Chapter 22: Taking Airport Passengers

(Friday, April 20th 2012 – 11:50am; Sodor Airport Depot)

Percy soon arrived at the main steam depot, which was less than a mile and a half away from the airport station. Slowly reversing into one of the empty sidings very near to the large turntable, he came to a gentle stop and his crew and Carrie stepped off the footplate.

"And that's it for me…well until after lunch at least." Carrie said, as she stretched her arms out as much as she could, having spent much of the morning coped up on Percy's small footplate.

"And when Alice arrives on the engine that she was working on for the morning, you two will swap over." said the fireman, as he stepped off the footplate with an oil can in his hand.

"And Alice will be working with us and Percy for the rest of today." added the driver.

"Let's hope that it's not too long before she arrives here then." Carrie said, as she looked towards the entrance to the large depot.

Then, from overhead in the sky, there came the sound of, what was to Percy and his crew, was a familiar buzzing sound. The little green engine sighed heavily; he knew who it was. Looking up to the sky, he saw a familiar white helicopter with a single red stripe along his side fly overhead, flying by on a routine patrol flight over the island. Percy frowned as he watched the helicopter fly by and head by the airport before the sound slowly faded away.

"Who was that we just saw fly by us?" Carrie asked, as she too watched the helicopter disappear into the distance.

"That, Carrie, is Harold the Helicopter. And he's one of the noisier residents of Sodor." Percy said, as the last sounds of Harold faded away.

"And you know him well?" Carrie asked.

"Yes, I do indeed. The first time I met him…and that was a long time ago…he said that railways were slow and out of date. And so I thought…"Just let him wait! I'll show him!" ...and I did." Percy said, as he smiled.

"And what happened?" Carrie asked, as she looked at Percy.

"Well…I was taking a line of trucks full of stone from the quarry down to a new harbour that was being built along the coast of the island at the time, and my crew and I saw Harold ahead of us, and we decided to race him to the new harbour. We caught up with him and managed to get ahead of him, and we arrived at the harbour before Harold could land at the airfield that was nearby to it." Percy said, as he smiled broadly at that memory.

"And here's a song that was sung for Percy after we found out we'd won the race…," said the driver.

"Said Harold Helicopter to our Percy"

"You are slow."

"Your railway is out of date"

"And not much use you know."

"But Percy with his stone trucks"

"Did the trip in record time"

"and"

"We beat the helicopter on our old branch line."

"Now that's a good song for an engine who won a race against a helicopter." Carrie said, very impressed that Percy had won a race against something as fast as a helicopter.

"And it's a song I'm very happy about." Percy said, still feeling proud after his victory over Harold even all these years later.

Just then, a second or two later, there came two very loud, deep-toned whistles from just ahead of them, with one very quickly following the other. As Carrie turned her head to look, she could see two very large tender engines slowly reversing down the other two empty lines beside the line Percy was standing on. She could see that one of the engines was painted in a very smart B.R. lined maroon red livery with a late B.R. crest on the tender side, while the other engine was painted in B.R. lined green livery with an early B.R. crest in place along the tender side.

As the two engines slowed down and then came to a stop in the shed beside where Percy was standing, Carrie saw the name plaques on their sides and the cab-side numbers of these two big locomotives; the one painted in B.R. lined maroon red was No.46204 Princess Louise, and the one painted in lined green was No.46205 Princess Victoria. Both of these big, powerful, and very impressive-looking engines were members of the Princess Royal Class of the L.M.S. (37).The paintwork of both these engines was a little bit dirty from their morning runs on the main line, which meant that both engines would need to be cleaned down and polished off before they could head back out later in the day, and their tenders needed replenishing with more coal and water as well. And not to mention the fact that the fires would need to be tended to and cleared out of any nasty clinker, as well as having the ashpans emptied out.

(37): Amongst the most elegant and popular of steam locomotives, and once the power of many of the heaviest Anglo-Scottish expresses that ran along the West Coast Main Line from 1933 to 1962, the Princess Royal Class Pacifics of the L.M.S. were designed by William Stanier after he came to the L.M.S. from the G.W.R. at Swindon in 1932, which began the L.M.S.'s big engine policy under him. Stanier's first priority on arrival at Crewe was to design and build a class of locomotives that could haul heavy trains of up to 500 tons in weight non-stop from London Euston to Glasgow. So Stanier felt it was necessary to design a brand-new class of large heavy express locomotives that could handle the heavier traffic, with plenty of power in reserve, and could haul the London to Glasgow expresses non-stop.

Prior to Stanier arriving on the L.M.S., most of the passenger and freight trains that ran on the L.M.S. system were being hauled by locomotives that had previously been built by the former Midland Railway, which had always had a small engine policy, where the company utilised small and often badly-underpowered locomotives that rapidly became inadequate as trains lengths increased to meet demand and the weights subsequently increased.

It was necessary to have larger and more powerful locomotives as there was only one good class of large locomotives on the L.M.S. when Stanier arrived to be the company's C.M.E.; these were the 70 members of the three-cylinder Royal Scot Class of 1927. These locomotives were very good machines in their own right, but even they were being pushed close to their very limits by the increasingly heavy traffic on offer, and they often struggled to haul the heaviest express passenger trains along the 401 mile route that ran between London Euston and Glasgow. They were also forced to change over with another engine when they arrived at Carlisle, which meant that trains running on the West Coast Main Line couldn't go non-stop between London and Glasgow.

In late July and early November 1933, the first two members of the Princess Royal Class were rolled out from Crewe Works and entered traffic; they were No.6200 The Princess Royal and No.6201 Princess Elizabeth respectively. They proved to be a radical departure from anything the L.M.S. had owned before, and dramatically indicated that the former small engine policy of the former Midland Railway was over, and that newer motive power was taking over. They had several features which were new to the L.M.S., including the use of a taper boiler, which was something Stanier brought with him from Swindon, that very much resembled the boilers that were fitted to the G.W.R. King Class.

The Princess Royal Class were a natural development of the G.W.R. 6000 King Class, to which both classes bear a very strong, near family resemblance to each other, but with modifications made so as to allow the larger Princess Royal engines to work on the main lines of the L.M.S. Unlike the G.W.R. Kings however, the fireboxes on the Princess Royals were much larger in size and had a set of trailing wheels beneath them in order to support and distribute the weight of the engines.

The class was a four-cylinder design - with the cylinders being 16.25in in diameter with a 28in piston stroke - with divided drive; the two inside cylinders drove onto the leading driving axle, while the two outside cylinders drove onto the centre axle, a feature that was also seen on the G.W.R. Star, Castle, and King classes, which were also four-cylinder locomotives. The four cylinders, combined with six driving wheels that were 6ft 6in in diameter, and a large boiler fitted with superheating elements and pressed to 250psi, the class had a maximum tractive effort of 40,285lbs.

When No.6200 The Princess Royal first emerged from Crewe Works in June 1933, it underwent a series of extensive tests over a period of several weeks and managed to cover around 5,000 miles of trouble-free running. But then in August 1933, she was required to work a special heavy train of 15 coaches, one of which was a dynamometer coach, and which was a publicity stunt with members of the press being present on the trip, with the train running from London Euston to Crewe. However during the course of the run, No.6200 was forced to power through a hot-running coupled axle-box which resulted in the axle becoming very badly scorched, which meant the train eventually limped into Crewe 45 minutes late. The scorched axle had to be removed from the engine and scrapped, while the train returned to London behind a Royal Scot Class 4-6-0. But once the scorched axle had been replaced, No.6200 performed well.

The first two engines were initially fitted with Fowler-style tenders which ran on six wheels, but these didn't carry enough coal and water for what the engines needed on long non-stop trips from London to Glasgow, and so they were later coupled to much larger Stanier-pattern tenders, which also ran on six wheels and could take up to 9 tons of coal and later on 10 tons of coal, as well as up to 4,000 gallons of water. The tenders were also fitted with water scoops, which allowed the engines to refill their tanks with water from the many water troughs that they would encounter during their long, non-stop journeys. One member of the class, No.6206 Princess Marie Louise, ran for much of her life with a tender that had a steam-operated coal pushed fitter in it, which was intended to be used to push coal down to the front of the tender to make things easier for the firemen, and thus becoming the only member of the Princess Royal Class ever to have a tender that was fitted with a coal pusher fitted.

The Princess Royal Class eventually numbered twelve locomotives in total. The numbers and names of these engines were:

No.6200 The Princess Royal, No.6201 Princess Elizabeth, No.6203 Princess Margaret Rose, No.6204 Princess Louise, No.6205 Princess Victoria,

No.6206 Princess Marie Louise, No.6207 Princess Arthur of Connaught, No.6208 Princess Helena Victoria, No.6209 Princess Beatrice, No.6210 Lady Patricia,

No.6211 Queen Maud, and No.6212 Duchess of Kent.

However, some problems were found with the first two members of the class when they first went out to work on the West Coast Main Line. The cylinders were capable of beating the boiler which didn't generate enough steam, and the superheating elements, which only numbered 16 at the time, were found to be ineffective. The crews were also unused to firing such a large boiler, and a varying quality of coal also caused some problems, as did the steam circuits. At one point, No.6201 Princess Elizabeth ran with an experimental double chimney and blastpipe fitted to try and improve her performance, but it only made the problems worse and was eventually replaced with a single chimney and blastpipe. So some changes and upgrades were made to the design, including doubling the superheater tubes from 16 to 32, and changing the combustion chamber, as well as making changes to the steam pipes, the diameter of the chimneys, and mechanical lubricators, after which the class became a formidable force, successfully hauling very heavy non-stop trains from London Euston to Glasgow Central at considerable speeds.

