Winter had eventually arrived on the Josephine Railway rather quickly. A layer of snow had covered over the Lake District National Park and the railway, which did leave the engines with more work on top of their own to deal with. Fortunately, Mr. Franklin had purchased new snowploughs for the engines recently to have equipped for heavy snowfall and the winter season. The engines were fortunate to have snowploughs on them to cope with the snowdrifts and piles that lined the tracks and the yards. Still, it's a struggle for them to get their jobs done, but they manage to pull through.
Today happened to be a rather bad day. Snow had piled on rooftops and the hills, as well as along the line. The engines have been given their tasks to either deal with the snow, deliver supplies to towns cut off by the snow, taking passengers to and fro from the stations. By the shunting yards, Charlotte was talking to Jonson and Kieron, along with Jane, who has her bright red snowplough fitted to her front end. They were all discussing about the weather.
"My fireman said there's more snow on the way." Charlotte began.
"We'll need to top up our sandboxes to be ready for the hills and keep traction." Jonson added in with a sigh. "Not to mention have our snowploughs fitted."
"I don't mind the snow. It looks nice." Kieron noted. "I mean, it does limit our traction, but it's still very pretty."
"Good thing I won't be complaining about wearing this thing." Jane smiled, referring to her red snowplough. "I'll never understand why Thomas doesn't like this thing. Without it, he'd be stuck more times than can be counted."
"I agree. The others don't mind theirs, why doesn't he like his?" Charlotte agreed with the red E2 engine.
"Okay, you four. That's enough chitchat. Let's get back to work now." The yard manager said to them. "There's people counting on us." With that, the engines puffed off to do their work.
Over by one of the farms, Greyson the yellow tractor was getting his engine warmed up for the day's events. He and his driver had anticipated the snow and ice, but they were good to go. As the yellow tractor drove along the snow-covered farmland, Greyson looked over to see Braedey chuffing along with a passenger train. Greyson tooted his horn, as Braedey slowed down to a sliding stop.
"Morning, Greyson. A bit chilly here, huh?" Braedey remarked to Greyson.
"Yes. Had to take some time to get my engine warmed up." Greyson commented, then he lightly shuddered to himself. "You'd best take care while travelling downhill, Braedey. You and the others don't have grippy tyres or treads like I do."
"We're well ahead of that. Using either our hot coals and sand to try and grip the rails." Braedey remarked.
"Good luck to you, then." Greyson called as he rolled away down the fields.
Braedey smiled gently as he began to puff on forth, although he had a bit of a slippy start. He fortunately had his sanders to dump sand in front of his wheels to gain traction, and he carried on with his train down the line, going at a nice pace and not too quickly. Braedey travelled along at a good pace, passing by some of the engines along the way. However, there was a downward hill not far ahead that lead down towards the station Viet, and onward forth to the dockyards. It was a long sloping descent, and engines have to apply their brakes for the journey to make sure they don't run away or go out of control. The engines have managed to handle going up and down this stretch of track, but for today...
...Things will be different.
As Braedey now approached the crest of the hill, he prepared to slow down. His driver closed his regulator and began to apply the brakes. But as this happened, the coaches behind the red locomotive pushed against his buffers, Braedey now feeling the weight against his tender's buffers. He then felt his wheels and traction rods going faster as he goes forth down the slope.
"Is it just me or are we going faster than normal?" Braedey asked to his crew in concern.
"Try the sanders." The driver asked to the fireman. A second later, there was something wrong. "What now?"
"The sanders are empty. We've run out!" The fireman called.
Immediately, the driver began to use any method to try and slow the train down; from using the regulator, brake, and reverser levers to try and slow down, or try and put Braedey into reverse. But these methods were all in vain, as the weight of the express pushed back against the locomotive, making them pick up speed as they raced down the slippery ice-slicked rails.
"Oh, no." Was all Braedey could mutter as he now felt himself sliding and skating down the tracks, his crew holding on for dear life. They were now a runaway train on the mainline.
The red locomotive raced right through Viet station, much to everyone's surprise, Braedey now blowing his whistle frantically to the signalmen to tell them what's going on. However, before they could react, the red GWR 4900 locomotive shot by their signalboxes before they could react, all knowing where they're going.
Down at the Docks, the ships moored there were trapped in the thick ice. They could not leave until the ice has thawed out enough for them to break free. While they're stuck in port, their cargo was unloaded and reloaded, with their goods being handled by the engines. Jane, Belle, Austin, and Jonson were all currently shunting trucks and wagons into the proper sidings and shunting yards. Despite the ice and snow around them, they took it in their stride and kept on working.
