Starting Over Again

by J.T. Shee

A year and a half BEFORE the infamous Black Prom takes place in Ewen High School, Carrie runs away from home in Chamberlain and ends up on the Island of Sodor. There, she meets Sodor's engines and people and sets about getting her life back on track (No pun intended). While there, she also meets someone she never expected to see in her life. Reviews are much appreciated.

56. 55: Stormy Night Windy Day

Chapter 55: Stormy Night / Very Windy Day

---

(Thursday, October 25th 2012 – 4:05pm, The Coal Mines)

With a clatter of coal falling on top of more coal, amid a small cloud of coal dust that billowed up, the last hopper wagon in the line of about 16 in total was finally filled up with freshly mined coal. And with that, this row of wagons was finally ready to be brought away from the towering coal hoppers and taken over to the long sidings, where they would be taken away by another engine. With a blast of his whistle to indicate to anyone standing nearby he was about to move, L.N.E.R. J94 Class 0-6-0ST No.68025 slowly moved off, taking the weight of the heavily-laden hopper wagons behind him. With a loud clattering of buffers bumping into each other, the hopper wagons were slowly pushed forwards under the tall coal hopper that had just loaded them all up and through the yards within the coal mines.

Working in the coal mines was a very hard and filthy business, with the piles of loose coal dust often being blown everywhere, especially if it was windy, like it was at this time of the day. In fact, the wind had been slowly building up throughout the course of the day, which started in the late morning and had been building up ever since then. Due to this wind, a lot of coal dust from the freshly mined coal had been blowing everywhere, and No.68025 was absolutely filthy from it, from cab to his six driving wheels. His driver and fireman were quite filthy as well, as the dust had blown into the cab from time to time during the day.

At the same time, very dark storm clouds were gathering in the sky off to the south west, which indicated to everyone who saw it that there was bad weather on the way. In fact, there was a very big storm front on the way and it would be over the Island of Sodor for most of the night, and it promised to bring even stronger winds with it, as well as very heavy rain, lightning, and thunder. Due to the threat of the oncoming storm, the Fat Controller had decided not to run any trains for tonight, which was normal standard thing to do when really bad storms came over Sodor during the night, as it meant there would be much less risk of accidents happening to his engines. Services would resume in the morning, though due to the risk of inevitable storm damage, including trees and power lines, being blown down onto the railway lines all over the island, they would be running fewer and slower services while debris was being cleared away.

With his driver keeping a firm hand on the regulator while he moved the heavily-laden coal hoppers through the sidings of the mines, No.68025 slowly moved the heavy load towards the sidings, pushing the heavy load with all his might.

"Come on! Keep moving! Come on! Keep moving!" No.68025 said with determination, as he pushed on one wheel-turn after another.

"Ow! Ow! Ow!" cried all the hopper wagons, as they were shunted very firmly to the sidings by the experienced tank engine. With great determination and effort, No.68025 managed to move the heavy hopper wagons away from the mines and towards the sidings very close by, where they would be picked up by another engine and then taken away to another part of the island. With the points having been set for him, No.68025 pushed the long and heavy coal train into one of the long sidings until each of the 16 steel hopper wagons was in the siding. These hoppers were then coupled up to the line of 34 that were already in the siding, which had been placed there by No.68025 earlier on.

"And there we are…all placed where they need to be!" No.68025 said, feeling really quite pleased with himself.

"We just have one more job left to ready this train, and then we'll be finished, old boy!" said his driver, as the shunter uncoupled No.68025 and disconnected the brake pipes. Once that was done, the driver put the reversing lever into full reverse and then opened the regulator again, allowing No.68025 to reverse slowly away from the train and out of the siding.

As No.68025 went to pick up a brake van from one of the other sidings to put on the end of the line of coal hopper wagons he had just shunted, he noticed B.R. Standard Class 9F 2-10-0 No.92148 heading out from the yards with another equally long line of heavily-laden steel coal hopper wagons coupled up behind him. This was another line of coal wagons that No.68025 had shunted together earlier on in the day, though this one was longer in length, consisting of about 60 or so hopper wagons. With a blast of his whistle, which could be heard clearly over the blowing wind, No.92148 set off away from the coal mines and out towards the main line not too far away, with the hopper wagons following along behind him, with the wagons rattling and clanking as they went.

Collecting a brake van at another nearby siding, No.68025 pushed the brake van back towards the siding and buffered it up to the back of the long line of coal hoppers, where the shunter coupled it up before the guard arrived.

"And there we are! It's all ready to go!" said No.68025, as pulled into the empty siding beside this train and then rolled up to the forward end of the siding.

"Well…it will be as soon as an engine arrives to pick it up." said his driver.

"And let's hope that an engine will be here soon. After all, the coal in these hoppers can't wait." said the fireman, as he looked out from the other side of the cab.

A few moments later, they heard the sounds of the whistle of an approaching engine, and they could hear it, as well as the approaching sounds of chuffing, over the sounds of the blowing wind. Not too long afterwards, they saw the blowing clouds of grey-white smoke rising over the cutting that led from the main line towards the mines, and then they saw a tender engine coming slowing into the sidings, rolling in reverse, in order to pick up this line of coal hoppers. This engine was actually No.63470, who was an example of the L.N.E.R. Q7 Class 0-8-0 heavy freight engine, and he was coming in to take this new line of freshly loaded hopper wagons away from the mines to the yards at Knapford (103).

As No.63470 slowly came in tender-first onto the siding and began to back down onto the front of the long train, No.68025 could see there were four people standing on the footplate of the 0-8-0 heavy freight engine; two of them were the driver and fireman, while another one looked like he might be some kind of an inspector.

The fourth person was none other than Carrie White herself, and she was undergoing something very important on this very windy afternoon; it was the very first of two firing exams that all the apprentices who were on the apprenticeship scheme had to undergo at around this time, in order to ensure that they knew how to correctly fire an engine when they were out working on a heavy train. For the exams, everything that Carrie had learned in the last few months about how to fire an engine and keep a good fire in the firebox was going to be put to the test, as well as her ability to work all the different controls that a fireman would normally use on a day-to-day basis on the railway.

(103): The North Eastern Railway (N.E.R.) Class T3 0-8-0 heavy freight engine, known as Class Q7 under the L.N.E.R., were designed by Sir Vincent Raven and were intended to be used on heavy freight duties, especially on coal duties. Although Raven's earlier two-cylinder T2 Class 0-8-0s (L.N.E.R. Class Q6s) had proven to be very successful machines on the duties they were built to do, it was decided to build an even more powerful version that had three cylinders, based on the success of Raven's previous three-cylinder designs, such as the Class Z (L.N.E.R. Class C7) 4-4-2 Atlantics, and the Class X (L.N.E.R. Class T1) 4-8-0t tank engines, as well as the Class Y (L.N.E.R. Class A7) 4-6-2T tank engines designed by Wilson Worsdell.

Many of the reasons for building the Q7 Class remain a mystery, but it appears to have been an exercise in determining the kind of power which could be produced by a three-cylinder mineral locomotive. But the problem was that there was no immediate demand for this extra power, and so in this respect the Q7s suffered a similar situation as the later Gresley P1 Class 2-8-2 heavy mineral locomotives.

In total, 15 members of the N.E.R. T3 Class were built at Darlington Works between October 1919 and May 1924, with the first 5 engines to be constructed emerging under N.E.R. auspices, and the last 10 locomotives being built under control of the L.N.E.R. When the latter 10 engines were built in 1924, the L.N.E.R. were reconditioning older ex-R.O.D. O4 Class 2-8-0s for less than half the price of building a new Q7 Class 0-8-0. When the engines of the second batch were built, six were sent to South Yorkshire in order to work on coal trains running on the level route that ran from Gascoigne Wood all the way to Hull docks, rather than on the heavily graded lines in the Tyneside area for which they would have been better suited. The other four engines in the second batch, however, were sent north to work on the lines near the Tyneside collieries.

The Q7 Class could easily be told apart from the earlier Q6 Class by the fact that the connecting rods from the cylinders were connected to the second set of driving wheels, while on the Q6 Class the connecting rods were connected to the third set of driving wheels.

A rather interesting technical feature of the new Q7 Class design was the fact that three cylinders and the smokebox saddle were all cast together as a single unit, something that had been previously pioneered in the N.E.R. class Z 4-4-2, which were very similar from mechanical point of view, in 1911.

The three cylinders of the Q7 Class all had piston valves and were driven by Stephenson valve gear, with each cylinder driving onto the second set of driving wheels, and each were 18.5in in diameter with a 26in piston stroke. Combined with a boiler fitted with superheating elements and pressed to 180psi, as well as eight driving wheels that were 4ft 7.25in in diameter, it gave the engines of the Q7 Class a maximum tractive effort of 36,965lbf. The tenders the class were paired with could carry a little over 5.5 tons of coal, as well as carrying up to 4,125 gallons of water.

The boilers that were fitted on the initial five Q7 Class engines were based off of the N.E.R. Class Z boilers, but were modified in having 102 tubes instead of 90, as well as having Schmidt superheaters fitted as standard. The fireboxes were also about 1 foot longer than those on the Q6 Class, which resulted in a short cab. The boilers on the Q7s built by the L.N.E.R. had 133 boiler tubes, and by 1933, the Q7s that originally had the 102 firetube boilers were being refitted with the 133 firetube boilers, while all the original Schmidt-type superheaters were being replaced with Robinson-type superheaters.

When the first engine of the Q7 Class, No.901, was put into service in September 1919, she was put a series of tests with a dynamometer car on the route that ran from Carlisle to Newcastle, and on the route from Newport to Shildon. No.901 handled the heavy trains it hauled on those routes with ease, with the trains often weighing well over 1,000 tons and consisting of 60 fully loaded coal wagons, and untroubled on the difficult gradients on those routes.

The most notable trial that was undertaken with a Q7 was when No.903 was tried on Glefarg bank on the line between Perth and Edinburgh hauling a load of 755 tons made up of 30 loaded wagons and two 20-ton brake vans up the 1-in-75 bank. During the test, No.903 performed favourably when she was pitted up against a N.B.R. Class J37 0-6-0 and a G.W.R. 2800 Class 2-8-0.

When they were first introduced, the Q7s were originally based at a number of different depots, including Blaydon, Gateshead, Tyne Dock, and Hull Dairycoates. By the mid-1920s, Dairycoates actually discovered that the more numerous Q6 Class 0-8-0 engines met their needs, so their Q7 allocation was moved up to Tyne Dock. From Tyne Dock, the class worked the iron ore trains to Consett, which involved negotiating steep gradients and sharp bends.

In normal service, the Q7s were allowed to take loads 20% above those of the earlier T1 and T2 Classes. and it was actually said that the engines were too powerful for the traffic available. But it wasn't until they were transferred up to Tyne Dock and used to work the heavy iron ore trains up to the ironworks at Consett that their potential was really reached. There are records of them being used on these trains in 1924 to haul loads of up to 700 tons in weight, often with a second Q7 banking the heavy trains from behind. By 1949, Tyne Dock had ten diagrams operating Q7 Class 0-8-0s along this route.

With the introduction of 56-ton bogie hopper wagons in the 1950s, which had doors that could be operated by compressed air, five members of the class were fitted with twin Westinghouse air pumps and the piping needed to use them. In 1952, the Q7s would be joined by Thompson O1 Class 2-8-0s. Between 1957 and 1959, the Westinghouse pumps that had been fitted to the Q7s were transferred to the BR Standard Class 9F 2-10-0s which replaced them on the Tyne Dock to Consett Route, as the 9Fs could haul much heavier loads on that route than the Q7s could.

When the railways of Britain were nationalised in January 1948, the Q7 Class were renumbered from their L.N.E.R. 1946 renumbering allocation numbers of No.3460 to No.3474 to No.63460 to No.63474 under the new B.R. numbering scheme. In 1953, the power classification of the class was changed from 7F to 8F.