The next member of the class to be built, No.6203 Princess Margaret Rose, came out of Crewe Works in July 1935, and she incorporated all the changes and modifications that had been made to No.6200 and No.6201. The remaining nine members of the class, from No.6204 to No.6212, followed between late July and early October 1935. The class were named after British princesses, which was the official name for the class as Mary, Princess Royal was the Colonel-in-Chief of the Royal Scots. The exception to the class having the word Princess in their names was with the last three members of the class to be built, No.6210 Lady Patricia, No.6211 Queen Maud, and No.6212 Duchess of Kent.

There were plans to build a few more examples of the class, the next five of which would have been numbered from No.6213 to No.6217, but these engines were ultimately cancelled in favour of the newer and more powerful engines of the Princess Coronation Class.

On November 16th and 17th 1936, No.6201 Princess Elizabeth, with Driver Tom Clark at the controls, undertook an incredible record-breaking run along the West Coast Main Line from London Euston to Glasgow in both directions, and broke the world record for long-distance, high-speed steam hauled passenger trains. While hauling a train of seven coaches on November 16th, it maintained an average speed of 70.15mph while covering the distance from London to Glasgow, a distance of about 401 miles, in 5hrs and 53 mins, arriving in Glasgow seven minutes early. While heading north, No.6201 went up the notorious Beattock Bank at a minimum speed of 58mph, and managed to climb the ten mile long gradient of 1 in 75 in just 9 minutes and 30 seconds. The next day, while hauling eight coaches, No.6201, again with Driver Clark at the controls, covered the distance from Glasgow back down to London Euston in 5hrs and 45mins, arriving in London 16 minutes early. This very impressive record still stands to the present day.

Because of No.6201's impressive record-breaking run, the Princess Royal Class became affectionately known to their crews and to railway enthusiasts as "Lizzies". Due to their size and impressive overall appearance, they were also modelled by various model railway companies, including Bassett-Lowke, Hornby, Hornby-Dublo, Rovex, Triang Trains, and others.

In 1935, a British documentary film came out detailing the construction of No.6207 Princess Arthur of Connaught. The film was called No.6207: A Study in Steel, and it goes into detail with regarding how a steam locomotive is built, from the arrival of the raw materials at the works and the cutting of the frames, all the way up to when the completed locomotive finally leaves the works. It includes events during the construction, such as the cutting and assembly of the main frames, the casting of the cylinders and wheels, manufacturing of the valve gear, and the assembly of the boiler.

In May 1936, No.6203 Princess Margaret Rose achieved the highest speed ever recorded for the class when it managed to reach a speed of 102.5mph between Tring and Cheddington on the West Coast Main Line during a vacuum brake test run between Euston and Crewe. This was a very impressive speed for that time, especially when considering the immense bulk of a Princess Royal Pacific.

At one point not long before the start of the war, No.6212 ran with an experimental smokebox door, which was secured in place with 10 lugs around the edge of the door instead of using a screw dart in the middle of the door like on most other steam locomotives. However, No.6212 was reconfigured to have a normal smokebox just like the other members of the class.

There was also one unique variation of the Princess Royal Class, which was with regard to the life and operation of No.6202. Originally ordered as the third member of the class, it was decided to build it instead as an experimental engine, and one that was very different in great respects from any of the others within the class. Fitted out with a special 40 element superheater to give a higher temperature, as well as a boiler that was domeless, as would the boilers for the other members of the class afterwards. And instead of four cylinders like with the rest of the class, No.6202 was fitted with turbines that had been provided by the Ljungstrom Turbine Company in Sweden. Two turbines were fitted, one for forward running, and a smaller one for that was intended for reverse running. Changes to the draughting were also made, as the exhaust from the turbines was different than it would be from four cylinders, and a double chimney was also fitted to No.6202. Due to the fitting of turbine engines, No.6202 was appropriately given the nickname of "The Turbomotive".

Compared to other experimental locomotives that had been built in Britain before that point, such as the L.N.E.R.'s sole W1 Class 4-6-4 No.10000, which had been designed by Gresley, No.6202 was the only and most successful turbine driven locomotive ever to be used in the U.K., proving to be a very popular choice for the Liverpool expresses. It also showed a saving in coal as well as no hammer-blow on the rails, due to the fact that there were no balance weights fitted to the driving wheels. During its time in normal traffic, No.6202 gave performances that were just as equal to, if not better than, the other members of the class. In the months just before the war broke out, No.6202 was also fitted with square-shaped smoke deflectors to help clear exhaust from blocking the driver's view.

However, during the time when No.6202 was at work, many different snags were encountered with her, and as a result of that, she spent a lot of time out of service, and undergoing the necessary maintenance and repairs to ensure that the turbines worked properly. Another issue she had was that the turbine for running her in reverse wasn't powerful enough for her to haul heavy trains backwards. In the spring of 1950, when one of her turbines suffered another failure, it was considered uneconomical to repair in the austerity of post-war Britain and so No.46202 was withdrawn from service, by which time she had run almost 440,000 miles, and put into storage at Crewe Works, pending a rebuild.

In 1952, No.46202 was rebuilt on more conventional lines with new mainframes, its same 6ft 6in diameter driving wheels, a brand new boiler of a standard L.M.S. design - which was pressed to a working pressure of 250psi - and four cast cylinders of the same type that were used on the Princess Coronation Class. The new rebuilt engine had divided drive, with the outside cylinders driving the middle set of driving wheels, while the inside set of cylinders drove onto the forward driving wheelset. These new cylinders were 16.5in in diameter with a 28in piston stroke, which gave No.46202 a maximum tractive effort of 41,538lbs, which was somewhat higher than the rest of the class - and she was named Princess Anne. It had a larger and much bulkier appearance than it had before, and was basically a hybrid between the Princess Royal Class and the larger Princess Coronation Class, or Duchesses. The original cab was also used, although it had to be modified to take the new reversing gear.

The conversion work began at Crewe Works in May 1952 and took three months to complete, with the work finally being completed in August of that year. When she first rolled out of Crewe, the rebuilt No.46202 Princess Anne was painted in B.R. passenger green livery, and re-entered service on August 15th on her old stomping ground that ran between London Euston and Liverpool. The boiler she was paired with was rather unique as it was the only boiler to be paired with 40 superheater elements (32 was the usual norm for the Princess Royal Class), while its high tractive effort of 41,538lbs made it the most powerful steam locomotive in the U.K. at the time.

Unfortunately, on 8th October 1952, while she was hauling the Euston to Manchester express double-headed with Stanier 5XP Jubilee Class 4-6-0 No.45637 Windward Islands, No.46202 Princess Anne was heavily damaged beyond economic repair in the Harrow and Wealdstone disaster, which was, and still is, the worst peacetime rail accident in British history. After the crash, it was found that No.46202 had had its front bogie torn off from its front, and its main frames badly buckled due to the force of the collision's impact. After the accident at Harrow and Wealdstone, the remains of No.46202 were re-railed and then taken up to Crewe Works where it remained in storage until 1954, when it was deleted from stock and then scrapped, although both its boiler and tender were eventually reused, the boiler being fitted on No.46212, and the tender was reused on an example of the 8F Class 2-8-0 freight engines.

The destruction of No.46202 Princess Anne left a gap in the number of Pacifics that worked along the West Coast Main Line - which by then numbered only 50 in number; the 38 members of the Princess Coronation Class & the 12 members of the Princess Royal Class - which were already outnumbered by the large numbers of Pacific class locomotives that were running along the various main lines in the Eastern Region, along the length of the East Coast Main Line and on the other main lines of the former L.N.E.R. - which numbered about 203 Pacifics in total, and included 34 members of the Gresley A4 Class, 78 members of the Gresley A3 Class, 15 members of the Peppercorn A2 Class, and 49 members of the Peppercorn A1 Class, as well as the various Thompson Pacific designs - and so it led to the construction of a brand new replacement 8P Pacific heavy express passenger locomotive for the West Coast Main Line; that engine turned out to be none other than the sole B.R. Standard Class 8P Pacific No.71000 Duke of Gloucester.

The locomotives of the Princess Royal Class hauled the heaviest and most prestigious named express trains on the L.M.S. system, at least until the newer engines of Stanier's larger Princess Coronation Class, or Duchesses, were introduced onto the L.M.S., starting in the summer of 1937, and took over these heavy express duties. The new locomotives of the Princess Coronation Class were much bigger, better, faster and stronger than the Princesses were and could get the expresses from London to Glasgow much quicker. In other words, the Princess Royals became to the Princess Coronations, or Duchesses, on the L.M.S. what Gresley's A3 Pacifics became to the A4 Class Pacifics over on the rival L.N.E.R. network.

In 1947, No.6205 was rebuilt with two sets of Walschaerts Valve Gear instead of the four sets as on the other engines, with the inside valves being operated by rocking shafts. In 1955, No.46205 was converted back to normal working.

One of the good things about the Princess Royal Class was that the performances of the locomotives didn't deteriorate the longer the engines spent in service between overhauls; e.g. No.46210 Lady Patricia covered 98,977 miles between overhauls.

The class worked very well for the rest of their time on the L.M.S. and then on the London Midland Region of British Railways, where 40000 was added to their numbers. While in B.R. ownership, the class worked a variety of different express jobs, including the Merseyside Express, which was a nonstop express from London Euston to Liverpool which was introduced in the 1950's, as well as being briefly used on the Irish Mail service from London to Holyhead. They also worked on much less glamorous jobs as well, including on fish and parcels trains in Scotland, particularly towards the end of their working lives. In 1956, two examples, No.46207 Princess Arthur of Connaught and No.46210 Lady Patricia, were allocated to the Old Oak Common Depot in London, as the Western Region had temporarily withdrawn their 60XX King Class from service for modifications to their front bogies, and the Princesses were deemed the only suitable stand-ins until the Kings could be brought back into service.

