Chapter 73: Second of the Surprise Visitors
(Friday, December 21st 2012 – 1:35pm, Knapford)
As Simon steadily and carefully drove Caroline through the streets of Knapford on the way to the hotel, Carrie couldn't help but look outside at the different sights that she saw that were going on. There were a lot of people going about on the footpaths and doing their Christmas shopping, with many of them having fully loaded bags in their hands. She took in the sights of many of the shop fronts and how bright and cheerful they looked with their twinkling and brightly-coloured Christmas lights and decorations, as well as people who were going into the shops to do what they needed to do.
They passed by in front of one of the parks that were in town, and she saw the sight of the large and beautifully decorated Christmas tree that was in the park. It was covered with bright lights and many other bright and cheerful Christmas decorations, and there were a number of families with children around the tree and looking up at it.
"It's hard to believe now that Christmas is only a few more days away." Carrie said, as she turned her head to look at Simon.
"Yeah, I know." Simon said, with a smile. "The year has just gone by so quickly. I guess that's to be expected when you work on the railway."
"Yeah, I suppose so. And I'm just wonder what kind of adventures that we're gonna have between now and then." Carrie said.
"Well…there's the rumoured second special visitor who's going to be coming to Sodor. So, there's that to look forward to." Simon said.
"I wonder who it'll be." Carrie said, as she thought about who the second visitor could be.
"No idea, but if the visitor is an engine, just like Stepney was today, then it's very likely that they'll be arriving on the railway." Simon said.
"Yeah, probably." Carrie said.
They soon arrived in front of the hotel where Carrie's classmates, their families, and teachers were staying at. Looking up at the front of the building as they went on by the front of it on their way to the car park, Carrie couldn't help but wonder how the lunch today was going to go with her classmates, and whether or not there'd be anything on the menu for her to enjoy. Pulling round, Simon drove Caroline into the car park very near to the hotel and parked in one of the many empty spaces that were there. As he put on the handbrake and then switched off the ignition, he and Carrie saw the other four girls arrive in the same car park on Alice's car and park in an empty space close by.
"Well…let's go, Carrie. We mustn't keep your classmates waiting." Simon said, as he and Carrie opened their doors and stepped out.
"Yeah…" Carrie said, as she closed the door behind her. After Simon locked the doors, he spoke briefly to Caroline.
"We'll be back once we're finished in the hotel, Caroline. So, you shouldn't have to wait for very long." Simon said.
"All right, Simon. You and Carrie enjoy yourselves in there!" Caroline said, as she smiled at Simon and Carrie. Feeling a bit better by Caroline reassuring them, Carrie said, "Thanks, Caroline!" before she and Simon turned away, met up with Alice, Sophie, Saoirse, and Olivia before heading over to the hotel. All six friends were looking forward to getting inside, as it seemed to have gotten colder, and the snow was coming down quite a bit now.
(Inside the hotel)
As the six friends entered the main entrance of the hotel, they felt relieved by the blast of warm air that swept over them. Removing their winter hats, they looked round for any sign of Carrie's classmates to see if they were sitting anywhere in the main reception area.
"I think that's them over there, Carrie." Olivia said, as she pointed over to some couches and chairs that were off to the side. Turning to look and see who it was, Carrie was feeling somewhat pleased to see that it was Rita Desjardin, as well as some of her fellow classmates, including Sue Snell and Tommy Ross.
"Hey, there!" Carrie said, as she and her friends approached them. On hearing her voice, the others looked up from what they had been doing.
"Hey, Carrie!" they said, as they all stood up from the couches and armchairs and then stepped over towards Carrie and her friends.
"We've been wondering when you guys would get here. We thought that you'd forgotten about getting lunch with us." Freddy said.
"Oh, we didn't forget about it at all. We just had to go slowly along these icy roads from the depot, and try not to run into anyone in town who was going their Christmas shopping." Saoirse said.
"Very wise thing to do." Rita said, as she smiled.