In 1962, the entire class was fitted with A.W.S. (Automatic Warning System) equipment, so that the crews would be altered to the states of the signals ahead of them on the lines that they worked on. However, the effort of fitting such equipment to the Q7 Class could have been spared, as all 15 engines were withdrawn from service en-masse in November and December 1962, with the first two engines being withdrawn in November, and the rest of them following along a month later.

Thankfully, one example of the class has managed to survive into preservation as part of the National Collection; this engine is none other than the doyen of the class, No.901 (B.R. No.63460), who was withdrawn from service in December 1962. After being stored at Darlington for a time, she returned to steam in 1963 and ran a number of special rail-tours throughout the north east of England, before being stored in a number of different places, including Hellifield and Brighton, before being moved to York in 1978.

After being restored to full working order at Grosmont on the North Yorkshire Moors Railway from 1982 to 1900, following an agreement between the National Railway Museum and the North Eastern Locomotive Preservation Society (N.E.L.P.G.), No.901 returned to steam on the N.Y.M.R. in July 1990. She ran on the railway for a number of years until her boiler certificate expired in 1998, often hauling the heaviest trains on the N.Y.M.R. In June 2004, she was moved to Shildon and put on display in the N.R.M.'s Locomotion Museum there, before then moving to Darlington to be put on static display in the North Road Station Museum.

After the driver had slowly backed up No.63470 to the front of the train and buffered up, the shunter got in between the tender and first wagon, and then coupled them up while also getting the brake pipes connected up. While they waited to set off again with the heavy train, Carrie closed the dampers to the firebox ashpan and closed the firebox doors most of the way, thus reducing the amount of air that would be needed for the fire when they were standing still, which was one of the things that Carrie had learned from the time she had been working on the railway.

Standing up, she went and leaned out from the side of the right-hand side of the cab, while keeping her spare hand on her cap to keep it from blowing away in the wind, and looked back along the length of the train; what she saw was a long line of heavily-laden hopper wagons with the coal sticking out over the tops of many of them, with the sides of all the wagons being streaked with different shades and layers of coal dust.

"Wow…that's a lot of coal." Carrie said to herself, as she looked over the train. Then, a gust of wind blew into her from off to her side and she pulled herself back into the cab to get out of the wind. She saw the inspector looking over the papers on his clipboard, with a pen in his right hand, and a somewhat neutral expression on his face. This did get Carrie somewhat concerned, as she couldn't tell from the expression on his face what he was thinking as he went through the papers and moved his pen over them.

After another minute or two, as Carrie went over to check on the level of water in the two water gauge glasses on the back of the boiler backhead, the inspector looked up from his clipboard.

"Well Carrie…you've done extremely well today. So far, your performance is very good and you're well on track to receiving your first certificate." said the inspector.

"Thanks." Carrie said, as she felt a small smile cross her face.

"All that's left to do for today is to get all this coal behind us to the yards at Knapford, and that'll be it for today." said the inspector.

"Very good…but will we make it back before the storm breaks?" Carrie said, as she anxiously looked up at the dark, ominous clouds in the sky, the edge of which was now almost directly overhead. The inspector also looked up with anxiousness as well, and wondered the same thing himself. He noticed the wind was picking up somewhat, and he knew it was important to get back to Knapford as soon as they possible could, and preferably before the rain began to fall and the stronger winds came along.

"I honestly don't know, Carrie. I hope that we do make it back in time…because it isn't good to be out here in a storm like that." said the inspector, as he scanned the darkening sky with some concern. A tarpaulin had been stretched from the cab roof to the front of the tender, but the inspector had doubts it would keep out the rain he knew was coming.

No.63470 was also concerned with the oncoming bad weather, and hoped that they could get back home before the storm broke. He knew from his own personal experience from years in the past that bad weather would make getting a train to its destination a very difficult thing to do, especially when the rain was falling heavily and the wind was blowing strongly. But he also knew that they had to get this train to Knapford Yards as soon as they possible could, because they knew that the sooner they got back, the sooner they would be able to take shelter in the sheds and get out of the weather.

"I really hope that we can get back before it gets worse. I don't like being out in bad weather." No.63470 said, as he looked to the sky with growing concern.

"Me too. I want to my last jobs finished, and then get to my shed as soon as possible. That way, I can just wait out the storm in some comfort." No.68025 said, as he also looked to the sky with concern. His shed was much closer, as it was very near to the coal mines, and so he didn't have to go too far to get to a place to shelter.

"I don't want to get caught out in this storm. I really don't like to get stuck in something like that, and I hope nothing bad happens while we're on our way home." No.63470 said.

"I know how you feel about that." No.68025 said.

---

It wasn't too long before No.63470 was finally ready to depart with his train, and it wasn't a moment too soon, as the very dark storm clouds were now directly overhead, and rain threatened to unleash at any moment. Bright white indicator discs had already been placed on the left and centre lamp-irons on the front buffer-beam, indicating that No.63470 was going to be pulling a medium freight train with at least four wagons fitted with continuous brakes. With the all clear from the guard, as well as with the points having been set by the signalman, the driver blew the whistle and prepared to open the regulator. Before he did so, Carrie bent down and opened the dampers, allowing more air to flow into the firebox to keep the fire burning brightly and making steam.

"Let's go!" the driver said, as he opened the regulator a little, allowing high-pressure superheated steam to flow into the three cylinders. Slowly, taking up the weight of the heavy train behind him, No.63470 moved forwards out from the siding and towards the line that would take him away from the coal mines. Clouds of condensed steam billowed out in front, as the cylinder drain cocks were open to release condensed water.

"Good luck getting back with all that!" No.68025 called anxiously, as he watched the coal train head off.

"Thanks! I think I might need it!" No.63470 called, as he headed off on his way. From his footplate, Carrie, after double-checking the water level in the boiler by the two water gauge glasses, opened the firehole doors and checked on the state of the fire. Then, once sure of what she needed to do, she began putting on the coal to where it was needed inside the firebox, making sure to place the coal into the back corners, under the firebox doors, as well as along the firebox sides. As she started work again, the inspector watched her work, and made some notes on the papers on his clipboard.

Leaving the coal mines behind, they moved on out through the same cutting, with two tracks running through it, that they had used to get into the mines not too long before. Having just stoked the boiler, Carrie leaned out from the fireman's side as they pushed on through, knowing that they would soon reach a junction where they would possibly need to wait for another train to go by before they could get out onto the Southern Main Line at a point between Gordon's Hill and Wellsworth Station.

Slowly, they approached the junction ahead, with Carrie keeping her eyes out for the state of the signals; luckily, the signals were at green and the points had been set for then, and so they were able to head out onto the main without having to wait for another train to pass by. Leaning out from the cab to look behind them, while keeping one hand firmly on her cap to ensure it didn't fly away in the blowing wind, Carrie watched as all the heavy coal hoppers, with the brake van coupled at the very back, followed them out onto the main line clanking and clunking all the while as they did so.

"Okay, they're all on the main line, driver!" Carrie called, as she pulled herself back into the cab.

"Thanks, Carrie!" the driver said, as he opened the regulator a bit more and wound back on the reversing gear, allowing them to pick up more speed. Just as Carrie felt them going a little bit faster, the sky above was lit up by a massive flash of lightning, followed a few seconds after by a very loud rumbling of thunder. The bright blue-white lightning flash and the sound of thunder was really frightening, and caused Carrie to jump in shock.

"Wow! That was a big one!" No.63470 called loudly, amazed and awed by the lightning flash, which had lit of the sky above him in a big web of light that could be seen for miles.

"You're right, old boy! I hope we don't get caught in anything dangerous." said the driver, as he looked out the forward window with some concern.

(Insert soundtrack – Storm Theme Season 2 – Edward's Exploit)

As they approached and then passed on through Wellsworth Station a minute or two later, the wind picked up quite a bit more than it had been before, and blew all sorts of loose items, like leaves and bits of paper all over the place, with some blowing right into No.63470's face.

"Ohhhhh!" he went, as he struggled to see in the increasing wind. But the worst was yet to come, as a minute later the rain came down, and it didn't come on gradually, it came down very hard and very fast, with the droplets lashing down without any let up.

"Ohhhhh! I can't see!" No.63470 cried out, as he shut his eyes tightly in order to keep the lashing droplets and strong winds out. In his cab, the driver, fireman, inspector, and Carrie were trying to concentrate on doing what needed to be done when the rain came lashing down and the wind built up, and they briefly turned their attention to the weather outside.

"This is it…here comes the storm." the driver said, as he adjusted the regulator while keeping an eye out ahead of them. Mixed in with the sounds of chuffing from the chimney as well as the sounds of the valve gear and wheels on the rails were the sounds of the blowing wind and lashing rain, and the darkness of the clouds above made the surrounding landscape they could see very ominous.

"Do you think we'll be able to make it home?" Carrie asked, as she turned to the driver.

"I think we'll be able to…but it'll just be a bit longer though in this weather." said the driver.

"Okay…" Carrie said, as she set about checking on the state of the fire.

The rest of the journey, mercifully, went quite uneventfully despite the appalling storm they were going through. Although it was an uneventful trip, it was a bit uncomfortable at times, because the wind and some rain would often be blown into the cab, which made things very uncomfortable for those on No.63470's footplate. Whenever the rain blew in, the water made the footplate floor a little slippery at times, and the cold water from the rain, as well as the blowing wind, made things very cold on the footplate, despite the heat from the fire coming out whenever the firebox doors were opened.

Yet despite the stormy weather, they made good time, with the track staying clear of any obstacles, and signal lights shone green as they passed by. At one point, they went along a stretch of line that was within sight of the Irish Sea, which could be seen only a few miles away, and Carrie could see that the sea looked quite angry, with countless whitecaps to be seen on the surface of the water and the very dark clouds making the sea seem very ominous and uninviting to anyone who saw it. Carrie was very glad that she wasn't on a boat out there right now, as she didn't think she would like it very much.

When they went through Henry's Tunnel, the force of the wind that was going through the single-track bore created a loud whistling sound that Carrie had never heard before, and it seemed to make things even colder on the footplate than they had been before. Carrie was looking forward to getting to the crew building at Tidmouth, where she would have a long hot wash and then change before she and her father headed off home for the evening.

Carrie was very pleased and relieved to see Knapford Station approaching ahead of them, as it meant they were near the end of their journey and could get these heavy coal hopper wagons to the yards and then back to the depot at Tidmouth Sheds. As they passed through Knapford Station, Carrie looked out as they went by Platform 2 and she saw that there was no one standing on the platform or any of the other platforms at all, and there weren't even any station staff to be seen. It was quite clear that any members of station staff around were taking shelter away from the storm, as it was now very windy and very rainy right now.

After passing through the station, No.63470 made his way towards the yards near to the station as fast as he could, where there was no sign of any other engines, though there were lines and lines of trucks lined up in the different sidings. Once they had made their way into one of the empty sidings, a shunter still on duty quickly uncoupled No.63470 from his train and with that done, the driver quickly drove No.63470 away from the yards and back to Tidmouth Sheds.

---

(At Tidmouth Sheds)

Carrie was very pleased to get back to Tidmouth Sheds, and she was also pleased to see that there were many engines she knew were there as well, and they were being put into the sheds there and being readied to wait out the stormy night. As they reversed back into one of the sheds, Carrie could see Thomas, Edward, Henry, Gordon, James, Percy, Toby, Duck, Donald and Douglas standing inside the main sheds by the turntable and she could see they all seemed concerned about the bad weather, and she didn't blame them at all.

With a wheesh of steam, and a gentle squeal of the brakes on the eight driving wheels, No.63470 came to a stop inside one of the sheds near to the crew building. Standing on the other lines inside the same building were a few other engines, including C1 Atlantic No.3286, B.R. Standard Class 3MT No.77001, and L.M.S. Fairburn 4MT 2-6-4T No.2189, and they were glad to be back in the shed and out of the storm. Carrie could see the engines were deeply concerned about the weather, just like she was.

"Hello, you lot." Carrie said, as she leaned out from the cab of No.63470.