The whole class continued working very well on their regular duties on the West Coast Main Line, until newer diesel locomotives began to take over many of the passenger services. As a result, the class was withdrawn from service between early October 1961, starting with No.46204 Princess Louise, No.46210 Lady Patricia, No.46211 Queen Maud, and No.46212 Duchess of Kent, and mid-November 1962. Ironically, No.46200 The Princess Royal, which was the very first member of the class to be introduced back in 1933, was also the very last example of the class to be withdrawn from service, which took place on 17th November 1962.

Thankfully, two examples of this fine class have managed to survive into preservation. These two engines are;

No.6201 (B.R. No.46201) Princess Elizabeth; known for her November 1936 record breaking run, she was built in November 1933 at Crewe Works, and she was withdrawn from service in October 1962, having covered well over 1.5 million miles during its time in service. Afterwards, No.6201 was bought straight from British Railways not long after she was withdrawn by the Princess Elizabeth Locomotive Society – later known as the 6201 Princess Elizabeth Society – for £2,160, and first moved to Ashchurch in Gloucestershire, and then to the Bulmer's Railway Centre in Hereford. After appearing at the Rail-150 celebrations at Shildon in 1975, No.6201 returned to the main line in 1976, and since then she has run many thousands of miles, hauling specials and main line rail-tours across the length and breath of the U.K., and she remains a very popular choice for enthusiasts. As of 2023, No.6201 is currently out of service, having been withdrawn in the summer of 2021 due to a cracked firebox, and is in storage at Carnforth Motive Power Depot while awaiting an overhaul.

During her career in preservation, No.6201 has set a number of firsts, including becoming the first steam locomotive to run out of Crewe in 20 years on a trial in 1988, becoming the first steam locomotive to run on the West Coast Main Line since the end of steam, becoming the first steam locomotive to run out of Euston Station for 41 years in 2003, and the first steam locomotive to work out of the present-day Birmingham New Street Station in 2010.

No.6201's greatest distinction to date was when it was presented at its namesake's Diamond Jubilee in June and July of 2012, honouring Queen Elizabeth II's 60th year on the throne. The locomotive took part in the Thames Jubilee Pageant, where it was displayed before the Queen on Battersea Railway Bridge and blew its whistle to signal the start of Thames Diamond Jubilee Pageant, and she was also used to haul the Royal Train part of the Diamond Jubilee Tour, with none other than her namesake, Queen Elizabeth II, aboard the train, probably the first time that the Queen ever travelled behind the locomotive that had been named after her. The occasion was marked with the addition of a crown to the nameplate of No.6201 and two special plaques being fitted to two of the wheel splashers commemorating the use of No.6201 on the Royal Train.

No.46203 (L.M.S. No.6203) Princess Margaret Rose; withdrawn from service in October 1962, No.46203 was bought by Billy Butlin and, after restoration at Crewe, was preserved at his holiday camp near Pwllheli in North Wales. In 1975, while still owned by Butlins, No.46203 was moved to The Midland Railway Centre and remained as a static exhibit until she was bought off Butlins in October 1988 for £60,000. Then she underwent a major overhaul to be fully restored to main line running condition. After the completion of the overhaul, No.46203 returned to steam and to the main line in 1990, where she moved under her own power for the first time since 1962. Then No.46203 ran on the main line for several years, hauling specials and charter trains, until she was withdrawn in 1996. Since then, she's been on static display at the Midland Railway Centre in Butterley, and pending a future overhaul to working order by its current owners, The Princess Royal Class Locomotive Trust, when the necessary funds for such a venture allow. Such an overhaul will no doubt include the fitting of air-brakes, so as to work air-brake fitted coaching stock on the main line, as well as an extensive electrical safety system.

In this fanfic, four of the original locomotives will be appearing, these four examples being No.46204 Princess Louise, No.46205 Princess Victoria, No.46206 Princess Marie Louise, and No.46209 Princess Beatrice. During the story, each of the four engines will be seen in both B.R. and L.M.S. liveries, and with their B.R. and L.M.S. numbers in place as well depending upon which livery both engines are painted in.

Looking at the two Princess Royal Pacifics as they came to a stop, Carrie wondered if Alice was on one of these big engines. She wanted to work on one of these big engines for the rest of the day, as the cabs of these locomotives were obviously much roomier than Percy's cab was.

"Hello, Percy." Princess Louise said, as she came to stop.

"Hello, Louise. Were you and Victoria very busy this morning?" Percy asked.

"We were indeed, Percy. We had to haul heavy trains from Vicarstown this morning, all the way over to the airport." Victoria said, as some clouds of steam and condensed water were let out from her cylinder drains.

"How difficult was it?" Percy asked.

"Well…both of us were delayed leaving Vicarstown Station, and I had to take on some particular rude and difficult passengers before I could leave. One of them was talking about how much of a nuisance the railway is, due to the fact that I couldn't leave on time." Louise said, as she sighed heavily and rolled her eyes up to the sky.

"How were you both delayed?" Carrie asked.

"Well…for me, it was a signal problem. The signal arm was unable to show me that the line was clear until it was fixed. And it delayed me for nearly 10 minutes." Louise said.

"For me, it was another train, and it was a slow one at that, which delayed me for a little over five minutes or so…and when I left Vicarstown, I had to run a little faster than usual so as to make up the lost time." said Victoria.

"Yes, I had to do that as well, and I was able to arrive at the airport one minute ahead of schedule. I was determined to show those rude passengers that the railway is the best and the way to go." Louise said.

"And did you show them?" Carrie asked.

"Oh, I sure did! Some of them were very sorry for the way that they acted back in Vicarstown, apart from the one who said how much of a nuisance the railway is." Louise said, as she rolled her eyes.

"Hello there, Carrie!" came another voice. Carrie looked over, and saw Alice standing by the side of Princess Victoria.

"Oh, hello there back, Alice. It's nice to see you. You know we're supposed to swap over with each other today." Carrie said, as she and Alice greeted each other.

"Oh, I know all about that, Carrie. You came in on Percy this morning?" Alice asked, noticing Percy sitting behind Carrie.

"Yes, we did, Alice. We delivered the mail from the western part of the island down to the airport, and we dropped off the mail over there at one of the platforms to be unloaded and taken into the airport not too long ago." Carrie said.

"Well…it seems that you've had quite a busy morning so far. Mine has been a bit more frustrating, due to the delays we had earlier on." Alice said.

"And which of these two engines were on?" Carrie asked.

"I was on board Princess Victoria." Alice said.

"So, that means I'll be on board the footplate of her for the rest of the day." Carrie said, as she looked towards Princess Victoria standing on the line near to her.

"It looks like it, Carrie." said Victoria, as she smiled at Carrie.

After a few more minutes of work, where they worked hard at cleaning out the fireboxes of any nasty clinker that had formed on their journeys, it was soon 12:00pm, and it was time for them to go to lunch. As some of the other engineers took over the job of getting the engines ready to go for their jobs later on in the day, Carrie, Alice, and some of the other engine crews went off to get cleaned up and then to get lunch in the crew building nearby.

"I wonder what's going to be served for lunch this afternoon." Alice said, as both she and Carrie entered the building side by side.

"I really don't mind what's being served in there. I'm so hungry after all the work that's been done this morning, I think I could eat a whole elephant." Carrie said, as they went upstairs to the ladies changing room to quickly wash their hands.

"Me too, I haven't eaten anything since breakfast at the depot over at Vicarstown this morning." Alice said, as they went into the ladies changing room.

"Well, let's get our hands washed, and then we can go down and get something to eat." Carrie said.

"Good idea, let's do that." Alice said, as they stepped up to the line of sinks in the wash area.

A few minutes later, with their hands and faces fully washed, both Alice and Carrie made their way back downstairs to the canteen. Grabbing a tray from the side, they lined up at the line where there was plenty of food, both hot and cold, and tried to decide what they wanted to have this afternoon. But, by the time they sat down at one of the tables, Carrie had chosen a bowl of hot soup, a sandwich, and a bottle of water, while Alice had chosen a bowl of hot stew with mashed potatoes, as well as a bread roll, and a bottle of fruit juice.

Sitting themselves down at one of the tables, they tucked into their food as other locomotive crewmen around them ate their own lunches, talked about what their next jobs later in the day would be, and various other subjects.

"What do you suppose our jobs will be after our lunch hour is up?" Alice asked Carrie.

"No idea…" Carrie said, after she took a sip of water, "…but I imagine that since I'm gonna be on Princess Victoria for the rest of the day, it'll probably be passenger work I'll be doing."

"I think so…and as I'll be on Percy, we'll probably be taking freight or something like that." Alice said, as she took in a forkful of stew.

"Yeah, maybe so." Carrie said.

(A little later)

It wasn't too long before their lunch hour came to an end, and both Alice and Carrie left the crew building, both feeling well rested and satisfied from a good lunch, and went back into the depot for the next jobs. Arriving at the area where Percy was still standing with both Princess Victoria and Princess Louise, both Alice and Carrie were pleased to see that all three engines were cleaned down and their paintwork rubbed down and polished until they shone brightly. All three were rested and eager to get back to work again.

The yard foreman, a clipboard in his hands, looked up and saw Alice and Carrie approach him.

"Ah, hello there you two. Eager to get back to work?" he asked.

"Yes sir, we are." Alice said.

"What's our jobs for the afternoon, sir?" Carrie asked, as she put on her railway cap.

"Well Carrie…you're gonna be on Princess Victoria, and you'll be collecting passengers at the airport station. Some flights have arrived in or are on their way right now, and the passengers on them will need to be moved to other parts of the island. You'll be on the train that's going back to Knapford Station and up to Heathfield." said the yard foreman.