"There. This load of wagons ready for the next train." Belle called.
"Tanker train ready for whenever the others arrive." Jonson commented, after shunting some fuel tankers into a siding.
Suddenly, the frantic whistling of an engine could be heard fast approaching. Alarms began to blare around the dockyards, the engines taken aback by this. What was going on? At once, they followed protocol and began to run off from the nearby trains and got away from the junction points.
"What's going on?" Jane called.
"Signalmen are reporting a runaway train heading our way." A signalman called from the box above.
"Do we know who?" Austin asked.
"I think I know who." Jonson called out, the blue GWR tank engine now able to see who was coming their way. "Best we get ambulances in case something goes wrong." He added on.
Just a few hundred metres away from the docks, Braedey struggled to stop and gain traction on the ice, while still whistling out for help. He charged on down the tracks at an uncontrollable speed, his driver and fireman trying their best to try and stop their express before disaster.
Braedey now noticed something up ahead, and it was trouble: the tracks and junctions were set for them to head for the slipway down to the rail ferries. "OH, NO!"
"JIMINY CHRISTMAS! THE ICE HAS FROZEN OVER THE TRACKS!!!" Braedey's driver yelled out.
Braedey got closer to the frozen tracks. And without any tracks to ride on, the red engine will definitely be a runaway train! Braedey ended up on the tracks down the slipway without stopping, and he charged on, out on the frozen ocean and right off the tracks!!! Braedey and his crew, along with passengers onboard, screamed out as the red engine now started to slither side to side like a snake on the frozen lake, the cars swerving left and right with loud screeching coming from their wheels.
"Oh, that's bad." Was all Jonson could say as he and the others saw Braedey skating away across the ice.
Meanwhile, over in his office, Mr. Franklin was now going through his paperwork. He had a lot of work to contend with, especially with plans for a new engine from the United States to come over to assist them.
Just then, the telephone rang, much to Mr. Franklin grumbling. "Darn that telephone." He mumbled, but he eventually answered. "Hello?" He asked, then his facial expression became one of shock. "What?! Braedey and the express are on the ice?! On the Walney Channel heading South?" He then nodded firmly. "Very well. I shall head forth to Norramby to plan ahead."
With that, Mr. Franklin puts the phone down, got his jacket on, and he stormed out of the office. He then saw Anna with the Josephine Flyer, and informed her about the situation with Braedey, and for her to take him light-engine to Norramby on Sodor. Anna immediately storms out of the yards out toward Barrow-in-Furness, heading forth to Sodor at once.
The Norramby Branch Line is a branchline that runs to Norramby, with one stop being Ballahoo along the way. It used to be a part of the now closed Sodor & Midland Railway. Norramby, also known as the Norramby Transport Hub, is a seaside town located at the south east coast of Sodor. The branchline links up with the mainline to Vicarstown.
"We have to get there quickly." Mr. Franklin said to the LSWR Class T14 locomotive.
"What are we gonna do for Braedey if he's on ice?" Anna asked as she raced along the tracks at speed.
"Wait and see." Mr. Franklin replied back, though internally, he was concerned about Braedey and the passengers on the express. 'Hopefully something does not go wrong.' He thought to himself. He then made a call to Sir Topham Hatt at once to explain about what's going on.
Anna races on Sodor rails, shooting through Vicarstown in a red blur, some engines in surprise and shock of what they saw, unaware of what's going on. Anna raced through Henry's Tunnel, now switching off onto the Norramby Branch, and powered on forth down the tracks through Ballahoo, and onward to Norramby, reaching the end of the line, where Barry was by one of the platforms.
Barry is a BR Standard Class 2MT 2-6-0 tender engine, painted in the British Railways' mixed traffic black livery.
Anna breathed a sigh to herself as Mr. Franklin jumped out of her cab, and he ran off towards the beach, where Sir Topham Hatt was standing there, along with a number of workmen who had a lot of sleepers and rails, plus some breakdown train cranes with Oliver, Duck, Henry, and Peter.
"Anna. Where's the fire?" Peter asks to the red engine.
"Braedey has ended up on the ice with the express. We need to try and get him back on the rails at once." Anna answered and explained about what Mr. Franklin had told her.
"Oh, my. That's frightening." Duck shuddered.
"Well, what are Mr. Franklin and Sir Topham Hatt both planning on?" Henry asked.
"This is the plan." Sir Topham announced next as he and Mr. Franklin walked up. "We will be building a set of tracks from the line out towards the beach to the ice, and under the water. That way, both Braedey and his coaches will be able to get back onto solid ground." The former explained the plan.