"Oh, hello there, Carrie!" the engines in the shed said, when they saw Carrie. They all seemed pleased to see her.

"Are you all okay?" Carrie asked, as she readied herself to leave No.63470's cab.

"Yeah, we're all right, Carrie. We've been told to stay here, as the Fat Controller has decided not to run any trains for the rest of the day and for tonight due to the storm." said No.2189.

"I know, I heard all about that." Carrie said, as she heard a particularly strong gust of wind blow over and through the shed, which caused a number of old oil drums and tools secured to the wall to rattle or clank off each other as the wind blew on through. It also caused Carrie to reach her hand up and hold onto her hat to keep it from blowing away.

"Phew! That was close! I almost lost my hat there!" Carrie said.

"Don't worry too much about that, Carrie. Over the years, we've all seen many of the people who've driven us, as well as more passengers than we can remember, lose their hats in a strong wind in some way or another." said No.77001.

"Really?" Carrie asked.

"Yes, indeed. We've even seen the Fat Controller lose his top hat because of the wind a few times over the years as well!" said No.3286. And on hearing that, Carrie couldn't help but laugh briefly, much to the amusement of the other engines.

Just then, there was another brilliant flash of lightning that lit of the sky outside, followed two or three seconds later by the very loud rumbling of thunder crashing through the air.

"Goodness me!" cried No.63470, when he saw the flash and heard the rumble, and the other engines nearly jumped as well. Quickly turning her head, Carrie looked out the front of the shed and saw that the rain seemed to have gotten heavier in the last few minutes.

"I'll be glad to get home tonight! I really don't want to work out in that!" she said, as she looked back at the engines.

"Neither do any of us! And I'm glad that none of us are!" said No.2189, as he looked outside with some concern.

"And there's sure to be a lot of trees downed by the winds by tomorrow morning! And not to mention a lot of power lines as well!" said No.63470.

"Well…let's worry about that when morning comes. I'll see you lot in the morning. Good night!" Carrie called, as she grabbed her things and left the shed, while keeping her hand very firmly on her hat.

"Good night, Carrie!" the engines called, as they watched her leave.

Entering the crew building a few moments later on, Carrie was glad to be out of the rain as her dark blue overalls had been lashed by the heavy rain in the few moments that she had been running through the rain to get inside. Her face had also been exposed to the rain, and droplets were running down her face, and she brought up her hand to rub it all off. She turned to head on up the stairs and saw Sophie, Saoirse, Alice, and Olivia coming down in the opposite direction. They had already been to the ladies changing room, having finished up some time before, and had showered and changed into clean clothes, before leaving and heading down to clock out for the day before heading on home.

"Hi there, Carrie!" Sophie said, when she saw Carrie.

"Hey Sophie. Ladies." Carrie said, as she started up the stairs.

"You just finished up?" Olivia asked.

"Yeah, not too long ago. I had to help bring in a long coal train from the mines on No.63470, and we had to fight our way through the storm to get it to Knapford Yards. And it was bad out there, believe me." Carrie said.

"I bet it was!" Saoirse said.

"Anyway, we're gonna be heading off home right now. It's the best thing to do in this weather, and we'll see you back here first thing in the morning." Alice said.

"All right, girls. I'll see you then. Good luck getting home!" Carrie said, as she started up the stairs while her friends headed the other way.

"Thanks, Carrie! Good luck!" the four girls said, as they headed in the other direction to clock out and head home.

---

(With Carrie)

Once in the changing room, Carrie opened her locker and took out her bottle of shampoo before stripping out of her dirty work clothes. Grabbing two towels from the side, she went to have a hot shower in one of the cubicles. Although she wanted to have a long soak in the Jacuzzi, she decided it wouldn't be appropriate to do something like that tonight, considering the storm, which decided to prompt her it would be best to head on home quickly.

Once she finished her shower, Carrie went and dried herself off, while also using one of the hairdryers to fully dry her hair off, before changing into the set of clean clothes she had brought with her. When fully dressed, and having put on her raincoat, Carrie grabbed her bag and left the changing room, heading downstairs to clock out for the day and meet up with her father so they could head off home.

She saw her father waiting for her by the main entrance doors with an anxious look on his face as he watched the appalling weather outside.

"Ah, there you are, Carrie. Ready to head on back home?" Ralph asked, when he saw her approach him.

"Yes, dad. I am." Carrie said, as she clocked out for the day.

"I think we should head straight back home. I don't like the idea of hanging around in this weather." Ralph said, as he looked back outside anxiously.

"Good idea. Let's do that." Carrie said, as they stepped outside and ran through the car park, with the wind and rain lashing into them, to where Ralph parked his car earlier that morning. Quickly getting in, Ralph started the engine and they pulled out from the parking space, out the main gates and down the street.

---

(At home, a short while later)

With the storm still raging outside, Ralph and Carrie were having a good hot dinner at the kitchen table while they listened to the radio. They were listening to the most recent weather forecast, and there was a Status Red wind alert for Sodor for tonight with chances of very strong damaging winds, particularly very strong gusts in excess of 100kph in coastal areas and hazardous conditions out on the open sea, along with torrential rainfall causing hazardous travel conditions, with the alert lasting until 6am the following morning. Due to this, all road and rail travel on Sodor was stopped with exceptions being made for emergencies only, and all residents of the island were advised to stay indoors until morning. It would also forecast that it would be very windy for much of the following day, with the winds forecast to gradually ease off as the day went on.

"Deary me…it looks like it's gonna be very bad tomorrow as well." Carrie said, as she turned her head to her father.

"I know…but it's just something that we have to learn to live with. And with that storm, there's gonna be a lot of damage from it too, including trees and power lines blown down, roofs being damaged or being blown off, and loose debris being blown everywhere…and not to mention lots of leaves being blown all over the line." Ralph said.

"And that means a lot of work to get things back to normal." Carrie said, as she took in another forkful of her dinner.

"Indeed." Ralph said, as he looked outside the window at the raging storm. The night before, he had removed any loose things in the garden and placed them into his garden shed, which was a well-built structure for its size and was also secured into the ground with cement, which would guarantee that it would stay in place.

Suddenly, with a quick flicker of the lights, the power went out, leaving Carrie and her father sitting at the table in darkness.

"Oh no!" Carrie said, as she looked round in concern for a few moments before Ralph fished up his mobile phone out from his trouser pocket and turned on the torch on it, allowing the bright white light to illuminate the darkened kitchen. Standing up, Ralph went over to one of the kitchen cabinets, opened it up, and took out some candles he kept in case of a power cut, as well as a box of matches, and a torch.

"Let's get some candles on. At least that way we'll have some light in here to finish off our dinner." Ralph said, as he handed Carrie three candles with their own stands.

"Okay." Carrie said, as she took them over to the table and put them down. Then, after lighting one of the matches, Ralph lit the candles one by one. Then, after blowing out the match, he and Carrie sat back down at the table and continued on with their dinner.

---

(Next morning, 6:40am)

Having turned in very early the previous night, due to the power cut as well as the fact that she was very tired from a long day of hard work, Carrie opened her eyes and listened very carefully; she could still hear the whistling of the wind blowing outside the window, though it seemed to have moderated from how it had sounded for much of the night before, when it had blown so hard at times Carrie thought it would have blown the house away.

Pulling the duvet aside and swinging her feet out, Carrie got out of bed and, after stretching out, went over to the window and pulled the curtains aside to see what it was like outside. What she saw in the early morning light stunned her; she saw that the tree in one corner of the garden had been blown over during the night and was now laying across the two railway lines on the other side of the fence, blocking them both. There was also loose debris and leaves all over the garden, along with branches that had blown into the garden in the night.

"Goodness me…" Carrie said in astonishment, when she saw the results from last night's storm outside her bedroom window. If this is what it was like here, what would she see when she went out to work later today?

Turning away from the window, Carrie went to check the bedside light; she flicked the switch to the ON position, but the bulb didn't turn on, so clearly there was still no power due to downed power lines. Carrie decided to get dressed and get ready for the day ahead, knowing there was nothing else she could do for now.

Once dressed, she heard the sounds of footsteps outside her bedroom door, followed by a knock on the door.

"Carrie, are you up yet?" came the voice of her father.

"Sure, dad. Come in." Carrie said, and the door opened to reveal Ralph White was fully dressed for the day as well.

"Did you get much sleep last night?" he asked.

"Yes, I did. I managed to sleep fairly well, though I though the wind was going to blow the house away. But you should see what's happened in the back garden." Carrie said, as she indicated towards the window. Ralph went over to look outside and saw the tree had fallen over and was now blocking the two railway lines.

"Oh, damn it! I knew that would happen one day." Ralph said, as he shook his head in a slight disbelief at what he saw.

"Will other trees be downed everywhere?" Carrie asked.

"Oh, most certainly. And if the trains are to run without a problem on those two lines, then that tree will need to be removed…and soon." Ralph said, as he surveyed the garden from the bedroom window.

"I'll just go down and get some breakfast." Carrie said.

"Well, we'd better have something quick here. I think it might be a good idea to leave here early and then head over to Tidmouth Depot as soon as possible." Ralph said.

"All right, dad." Carrie said, as she stepped out from her bedroom.

---

(A little later on)

Once Carrie and her father had finished off a quick breakfast, they put on their raincoats, gathered what things they needed, including work clothes, and then headed out the front door and into the cold blustery wind. Although this wind wasn't anywhere near as strong as it had been the night before, it was still blowing quite hard and Carrie had to keep her hand on the hood of her raincoat to prevent it blowing off her, even though it wasn't raining now. After getting in the car and buckling up, they left the house and made their way out onto the road, heading towards the depot at Tidmouth Sheds.

As they went along the roads, Carrie couldn't help but look around at whatever storm damage she saw; there were branches of trees blown onto the roads and pathways, along with light debris like leaves, pieces of paper, plastic bottles, and other bits of rubbish like that all over the place, and there were even some pieces of what looked like garden sheds to be seen here and there. There were even some smaller trees that had been blown down in the wind, as well as a line of tall hedges that were covered in pieces of twisted corrugated iron from an old storage shed nearby. One shop even had its front windows blown in, leaving only jagged edges of glass to show where the windows used to be.

"Goodness me…that wind certainly did a lot of damage last night." Carrie said in quiet amazement, as she looked round at everything that she saw damaged.

"Yeah…and we're certainly gonna have our work cut out for us at getting any good work done today…especially if there's any more trees down across any of the main lines." Ralph said.

They soon arrived at the car park in front of the Tidmouth Sheds crew building, and parked close enough to the main entrance. After getting out, they made their way inside the building, where they could hear the sounds of diesel generators running smoothly away and providing power for the building.

"Well…at least it's comforting to know there's power here." Carrie said, looking up at the electric lights glowing on the ceiling.

"I know…anyway, let's get changed into our work clothes and then let go get breakfast." Ralph said, and they went upstairs and to the separate changing rooms, where they changed into their work clothes. In the ladies changing room, Carrie saw that she was the only person there at this time, though it didn't surprise her too much as she had arrived much earlier than the other girls would have normally done.

Once she had fully changed into her work clothes, as well as having put on a fresh set of overalls, Carrie locked her locker and then went downstairs, where she intended to go into the cafeteria to get a more substantial breakfast before she went to work.

After getting a cup of hot tea as well as a full breakfast at the counter, Carrie sat down at one of the tables and settled down to enjoy her breakfast. As she ate, she listened to the conversation her father was having with his fellow engine crewmen at another table not too far away from where she was.

"So, you lost power too last night, Ralph?" one man asked.

"Yeah, and we've still got no power at home right now. I'm sure it'll be reconnected by this evening, but we'll have to wait and see." Ralph said, as he took a sip of his hot coffee.

"And not to mention the fact the roads are blocked with debris in places. I had some difficulty getting in due to a number of trees down and partially blocking the road." said another driver.