"Very well then, sir." Carrie said, as she went over to Princess Victoria.

"And you Alice…" the foreman said, as he looked through his clipboard, "…you'll be on Percy, and will be taking some vans filled with goods from the airport station down to Kirk Ronan. The yard manager will give you your next assignments there."

"Okay, sir." Alice said, as she stepped over towards Percy.

"And Princess Louise…" the foreman said, as he looked over to the big L.M.S. Pacific standing near him.

"Yes, sir?" she asked.

"You and your crew will be taking passengers from the airport today too. Your coaches will be ready at the station for you and for Princess Victoria too." the foreman said.

"Okay, sir." smiled Louise. And with the jobs given, the yard foreman turned and walked off.

On the footplate of Princess Victoria, Carrie and the driver and fireman had exchanged greetings, and were now setting about making their last preparations before they could leave the depot. They went around the motion and oiled up all the moving parts, and made sure that the fire was white-hot and had plenty of steam made in the boiler before they could leave. As they oiled up around the motion, Carrie made sure that she missed nothing as she went along, and also made sure that the corks in the oil reservoirs were firmly twisted back in before she went onto the next oiling point.

At one point, Carrie heard a noise in the sky; looking in the direction the noise was coming from, she saw a large airliner making a steady descent into Sodor International Airport. She could see that the aircraft was painted white, with a light teal green along the top of the aircraft and a lighter green shamrock on the tail fin. It was an Aer Lingus flight from nearby Ireland, probably from Dublin or Shannon Airports. For a moment, Carrie watched as the aircraft slowly got lower and lower, until it eventually disappeared from sight as it safety landed at the airport.

It wasn't long before everything was completed, and they were finally ready to go.

"Okay, Victoria…" Carrie called from the footplate, just after she stepped aboard, "…we're ready at our end. Are you ready to go?"

"Of course, Carrie! Let's get going!" Victoria said, sounding very pleased and eager, as her driver opened the regulator, admitting dry, superheated, high-pressure steam into her four cylinders, and then blew the whistle loudly, sending out the loud hooting blast everywhere as well as white clouds of steam shooting out from the cylinder drain cocks.

"I'll see you two later on!" Victoria called out to Louise and Percy, as she slowly moved forward out of the yard.

"Okay Victoria!" Louise called, as she watched her sister depart.

"Best of luck out there, Victoria!" Percy called.

"Thank you!" Victoria called, as she slowly rolled down the line to the turntable where they would be turned, and once that was done, they would head towards the exit which would take her out onto the main line.

Once turned on the turntable, they rolled off it and made their way out on the main line, and from there headed up towards the Airport Station. As they made their way along, Carrie couldn't help but feel much more comfortable on Victoria's footplate. As nice as it was to ride on Percy's footplate, Carrie felt much better when riding on the footplates of the larger engines, as there was so much more space to move about in, as well as to swing the shovel around when putting coal into the firebox.

Leaning out from the driver's side of the cab on the left-hand side of the cab, Carrie saw the structure of the Airport Station ahead of them in the distance. Then, looking up to her left, she noticed that the raised embankment off to the side of the tracks seemed to be getting a little lower in height the more they went along. A few moments later, as they got closer and closer to the station, the embankment was low enough that Carrie then saw the shape of the airport hotel towering above the ground. She saw the 10 floors and the hotel's modern façade tower over them, and she thought she could see people looking out some of the windows in different places within the building that overlooked the railway lines.

It wasn't long before they rolled into the station along the middle line that ran right through the middle of the station. Looking forwards, Carrie could see a long line of smartly turned-out coaches, 16 of them altogether, sitting and waiting alongside Platform 13, on the next line to their right. Carrie could see there were no passengers standing on the platform as of yet, but she knew full well that they wouldn't have to wait for very long until the passengers arrived.

Going a little beyond the train, the driver brought Princess Victoria to a halt a little after a set of points. And then, after setting the reversing gear into full reverse, and seeing that the points were changed from the signal-box, the driver slowly and carefully moved Victoria backwards over the points and onto the line by Platform 13 where the train was sitting. As a shunter standing by the first coach kept a sharp watch on them, the driver slowly reversed Victoria up to the first coach and gently buffered up to the coach.

"Okay, very good!" the shunter called, as the driver quickly put in the brakes. After stopping, the shunter went in between the tender and coach, coupled up the train to Victoria and then connected the pipes for the brakes. Once the brake pipes were connected up, the shunter stepped out and called out "All coupled and connected up!" before he turned and went along the train to check the other couplings and brake pipe connections.

"And there we are…we're here and ready to collect our passengers." the driver said, as he leaned out from the cab-side and looked up at the long passenger footbridge which was above and a few meters ahead of them.

"And how long will it be before we can expect them to board the train?" Carrie asked, seeing no one else on the platform apart from a few members of station staff.

"I think I can hear them coming now, Carrie, so it shouldn't be too long." said the fireman, as he went about opening the firehole doors and checking on the state of the fire.

Going over to the driver's side of the cab and listening out for a few seconds, Carrie could hear the slow grounding sounds of people approaching, and the sound was slowly getting a little louder. Looking up to the long footbridge and turn her sights to the large open archway that led to the airport terminal. A few moments later, the first of the passengers came into view, walking along from the terminal on their way to catch the train. Many of them had various different items of luggage with them, including laptop bags over their shoulders, trolleys cases being pulling behind them, or cases being held in their hands. Carrie could see there were quite a few children and teenagers among the group too, and she could see that some of them looked quite tired after their longs flights from wherever they had flown in from.

Then she saw the expressions on the faces of some of the people start to suddenly change from a little tired to amazed awe, no doubt of what sort of locomotive was going to be pulling the train they were travelling in. A few of the teenagers, including a few with cameras, started to go a little quicker in their pace so as to get beside Princess Victoria and get a good look around a steam locomotive as big and as impressive as her before anyone else could get in their way.

"Well, it looks like we'll have quite a lot of people on this train this afternoon." Carrie said

"Indeed, and that's why I like driving steam locomotives like Princess Victoria…they're very big, very powerful, and draw in a lot of attention from the public." the driver said, with a sense of pride. Feeling herself smile a little, Carrie looked out from the fireman's side of the cab as the first of their passengers stepped down the footbridge and went by the cab.

For the next few minutes, Carrie leaned out from the cab and watched as the many passengers went on by, with a few pausing to get photographs with their cameras, either of Princess Victoria or of their friends and family in front of the big and impressive L.M.S. Princess Royal Pacific before they moved on along the platform to board the train.

As the passengers went by them on their way to board the train, Carrie could hear all the different accents among them, including Irish, as well as American, no doubt from a transatlantic flight that had arrived from the States a little while before. As she stood watching the people go by, Carrie became aware of another sound in the distance, and getting closer and closer all the time. Then, after hearing the sounds of another whistle, she realised that another train was approaching the station.

Going over to the driver's side of the cab along the left-hand side of the locomotive, Carrie leaned out and, looking back towards the way they had come a little while before, saw another train coming along the up-goods loop alongside Platform 14. It was a very long train of empty coal trucks, being hauled by L.N.E.R. Gresley Class J38 0-6-0 No.1419, painted in L.N.E.R. unlined black livery (38). The black paint of No.1419 was only very lightly weather by a thin layer of dust over it, as well as with some dust having accumulated in a few other spots here and there on both the locomotive and tender.

(38): The L.N.E.R. J38 Class 0-6-0 was designed by Nigel Gresley for working heavy freight and coal trains. Built in Darlington Works in 1926, there were only 35 members of the class built in total, and they spent all of their working lives in Scotland. They were the first of group of L.N.E.R. standard type locomotives, though they were soon superseded by Gresley's similar but larger J39 Class 0-6-0 freight locomotives, of which 289 examples were built.

Although the initial general construction order for the new J38 Class first referred to them as modified J27s, in actuality the new J38 Class had very little in common with the J27s, the North Eastern Railway Class P3 0-6-0, with the only similarity being the 0-6-0 wheel arrangement.

The wheelbase of the J38s was slightly longer than those of the J27 Class 0-6-0 freight engines they replaced, by about 6 inches. This allowed the design to have a long firebox of about 9 feet with a grate of about 27sq ft. With a boiler pressure of 180psi, superheating elements fitted, and paired with 4ft 8in diameter driving wheels and two inside cylinders that were 20 inches in diameter with a 26 inch piston stroke, along with piston valves, the class had a tractive effort of 28,415 pounds. The Stephenson valve gear that the J38 Class used would also be used on a number of later rebuilt engines, including the D11 Class 4-4-0s, the D16/3 Class 4-4-0s, and the J11/3 Class 0-6-0s.

From 1931 onwards, the class were paired with L.N.E.R. standard 3,500 gallon tenders that ran on six wheels.

The class did have a few problems in their early years of service, mainly with crewmen of the former North British Railway (N.B.R.) not being used to the pull-out regulators and steam reversing gear on the J38's. The tender brakes on the class were often insufficient for keeping heavy coal trains under control when descending steeply graded former N.B.R. lines, which would lead to broken drawbars and broken couplings on wagons. Another issue was that the surfaces of the bearings fitted to the class were inadequate, and were often difficult to maintain properly. However, the tender brakes were upgraded on group standard tenders and the former N.B.R. men soon got used to working with the class. Although the J38s did have a high coal consumption, that was more than made up for the fact the class were free-steaming and high haulage capability.

The J38 Class was very highly regarded as strong locomotives by their crews, with their ability to steam very freely, and their ability to haul very heavy loads being very much appreciated. The design was later modified by Gresley to have larger diameter driving wheels, which resulted in the J39 Class, which was also an 0-6-0 design. The J39 Class was seen as far more versatile locomotive class and it was built in much larger numbers, so as a result of that no more examples of the J38 Class were built.

