island such as Henry's Tunnel, as well as going by a junction that lead to a town called Ballahoo, and going over the River Hoo. Braedey had to admit, this island had a lot of rolling green hills, bright blue skies up above, and the scenery was something else. Eventually, Braedey had arrived at Crovan's Gate Station. Crovan's Gate is a town near a narrow gap in the hills that is the only practicable route into the centre of Sodor from the East. The town's station is the terminus of the Skarloey Railway, and the location of The Works, where the engines go to be repaired.
Braedey slowed to a stop, pulling up to nearby set of shunting yards to put away the trucks. He shunted each set of trucks into their respective sidings, then he settled down next to a nearby set of sheds. But, to his confusion, he took note of the rails; they were smaller than the standard gauge track.
'Must be narrow gauge. Haven't seen narrow gauge engines for some time.' Braedey thought to himself. He then saw two narrow-gauge engines sitting by the shed.
The first engine is a Fletcher Jennings Class C 0-4-2ST, painted in crimson red with white and gold lining. He has red and gold name and number plates on the sides of his saddle tank and coal bunkers respectively, the nameplate being 'Skarloey'. The second engine is a Kerr Stuart Tattoo Class 0-4-2ST, painted in dark green with red lining and brass fittings. He has red and gold name and number plates on the sides of his saddle tank and coal bunkers respectively, the nameplate being 'Peter Sam'.
"Hello there." The first engine greeted. "Welcome to the Skarloey Railway."
"Nice to meet you, Skarloey." Braedey greeted back. "You too, Peter Sam. I'm Braedey."
"You must be new to Sodor, are you?" Peter Sam asked.
"That, I am. I'm just visiting for the time being." Braedey replied. "Just delivered that goods train over there. For your railway?" He asked.
"Half and half." Skarloey clarified. "The tails are for track repairs, while the tar is for some of the roads around these parts."
Braedey then remembered about his passenger train. "Oh, my. I should get back to Vicarstown. I need to get going back to the mainland-"
"Excuse me." Braedey was cut off when one of the yard workers ran up to him. "There's a passenger train bound for Kirk Ronan, and it cannot be late. There aren't any engines available, and you're the only engine in the yards." He said to him.
Braedey sighed inwardly. He wanted to get back to his railway, but he knew he had a job to do, and he couldn't leave passengers behind. He looked to the stationmaster. "Okay. I'll get on it."
"To get to Kirk Ronan, from what I remember, you go down a junction to the left at Kellsthrope Road, pass through Rolf's Castle, and you'll reach Kirk Ronan at the end of the line." Skarloey advised to Braedey.
"Much obliged, Skarloey." Braedey thanked, and he reversed back to collect some coaches.
Back on the Josephine Railway, Diana was taking her time, going along at about 20mph, all the while taking her time and being careful at her surroundings. She had to admit, the line was very beautiful, and for her first run in some time, it has changed substantially over time.
Diana then saw she was being diverted into a loop junction. She slowly pulled to a stop, and saw there was a red signal. She sighed. "Why have we been diverted into this loop track?" She asked quietly.
"Possibly for another train to pass." Jenny reassured to the Caledonian engine. "Maybe one of the inspection trains needs to pass by."
Their answer came as the sound of a diesel's horn could be heard. A moment later, then Croghan roared past in a cloud of smoke and oil, and raced down the lines. Diana shuddered from the GT3 Turbine as it raced by, her wheels shaking a little.
"It's okay, Diana." Jenny reassured you the Caledonian engine, gently patting Diana's brake and regulator. "Don't worry about him, Diana. Just relax, and focus on your work." She whispered calmly to Diana.
Diana took a deep breath, wheezing some steam from her pistons. Once the signal turned to green, and the points switched to her line, Diana began to slowly pull out onto the track, going along at a gentle pace, not exceeding 20mph.
Sure enough, throughout the rest of the day, Diana had gone along the rails, taking her time, and being as cautious as she can. She even stopped to let a group of Red Deer pass over the tracks, as well as stopping for some birdwatchers to see Peregrine Falcons up in a tree. Diana saw many different people at stations and such, many greeting the Caledonian engine, and she smiled back, albeit with her shyness. Whenever the Caledonian engine would see one of her friends, they'd give a whistle or toot of their horn to her, and Diana would smile gently, or give a quick whistle back in response. Jenny could see that Diana was doing much better than before, albeit at a slow pace. It was still a good start.
Soon enough, it was nightfall. Diana had a rather productive day, especially helping out Liliana with her inspection trains, and also taking some small coal trains to and from the coaling plant. She managed to gain some courage back, and she did have a smile.
"Sounds like today went very well for you, Diana." Mr. Franklin said to Diana. "I've heard good reviews from your passengers. Despite the low speed you took, you had given them a comfortable ride."
"Well, t-thank you, sir." Diana replied, with a little stutter. "But... t-the thanks sh-should go to Jane. And Alice. They helped me with my fear."
"We were more than happy to help." Alice smiled gently to her, and Diana smiled back.
Mr. Franklin then heard the sound of a steam engine chugging in. He and the other engines looked over to see Braedey steaming in, looking tired and exhausted. The GWR 4900 Class locomotive pulled up with some trucks, uncoupling from them, and shunting them over to a siding. Once shunting the trucks, he pulled up into his berth.
"Well, you seem to have had a long and productive day." Max commented.
"What happened to you?" Shadow asked next.
"First off, the run from Barrow-in-Furness went off alright. But, when I got there, I had to take a goods train down to the narrow-gauge railway at Crovan's Gate." Braedey explained, hissing steam from his pistons. "Then, there was an important passenger train to Kirk Ronan I had to take. On top of that, I had been running about from Kirk Ronan to Crovan's Gate, then take passengers from Vicarstown to Kildane and Maron and back, and finally, I was able to take a train back to Barrow-in-Furness. It wasn't until about 5:00 in the evening till I even got back."
"Well, sounds like you all had a very busy day." Mr. Franklin spoke out. He looked to everyone. "Tomorrow, it'll be one of the calmer days. You have your assignments. So, some of you can relax for tomorrow. Goodnight, all."
"Thank you, sir." The engines replied in unison. With that, Mr. Franklin got into his car, and he drove off for home, the engines soon cooling down and relaxing.
Over the next few days, amazingly, Diana came out of the sheds, and he began to help out around the line, either shunting some of the trucks and coaches, even taking the odd passenger train every now and then. She didn't travel as fast as the others, but many of the passengers didn't mind this.
Braedey and Shadow would see her go along, and the former would comment that he's never seen her smile for such a long time, and it was really nice to see that. The other engines agreed with this, and it was nice to see Diana now enjoying herself on the Josephine Railway.