"I've no doubts there's gonna be a lot of trees down across some of the lines this morning, and so we're all gonna need to have our wits about us." said one of the firemen, and the others around the table agreed. From where she was sitting and eating, Carrie listened to the talk her father and fellow engine crewmen were having, and it got her thinking that when they went out today, they would need to be careful. Not only that, it was very likely that she would have to undergo her second of two firing exams today, after having done the first one only the day before. The inspector had been very pleased with Carrie's performance yesterday and said that she had done a very good job on the footplate of No.63470, though the day had been somewhat spoiled by the storm that rolled in during the late afternoon.

---

(Later on, 7:45am)

It wasn't too long before many of the others who were on the apprenticeship scheme came into the cafeteria, having obviously left early in order to avoid being late due to storm damage. Simon, Sophie, Alice, Olivia, and Saoirse were amongst them and they sat at the same table that Carrie was sitting at and had their breakfast while the six of them chatted with each other while they waited for what assignments were to come their way for today. A few of them were sure they would be starting the first part of their firing assignments, while the others, including Carrie and Simon, were quite sure their second firing exams were being held today.

They all found out soon enough; it was soon time for the recruits to be assigned their jobs and engines for today, with one of the yard managers, with a clipboard in hand, assigning each person to their jobs for today or for the morning. A few of the recruits were having their first firing exams todays out on the main line, including Olivia, Sophie, and Saoirse, each of whom were eager to do what they could today.

For Simon and Carrie, they were both assigned for their second firing exams today.

"And are you both all right with doing your second firing exams today, you two?" the yard manager asked.

"Sounds fair enough to me, sir." Simon said, as he nodded his head.

"I've got no problems with it either, sir…though I wish we were doing it on a better day than today." Carrie said, as she glanced out the window, where they could all see the very dark and grey clouds as well as hear the whistling of the wind as it gusted on by.

"Yeah, I understand how you feel about that, Carrie…but I'm afraid it just can't be helped." said the yard manager.

"Of course." Carrie said. After the yard manager gave the two of them the engines they would be working on today, Carrie and Simon thanked him and then set out to clock in for the day, grab their Hi-Vis safety vests, and then head out to the engines they would be working on for the day.

"I'll see you later on, Simon. Best of luck." Carrie said, as both of them gave each other a warm hug and kiss just before they stepped outside the door.

"Thanks, Carrie. And best of luck to you too." Simon said.

"Thanks. I may need it." Carrie said. Releasing their hug, they put one hand on their hats and stepped outside into the very gusty and dark-grey morning, with Simon going right and Carrie going straight on.

Keeping a strong hand on her hat, as well the other arm around her safety vest to keep it from blowing about, Carrie made her way through the windy yard until she reached the lines that were right beside Tidmouth Sheds. She saw that Thomas was standing at one of the lines out sticking out from the main sheds with his crew getting him ready for his day of work ahead. She could also see that Percy, Henry, Edward, and James were standing on the lines going into the sheds to the right of Thomas, and their crews were getting also them ready for work as well. There was no sign of Gordon, Toby, Duck, or the Scottish Twins Donald and Douglas, as they were already gone, having gone to work a little earlier on in the morning. Carrie hoped that they would be able to manage their trains with the strong winds that were blowing about this morning.

Standing on the short section of two lines that were going beside the sheds were another two engines. One of them was L.S.W.R. N15 "King Arthur" Class 4-6-0 No.455 Sir Lancelot, the engine that Carrie was assigned to work on for today. The other engine was a tank engine, but this one was somewhat bigger than Thomas, and he was painted in plain unlined B.R. green livery, which had been rubbed down and polished by his crew, despite the strong wind. In fact, this tank engine was No.82020, who was an example of the B.R. Standard Class 3MT 2-6-2T tank engine (104).

Carrie could see the dark-grey smoke was being blown in a straight line from the top of the chimneys of Lancelot and this tank engine by the force of the wind, and she could see the same effect with the smoke emerging from chimneys Thomas and the other engines in the sheds, with one particularly strong gust causing Thomas and the other engines to shut their eyes from the gust that blew into their faces.

The gust caught Carrie somewhat off guard and nearly blew her off her feet, but she was able to brace herself against that gust, keeping a firm hand on her hat in the process, and as soon as it died down, she stepped forwards towards Lancelot.

"Hello there, are you Carrie?" Lancelot asked, as he watched the telekinetic teen approach him, with her hand firmly on her hat.

"Yes, I am. I've been assigned to work with you today." Carrie said. She hadn't had a chance to work on one of N15 Class yet, but she was quite confident that she could manage working with Lancelot today.

"It's nice to meet you, Carrie. I've heard that you're doing the second part of your firing exams today, is that right?" Lancelot asked.

"Yes, that's right. Though I wish we had a better day for it." Carrie said.

"Yeah, me too, Carrie. But we'll just have to make the best of it." Lancelot said.

"I was on the same firing exam duties yesterday on Thomas' branch line, Carrie. And we managed to finish up before the storm broke." said No.82020, as he looked up to the sky with some concern.

"Well, I guess you were just very lucky then. Because I ended up getting caught out in it yesterday on No.63470 on my first firing exam." Carrie said, as she climbed up to the footplate of Lancelot, and got herself ready to go.

(104): The B.R. Standard Class 3MT 2-6-2T tank engines were designed by Robert Riddles and first entered service on British Railways in 1952. They were built for running trains on branch lines, as well as for use on commuter trains to the suburbs of many of Britain's major cities. They were later developed into the slightly larger B.R. Standard Class 3MT 2-6-0 tender engine class (No.77000 to No.77019).

The class was essentially a hybrid design, as the chassis of the design was based off and shared a number of parts with the L.M.S. Ivatt Class 2MT 2-6-0 design, and sharing the same boiler design that was used on the G.W.R. Large Prairie Class 2-6-2T and 56XX Class 0-6-2T tank engine designs. This was done as the L.M.S. had no suitable boilers which would be within the weight restrictions of many of the branch lines that the class was expected to work on, though the G.W.R. Standard No.2 boiler was shorted by nearly six inches and had a dome added.

Numbered from No.82000 to No.82044, forty-five engines of the class were built in total, and all of them were constructed at Swindon Works between April 1952 and August 1955. There was another batch of engines planned, which would have been numbered from No.82045 to No.82062, and which would have taken the number of engines in the class to 63 locomotives, but due to the 1955 Modernisation Plan as well as the onset of dieselisation, the order for the next 18 engines was cancelled.

The class had two outside cylinders which were 17.5in in diameter with a 26in piston stroke, which combined with six driving wheels that were 5ft 3in in diameter, and a boiler that was pressed to 200psi and fitted with superheating elements, gave the class a maximum tractive effort of 21,490lbf. The two cylinders were driven by outside Walschaerts Valve gear with piston valves. Their bunkers could carry up to 3 tons of coal, while their side tanks could carry up to 1,500 gallons of water.

In common with the other B.R. Standard Designs, the 3MT Class shared a number of L.M.S.-designed components, including brake hanger brackets, flexible stretcher brackets, and reversing shaft brackets. Although the chassis of the class used many identical parts to the LMS Ivatt Class 4MT, the motion brackets that were fitted were derived from the design of those fitted to the L.M.S. Ivatt Class 2MT 2-6-0 and the L.M.S. Ivatt Class 2MT 2-6-2T tank engine designs.

When they were delivered new, the class were painted in B.R. lined Mixed Traffic black livery. But from 1957 onwards, the members of the class based on the Western Region began to painted into lined green livery. From the early 1960s, some W.R. class members also received unlined green livery as an economy measure. The class members allocated to other regions retained lined black livery until withdrawal. One curiosity was No.82044 which was painted in green livery by the Western Region but then repainted in black livery after it was transferred away. During this, it mistakenly received a power classification 4 numeral which it carried until it was withdrawn in 1966.

When they first came into service, the class worked on the many branch lines as well as on many secondary main line duties, being allocated to the Western, Southern, North Eastern, and London Midland Regions of B.R. The class did extremely well on all duties that they were tasked with doing, which ranged from branch line passenger trains all the way up to local stopping freight trains, but the problem with them was due to their late introduction into service.

The class was meant to have had a working life of some 40 years, just like all the other classes in the B.R. Standard Range, but the longest serving member of the class, No.82019, was in service for just 14 years and 10 months before it was withdrawn, while the shortest serving class member, No.82043, lasted for only 8 years and 8 months. It's rather unfortunate that their introduction into service in the early to mid-1950's should have coincided with the introduction of modern diesel and electric power, including diesel multiple units (D.M.U.'s), including the closure of many of the longer cross-country branch lines, which meant that the work the class was intended to undertake wasn't around for very long.

Yet, despite the conditions in which they were often kept towards the end of their days, the class did put in some very good performances on their day-to-day duties. They were fast and free running engines with very good acceleration, though it took some time for them to be accepted by former G.W.R. crews, who had been used to working on the older 45XX and 55XX Small Prairies they had worked on for years since before the war. The class were also used on station pilot duties, often helping heavy passenger trains out from stations such as London Waterloo. There were allegations of poor steaming with the class by some of the crews who drove them, though this was largely due to poor maintenance at some of the sheds at which they were based. When well maintained, they were popular with their crews and always undertook good performances on their daily duties.

Withdrawals of the class began in 1964, when 10 members of the class were removed from service that year. The withdrawals continued until 1967, when the final two members of the class still running at that time, No.82019 and No.82029, were removed from service. At that time, both these two engines had been based at Nine Elms near London Waterloo, though in poor condition. Probably the last duty of a member was performed by No.82029 on 8th July 1967 when it was required to deputise for a failed engine on the 07.18am passenger train to Salisbury, which it worked as far as Basingstoke. On arrival at Basingstoke, it was moved to the station's motive power depot and condemned, never to run in service again.

Four members of the class managed to survive until after the end of steam. These engines were No.82000, No.82003, No.82031, and No.82034, and they were transferred from North Wales at the end of 1966 to Patricroft Shed, Manchester for use on local suburban trains. They weren't really required there however, but nevertheless lingered on until the shed closed in 1968. One of the four ran very few miles since its last overhaul, and enquiries were made to save it, but the price being asked (about £1,500, just over £32,600 in 2024) was seen as too high, and so all four engines were sent for scrap at Cashmore's in Newport, South Wales, all of them being broken up in October 1968.

Sadly, none of the original members of the class have managed to survive into preservation. It's a real shame that none of the last four engines that were still around in 1968 were lucky enough to have been sent to Woodham's Yard in Barry, because if they had been, then there's a real chance that they could have been saved for preservation and restored to working order on a heritage railway somewhere.

However, there is currently a project underway to build a brand-new member of the class, in the form of No.82045, the first engine that would have been built in the next batch that was cancelled in the mid-50's. The new engine is being built by the 82045 Steam Locomotive Trust at Bridgnorth on the Severn Valley Railway, which is seen as an ideal place to base No.82045, due to its good length of 16 miles. Considerable progress has been made on No.82045 in recent years, including the construction of its boiler, which will be a riveted boiler with copper firebox as per the original design, assembly of the frames, as well as major work having been done on the assembly of the cab, smokebox, wheels, two outside cylinders, and many other different fittings as well. So because of all the hard work of the 82045 Steam Locomotive Trust, it shouldn't be too long before we can see an example of the B.R. Standard Class 3MT 2-6-2T steam again in preservation.

Soon the inspector arrived, and it was the same one who had been with Carrie on the footplate of No.63470 the previous day. He climbed up onto the footplate of Lancelot, where he saw that Carrie was tending to the fire and placing fresh coal into the firebox with the coal shovel.

"Morning, Carrie." he said, and Carrie looked up.

"Oh, good morning, sir." she said, as she closed the firebox doors before straightening up and checking the two water gauge glasses on the backhead; the water level was about three-quarters of the way up the glasses, which was perfect. A quick check of the boiler pressure gauge showed the indicator arrow was at about 180psi.

Once the driver and fireman were ready to go, they climbed up onto the footplate and took their places behind the controls. After releasing the brakes and putting the reversing gear into full forward, the driver blew Lancelot's whistle and then opened the regulator a little. Slowly, with steam wheeshing out and being blown about in the wind, Lancelot moved forwards out from the stretch of track he was on and away from Tidmouth Sheds.