When based in Scotland, the J38s were based at places like Dunfermline, Thorton, and St. Margarets, as well as Dundee, Stirling, and Eastfield. In Scotland, the class were used on main line freight traffic, as well as the Glasgow - Edinburgh industrial belt, the Fife and Lothian coalfields, and different Scottish ports along the Scottish east coast, such as Peterhead, Aberdeen, and Dundee.

In 1930, with the arrival of the newer J39 Class 0-6-0s in considerable numbers as well as the K2 Class 2-6-0s, the J38s were taken off their longer distance main line goods trains and were used on heavy coal trains between the Lothian coal fields and Edinburgh Docks, and were often used along the East Coast Main Line, occasionally reaching Doncaster and Retford. Some examples of the class are also thought to have reached Grantham and Peterborough as well.

Maintenance of the class was often carried out at Cowlairs Works, though there are instances of J38s being repaired at Darlington Works as well. From February 1955, some of the J38 Class were also repaired at Inverurie Works at well. A few examples of the class were later rebuilt with J39 Class boilers. Those J38s that were fitted with J39 Class boilers were classified as J38/2, while those unmodified engines were classified as J38/1.

The J38 Class proved to be the last L.N.E.R. class to remain completely intact, with the first withdrawals taking place in December 1962 when the first two locomotives, No.65923 and No.65928, were withdrawn from service. The rest of the class followed along at regular intervals over the next few years until 1967, when only three examples were still in operation. But by the end of April 1967, the final two locomotives of the class, No.65901 and No.65929, were withdrawn. They were the last Gresley designed locomotives to be in regular use when they were withdrawn from service.

Sadly, all 35 locomotives in the Gresley J38 class were scrapped not long after they were removed from regular service, and so none of the class have survived into preservation. However, the A1 Steam Locomotive Trust, based in Darlington, possibly have a plan in place to build a brand new example of a Gresley J38 Class 0-6-0 sometime in the future.

From the cab, Carrie watched as No.1419 went by, with his long train of empty coal trucks, their weathered and worn steel sides streaked with varying thicknesses of coal dust, rattling along behind him, and creating quite a noise as they did so.

"Hello Victoria!" No.1419 said, as he went by with his train.

"Good afternoon, No.1419!" Victoria said, as she watched the L.N.E.R. J38 go by with his empty coal train. From Platform 13, and the footbridge crossing above, the newly arrived passengers watched in awe and interest as the train went on by, with the noise of the empty rattling wagons creating quite a racket all throughout the station. Many were finally glad when the brake-van went by, and the train went over the junctions and off along the line to the northwest towards the Southern Main Line, and silence finally descended on the station again.

Looking back along Platform 13, Carrie watched as the passengers boarded the train, while lifting their bags in first and then climbing aboard the coaches themselves. Turning back into the footplate, Carrie went and examined the main boiler pressure gauge; the needle was showing a pressure of around 240psi, just 10psi short of the maximum working pressure of 250psi. Bending down, she looked through the open firehole doors and checked on the state of the fire; everything seemed to be all right, so she stood back up and went back over to the cab-side, sat down on the fireman's seat, and waited for the time where they could set off.

Soon though, with the time on the clock over the platform showing the time as being 1:40pm, they were ready to set off; the last passengers had boarded and the doors on the 16 coaches were closed up. Then the guard stepped out from his compartment at the front of the first coach, and blew his whistle while waving his green flag. At the same time, the signal dropped, showing that the way for them to depart.

The driver released the steam brake lever and pulled on the whistle cord, sending a deep-toned hooting blast throughout the station, and then he reached for and gently opened the regulator a little. With dense clouds of white condensed steam shooting from the four cylinder drain valves, Princess Victoria slowly rolled forwards out of the station, taking the load of her 16 heavily loaded behind her.

"I can do it…I can do it…" Victoria said, as she took up the strain of her heavy train. In the cab, the driver turned on the sanders, and sand was sprayed out onto the rails to allow for extra grip on the driving wheels. Carrie, still sitting on the fireman's seat, leaned out from the fireman's side, and watched as they departed from the station. Going over the different sets of points, Victoria made her way out onto the fast up-line and brought her train clear of the station. Once under the road bridge and out on the open line, the driver opened the regulator a little more and they picked up a little more speed.

As they headed along the line towards the junction, Carrie, who was leaning out a little from the cab on the fireman's side, saw another train coming along the fast down line. Moving her head back into the cab, Carrie saw that it was a B.R. Standard Class 4MT 2-6-4T, No.80075, who was bringing a passenger train of eight coaches down to the airport. Both Victoria and No.80075 whistled in greeting to each other and called out "Hello!" as they went on by,

Approaching the junction to the Southern Main Line, they came upon J38 No.1419 sitting just before the points along the up-slow line, where it joined up to the up-fast line, and waiting for them to go by before he could continue on his way. With the larger L.M.S. Princess Royal Class 4-6-2 sounding her whistle in greeting as she went on by, the smaller L.N.E.R. Gresley J38 sounded his own whistle back in reply as he watched the long passenger train go past him. Looking towards the windows, No.1419 saw the many happy passengers, including many of the younger children, sitting by and looking outside the windows as the train went on past. With a final blast of a deep-toned whistle sounding in the distance, the last coach in the train, with a flashing red tail lamp hanging from one of the lamp brackets, went on by, with the sound fading as the train disappeared into the distance. Once the points had been set and the signal dropped, No.1419 sounded his own whistle and set off on his way again.

(With No.46205 Princess Victoria)

Once they had gone over the junction and onto the Southern Main Line, the driver of Princess Victoria was able to open the regulator a little more, and the train was able to go along the line at a much faster pace. For Princess Victoria, this running pace, and the weight of the train behind her brought back memories to her of running fast and heavy passenger trains from London Euston to Glasgow back in the old days.

"Now for a good long sprint!" she said, as she picked up speed.

"We're ready for that when you are, old girl!" her driver called from the cab, as he opened the regulator a little more and wound the reversing gear back into mid-gear, allowing the steam from the boiler to be used more expansively in the cylinders.

With the speed picking up a bit, the train rolled quickly along the main line in the direction of Knapford. After a few minutes, they charged through Maron Station, where they whistled in greeting to the passengers waiting for the next train on the platform. Standing along the other platform was Henry, who was working an afternoon stopping service from Knapford to Vicarstown with a passenger train seven coaches long, and he had stopped at Maron to collect some more passengers before continuing on his way.

"Afternoon, Henry!" Victoria called out, as she went on quickly by.

"Hello, Victoria!" Henry called, as the train went on past him.

It wasn't too long before Victoria's driver shut off the steam and reduced the speed of the train a little; they were approaching Gordon's Hill, and they would need to take care when descending it to Wellsworth Station. Climbing up the gently gradient on the east side of the hill while slowing down a little, Carrie leaned out from the fireman's side of the cab and looked out as they approached the long straight section before the top of the hill, with the signal box sitting by the north side of the line a little before the top the hill coming into view as they went along.

"Careful now." Carrie called, as she watched them come nearer and nearer to the crest of the hill, from which point the tracks would angle down the long 1 in 40 gradient.

"Not to worry, Carrie!" the driver called, as he gently braked. Slowing down, they went over the crest and down the hill.

Still looking out from where she stood, Carrie saw the three railway lines, side by side, stretching down to the bottom of the hill where they curved gently to the right. Then, she saw a cloud of grey-white smoke coming from round the corner, showing that another train was coming in the other direction up the hill. A moment later, the locomotive came round the bend at the bottom of the hill and began its climb to the summit; as they got closer, Carrie could see that the locomotive approaching them was a B.R. 9F 2-10-0; it was, in fact, No.92345, who one of the 9F's that were fitted with British Caprotti rotary cam poppet valve gear back in the 1950's and paired with a double chimney fitted with a Kylchap exhaust system. Behind him was a long block train made up of about 20 L.M.S. coal hopper wagons, each about 40 tons in weight and each being loaded down with around 40 tons of freshly mined coal, with a 20-ton brake van at the rear of the train, which was a load totalling well over 1,600 tons.

As they descended the hill, Carrie kept watching No.92345 as he got closer and closer on the up-line; she could see that, despite the heavy train he was hauling along behind him, he was making good progress at getting the heavy load up the hill.

"I can do it…I can do it…" No.92345 puffed, as he moved his heavy train with sheer determination.

Then, Carrie heard the sound of another whistle as they passed No.92345; it was the sound of the banker that was pushing very hard at the back of the train. Getting closer, they saw the smoke chuffing sharply into the air from another chimney pushing hard from behind the brake van. Carrie saw that it was another 9F, No.92079, who had banked heavy trains on the Lickey Incline back in the 1950's. Giving a whistle, Princess Victoria greeted the two busy 9F's, who blew their whistles in reply, as she went on by with her passenger train. Going round the bend at the bottom of the curve, Carrie soon lost sight of the train going up the hill.

After passing under the red-brick road bridge at the bottom of the hill, Victoria was able to pick up some more speed now there was no risk of having an accident. In the meantime, Carrie took a go at the shovel; thrusting the shovel forward into the coal space, she took a load of coal, swung round and, as the fireman opened the firehole doors, she placed the coal to where it was needed in the firebox. And she did that a few more times, and placed each shovelful of coal to where it was needed in the firebox.

While Carrie was placing the coal into the firebox, Victoria went through Wellsworth Station along the middle line, where Edward was waiting at the platform on the line going towards Knapford Station. He had his coaches from earlier on coupled behind him, and he was on his way from Brendam Dock to Knapford, and he was waiting for his passengers to board before he could set off again.