"Well, what are we waiting for? Let's get to work!" Duck called out, and with that, the five engines got to work with the workmen to start building the emergency tracks.
Mr. Franklin now pulled out a flare gun. "This will help." He said, arming the flare gun, as he saw something in the distance on the horizon. "There you are..."
Braedey, meanwhile, was trying everything he can to slow down or even stop on the ice, but no matter what he tried to do, his wheels slipped and spun helplessly on the ice as he skated along with his coaches tailing behind him.
'If I don't get back onto solid rails soon, we might end up crashing into something or sink below the ice.' Braedey thought to himself in concern and worry.
Braedey now travelled over a section of ice, but it looks rather weak. As the whole 75 tonne train plus coaches skated overtop, the ice groaned under the weight, but it began to break, a rapid spider-web of cracks racing out across the ice, the sound of cracking echoing across the frozen sea, now making its way towards Braedey and his express.
"Hang tight!" Braedey's driver called out.
"What else could I do now?!" Braedey called back sarcastically as he skidded across the ice with no control at all. "I'm like an ice-skater with no balance!"
Braedey's driver now grabbed both the regulator and brakes, and pulled them with all of his might and a grunt, the levers now successfully working and shutting off steam to the locomotive at once, and applying the brakes at the same time. Braedey's wheels and traction rods all stopped at once as he began to screech loudly and the whole train turned around, rolling backwards with the rear carriage now leading. Braedey tilted a bit to his right side, as he finally skidded to a stop on the frozen lake. Braedey was still tilting to the right, almost about to roll over. But then, he tilted over to the left and then slammed down into the ice with all his weight. Braedey finally stood upright and he hissed, sighing in complete relief.
Braedey sighed. "That's more like it..." He said in relief. He then groaned a little. "Oh, this does not feel right at all." He then looked left and right. What can they do now?
Just then, the guard had eventually made his way up to the front of the train, and the cab of the locomotive. He stood up onto the roof, approaching the cab hatch and opened it up, looking down at the driver and fireman, who were breathing heavily. "What in the Name of Michael Angelis are you two doing?!" He demanded.
The engineers looked up. "We're sorry. We lost control at the hill and we couldn't stop..."
Suddenly, they all heard a loud cracking sound, which made them all look around for the source of where it had come from. Braedey looked ahead, and he could see a huge crack stretch across the ice, and it was heading straight for them!
"LOOK!!! THE ICE IS BREAKING!" Braedey cried. "THE ICE IS BREAKING! THE ICE IS BREAKING!"
The guard, driver and fireman now looked to where Braedey was looking at, and they all gasped as the cracks coming towards them opened up and water splashed loudly!! The guard looked back in the cab. "GET US THE BLAZES OUT OF HERE!!!!!"
The driver looked and immediately pulled the reverser back towards him as Braedey blew his whistle. At once, Braedey's wheels and traction rods all began to move in reverse, but without grip, his wheels slipped on the ice, but he slowly began to move in reverse. But, the ice getting a bit too close to them.
"Turn me around, turn me around, turn me around!" Braedey called out frantically.
The guard looked back in the cab. "Turn the sled around, Braedey!!" He called.
The driver twists the brake lever clockwise and pushed the reverser lever forward into neutral. Braedey's wheels halted and stopped, but the red engine screeched very violently on the ice, now sliding around slowly but surely. The guard waved his arms a bit, slightly loosing his balance. The driver turns the brake lever counter-clockwise and pushes the reverse lever all the way forward. Braedey's wheels started spinning forward again, the red locomotive now swinging itself around and moving forward on the ice.
"Man, it's like being on a turntable." Braedey groaned, racing along the ice at speed, all the while with the ice still breaking up behind the express.
"Keep it going, Braedey!" The driver yelled.
Braedey then looked ahead, and saw something. "Look over there!!!" He called out.
The guard now looked at what Braedey's looking at, just as a red flare shot up into the air, and gasped at what he saw. "Tracks!!! Dead ahead!!!" He was right. There were the beaches of Norramby, and the flare came from the beach, where he could see train tracks leading into the sea a few hundred metres away.
Braedey now started to slide over a bit too much to the left so the guard yelled. "RIGHT!!" The driver pulled the reverser lever towards him, turned the lever under the brake counter-clockwise, and pulled the throttle towards him. Braedey's wheels screeched to a stop and go into reverse in order to go right, but he went a bit far. "LEFT!!!" The driver pushed the reverser lever forward, turned the other brake lever clockwise, and pushed the throttle lever forward, Braedey's wheels screeching to a stop again and began to spin in the forward motion, and the red engine slides to the left. "RIGHT!!!" The guard yelled again. The driver pulled the reverser lever towards him, turned the lever under the brake counter-clockwise, and pulled the throttle towards him again, Braedey's wheels screech to a stop and began to turn in reverse, the red train sliding over to the right again.