"I'll see you all later on!" he called, as he slowly moved away.

"Good luck, Lancelot!" all the other engines called, as they watched the L.S.W.R. N15 "King Arthur" head off on his way into the very windy morning.

They made their way onto the main line and headed south, heading towards Knapford Harbour, where they were to pick up a train of building supplies to take to a large building site near to Ulfstead on Thomas' branch line. As they made their way along to the harbour, Carrie worked away at stoking the firebox with coal and keeping the water level topped up with more water, with the inspector making notes on his clipboard and keeping an eye on her as she went about her work. But at the same time, as Carrie worked away, she wondered what kind of a state Knapford Harbour would be in because of last night's storm and the wind blowing about this morning; would there be any damage from the storm or flood damage? Or would there be any delays to the trains leaving the port? Carrie knew she would find out soon enough, but she did have her own concerns about what the immediate future would bring.

It wasn't tool long before they arrived at Knapford Harbour and, as they slowly reversed into the harbour, Carrie looked around to see if there was any storm damage; to her own personal surprise, there didn't appear to be any major damage at all, just some loose debris that was being cleaned up by some of the workmen here and there. Looking towards some of the different quays as they reversed along the line, she could see some ships fully secured to the quays that were being unloaded of their cargo, which was then being loaded into lines of trucks sitting on the quaysides.

They soon arrived on the quayside where they were to pick up their train, which consisted of flatbeds, a number of open-topped trucks covered with canvas – which had been firmly tied down – as well as some box vans and some hopper wagons filled with different aggregates, with the train consisting of about 36 wagons in total, including the brake van coupled at the back. After slowly backing up to the front of the train, Lancelot was coupled up and had the brake pipes connected together.

While they waited for the off, Carrie opened the firebox doors and double-checked on the state of the fire; the fire looked okay, as it was burning white-hot inside the firebox, but Carrie noticed a few areas where the fire-bed was uneven and so she reached for one of the fire-irons and set to putting that right. As the inspector watched, Carrie worked the fire-iron over the fire-bed, working it backwards and forwards and getting the fire levelled out and making sure that the coal put on a few moments before was spread out evenly, as well as making sure the air spaces were clear for air coming in from the dampers to help combust the new fuel.

The inspector was very impressed by how much Carrie knew and what she had to do to make a steam locomotive run properly, and he marked his thoughts down on his clipboard.

---

It was soon nearly time for Lancelot to be off on his way, and as the shunters made their last inspections of the couplings and brake pipes in between each wagon before they left, Lancelot stood at the front of the train and waited to set off. He was feeling eager to move, particularly as the wind coming in off the Irish Sea was making him uncomfortable, and he wanted to get moving so he'd be able to get away from the wind blowing in off it. As he waited, he heard the sounds of another engine coming into the harbour and which seemed to be getting closer to him. Looking along the line, he saw a line of trucks being shunted slowly onto the quayside and a few moments later saw the engine pushing them; it was G.W.R. Hawksworth 94XX 0-6-0PT No.9408, and he was pushing the trucks slowly onto the quayside, where they would be loaded up with cargo that had arrived on one of the ships that had been waiting at the port all night but couldn't be unloaded due to the storm.

"And there we are!" No.9408 said, as he brought the line of trucks to a stop.

"Been busy so far this morning?" Lancelot asked, as No.9408 was uncoupled from the line of trucks.

"Yes, but it hasn't been easy due to all this wind! And not to mention everything that needed to be cleaned up caused by the storm last night!" No.9408 said, as he slowly backed away a little from the trucks.

"Well, driver says that the wind is supposed to ease off as the day goes on. And I just hope he's right about that." Lancelot said, as he looked up at the grey sky above.

"Yeah, me too! Anyway, I'd best be on my way!" No.9408 said, as he reversed away from the quayside and over to another part of the harbour.

It was soon time to leave, and the guard in his van blew his whistle and waved his green flag, while the signalman set the points and the signals to allow Lancelot to leave. Blowing his whistle for a few seconds, the N15 Class 4-6-0 set off on his way. As they moved off, Carrie opened the damper controls to allow more air into the firebox, and also opened the firebox doors a little in order to allow in more secondary air. The driver opened the regulator a bit more as they started moving, and also used the sanding gear to spray sand onto the rails in front of the driving wheels in order to reduce the chance of slipping.

As they slowly made their way out from Knapford Harbour, the fireman took first go with the shovel at stoking the boiler, and Carrie leaned out from the fireman's side of the cab and looked out ahead as they went along. She watched to see that people stayed away from the line, as well as the state of any signals they might encounter as they made their way out.

"Come on! Come on!" Lancelot said, as he hauled his heavy train out from the harbour. From behind him, the long line of trucks followed along, their wheels groaning and squeaking as they moved.

They were soon out of Knapford Harbour and heading south towards Knapford Station, from where they would head to the junction that led to the Ffarquhar Line and then would head on their way to Ulfstead. As they moved along, Carrie took the next go with the shovel at stoking the boiler, and did everything she learned on how to stoke the boiler while the inspector watched from the corner of the tender.

The run towards Knapford Station went very smoothly with no storm debris to hinder their progress, until they had to slow down due to a yellow signal to the north of the station. Seeing the signal, the driver closed the regulator and put on the brakes gently, slowly bringing the speed down as they approached Knapford. Lancelot could see they were going to pass through the station on the line that ran adjacent to Platform 2, and could also see another train standing at Platform 1. It was a passenger train made up of about 12 coaches, but Lancelot couldn't see which engine was coupled up to the front, though he would find out as he got closer.

Passing through the station, going at a speed of about 10mph, Lancelot could see there were plenty of passengers standing on Platforms 2 and 3 and waiting for their trains to arrive so they could get aboard. Standing at the front of the line of coaches standing at Platform 1 was B.R. Standard Class 8P 4-6-2 No.71002 Duke of Norfolk, who was waiting for his passengers to board his train before he could see off with his first train of the day.

"Good morning!" Lancelot called, as he went on through with his train.

"And good morning to you too!" Duke of Norfolk said, as he watched Lancelot and his train go on by. The signalman had already set the points a little further out of the station, and Lancelot moved over onto the line that Duke of Norfolk was on. This would make it easier to move onto the line they needed to be on when they reached the junction that would take them to the Ffarquhar Line.

It wasn't too long before they finally reached the junction, and the signalman had already set the points for them to go along it. Passing over the points at a reduced speed, they passed by the bus depot immediately adjacent to the two lines. Looking into the depot, Carrie could see none other than Bertie the bus parked under the cover of the shed and being readied by the depot staff for his first trip of the day. As he watched Lancelot go on by, he tooted his horn in greeting to the larger engine, while the N15 blew his whistle in return before continuing on his way up the line.

After taking another go with the shovel, Carrie put the shovel back to the tender and then went to look out the fireman's side of the cab and looked on ahead of them. So far, everything on their first trip of the day was going smoothly, despite the wind, and the inspector hadn't had any wrong words to say to her about the work she was doing so far, and because of that Carrie was feeling very pleased with herself.

Then they went onto a straight stretch of line, and after a few seconds the driver quickly shut the regulator and put the brakes on.

"Hold on, everyone!" he called out, as he put the brakes on.

"What is it?! What's going on?!" asked the inspector.

"Wait! There's a big tree down across the line ahead of us at the level crossing!" Carrie called out, as she pulled herself back into the cab. Going over and looking outside himself, the inspector could see that Carrie was indeed right; quite a large tree had fallen over from where it had been standing in a garden by the side of the line and over the level crossing, blocking both lines as well as the road going over them. The signal just before the crossing had been set to red by the signalman in his signal box just a few yards down from the crossing. Not only that, but there was a workman standing by the side of the line waving a red flag.

"Oh, I hope I can stop!" Lancelot said, as he felt himself slow down with the heavy train pushing behind him as his brakes came on.

Gradually, Lancelot slowed down and then came to a stop at the signal just before the level crossing, and felt deeply relieved he had stopped just in time.

"Goodness me…" the fireman said, as he leaned out from the cab and survey the scene ahead of them, "…that's gonna hold us up for a bit."

"Yeah, I know it will. But there's nothing we can do about it until it's all been cleared away." said the inspector, as he too surveyed the scene.

Closing the damper doors to restrict the flow of air to the fire, Carrie leaned out from the driver's side and looked forward at the tree blocking the two lines and the road going over them. She could see that the level crossing gates had been completely smashed by the force of the tree going over, and were now laying all over where they had been.

Just then, as the driver and fireman clambered down from the footplate, another of the workmen who at the scene came up to where Lancelot was standing. He was wearing a bright orange Hi-Viz safety suit, steel-capped waterproof boots, and a blue hard hat on his head.

"Hello there, you lot!" the man said, as he approached. It turned out it was none other than Tim the Foreman, and Carrie hadn't seen him since that day at Knapford Station back in November the previous year when she had met her father for the first time.

"Hey there, Tim! What's going on here?" asked the driver, as he and then the fireman shook hands with Tim.

"Oh, it was because of last night's storm and this morning's wretched wind!" Tim said, as he shook his head while turning his head round and surveying the scene behind him. "It's been blowing down trees and power lines all over the place!"

"This happen recently?" asked the inspector, as he came up.

"Yes, this tree fell only within the last five minutes. And just as we were about to start surveying it and how to deal with it just in case it did fall." said Tim.

"Talk about a case of perfect timing!" sighed the driver.

"I know! But don't worry you lot…we'll soon have it removed. Harvey's on his way right now with more workmen and a van full of power tools, and they should be here within the next five minutes." Tim said, as he turned and went back towards the tree.

As the fireman went back to the footplate of Lancelot, Carrie, having put on her orange Hi-Viz safety vest, got off and walked along the line a short way, and then looked over the low hedge into the corner of the garden where the tree had previously stood before it fell down. She could see the base of the tree seemed to have ripped apart at an angle, causing the top to fall over while the torn and jagged stump remained firmly secured in the ground. She then saw that the torn wood around the stump and the base of the tree was orange in colour.

"What do you think, Carrie?" asked the inspector, as he came over to look.

"No wonder that tree blew over, sir. The entire stump of it seems to have completely rotted through." Carrie said.

"Yeah, I think you might be right about that." the inspector said, as he too looked over the stump of the tree.

A minute or so later, just as Carrie was clambering back onto Lancelot's footplate, there came the sounds of a whistle from up the line. Looking up to see who it was, she saw that it was none other than Harvey the Crane Engine, and he had coupled behind him a works coach filled with more workmen as well as a utility van full of the tools they would need to clear the line, including axes and chainsaws. Once Harvey stopped, the workmen quickly got off the coach and went to unload that they would need from the van behind them. Lancelot, his crew, the inspector, and Carrie watched as the men got ready to go to work.

"Now then…we'll soon have this tree cleared away!" Tim said. Within moments, the air was filled with the sounds of chainsaws starting up, and once they were revved up, the workmen started work at clearing this tree.

(Insert soundtrack – Harvey's Theme – Seasons 6 and 7)

Slowly, the tree was cut up into pieces and each piece was removed, with Harvey helping to remove the larger pieces with his crane. The large pieces were left by the side of the line, where they could be collected later on and put onto flatbed wagons. In between checking on the state of the fire in Lancelot's firebox as well as the water level in his boiler, Carrie would often lean out from the side of the cab and watch the operation proceed. It took a little while, but eventually the tree had been completely cleared from the two lines and the road crossing over them.

Once the workmen had cleared away all the light debris, including the remains of the crossing gates, and checked on the state of the rails, they gave the all-clear to go and Lancelot was allowed to proceed on his way. Once the signalman had set the signal to go, the driver blew Lancelot's whistle and opened the regulator a little, while Carrie opened the damper doors to allow more air in. At the same time, Tim and all the workmen stood aside and waited until the train had gone by before they went back to work again.