"Afternoon!" Edward called out, as he watched Victoria go by with her train.

"Hello, Edward! Can't stop!" Victoria called, as she went on by with her 16 coaches, picking up speed all the while. And it wasn't too long before the last coach of the train disappeared into the distance ahead.

As Carrie finished placing coal into the coal into the firebox, she handed the shovel to the fireman and then went and leaned out from the driver's side of the cab. Standing behind where the driver was working, she leaned out just in time as they were about to go over the viaduct. She looked out as they crossed over it, and all the way to the bottom of the deep valley she saw just how far below them the river flowed. She only saw the sight for a few seconds, and then they were over the viaduct and on their way towards Crosby Station a few miles in the distance.

"Hey Carrie, do you want to have a go at pulling the whistle when we go past Crosby Station?" the driver asked.

"Oh, I sure would!" Carrie said with some excitement, as the driver showed her the whistle cord. Reaching up, Carrie took a hold of it and waited for the driver to say when.

The seconds seemed to go by slowly and then, with Crosby Station coming into view ahead of them, the driver called out "Now, Carrie!" and, giving the cord a pull, Carrie sounded Victoria's whistle long and loud as they approached and then went through Crosby Station. People standing on the platforms waved as the long and smart-looking passenger train, headed by a very impressive L.M.S. Stanier Princess Royal went on by as an impressive speed. It wasn't long before the train disappeared into the distance in a cloud of smoke and steam.

After going through Henry's Tunnel a few miles later, they soon made their approach to Knapford Station. However, a distant signal not too far from the station was set at yellow, indicating "Proceed with Caution" and so the driver closed the regulator and gently slowed the train. Carrie, who was taking another go on the shovel, looked up as they slowed down.

"What's going on?" Carrie asked, as she handed the shovel to the fireman and went to look out from the fireman's side of the cab.

"We're getting close to Knapford now, and so we need to slow down. There's no doubt a lot of heavy traffic going through there now." said the driver.

"All right." Carrie said. Looking out ahead along the length of the boiler, Carrie watched as they went round a gentle bend with a red-brick wall lining the other side of the line adjacent to them, which she knew was the final bend before they went under the road bridge and arrived in the final approach to Knapford.

"We're almost there now." Carrie said quietly to herself. Then the road bridge came into view ahead, and they passed beneath it. Now they were approaching Knapford Station; with the line leading to Thomas's Branch-line diverting off to the right, they went round the bend to the left.

Slowing down, they soon approached Platform 5 where some of the passengers on the train would get off before Victoria moved on with the train northwards towards Heathfield. As they rolled slowly along Platform 5, Carrie noticed Thomas arriving alongside Platform 4 with his two coaches Annie and Clarabel behind him. Standing beside Thomas at Platform 3 was another tank engine; this one was painted in lined B.R. black livery and had a 2-6-2 wheel arrangement. It was No.84054, who was one of the B.R. Standard Class 2 2-6-2T tank engines (39). He had arrived back at the station not long before and was waiting around for his next job.

(39): The B.R. Standard Class 2MT 2-6-2T tank engines were one of the 12 classes of B.R. Standard steam locomotives that were built as part of the British Railways standardisation programme in the 1950's. Numbered within the 84XXX series, it was one of the smallest locomotive types to be built, and only 30 examples in total were even constructed, of which 20 were built at Crewe Works and the remaining 10 engines built at Darlington Works. They were numbered from No.84000 to No.84029. Designed at Derby Works, the class were introduced into service on the B.R. network between July 1953 and June 1957. It had been intended to build the class from 1952 to 1953, but steel shortages at that time caused the introduction of the first 20 engines to be delayed.

They were derived from the L.M.S. Ivatt Class 2 2-6-2T, which was built by B.R. after nationalisation took place in January 1948, but modifications had to be made to the B.R. Standard version. This included reducing the height of the cab roof in order to reduce the loading gauge, and fitting some standard fittings within the cab. They were classified by B.R. as 2MT, meaning they could be used on mixed-traffic roles.

However, due to the fact that there were already 130 locomotives of the Ivatt Class 2 2-6-2T tank engines already in service, only around 30 examples of the B.R. Standard Class 2MT 2-6-2T were ever built at all, and they were mainly used on local services, and thus eliminated many of the older pre-grouping classes of engines that had already been employed on said services.

The B.R. Standard Class 2MT 2-6-2T tank engines had two outside cylinders that were 16.5in in diameter with a 24in piston stroke, six driving wheels that were 5ft 0in in diameter and a boiler that was superheating elements and pressed to 200psi, which gave the class a maximum tractive effort of 18,515lbf. The side tanks could hold 1,350 gallons of water while up to 3 tons of coal could be carried in the coal bunkers.

The class often worked alongside the Ivatt tank engines on the same push-pull services, and in areas which often shared their origins. No.84021 to No.84029 were used on the Southern Region from their home depot at Ashford for services to Romney Marsh, as well as on local trains to Margate via the Canterbury West route. After many of the routes in the Southern Region were electrified, many were sent off to the North Eastern Region. One example of the class, No.84009, briefly worked in the Eastern Region after bring transferred from the London Midland Region, but it returned to the London Midland Region at Llandudno Junction in 1962.

Those members of the class that were assigned to the London Midland Region were fitted with push-pull equipment and were used alongside their Ivatt sisters, Those assigned to the Southern Region ran trains from Ashford or Ramsgate along lines in Kent. Later on, some were transferred to work in the north west, to places like Llandudno Junction, Bolton, and Newton Health.

A few examples of the class were re-allocated to Eastleigh in 1965 for possible use on the railways on the Isle of Wight, where they would have replaced the older L.S.W.R. O2 Class 0-4-4T tank engines, all of which were well over 70 years old by that point. However, this plan didn't cover a coaching stock replacement, and so the transfer of the examples at Eastleigh to the Isle of Wight never took place.

Withdrawals of the class began in 1963, when No.84012 was removed from service, and the others followed along over the next three years until 1965, when the final twenty examples of the class were removed from use, including the doyen of the class No.84000. Sadly, no examples of this tank engine class have survived into preservation, and none were ever sent to the famous Woodham's Scrapyard down in Barry, South Wales. It's a real shame that none of the class were preserved, as their size and configuration would make them the ideal locomotives for running trains many heritage railways around the U.K.

However, a brand-new example of the class is under construction at the Bluebell Railway in Sussex. The example of the class is No.84030, and is using Standard Class 2MT 2-6-0 No.78059 as a donor locomotive. This engine was rescued from Barry Scrapyard in May 1983 and brought to the Bluebell Railway, who had the idea of converting it to a Standard Class 2MT 2-6-2T tank engine, particularly as the B.R. Standard Class 2MT 2-6-0 tender engines were never used on the Southern Region. As of now, No.78059 no longer exists, as the fitting of hind engine frame extensions have turned it into No.84030. Much work has been made on the new locomotive in the last few years, but there's a lot more work left to be done before No.84030 can steam for the first time in preservation.

"Hello Thomas…hello No.84054." Princess Victoria said, as she came to a stop alongside Platform 5, with a low squealing of brakes and hissing of steam.

"Hello, Victoria." both tank engines said at the same time.

"Another heavy train?" No.84054 asked, as he heard the sounds of the coach doors being opened and then the sounds of the passengers disembarking from the train.

"Yes, and I have to take it all the way up north to Heathfield and the hotels and resorts up there." said Victoria, as she thought about the rest of the journey that she had to cover to reach her final destination.

"Hey, it's Thomas!" shouted one of the younger kids who had just disembarked from Victoria's train. Within seconds, many of the people who were disembarking from the long 16 coach train crowded around the famous blue 0-6-0 tank engine. Many of them took pictures and, with the bright flashes from the many cameras the people were holding, Thomas wasn't sure where to look as the photos were taken, but he just smiled and allowed the passengers to admire him.

"Looks like Thomas is getting quite a lot of attention." Carrie said to the driver and fireman.

"Yeah, and well…he is Sodor's most famous and number one engine after all, Carrie. And so, it's inevitable that many people from elsewhere in the world will want to see him whenever they come and visit here." said Victoria's driver.

"And I can see why…he's a really useful engine." Carrie said, as she watched the crowds go around Thomas over at Platform 4. Victoria simply smiled to herself; this was something she'd seen many times over the years where newly arrived tourists and holidaymakers would crowd around the engines of Sodor as if they were celebrities. She herself had experienced it a few times as well in the past.

It wasn't too long before the passengers from Princess Victoria's train who had to disembark at Knapford left the station, thus leaving Thomas alone, and made their way to their hotels and other accommodations they had reserved. With them gone, a silence had descended upon the station, apart from the sounds of the three engines sitting in the station. Then, the guard aboard Princess Victoria's train stepped out from his compartment in the front coach, and blew his whistle and waved his green flag.

"Oh! That's time for us to go! I'll see you two later." Victoria said to Thomas and No.84054, as her driver blew the whistle.

"Okay, Victoria!" the two tank engines said together, as the large L.M.S. Princess Royal moved out of the station with her 16 coaches. From the footplate, Carrie leaned out and waved to the two tank engines as they set off. They both saw her and whistled to her before she disappeared from sight behind the building at the end of the bay platform.

Once out of Knapford Station and heading past the extensive shunting and freight yards nearby, Princess Victoria picked up speed and headed northwards along the wide, red-brick viaduct that went over the yards towards the steel bridge that crossed over the river to the north of the Knapford area. On the footplate, Carrie took another go with the shovel at stoking the boiler; the long stop back at Knapford Station had allowed the pressure in the boiler to rise back near to its maximum working pressure of 250psi, but even so, the boiler still needed to be stoked with fresh coal in order to maintain that pressure.