"So, are we all ready to head inside for lunch now? I'm sure that most of us are probably hungry by this point." Simon said, as he looked towards the entrance to the restaurant a few metres away from them.
"That sounds like a good idea to many of us. Let's go in there while it's not too busy now." Tommy said, and they all went over to the restaurant.
When they entered the large restaurant, they were all pleased to see that it wasn't too busy in there, with plenty of spare tables available for them to sit at. Looking over towards one side of the restaurant, they could all see the long counter where they could line up and get food, as well as the till where they had to pay for it. Heading over to the long counter, each of them grabbed hold of a tray from the side and lined up to get the foot they wanted. They saw that there was a good selection of hot and cold food on offer, along with a selection of drinks including soft drinks, fruit juices, and water.
It wasn't too long before everyone had gotten whatever food and drinks that they wanted to get, and after paying for their food and grabbing napkins and cutlery from the side, they then went over to the spare tables within the restaurant where they could eat.
After they all sat down at some of the tables and tucked into their food, the large group were silent for a time while they all ate, with the only sounds they could hear being the sounds of cutlery being touched off china plates, the sounds of work being done in the nearby kitchens, as well as the sounds of voices from some of the other tables in the restaurant and outside the door to the main reception area. There was also a T.V. that was mounted to one of the walls in the restaurant, and it was switched on to a news channel on with a reporter droning on about the latest news taking place around the world.
As she took a long sip of water, Sue then suddenly remembered something, and she turned to look at Carrie.
"Carrie…we all saw the interview that you did with that news reporter on the T.V. earlier this morning…" Sue said, before the others around the table all remembered that and turned their attention to Carrie.
"You…you did?" Carrie said, as she looked towards Sue, as Simon, Saoirse, Alice, Olivia, and Sophie also looked towards Sue.
"Yeah, and I think that you were very brave to have done something like that." Norma added, as she finished swallowing the bite of food she had just chewed.
"I don't know if I'd ever be able to do what you did in front of a camera." added Rachel Spies, feeling somewhat proud of what Carrie had done.
"Yeah, well…it wasn't planned. That reporter just suddenly came upon us." Carrie said.
"And I understand that reporter…Gale, I believe her name is…has a reputation for being quite a persevering sort of person, and won't ever give up on pursuing a story until she gets what she wants to get ahead of any other reporter after the same story…and it's clear that she's succeeded in getting the story before anyone else on this occasion." Rita said, as she took a sip of water.
"I just wish that the interview had been done in a more sheltered place, instead of out on the street in the freezing cold like we did last night." Carrie said, as she took in another bite of her lunch while it was still hot.
"Oh, I know what you mean by that, Carrie. I wouldn't like to be interviewed by the press when it's very cold outside, and there's lots of snow on the ground…and when I want to get inside where it's somewhere warm." Tommy said.
"And we also saw the part of the interview where your father said that things in your life would have been very different for you if he had known that your mother was pregnant with you when the accident at his workplace occurred all the way back then." Vicky added, as she took a sip of her Coca Cola.
"That's right…and my father told me all the way back in November last year that he would have been willing to wait and put up with the abuse and such nonsense that she was giving him until after I was born…and then he would have taken me with him, so as to be away from my momma…even if he had to resort to kidnapping me from that old house." Carrie said.
"I think that it's likely that he might have gotten into trouble for doing something like." Saoirse said, as she finished swallowing another mouthful of her lunch.
"Perhaps…but then again…maybe it would have been better for me, because I never would have been subject to any abuse from my momma." Carrie said.
At that moment, Heather looked up towards the T.V. not far away where she could clearly see the news reporter looking through a piece of the latest piece of news that had been placed on his desk…and then she saw the words "BREAKING NEWS" at the bottom of the screen with the story that was coming up. After seeing it, she then looked anxiously towards Carrie.
"Ah…Carrie…" Heather said, as Carrie and everyone else looked towards her, "…speaking of your mother…look" and then Heather pointed over to the T.V. screen. Curious as to what was going on, they all turned their attention over to the T.V. screen to see and listen to the what the news announcer had to say.