Slowly, Lancelot moved forwards, taking up the weight his heavy train behind him, and he went over the crossing and past where Harvey was standing, as well as where all the workmen were standing.

"Thank you!" Lancelot called, as he went on by with his heavy train, with Carrie waving from the fireman's side as they went on by. The workmen all waved as the train went on by, and Harvey blew his whistle, feeling very pleased with the work he had done. After the brake van at the end of the train had gone on past them, the workmen got themselves back to work again.

---

(With Lancelot)

After setting off on his way again, Lancelot was soon running at a slightly faster speed in order to make up some of the time he had lost from his unexpected stop from the fallen tree. On the footplate, as the driver drove and kept an eye out ahead of them, Carrie went about stoking the boiler with coal, making sure to place each shovelful of fuel to where it was needed in the firebox to make steam as efficiently as possible. She also used the fire-irons to keep the coal bed levelled out, as well as to make sure that no clinker formed on top of the fire bed. She also used the injector controls to put more water into the boiler, while keeping a close eye on the two water gauge glasses on the backhead to make sure that not too much water was placed inside the boiler.

From off to the side, the inspector watched everything Carrie did and made more notes on the papers on his clipboard. He would occasionally step in and offer advice to Carrie, but mostly he stayed back and watched her go about the work she had to do.

A little later on in the morning, after going along the branch line past familiar places like Dryaw Station and Airfield, Elsbridge Station and Yards, crossing over the Valley Bridge, passing through Maithwaite Station, and then past farms and through cuttings, they went through the tunnel on the final approach to Ffarquhar Station. Taking a break from stoking the boiler, Carrie leaned out from the fireman's side of the cab, while keeping her hat firmly down on her head, and looked forwards as the driver slowed down while they were approaching Ffarquhar Station.

In the yards off to the side of Ffarquhar Station, G.W.R. 78XX Manor Class 4-6-0 No.7840 Drayton Manor was waiting to leave the yards with a short freight coupled behind him, and needed to leave Lancelot go by before he could leave the station with his own train. At this time, the wind had eased off somewhat and the clouds in the sky had thinned out a little and had cracks forming in the cloudbank with bits of blue sky to be seen above and streaks of bright sunlight streaming through.

"It looks like it's getting better." Drayton Manor said, as he looked up to the sky.

"I know, old boy. The forecast said it would get better as the day went on…and I'm pleased to see that it's holding true." his driver said, as he also looked up to the sky.

Then there came the sounds of a whistle and the chuffing of an approaching train from up the line, and looking towards where the sounds were coming from, Drayton Manor then saw Lancelot coming slowly along the line past the station building and platform. The two engines whistled in greeting to each other and called out "Good morning!" as Lancelot went on past with his train.

Once the last of the wagons had gone by, Drayton Manor was able to set off with his train, and he slowly rolled out from the yard and headed in the opposite direction.

It wasn't long before Lancelot finally arrived at Ulfstead, and made his way to where he could park the long line of trucks near to the building site where they were needed. As they pulled into the long siding, Carrie looked round; there didn't appear to be any sign of storm damage in the town that she could see, and looking towards the building site she could see nearby, everything seemed to be in order, with no scaffolding downed by the wind or any debris blown around either.

"Well, everything seems to be in order up here." Carrie said, as she looked round from the footplate at how neat and orderly everything seemed to be.

"Indeed, it does. Though I'm sure there might be storm damage around here if you looked carefully enough." said the inspector, as he looked round as well. From behind the tender, a shunter uncoupled Lancelot from the train and disconnected the brake pipes, and once that was done, he made his way round to stand below the footplate.

"Okay, we're all uncoupled back here!" he called up to the driver.

"Okay, thanks for that! Now we just need to wait for our next job to be given to us!" the driver called down. While they waited for whatever job they were to be given next, the crew took the opportunity to refill the tender tank with more water at the water tower close by. Carrie stood on the back of the tender watched the pipe as the water flowed into the tank, while keeping her free hand on her hat, though the wind was slowly and gradually dying down. From ground level, the fireman worked the valve control and waited for Carrie to give the word to turn it off.

"Okay, water off!" Carrie called, as she waved her arm.

"Water off!" the fireman called, as he turned the valve to the "Closed" position, cutting off the flow of water. Once the water stopped, Carrie removed the pipe from tender and the fireman swung it away while she then closed the lid over the water tank and then climbed down from back of the tender.

A few moments later, the yard manager stepped up in front of Lancelot, and he had the next job for them for the morning.

"Okay, you're to take another line of trucks from the sidings down to Brendam Docks. These trucks are full of fruit and vegetables that are going to be shipped off to another place, and they need to be delivered down there as soon as possible." said the yard manager.

"Very well, that's all right with me. Now, let's go get those trucks!" said the driver, as he wound the reversing gear into full forward, released the brakes, and then gently opened the regulator a little. Slowly, with clouds of white steam shooting out in front, Lancelot moved forwards out of the siding and went to collect the line of trucks.

---

(A few minutes later)

After being turned on the nearby turning triangle, it wasn't too long before Lancelot was coupled up to his next train of the day, which consisted of around 36 box vans full of fruit and vegetables, as well as a few cov-hops, around 10 of them or so, that were carrying a lot of bulk grain from the recent harvest. As Lancelot was coupled to this new train, Carrie leaned out from the fireman's side to see how long this train was, but due to the fact the siding curved away, she wasn't able to see how long the train was.

"Okay, you're all coupled up back here!" the shunter called up to the cab, having emerged from in between the tender and the front of the train.

"Thanks!" the driver called, as he then made the preparations to see off, including drawing off the brakes in the train, putting the reversing gear into full forward, and double-checking all the controls. In the meantime, Carrie went and checked on the state of the fire in the firebox, as well as on the level of water in the boiler and the main steam pressure gauge, to be sure there was enough steam in the boiler.

As Carrie checked the water gauge glasses again, there suddenly came the sounds of a diesel horn, and the sounds of a diesel engines, coming from the direction of Ffarquhar. Looking over to see who it was, Carrie saw that it was Daisy, who was on one of her morning runs along the line with passengers. She watched as the bright green diesel railcar came to a stop at the platform that ran along the front road of the town of Ulfstead, dropped off and picked up a few passengers. Then after a minute or two, she was on her way up the line again, blowing her horn as she set off on her way.

For a little bit, Carrie assumed that Lancelot would then be leaving with his own train, but they weren't going anywhere as they had received work that another train was going to coming by and heading in the opposite direction, so they had to wait for just a few more minutes until that train had gone past. They didn't have to wait for very long, as they soon heard the sounds of chuffing come from the other direction where Daisy had gone a few minutes before, followed by the sounds of a steam whistle blowing loudly. They soon saw who it was who made the noise as he went on by; it was none other than B.R. Standard Class 6MT 4-6-2 No.72009 Clan Stewart, who was heading back in the direction of Ffarquhar with a lengthy mixed freight behind him. As Carrie stood by and watched the train head on past them, she noticed that the wind that had been blowing quite strongly since earlier on in the morning seemed to have eased off a bit more, down to a fresh breeze. Though this wind was cold, it was at least not as strong as it was earlier, and with the clouds in the sky very slowly breaking apart, the afternoon promised to be a good one, though quite cold.

The end of Clan Stewart's train soon went by them, and it was time for Lancelot and his crew to be on their way again, with the signalman having given them the all-clear and set the points for them, as well as the guard having blown his whistle and waved his green flag. Acknowledging the signals, the driver blew the whistle, released the brakes, and then opened the regulator a little. Slowly, Lancelot moved out from the long siding, taking up the weight of his train behind him, and out onto the line. As they moved off, Carrie opened the damper controls to allow in more air, as well as opening the firehole doors a little to allow in more air from a secondary source. She didn't put on any coal at the moment, as she remembered all the training and instructions she had been given about the proper way to fire an engine from the previous year on the railway.

Slowly, with the train following behind him, Lancelot passed the village of Ulfstead on the straight stretch of line that passed in front of the village with him blowing his whistle in greeting to the residents, many of whom turned and waved to the L.S.W.R. N15 head on past them. With slowly building speed, Lancelot moved along the line and into the countryside and dense forest to the west of the village, and he headed out from the village with his train following behind him, which soon passed by the front of the village and disappeared into the distance.

Their trip down to Brendam Docks went very smoothly, though they did need to slow down at times when they came upon areas of the line where there were workmen working away at either repairing fallen power lines or removing and cutting up trees that had been blown down near to the side of the line by the storm the previous night. Once they were on the Southern Main Line, they were able to make their way along the line towards Wellsworth, from where they would be able to make their way down the junction to Brendam Docks where they were taking their heavily-laden trucks. After the slower moving on the Ffarquhar Line, Carrie felt it very good to be going along the Southern Main Line at a faster speed, as it meant they would be able to get to their destination at a faster speed, and hopefully they would be able to get their trucks delivered on time and then get to the crew building where they could get some well-earned lunch after their morning of hard work.

The trip on the Southern Main Line went very smoothly, with speeds reaching up to 50mph at times, and Carrie doing everything she remembered on keeping the firebox well-stoked with fresh fuel. But even so, she did need to take breaks every now and then and allow the fireman to take over for a while and stoke the boiler. The inspector was very impressed with how Carrie was going about with the work she was given, and he made some very positive notes on the pages on his clipboard.

They soon came upon the final stretch of line before Wellsworth Station, and the driver shut the regulator and put the brakes on, slowing the train down gently as they approached. Looking out from the side of the cab, Carrie saw Wellsworth ahead of them with the banker sidings not too far before the station. She could see the different engines in the banker sidings waiting for more trains to bank up Gordon's Hill.

Passing at about 20mph through Wellsworth Station, Lancelot made his way towards the junction between Wellsworth and the base of Gordon's Hill, but they had to slow down before the junction due to a yellow signal light. The signal before the junction was showing red, which meant they had to stop, and the driver fully put the brakes on and brought them to a gentle stop just before the points.

"We likely just need to wait for some bankers coming down the hill to pass by us before we can move over the points." said the driver.

"All right then." said the inspector, as he looked out from the fireman's side of the cab and up the line leading towards Gordon's Hill.

They didn't have to wait for very long, for they soon saw the banker coming down in reverse on the other line; it was 9F No.92230, who had just banked a very heavy train up Gordon's Hill not long before and was now running in reverse to return to Wellsworth to bank the next heavy train up the hill. He whistled in greeting to Lancelot as he went on past and called out "Hello!" to which Lancelot did the same thing in return.

Once the points were switched and the signal dropped to show the lines were clear, Lancelot rolled slowly forwards and over the points onto the line that led down to Brendam Docks, with his train following along over the level crossing just before the points and onto the line behind him. Looking out from the fireman's side of the footplate, Carrie leaned out a little and watched as the train followed along.

"Looks okay from what I can see!" she called over to the driver.

"All right, Carrie!" the driver called, as he blew the whistle for a few seconds before opening the regulator a little more, allowing them to pick up some more speed.

The journey down the line to Brendam Docks went very smoothly and, much to Carrie's gratitude, very uneventfully, with no fallen trees across the line to block their progress or anything else like that. Looking out over the fields they went past on their way to the Docks in between taking goes on the shovel, Carrie saw some evidence of storm damage from the previous evening, including branches blow into some of the fields, as well as an old barn with its roof partially blown off and the old roof tiles and roofing joists laying on the ground beside it, and some joists to be seen sticking out from the inside of the barn.

They encountered only one other engine along their journey to the Docks, and it was L.S.W.R. H15 Class 4-6-0 No.489, who was on his way back to Wellsworth with an eight-coach passenger train. The two L.S.W.R. engines whistled in greeting to each other as they went on past with their trains.

They soon pulled into the Docks and Carrie, having just finished taking another go with the shovel, and looked around as they went slowly along the line that would take them to the line where they would drop off their train before heading to the nearby engine depot. She could see all the different activities taking place around the harbour area, including workmen working away in dockside workshops, boats being maintained in small dry docks, cargo being loaded and unloaded from ships, as well as trucks being shunted in some of the sidings they passed on by.