It was no longer much of a challenge for Carrie to place large amounts of coal into the firebox to keep the fire up; ever since she had started on the apprenticeship scheme back in January, her body had become much stronger from doing so much physical work, and she was able to keep up a regular rhythm of keeping fireboxes stoked on the different engines she had worked on, although each steam locomotive firebox needed a different firing technique, especially depending upon the size and depth of the fireboxes. Not only that, her back didn't hurt as much as it did whenever she had to bend over to stoke a firebox.

Carrie had placed a sixth shovelful of coal into the firebox, when the fireman told her;

"Okay Carrie, that's enough for now." he said, as he took the shovel from her.

"Thanks." Carrie said, as she gratefully went and sat down on the fireman's seat, before then leaning out from the cab and looked forward. She could see that they were now approaching the wide steel girder bridge that crossed over the river to the north of Knapford. As they crossed over the bridge, Carrie looked over the part of the river that she could see; the tide was halfway between high and low tide, and there were some small boats, in different colours and different levels of weathering, moored to orange buoys in the middle of the channel.

After going over the bridge, they passed by the junction where one set of tracks led off to the left to the Little Western, and the other went off ahead towards Tidmouth and Heathfield. The points had been set for them to go along the track spur straight ahead and the signal arm was down with the light showing green, and after Princess Victoria blew her whistle loudly, they passed by the junction and powered on ahead towards Tidmouth. Taking the chance to quickly look behind them, Carrie watched as the long line of coaches followed along behind them through the junction. For a few seconds, Carrie thought she saw a number of passengers sticking their heads out from some of the windows on the coaches, where they could see what was going on ahead with them. Some had cameras in their hands and were hoping to get footage or photos of their journey, and in particular the impressive bulk of No.46205 Princess Victoria hauling the long train on their journey.

Feeling herself smile a little, Carrie turned her head back to look forward and, leaning her right elbow on the open ledge of the sliding window screen, she kept watching the lines ahead of them, keeping a watch ahead for signals as well as the exhaust from the chimney,

After going through the countryside, they soon arrived at Tidmouth Station, after passing the junction to the west of the station that connected to the Little Western. As they slowed down and came to a gentle halt, they could see Oliver standing at the down platform with three coaches behind him and his brake van Toad coupled to the last coach.

"Afternoon there, Victoria." Oliver said, as he watched the larger L.M.S. Pacific come to a halt at the up platform.

"Hello there, Oliver." Victoria said, as she stopped. The doors on the coaches were opened, and the passengers getting off at Tidmouth disembarked from the train.

"You been busy this afternoon?" Oliver asked, as he overheard the sounds of the passengers disembarking from the train.

"Yes, Oliver. I've been bringing passengers up from the airport and taking them to Heathfield. And there's a lot of passengers on my train this afternoon…as you can hear." Victoria said

"Excuse me, Ms Victoria…but the passengers do like coming here to visit the island, and that's why the trains are so heavy…if you forgive me for mentioning it." said Toad the brake van.

"Oh, that's all right, Toad. I know why they're always heavy, and I know that they're going to get heavier as the months go on." said Victoria, knowing full well just how heavy the passenger trains could get during the summer months, when tourists by the thousands came to visit Sodor.

It wasn't long before Victoria was on her way again; after the guard blew his whistle and waved his green flag, the driver blew the whistle, opened the regulator and they set off on their way up the line.

"Bye Oliver, I'll see you later!" Victoria said, as she moved out of the station, with her heavy coaches following behind.

"See you later!" Oliver and Toad called, as they watched the train slowly make its way out of the station and to the north. From Victoria's footplate, Carrie watched the station recede into the distance behind them for a few moments, and then she stepped back into the cab and got back to work. Going to the two water gauge glasses in the centre of the backhead, she checked them to see if the water level in the boiler was at an acceptable level; it was, so there was no need to put more water into the boiler just yet.

For the next half hour or so, they proceeded up the main line to Heathfield without incident, apart from passing a few trains that were heading south in the opposite direction to Tidmouth and Knapford, including a number of different passenger and freight trains of varying lengths. They passed a number of yards and sidings where a number of slower trains going north waited in the sidings for the faster trains, including that being hauled by Princess Victoria, to pass them by before they could set off on their way again.

All the while as they headed north, Carrie did her bit to help out on the footplate, including stoking the boiler with fresh coal, keeping a close eye on the various gauges and the two water gauge glasses, as well as using the steam injectors to keep the boiler topped up with water whenever it became necessary to do so. Carrie was also very impressed by how smoothly an engine as big as Princess Victoria rode along the tracks, particularly at speed. Though there were some slight instances of rough riding at times on the journey, she was loving the smooth ride on such a large engine, and was hoping that she could have more experiences of fast running on the many other large express engines of Sodor.

It wasn't too long before they finally pulled into their final destination for this run, Heathfield Station, and Victoria was very pleased to have arrived at this destination safely, and without any incident. Pulling up to the platform, the driver brought the train to a very gentle stop, and fully placed on the brakes. With a gentle squeal from the brake blocks, Victoria came to a stop right by the end of the platform.

"And there we are…we've made it safe and sound." the driver said, as he made sure the regulator was firmly closed, and then reached for the lever and opened the cylinder drain cocks.

"And with a very smooth ride as well, and with a locomotive that has steamed very well and didn't show any problems." Carrie said, as a smile came across her face.

"Yeah well, the L.M.S. Princess Royals are some of the smoothest riding locomotives ever built, and Victoria is certainly showing that she's capable of very smooth riding, just like she and her classmates used to do back in the old days." said the fireman. Carrie smiled, as she went over to the driver's side of the cab and looked back along the platform; the doors on the coaches were opened, and the passengers stepped out onto the platform. Some went up to where Victoria was standing and simmering away to admire such an enormous locomotive, but the majority of passengers made their way out of the station and towards the transport that would take them to their hotels or accommodations.

Meanwhile, as passengers left the station or went up to see the locomotive, a shunter uncoupled the forward coach from Victoria's tender and disconnected the brake-pipes. Once given the all-clear to leave, the driver released the brakes and opened the regulator. With steam shooting from the cylinder drain cocks and covering the track ahead, No.46205 Princess Victoria moved away from the platform and over towards the nearby motive power depot to be serviced after her long run.

(In the depot; a short while later)

Soon, Victoria was stabled on one of the lines in the depot, under the cover of one of the sheds, and here she would be serviced and refuelled before she went back out later on for her evening train. As the shed staff set about getting the large engine ready, the driver, fireman, and Carrie stepped off from the footplate and down onto solid ground.

"So, what shall we do now?" Carrie asked, as she removed the gloves she'd been wearing to keep her hands clean and shield them from the hot firebox.

"Well, I don't know about you, Carrie…but I'm eager for a hot cup of tea right now, especially after all that work that we've been doing this afternoon." the driver said.

"Sounds like a fair idea to me, I could do with something like that right now." Carrie said, as she removed her railway hat from her head, and then rubbed down her sweaty forehead and moved her hair aside a little so as to allow the cool breeze to flow over her forehead.

"And I think you've earned it, Carrie…especially after all the hard work you did when we left the airport." the fireman said.

"Okay." Carrie said, as she checked her watch and it showed the time as being 2:55pm. Without a further word, they turned and went into the crew building close by.

(A short while later)

After taking the chance to wash down her sweaty face and hands in the lady's changing rooms, Carrie was sitting at one of the tables in the main canteen of the Heathfield depot crew building and enjoying a hot cup of tea with a slice of chocolate fudge cake. There were very few other engine crews in the canteen, so it was fairly quiet now and Carrie, after spending the last hour or so on a large and noisy engine, wanted to spend some time in the quiet before she was assigned her last job for the day.

In the distance along the main line, the sounds of a steam whistle could be heard as another train went along the main line with its train. But Carrie couldn't see which engine it was, as other things in the depot blocked her view. She wasn't paying too much attention to what was going on outside; she was just enjoying her tea and cake, and taking some much-needed rest after having worked so hard for much of the day, first on Percy, and then on Princess Victoria. But, at the same time though, she wondered which engine she would be working on next before the day was out.

It wasn't too long before she finished her tea and cake, and then Carrie settled back in her chair and stretched her arms and legs out, so as to get the kinks out of them. Then, placing her arms back down onto the table, she stood up and left the canteen, and went upstairs to the recreation room to relax on one of the more comfortable chairs and read until the yard foreman came in with news of the next locomotive she was to work on for the rest of the day.

Carrie didn't have to wait for very long; for at 3:45pm, the door to the recreation room opened and the yard foreman stepped inside.

"Excuse me, Carrie?" he said, as he approached where she was sitting and reading.

"Yes, sir?" Carrie asked, as she looked up.

"I've got the locomotive you're to work on until you can clock out later today. And he and his crew are ready outside right now." said the yard foreman.

"All right then…" Carrie said, as she placed the book back onto the bookcase and stood up, "…and which engine is it?"

The yard manager looked down at the clipboard he was holding in his hands, scanned the page for a moment, and then looked back at Carrie.

"It's gonna be No.62001, one of the Peppercorn K1 Class 2-6-0's, and he and his crew will be taking a slow freight back down to the yards at Knapford. You'll be taking it from here, and going down along the Little Western, and picking more wagons at some of the other stations that are along the way between here and Knapford (40)." said the yard manager.

"Okay, then. Take me there." Carrie said, as she took hold of her Hi-Viz vest and, as she put it on, followed the yard manager out the door and back into the yard.

(40): The L.N.E.R. K1 Class 2-6-0 was originally designed by Edward Thompson, who was the C.M.E. of the London and North Eastern Railway (L.N.E.R.) after the death of Sir Nigel Gresley in April 1941. He preferred to have simple two-cylinder locomotives with two sets of Walschaerts valve gear, rather than the more complex three-cylinder designs fitted with complex conjugated valve gear as had been preferred by Gresley.