"HANGIN' A LOUIE!!" Braedey now slides over to the left. "TOSSIN' A RITCHIE!!!" The red engine next slides to the right. "PORT ASTERN!" Braedey again goes over to the left. "TO THE STARBOARD!" The red engine goes sliding to the right again.
"We're gonna make it." Braedey coached to himself. "We're gonna make it. We're gonna make it."
Over at Norramby Station, the tracks were finally bolted into place, awaiting for when Braedey will arrive. Henry, Peter, Duck, Oliver, and Anna could see Braedey skating across the ice, charging forward to them, but they also could see the ice breaking up behind the red locomotive.
"He's not going to make it!" Oliver called.
"He's going to make it!" Henry countered.
"Come on, come on. Come on..." Mr. Franklin muttered in determination for his engine.
"RIGHT! Keep up with me! LEFT!!!" The guard yelled, the engineer forcing Braedey to skid to the left and the right, following the guard's orders. "RIGHT!!!! LEFT!!!! RIGHT!!!! LEFT!!!!"
"This is really giving me a workout!" Braedey called out, groaning in pain from his joints and wheels going backwards and forwards so much. He hadn't felt this much pain before in his life.
As the guard kept shouting each direction to the engineer to drive Braedey, the cracking ice had caught up to the train and it was breaking under the carriages.
"Oh, no! Engines can't swim!" Braedey called out.
The guard now looked back as the water under the ice was splashing on the train, and it was dragging it underwater. "BRACE YOURSELVES!!!!!!" He yelled.
The Conductor and engineers now grabbed onto something. But, as soon as the ice cracked under the entire locomotive, Braedey's wheels hit the tracks perfectly with sparks flying off the rails and screeched loudly in response. Braedey successfully gained traction and made it to the other side, riding the tracks in a smooth speed and ploughing out of the lake onto solid ground, the coaches following suit.
"We made it..." Braedey sighed in relief, now slowing down and coming to a stop. He and his coaches were now back on solid rails, the last carriage now sitting ahead of the junction point leading down to the beach. The tracks were switched, allowing Braedey to slowly reverse up into one of the platforms, Braedey sighing in relief.
"Whoo! Now that's more like it." The guard laughed.
"Well, what a performance." Duck praised to Braedey.
"Have to say, you had some guts there." Peter added.
"Good work there, fella." Oliver agreed.
"Well done." Sir Topham Hatt boomed with a smile.
"Braedey, that had to be the bravest and craziest thing I've ever seen an engine do in my life." Mr. Franklin said to his red engine. "You really outdid yourself today."
"Thank you, sir." Braedey smiled gently, then frowned. "But it wasn't my fault, sir. It was-"
Mr. Franklin chuckled. "It's alright, Braedey. Snow and ice were the culprits behind your runaway, and your sanders were empty. You were 'unarmed and unprepared', as one would say."
"Okay." Braedey then groaned a little, his joints and wheels feeling like they'd fall off. "Sir... I think I need some repairs. My wheels and joints all feel worn out and hurt just to move them." He felt rather worn out and exhausted.
"He's right." Braedey's driver agreed as he stepped down from the cab. "Braedey has had his reverser and regulator, on top of his brakes, working overtime during that whole ordeal on the ice, I wouldn't be surprised if they weren't hurting."
"I doubt he'd be doing any speeding anytime soon." Anna commented.
Sir Topham Hatt walked up. "I believe I can help you." He turned to his engines. "Peter, I would like you to take Braedey to Crovan's Gate to be mended." He asked to his LMS Stanier 8F locomotive.
"Of course, sir." Peter acknowledged.
"Anna, best you take the coaches and our passengers to Barrow-in-Furness. But make it a slow express." Mr. Franklin now advised to the dark red LSWR Class T14 locomotive. "I'm sure the passengers have had enough speedy services for today."
"Understood." Anna smiled in response.
"We'll go and tell the others about what's happened." Oliver said, he and Duck now leaving to go back onto their Little Western line.
Peter was soon turned around and coupled up to Braedey, now pulling him away. Anna collected the coaches, and once Mr. Franklin boarded the train, she slowly pulled out of Norramby, heading for Ballahoo, then Vicarstown, and finally to Barrow-in-Furness.
That evening back on the Josephine Railway, the engines were now relaxing and cooling down after their long day of work. However, the subject for the evening was about a certain red engine who went ice-skating on the ice today.