As they arrived in the siding where they were to drop off their long train, they heard the sounds of a horn from somewhere nearby. Looking out, they saw Salty the dockside diesel moving a line of trucks along the quayside, and he seemed to be enjoying the work he was doing, especially by the way he was moving the line of trucks about, and so easily as well.

After they came to a stop in the long siding, one of the shunters set about uncoupling them from their train as well as disconnecting the brake pipes. While they waited to set off for the engine depot nearby, Carrie leaned against the side of the cab and thought about how the day had gone for her so far; despite the delay they had experienced earlier on with the tree that fell across the line close to Knapford Station, they had made good time with their first train of the day, and they had made equally good time with this one, though they had to slow down at times during the journey to here. Not only that, but the inspector seemed to be quite pleased with the work Carrie had done, as she hadn't heard a single bad word from him at all during the course of the morning, and she hoped that by the end of the day, she would have received her first firing certificate.

Then, with the train uncoupled, the driver blew the whistle for a few seconds and then opened the regulator. They slowly moved forwards out of the siding, and from there they made their way over to the nearby engine depot.

---

(A little later on; in the engine depot)

After Lancelot had been parked in one of the sidings within the Brendam Motive Power Depot, his crew, Carrie, and the inspector got off the footplate while a depot crew took over Lancelot with the job of cleaning out the fire, refilling the tender with coal and water, as well as refilling the sandboxes and topping up all lubrication points, so Lancelot would be ready to go once his crew had finished lunch.

Feeling famished after her morning of work, Carrie made her way to the crew building for a well-earned lunch and a rest before going back to work later on. By now, she had noticed that the wind from earlier on had now calmed down quite considerably, and she was feeling very pleased at that.

After taking a few minutes to quickly wash her hands and face in a nearby washroom, she entered the cafeteria of the crew building, before grabbing a tray from the side and lined up to get lunch. She was feeling hungry and eager to see what was on offer for lunch today, and she really liked the different smells of good food that were floating in the air. When her turn came, she chose to have beef stew with mashed potato and steamed vegetables on the side. After taking a bottle of ice-cold soda from the drinks station, as well as grabbing some cutlery and napkins, she made her way to a spare table where she sat down and tucked into her lunch.

As Carrie ate, she looked around at the activity taking place as other engine crews sat their food, chatted with each other over how their day had gone so far, as well as various problems they were having with their engines or trains they had delivered so far. The storm from the previous night seemed to be a particularly favourite topic, with some crews mentioning to their colleagues that they were briefly delayed by storm damage while they were making their first trips of the day, whether the damage was debris that had been blown onto the line, or even in one case the remains of an old building that had partially collapsed onto the line.

Looking round, Carrie couldn't see any of her friends in the cafeteria, either in the line or sitting at any of the other tables. It was likely that they were elsewhere on the island, either working on jobs on the other engines or else were having their own lunch in other places on the railway.

It wasn't too long before Carrie finished her lunch and then went to get a dessert, which today was a slice of chocolate cake with whipped cream, along with a hot cup of tea to wash it all down. As she sat down and enjoyed her dessert, she thought about how the rest of her day would go and which engine she would be working on, whether it would be on Lancelot or a completely different engine entirely. She didn't really mind which engine it was, as long as she could show that she was more than capable of working on an engine.

---

(Later on, after lunch; 1:20pm)

Stepping back outside into the main depot and ready for more work for the rest of the day, Carrie made her way over to where many of the engines were in the depot, looking for the inspector who had been watching her progress on the footplate of Lancelot earlier in the day. By now, the wind had fully calmed down, and the clouds in the sky were breaking apart even more, allowing more sunlight to shine on the ground as well as for those on the ground to finally see more blue sky above them.

Feeling herself smile when she saw how much the weather was improving this afternoon, Carrie stepped on forwards, and eventually met up the inspector near the engine sheds.

"Hey Carrie…did you have a good lunch?" the inspector asked, when he saw her approach.

"Yes, I did. And I was glad to have it, and a good rest as well." Carrie said.

"That's good, because there's more work to do this afternoon before we can potentially give you your certificate. And not only that, but we're going to be going onto the footplate of another engine for this afternoon." said the inspector.

"And which one is it?" Carrie asked.

"Just follow me this way please." said the inspector, as he set off into the engine shed with Carrie following closely behind him.

Stepping into the shed, they walked along until they came the engine they were going to be working on for the afternoon; it was none other than L.N.E.R. P1 Class 2-8-2 No.2398. Sitting on the other tracks beside No.2398 were a number of other engines, including L.N.E.R. Thompson B1 Class 4-6-0 No.61321, L.M.S. Stanier 3-cylinder Class 2-6-4T No.2510, L.N.E.R. B17 Class 4-6-0 No.2854 Sunderland, S.R. W Class 2-6-4T No.1925, and Arthur, the L.M.S. Ivatt Class 2MT 2-6-2T tank engine (105) along with one of his brothers, No.41231, who was painted in B.R. lined black livery with the late B.R. crest on the sides of his water tanks.

"So, Carrie…do you think you'll feel comfortable working with No.2398 for this afternoon?" asked the inspector.

"Sure would, sir. I haven't had a chance to work with him yet, and I'm glad to be given the chance to do so this afternoon." Carrie said.

"That's good. Now we're not due to leave for a little while yet, so what I want you to do is to get on the footplate and see where all the fireman's controls are, as you'll be needing to use them during the trip later." said the inspector.

"Okay, sir." Carrie said, as she climbed onto the footplate of No.2398, placed her gloves on her hands, and set about looking at all the different controls on the footplate.

(105): The L.M.S. Ivatt Class 2MT 2-6-2T tank engine was designed by George Ivatt and was intended to be used on cross-country and branch line work, especially as the L.M.S. was in possession of a large number of older tank engine classes that were getting very near the end of their useful working lives. The new tank engine design was lightweight, which was seen as necessary for working on many of the cross-country branch lines, many of which had weight restrictions that couldn't take anything heavier.

Ivatt had noticed that the Great Western Railway 45XX Class and 4575 Class 2-6-2T Prairie tank engine designs were very successful in working on branch lines, and so he decided to build his own tank engine design to undertake cross-country work. The new design would incorporate labour-saving devices, including rocking grates and hopper ashpans, as well as having a ladder fitted on the back of the bunker in order to allow the crew to have access to the coal bunker. The upper sides of the coal bunker sloped inwards in order to allow the crew to have good visibility when running in reverse.

The Ivatt Class 2MT 2-6-2T had two outside cylinders which were 16in in diameter with a 26in piston stroke, six driving wheels which were 5ft 0in in diameter, and a boiler which was fitted with superheating elements and pressed to 200psi, all of which combined to give the class a maximum tractive effort of 17,400lbf. The coal bunkers could carry up to 3 tons of coal, with the two side tanks able to carry up to 1,350 gallons of water.

The class came into service in 1946 when the first member of the class, No.1200, entered traffic after being built at Crewe Works. Construction of the class continued right up until 1952 when the final example, No.41329, emerged from Derby Works. In total, 130 examples of the class were built in five batches between 1946 and 1952. Initially, the first examples were numbered from No.1200 to No.1209, but after nationalisation in January 1948, the class were numbered from No.41200 to No.41329, with most of the class being built at Crewe, and last 10 engines being built at Derby. One example of the class, No.41272, was the 7000th locomotive to be built at Crewe when it emerged from the works in 1950.

The class was very different from any of the previous 2-6-2T designs that had been built for the L.M.S., as they were smaller in size and more compact, making them a very ideal locomotive for the many branch lines they were intended to work on. The weight of the class was just a little over 63 tons, though the last 10 engines of the class, No.41320 to No.41329, weighed a little over 65 tons.

Fifty members of the class, No.41210 to No.41229, No.41270 to No.41289, and No.41320 to No.41329, were fitted with Push-Pull equipment, and some other engines in the class were fitted with tall, narrow-tapered chimneys. These engines with the tall chimneys later had them replaced with traditional chimneys.

The class mostly saw service on the London Midland Region for their entire working lives, though the last 30 engines of the class to be built at Crewe, No.41290 to No.41319, were allocated to the Southern Region from new. Some examples were allocated to the Western Region during the 1950's and 1960's, and some were based at Bristol Bath Road Shed. Many examples of the class remained working on branch line and cross-country trains for the whole of their working lives.

The basic design of the class was later adapted as B.R. Standard Class 2MT 2-6-2T tank engine, numbered from No.84000 to No.84029, and which were built to a slightly smaller design and had slight slanted sides to their cabs. This later design incorporated a fall-plate and various fittings that were common to all B.R. Standard Class designs.

Withdrawals of the class began in 1962. when 21 engines were removed from service that year. The rest of the class followed along over the next six years, with 1966 seeing 31 members of the class being withdrawn, the greatest number of the class that were withdrawn in a single year. In 1967, the final 8 engines were finally withdrawn from service.

---

Thankfully, four examples of the class have managed to survive into preservation, all of whom were built at Crewe Works, and all of whom have been steamed in preservation. These four engines are;

No.41241; built at Crewe Works in September 1949, she was withdrawn from service in December 1966. She was bought after being withdrawn and taken to the Keighley and Worth Valley Railway for preservation in 1967. She's been based there ever since, being a regular performer and having covered thousands of miles going along that line. The engine was noted for being painted in K&WVR maroon red livery, something the class was never painted in back in B.R. days. As of 2024, No.41241 is in running order on the K built at Crewe Works in October 1951, she was withdrawn from service in July 1967, and bought directly from B.R. by the Ivatt Trust immediately afterwards. She was initially based on the Longmoor Military Railway, but when that line closed in 1970, she was moved to the Isle of Wight Steam Railway. Restoration work on No.41298 was finally completed by 2014 and she returned to working order by September 2015. She's fitted with a Westinghouse air-brake system, which is necessary for running on the Isle of Wight. As of 2024, No.41298 is operational on the Isle of Wight Steam Railway, but is due to be withdrawn in 2025 when her boiler certificate expires.

---

No.41298; built at Crewe Works in October 1951, she was withdrawn from service in July 1967, and bought directly from B.R. by the Ivatt Trust immediately afterwards. She was initially based on the Longmoor Military Railway, but when that line closed in 1970, she was moved to the Isle of Wight Steam Railway. Restoration work on No.41298 was finally completed by 2014 and she returned to working order by September 2015. She's fitted with a Westinghouse air-brake system, which is necessary for running on the Isle of Wight. As of 2024, No.41298 is operational on the Isle of Wight Steam Railway, but is due to be withdrawn in 2025 when her boiler certificate expires.

---

No.41312; built at Crewe Works in May 1952, she was withdrawn from service in July 1967 and sent to Barry Scrapyard not long afterwards. She was saved from Barry in August 1974 and was eventually taken to Ropley on the Mid Hants Railway for restoration. The work was fully completed by the end of December 1998 and she entered service in January 1999. No.41312 is normally based on the Mid Hants, but has ventured to other preserved lines, including the East Lancs Railway, the East Somerset Railway, and the Swanage Railway. As of 2024, No.41312 is operational on the Mid Hants Railway.

---

No.41313; built at Crewe Works in May 1952, she was withdrawn from service in October 1965, she was taken to Barry Scrapyard in 1966. Rescued from Barry in 1975, she was taken to the Buckinghamshire Railway Centre at Quainton Road, initially to be used as a source of spares, but she was eventually returned to working order in her own right. By June 2017, No.41313 returned to full working order on the East Somerset Railway, and was moved to the Isle of Wight Steam Railway in October that year, and entered service there in May 2018.

After a few minutes of looking over the controls on the footplate of No.2398, Carrie felt she was ready to start her afternoon of work. It wasn't too long before the driver and fireman arrived and climbed aboard the footplate, by which time Carrie was busy stoking the firebox with a few fresh shovelfuls of coal. She had already checked the two water gauge glasses on the backhead, and was pleased to see the water level was at about three-quarters of the way up, and the pressure on the boiler pressure gauge was at about 200psi.