"And ladies and gentlemen…we can confirm the news that Margaret White, the abusive and mentally unstable mother of Carrie White, the missing girl from Chamberlain, Maine and who was recently found over on the Island of Sodor, has died. Her death was confirmed in a recent statement by a spokesman from the Arkham Mental Institution who said that she died last night in the institution. No cause of death has yet been given, and it's expected that further information will be given shortly." And travelling across the bottom of the screen was the headline; Margaret White confirmed to have died.
This unexpected bit of news completely stunned Carrie and her fellow classmates, as well as Rita Desjardin. Simon, as well as Saoirse, Olivia, Sophie, and Alice, were also stunned to hear this news, having never expected to see something like that…and especially this close to the Christmas holidays. For those from Chamberlain, the news of the death of Margaret was a bit of an unexpected shock to all of them, having expected Margaret to have lasted for a few years inside the Arkham institute.
"Ah…Carrie? Are you feeling all right?" Rita asked, as she looked at Carrie. After a moment, everyone else at the table or at the adjacent tables looked over at Carrie. They could all see she seemed to be in shock at this news, as for several long seconds while the news report was playing out over the T.V., Carrie just sat there in a stunned shock. Her mother…the one who had abused her for so many years back in Chamberlain…was gone. Carrie wasn't sure what to make of this news; should she be happy that her abusive mother was dead? Or should she be upset that a parent who had looked after her for so many years was gone? Or should she just be indifferent about it, like it just didn't matter to her anymore?
"Oh…I'm all right. I…uh…I just wasn't expecting to hear something like that." Carrie said, as she looked over towards her gym teacher with a look of indifference on her face.
"Are you feeling anyway sad about that news?" Sue asked, as she looked towards Carrie. There were a few moments of uncertain silence from Carrie as she thought long and hard about the news of her mother's death. But then, Carrie looked towards Sue.
"Well…no, I'm actually not. And that's a surprise even to me." Carrie said to Sue, while being honest and truthful about her answer. Some of the others were a bit surprised by that answer, but then again it really shouldn't have been, especially considering how Margaret had been like to her over the years and what she did to Carrie in that old house.
"The way that you feel about someone who's died will be different from person to person. And Carrie…I guess it's clear that…you don't feel sad about your mother's dead." Rita said, as she looked at Carrie.
"Well…I genuinely thought that I would be upset…but now to hear about it…I guess…I guess that I just never really loved my momma at all." Carrie said, as she looked towards her gym teacher.
"Hey, it's all right to feel whatever way it is you feel about this, Carrie. I'm not going to judge you for not being upset about your mother's death." Norma Watson said.
"And neither am I, Carrie." Freddy Holt said. At the same time, most of the others who were there also reassured Carrie that she wasn't doing anything wrong by not being upset by Margaret's passing. While she was deeply grateful for the reassurances from her Sodor friends and classmates, Carrie couldn't help but feel a bit bad inside at not being upset by her mother's death. She was surprised by the fact that she wasn't saddened by the news, but then again…only time would tell for sure whether or not she would be upset. Deciding not to be concerned about for now, Carrie and everyone she was with continued on with their lunch.
(Meanwhile, along the Ffarquhar Branch Line)
Despite the snow, ice, and cold weather conditions, the engines of the railway had to keep working away at getting the passengers, mail and parcels, and freight to their destinations on time. On the Ffarquhar Line, having just left Elsbridge Station not too long before, L.N.E.R. V3 Class 2-6-2T No.67656 was making his way along with a passenger train of six coaches. He was bound for Kirk Machan in the middle of the island, having just left Knapford Station not too long before. So far, the journey had been relatively uneventful, with the train arriving at all the stations on the route on time and all the passengers they had on the train getting off at the stations they wanted to be at as well as taking on more passengers.
Up the line ahead of them was their next stop, which was Hackenbeck Station, and they had some more passengers to collect there as well. And No.67656 also knew that there would probably be parcels and such to collect up there as well.