To that end, he took one of Gresley's K4 Class 2-6-0s, No.3445 MacCailin Mor, out from its regular duties along the West Highland Line in Scotland and rebuilt it at Darlington Works in 1945 as a prototype of the K1 Class, which became designated as K1/1, and entered service with the L.N.E.R. in December 1945. Thompson entrusted the rebuilding of No.3445 to his assistant, Arthur Peppercorn. After the railways were nationalised in 1948, the rebuilt K4, then numbered as No.61997, stayed in service with B.R. until it was withdrawn from service in 1962.

In 1946, when Peppercorn replaced Thompson as the L.N.E.R.'s new Chief Mechanical Engineer (C.M.E.), he made the rebuilt K1/1 as the basis for a new two-cylinder 2-6-0 design. Some modifications had to be made to the design, including redesigning the running plates to improve access to the steam chests, and changes were made to the pony truck, as well as to the boiler and cylinder linings. A tender that carried up to 7.5 tons of coal and 4,200 gallons of water in the tanks were also paired with the new design, and the tenders were also fitted with water scoops so the engines could take on more water from water troughs. The firebox was also fitted with a rocking grate and a hopper ashpan, both of which helped to make disposing of the locomotives at the end of the day a much easier task.

A self-cleaning apparatus was also fitted within the smokebox, but this proved to be detrimental to the locomotives ability to steam properly. So the K1 Class engines that were based within the North Eastern Region had their blastpipe tops reduced in diameter from 5.125in down to 4.75in, and reduced in height by 2in in order to combat this particular issue. Another change that was made to the class was that the running plate in front of the cylinders was cut away in order to improve access to the steam chests for maintenance.

The new K1 Class were fitted with two outside cylinders that were 20in in diameter with a 26in piston stroke that were paired with 10in diameter piston valves which, combined with six driving wheels that were 5ft 2in in diameter and a boiler which was fitted with superheating elements and pressed to 225psi, gave the class a maximum tractive effort of 32,080lbf.

The K1's were fitted with a double swing-link pony truck, but the laminated bearing springs on these pony trucks were replaced with helical springs. This was due to problems being experienced with the V2 2-6-2's, which had pony trucks fitted with the laminated spring bearings.

An order for 70 engines of the new 2-6-0 design was placed in July 1947, with the North British Locomotive Company in Glasgow. The brand new K1's were the last steam locomotives that were built to an L.N.E.R. design, though they were all delivered under British Railways auspices. The class entered service between May 1949 and March 1950, and they were numbered from No.62001 to No.62070.

The Peppercorn K1 Class proved to be very reliable and versatile locomotives, working extensively all over the territory of the ex-L.N.E.R., where they hauled everything from coal trains all the way through to express passenger services, but were chiefly associated with the North East of England. Also, and following in the footsteps of the Gresley K4 Class 2-6-0s, they were also seen on the West Highland Line in Scotland. Many of the K1's based in the North East were often seen as far as Edinburgh. Some of the class were later allocated to March in the Eastern Region. They also worked on jobs in collieries, where they took over the work previously done by J26 Class, J27 Class, and J39 Class 0-6-0 designs.

The class were more than capable of reaching speeds of 50mph when they were running ahead, and were able to reach speeds of up 45mph when they were running tender first.

Like so many steam designs that emerged after the railways nationalised in 1948, the K1 Class had very brief working lives, with the first three examples being withdrawn from service in 1962, No.62031, No.62034 and No.62052. Withdrawals of the class were completed when the final example pf the class was finally withdrawn in December 1967.

Thankfully, one example of the class has survived into preservation; No.62005, the final member of the class in service and thus the last to be withdrawn, was originally acquired in My 1969, originally to be used as a spare boiler for preserved K4 No.3442 The Great Marquess, though in the event the boiler wasn't needed for No.3442, and so in 1972 No.62005 was donated to the North Eastern Locomotive Preservation Group (also known as NELPG). After being fully overhauled by NELPG volunteers over a period of two years, she was turned out painted in fully lined out L.N.E.R. Apple Green livery with No.2005 painted on her cab-sides, and went into service on the North Yorkshire Moors Railway.

No.2005 returned to the main line in 1975, and has travelled extensively since then, both on the main line and on many heritage railways, including on the Great Central Railway. She also has extensively travelled along the West Highland Line in Scotland, as well as travelling between Fort William and Mallaig. She has appeared painted in L.N.E.R. Apple Green, which the K1 Class actually never carried during their working lives, as well as in her more authentic lined B.R. black livery with her number of 62005 on her cab-sides. In 2005, No.62005 was given the name of Lord of the Isles, which had previously been carried by L.N.E.R. K4 Class 2-6-0 No.3444 (B.R. No.61996).

As of 2023, No.62005 is currently out of service and at the North Yorkshire Moors Railway, where she's undergoing an extensive overhaul so as to return her to main line running condition.

Carrie followed the yard manager out to the yard and over the tracks, taking care to make sure they were clear before they crossed them, and towards the line where No.62001 was sitting and waiting for them to arrive. His crew were making the last preparations to leave the yard, and the lined black paintwork of the boiler, cab, and tender shone brightly, having been really thoroughly rubbed down and polished to a high shine.

"Hello there, No.62001." the yard manager said, when they came up to the K1 2-6-0

"Good afternoon, sir." said No.62001.

"Now No.62001…" the yard manager said, as he looked through his clipboard, "…you and your crew are to collect a line of trucks in the yard near here and are to bring them back down to Knapford Harbour. While on your way down, you're to go along the Little Western and collect more trucks at the various stations on your way south."

"I understand, sir." said No.62001.

"And you and your crew are going to have Carrie White here…" the yard manager said, as he turned to Carrie "…with you as well. She'll be working with you and your crew on the footplate for the rest of the afternoon."

"Hello there, Carrie. It's really nice to meet you." No.62001 said with a smile, as his gaze turned down to look at Carrie.

"Hello, and it's really nice to meet you too." Carrie said, as she smiled up at the smart L.N.E.R. K1 2-6-0 before her.

"And Carrie, you don't mind working with No.62001 and his crew for the rest of your shift?" the yard manager asked.

"Of course not, sir. After all, I've got just over an hour left to go until my shift finishes." Carrie said.

"That's good then. Anyway, I'll be heading back to my office. Good luck with your job today." and without a further word, he turned and walked back to his office.

It wasn't too long before the last preparations were made, and No.62001, his driver, fireman, and Carrie standing on the footplate, slowly rolled out from the depot and towards the goods yard nearby.

"I've never gone and worked on one of these engines before, driver." Carrie said, as they rolled slowly along and over the points.

"The K1's are good locomotives, Carrie. A very versatile design, and an engine that won't let you down." the driver said with a smile, as he patted the inside wall of the cab.

"And they steam pretty well too, miss…" the fireman added, "…as long as you keep the coal flowing into the firebox, and particularly into the back corners and along the firebox sides."

"That's seems a fair challenge." Carrie said.

"Now, just watch what I do." the fireman said, as he took first go with the shovel. For several moments, Carrie watched as the fireman swung from the coal space in the tender and brought the coal to the firebox and placed it in. She made mental notes in her head, and hoped she could make No.62001 steam effectively when her turn came to fire the engine.

It wasn't long before they arrived in the goods yard, and were directed to the siding where the train they were to collect awaited them. Slowly reversing into the siding, the driver gently backed No.62001 onto the forward wagon on the train, and the shunter fastened the coupling and connected the brake pipes together. For a minute they stood still, as the driver watched the two needles on the brake gauge before him rise to show there was an adequate brake level on both the locomotive and train. Soon though, the two indicator needles on the gauge stopped between 20 and 25, which was perfectly adequate for what they needed.

At the same time, the shunters went along the length of the train and doubled checked all the couplings and brake pipe connections to be sure they were in order before they could leave the yards.

Soon, everything was found to be in perfect order, and clearance was given for them to depart. With a blast on his whistle and a loud whooshing of steam, No.62001 moved slowly out from the siding, with his train slowly following along behind him with a rattle and a groan. They slowly made their way out to the exit from the yards that would allow them to go out onto the main line. When they arrived, the signal was at red, and so they had to stop. Looking out from the cab, Carrie knew there was another train coming, but wondered which one it was.

They didn't have to wait very long to find out though; in the distance, there came the sound of a familiar whistle and, a few moments later, Gordon went on past and through the station. He was hauling the express from Vicarstown to Knapford with ten heavily loaded coaches behind him, yet despite his load he was moving at a good speed as he went on by.

"He seems to be running on time this afternoon." said No.62001, not long after the last coach of Gordon's train went past on its way southwards.

"Yeah, and with a train like that, it's really no wonder." Carrie said, in agreement with the L.N.E.R. K1.

The signal soon dropped and the points were changed, and No.62001 rolled forwards out of the yards and out onto the main line. Going through Heathfield Station a minute or two later on, Carrie saw that the 16 coaches Princess Victoria had pulled from the airport were gone from the platform they had been at; obviously, one of the locomotives based at Heathfield Station had moved them out to the coaching sidings out of the way. The platforms of the station were empty, apart from station staff working away at getting ready for the next train to arrive there.

Going through the station and out to the south of it, No.62001 reached a junction and was turned off from the main line and onto the line that joined up to the northern end of the Little Western. As they slowly made their way off the main line and onto the spur to their right, Carrie briefly looked up to the sky, and wondered how her classmates back in Chamberlain, Maine were getting on.

And that's the end for this chapter, everyone! In the next chapter, we're gonna focus, for the most part, on Carrie's classmates back in Chamberlain and what they're getting up to with Carrie being away.