With everything finally ready to go, the driver blew the whistle, released the brakes, and then opened the regulator a little allowing high-pressure steam to flow into the three cylinders, and No.2398 moved slowly forwards out of the siding and over to pick up his train. As they went along, Carrie couldn't help but be impressed by how smoothly the L.N.E.R. P1 she was riding on moved along the line. But then, she wondered what kind of train they were going to be pulling, and where they were going to be pulling it to.

She found out soon enough; they went along one of the long quays and waiting for them on the quay was a long line of trucks that had been loaded up with cargo that had been unloaded from a large cargo ship that had been tied up to the dockside. Looking along the length of this train as they approached it, Carrie was amazed to see how many vans and other trucks there were in the train.

No.2398 was somewhat impressed too by this train, but then again, this train was no different to any other heavy freight train he had pulled over the years. After buffering up to the front of the train, he was coupled up and had the brake pipes connected, and then just had to wait until he was given the all-clear to go by the guard and the signalman. On the footplate, Carrie, the inspector, and the crew just had to wait for instructions about where they were to take this train and on which route. They didn't have to wait for long, as the harbour master came up to the side of No.2398, with a clipboard in his hand.

"Okay then…I have the information where you're to take this train." the harbour master called, as he looked up to the footplate.

"And where are we to take it?" asked the driver.

"You're to take this train back over to the yard close to Knapford Station, and the route you'll be going on is the coastal main line that runs along the western side of the Brendam Peninsula before joining up with the Southern Main Line to the west of Wellsworth." said the harbour master.

"Very well then." the driver said. Upon hearing mention of the coastal line on the western side of the Brendam Peninsula, Carrie wondered what that route would be like as she had never been along that route before. She knew from maps she had seen that it was a coastal line with two coastal villages along the length of it, but never knew what it looked like. So, she was looking forward to seeing what the route was like when she could get the chance to see it.

It was soon time for them to be on their way with their train, and the time on Carrie's watch showed the time was 2:00pm. After No.2398 blew his whistle, he slowly set off up the line, taking up the weight of his heavy train behind him which slowly moved off from the quayside, with the wheels and buffers clanking. Moving off, Carrie opened the damper controls, as well as the firebox door flap to allow more air into the firebox, and then waited for a short while before putting more coal into the firebox. Then she leaned out from the cab on the fireman's side and looked on ahead as they made their way along.

Slowly they moved out from the docks, going past all the many different buildings in the harbour area, where they could see all different activities taking place inside many of the workshops. Eventually, they made their way out from the harbour and along the double-track line that made its way to the western coastal line. Having just taken a go at the shovel, Carrie took the chance to have a first look at the first part of the route; the two lines were placed on a slightly raised section of ground off to the left of which was a wide sandy beach that seemed to stretch for a long way, while off to the right-hand side of the line were tall cliffs that towered high above the line. There were a number of boats that were lined up together at the top of the beach near to the line, while there were also a few beach huts to be seen here and there.

Building up speed as they went along the line, Carrie was able to look out towards the sea at times, and could see that the ocean was calmer now than it had been earlier on, though there were still some large waves breaking against the shoreline at time along with some whitecaps to be seen on the crests of some waves stretched across the bay.

They reached one of the coastal villages along the route, and Carrie was amazed at how similar it was in appearance to some of the Fishing Village on the Little Western, with a long dockside in front of the village and tall cliffs to be seen behind it. A few boats could be seen secured to the quayside and some vans were seen in the long line siding that ran in between the two main lines and the edge of the quayside. There were a few people to be seen going about in the streets of the village, including some men who were working away at fixing the engine of an old car sticking out from the inside of a garage.

Continuing on up the line, they went along as stretch where the two lines were carried on the top of a wide sea wall, a scene which reminded anyone who saw it of the similar stretch of line that ran along the seawall at Dawlish in South Devon. Carrie saw there was a footpath on the other side of a low wall that seemed to run parallel to the two lines, though no one was out walking there that she could see.

They soon came upon another coastal village, which was similar to the last one they went past, only there was no dockside on the other side of the line, just a wide stretch of white sandy beach. The station at this village had two platforms, one for each line, with a covered footbridge connecting the two.

Then after passing through the second station, the line began to climb a gentle gradient which would bring them on the final stretch before they joined up with the Southern Main Line just to the west of Wellsworth Station. No.2398 really felt the weight of his heavy train here, but he pulled with all his might as he climbed the gentle gradient. On his footplate, Carrie had to shovel for all she was worth to keep the fire burning brightly in order to keep the steam pressure high, but being sure to place the coal where it would be needed, including in the back corners, along the firebox sides, down the middle, and under the firebox door.

The inspector kept a close eye on what she was doing and, as usual, made notes on the papers on his clipboard.

Eventually, they reached the top of the climb and ran along a more level stretch and went over a bridge that crossed the same gorge the viaduct did a little to the north on the final run to the junction that would take them onto the Southern Main Line. Due to a signal showing a yellow light, the driver had slowed the train down and prepare to bring it to a halt in case the next signal light showed a red light. Sure enough, the next signal light was showing red, and so they had to stop. Looking out from the cab, Carrie saw they had stopped just a little before the Southern Main Line. Another train was due to pass, and so they needed to wait until it went on by. By now, Carrie was feeling tired from having shovelled so much coal into the firebox, and her arms felt like they were going to fall off.

"You're doing a very good job, Carrie. Just don't push yourself too hard." said the fireman, as he took next go with the shovel.

"I'm trying not to, sir! I just want to prove I have the stamina to do it!" Carrie said, as she took a drink of ice water.

A minute later, there came the sounds of a familiar whistle from down the line, and a few moments later, none other than Gordon went on by with the afternoon express. The coaches, smartly turned out, went on by behind Gordan as he rushed on by with his train for Knapford. From where he was standing with his own train, No.2398 watched as the big blue engine rushed on by, making good time with his train. Once the last coach had gone by, the signalman switched the points and set the signal to clear, and No.2398 was on his way again. Moving slowly out onto the Southern Main Line, he slowly built up more speed as he made his way along with his train. From the fireman's side of the footplate, Carrie leaned out and looked ahead of them as they went along, eventually pulling herself back in to have another go at stoking the boiler.

---

(Later on; 5:20pm, Tidmouth Sheds)

Having just showered and changed in the ladies changing room in the crew building, Carrie stepped out and made her way downstairs, eager to meet up with Simon and the other girls she was friends with. She was also keen to find out how they managed out on the line today, considering the storm damage from earlier and the strong wind this morning.

"Hey Carrie!" Simon said, as he saw her come down the stairs.

"Hi, Simon!" Carrie said, as she and Simon gave each other a big hug.

"Have a good day out today?" Olivia asked.

"Yeah, I did. And boy am I tired from it too!" Carrie said.

"Yeah, and we're all tired after today." Sophie said.

"But the good news is that power has been restored to all our homes." Alice said.

"And also, the tree in your garden that fell over last night was removed earlier on today. I know, because I was on the engine who helped to take all the workmen up to remove it this morning." said Saoirse.

"Well, shall we all go and get something to eat? I think we're all hungry after our long day." Simon said.

"Yeah, let's do that." Carrie said, just as they were about to turn towards the main doors.

Then, there came another voice from one of the offices.

"Hold it right there, you lot! Don't go yet!" came the familiar voice. As the group stopped, none other than the Fat Controller himself stepped out from the office.

"Oh, is something wrong, sir?" Carrie asked anxiously.

"No, Carrie, there's nothing wrong. I just want to say I'm really proud of you all for the work you all did today in helping to keep the railway running. Well done!" said the Fat Controller.

"Thank you, sir!" the six friends said.

"And also…Simon…Carrie…I've a little something to give to you both." and the Fat Controller handed them each a brown envelope with their names on them. Taking the envelopes and opening them, Simon and Carrie took out a certificate, showing that both of them had passed their two firing exams and that they were now qualified firemen.

"Oh, thank you very much, sir!" Carrie said, feeling very pleased her hard work paid off.

"Thanks, sir! This is brilliant!" Simon said, as a big smile crossed his face.

"It's no problem. After all, I think you've both done very good wood in the time you've been on the apprenticeship scheme. Anyway, I'd best be off now. You lot just relax after the long day you've all had." and then the Fat Controller turned and walked away.

After clocking out a minute later, Carrie, Simon and the girls left the crew building and made their way out to go get some well-earned dinner and to socialise with each other after their long day of hard work.

"Well done on achieving your fireman's certificates, you two." Saoirse said, as they made their way along the street.

"I'm sure we'll be as pleased as you two once we get our certificates as well." Sophie said.

"Well, all you need to do is to work hard, and remember all the different tips you were given when you first started, and to remember to place all the coal where it needs to be in the firebox." Carrie said.

"I'll remember all that." Alice said.

"I'm also very pleased that I didn't lose my hat in this morning's winds." Carrie said, also feeling pleased she'd managed to keep a hold of her hat today.

"And neither did I. I managed to keep it firmly on my head for most of the day!" Saoirse added.

"Well, regardless if we managed to keep a hold of our hats or not, I think we all did a very good day's work out on the railway today." Sophie said.

"And I think we'll go and have a good dinner this evening, because I think we've earned it after the long day we've all had." Olivia said.

"Sounds a good idea to me. Let's go and get it!" Simon said, as they carried on down the street to their favourite place.

---

(Later that evening)

After a good dinner with her friends in their favourite place to eat in town, Carrie stepped into through the front gate of her father's house. Looking up, she smiled, feeling very pleased to see the lights were on in the windows on the ground floor, showing that the power had been restored to all the houses that along both sides of the street. As she walked up the driveway to the house, she wondered if the tree in the back garden that had fallen in the storm had been removed from the line.

Stepping inside the front door, she called out "Dad, I'm home!" From the living room came a reply, "In here, Carrie!" Going into the living room, Carrie saw her father sitting in one of the armchairs with a cup of coffee in one hand and a railway book resting on his lap.

"Did you have a good evening with your friends, Carrie?" Ralph asked, as he took a sip of his coffee.

"Yes, I did. And I also had a good day out as well, despite the heavy wind blowing about this morning. And despite the fact we had to stop for a while near Knapford due to a tree that fell across the line." Carrie said.

"Yeah, I had a tree delay me for a while this morning as well. It took the workmen some time to remove it too." Ralph said, as he placed his book and mug down on the coffee table before standing up.

"Has the tree been removed from the lines on the other side of the fence?" Carrie asked.

"Well...just the parts that were blocking the line certainly have been removed. The rest of it...well, I'll need to hire in a professional contractor in order to remove the rest of it. Here, let me show you." Ralph said. They went into the kitchen and looked outside the window; Carrie could see that the upper half of the tree that had been blocking the two lines earlier that morning had been removed, and the big pieces had been placed just on the inside of the garden fence. But the rest of the tree remained uprooted and laying down across the garden, with the top half laying across the smashed fence.

"And when will the contractor be coming to remove the rest of that?" Carrie asked.

"I just need to make the call and ask them to come as soon as they're able to do so. And at this time of the year...well, goodness knows when that'll be. And I'll also ask them to cut up all the wood so that I can use it in the fireplace to keep the house warm during the winter." Ralph said.

"That sounds like quite a good idea to me." Carrie said.

"Anyway...I'm going to go back and finish my coffee." Ralph said, as he turned away and went back to the living room. In the meantime, Carrie went upstairs to change into more comfortable clothing.

And that's the end of this chapter, everyone! Despite the bad weather and wind, Carrie managed to get in a very good day of hard work on the railway, and has successfully gotten her first firing certificate, meaning she's now a qualified fireman on the Sodor railway system. Not only that, but this chapter takes the total word count in the story so far to well over 750,000 words...that's three quarters of a millions words! So, and with some luck, it shouldn't be too long before we can reach that amazing figure of a million words, which will be something very special indeed!

I hope to have the next chapter in the story written up and unloaded as soon as I possibly can. So, until then…good reading, everyone!