"So, Braedey became a figure skater today?" Austin noted with a laugh. "Talk about an occupation for a locomotive."
"He slid about like a snake on the ice." Jane added in.
"Definitely not a job for a 75-tonne train." Max jabbed, the others snickering and laughing at this.
"Well, he certainly had some fun with it on the ice." Charlotte included.
Diana, however, did not find any of their jokes funny. "Enough. Braedey had passengers and his crew onboard, and they could've been seriously hurt or even drowned if the ice broke before they made it to dry land." She berated them, the engines now going silent. They forgot about the fact Braedey had his express with him during the whole incident.
"Honestly, I didn't find those jokes funny at all." Anna added in with a huff.
"Sorry..." Max, Jane, Charlotte, and Austin all muttered in apology to Diana.
"Of all the nerve..." Belle added in with a scowl.
"Well, best we get some sleep now." Liliana spoke up next.
Over at Crovan's Gate works, Braedey was sitting in one of the berths, his traction rods now taken off by the workmen earlier, and he was letting himself cool down and relax after his harrowing experience on the ice. It was definitely a day he won't forget for a long time.
'Next time, bring more sand and get better brakes.' Braedey thought to himself as he drifted off to sleep.
Over on the other side of the world in the United States, there is a place called Monroe Township. Monroe Township is a township in Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, United States. There are 5,530 people, 2,073 households, and 1,652 families in the township.
The township is in eastern Cumberland County, bordered to the south by York County. Most of the township is in the Cumberland Valley area of Pennsylvania, but the southern end of the township contains the northeastern end of South Mountain. Yellow Breeches Creek, a tributary of the Susquehanna River, crosses the township just north of South Mountain.
Monroe Township is also home of the Williams Grove Historical Steam Engine Association (WGHSEA). During the winter of 1958-1959, the WGHSEA was formed with the purpose of preserving steam powered equipment and to educate the public about the history of farming. The association uses steam engines for plowing, harvesting, and sawing and have early gas engines and tractors as well as a PRR steam locomotive.
This engine is named Ken. He is a small tender locomotive, with a smudgy darkened face and brown eyes. He has a bell on top of his boiler, a large spotlight above his smokebox, a huge whistle above his cab roof. He's painted in black with yellow lining on his cab and tender, 'PENNSYLVANIA' etched on both sides of his tender. He also has a set of coupler knuckles instead of British buffers and couplers.
Built in 1901 by the Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR), Ken is a Class B4A 0-6-0 Switcher. He's among the last of the B4 yard switchers built. When built, he is of a design near obsolescence, as far as the PRR was concerned. By the end of the decade, the B4 type switchers were already being replaced by the larger more powerful B6 series that'll remain the predominant 6-wheel switcher for the PRR unitl the end of steam in 1957. By 1917, the PRR had declared Ken as surplus, and was put up for sale. The Central Iron and Steel Company in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, had purchased Ken from the PRR. For the next 40-odd years, he worked day in and day out for Central, and it's successor company, Phoenix Iron and Steel. While Ken was at Central, he was not without changes. At some unknown point, the smaller original tender he was built with was replaced with a larger, welded one. In 1945, Ken received a new replacement boiler at the H.K. Porter Company. The original 1901 boiler was of the Belpaire type, favoured by the PRR. The new boiler put on in 1945 by Porter is of the more common radial-stay style. It's also believed the new boiler is slightly larger then the original. The steel mill sadly closed in 1959, and it looked as though the end was near for Ken. But luck favoured him, because in 1961, he was purchased by the Williams Grove Historical Steam Engine Association and moved to his new home. He has been here ever since, serving as one of the crown jewels of the WGHSEA's collection of historic machinery.
Today, Ken had received some good news: he was going to go over to the United Kingdom to help out on the Josephine Railway. His crew had just oiled his joints and parts for his small run before leaving for Halifax, Nova Scotia in a few days time. As he waited patiently, the manager of the WGHSEA walked up to him.
"It'll take some time for you to be transferred onto a flatbed truck to go to Halifax, Nova Scotia. It's the only place big enough to accomodate an engine of your size." The manager explained to Ken. "But we'll make sure you're on the first ship bound for the U.K, and be treated properly."
"Thanks a lot, sir." Ken smiled. "It's good to have someone like you around." He then whistled happily as he began to roll forward then backward, his joints now feeling much better. "Okay. Time to have some fun."
"That's a good attitude, Ken. Take care for now." The manager nodded, and with a toot of his whistle, Ken began to trundle down the line at a leisurely pace.