It wasn't long before No.67656 finally arrived at Hackenbeck Station, and he could see that there were plenty of passengers waiting, as well as all their luggage and some sacks of mail that needed to be collected as well. With a gentle squealing of brake blocks on the driving wheels, No.67656 came to a halt alongside the platform. The porters opened the doors to the coaches and the passengers who were waiting to embark climbed aboard, while the doors to a parcels van at the back of the train was opened and the porters began to load up the parcels and sacks of mail. At the same time, the driver and fireman took the chance to top up the side tanks with more water from the water tower by the platform.
From the shed in a long siding off to the side of the line, L.M.S. Class 3P 2-6-2T No.200 was being readied for his next job (136). Workmen were busy polishing down his L.M.S. maroon-red livery and oiling up around all his moving parts, as well as refilling his coal bunker with more coal so that he'd be ready to set out once everything was finished. Another workman was seen pushing a wheelbarrow filled with hot dusty clinker that had just been removed from the firebox away to be disposed of, while another man was busy emptying out the ashpan from the inspection pit set in between the rails.
"Afternoon, No.200!" No.67656 said cheerfully.
"Hello there, No.67656!" No.200 said back, as he smiled.
"Has everything been okay for you so far this morning?" No.67656 asked.
"Not too bad, but I just need to be looked over and quickly cleaned before I can go out again." No.200 said, as one of the workmen walked on past him with an oil can and some old rags in his hands.
"I just hope that the snow doesn't get any worse. It's been difficult enough over the last few days with the weather as it is." No.67656 said, as he glanced anxiously up to the sky.
"Me too. And I just hope that we can get all the passengers, parcels, and mail to where they need to be delivered to before Christmas. And there's a lot of them to carry." said No.200, knowing just how much work was left to do until Christmas came.
"Well, let's just all hope that we can all to be sure that we can all deliver it safely." No.67656 said, as he thought about how much work needed to be done before Christmas arrived.
"Yes, I hope so too." said No.200.
(136): The L.M.S. Class 3P 2-6-2T tank engines were designed by William Stanier, and they were intended to be used on suburban commuter trains and branch line on the L.M.S. system. The class was basically a taper-boiler version of earlier Fowler class of 3MT 2-6-2T tank engines, but their dimensions were very similar to the earlier class. The boilers were based off of the taper boilers that were used on Churchward engines of the G.W.R.
In total 139 members of this class were built in six batches between February 1935 and April 1938, with 114 examples being built at Derby Works and the remaining 25 engines being built at Crewe. When they were first built the class were numbered from No.71 to No.209, but when they came under the control of British Railways in January 1948, they were renumbered from No.40071 to No.40209. Under the L.M.S. they were classified as 3P, but under B.R. they were given the power classification of 3MT.
The class has two outside cylinders that were 17.5in in diameter with a 26in piston stroke, a boiler that was fitted with superheating elements and pressed to 200psi, and six driving wheels that were 5ft 3in in diameter, which all combined to give the class a maximum tractive effort of 21,485lbf. Their coal bunkers could carry up to 3 tons of coal, while their side tanks could carry up to 1,500 gallons of water.
Although the class had a lot of potential when they first came out, they also had a number of problems, the main one being that their boilers weren't very big and couldn't produce the necessary quantities of steam they needed. However, their cabs were well-designed, a usual Stanier feature, and their coal bunkers were higher than the rear cab windows with insets built in so as to allow the crews good visibility behind when they were running in reverse.
In an attempt to try and improve the performances of the engines, six of them, No.148, No.163, No.169, No.203, No.40142, and No.40167, were rebuilt with larger boilers between 1940 and 1956, but in the event the experiment was discovered to not be that cost-effective. The first two batches of engines to be built were also fitted with domeless boilers, but the rest were built with improved boilers that had a separate top-feed and steam dome. Both boiler types were later modified to carry a new blastpipe to improve steaming, with the larger diameter chimneys always helping to identify the engines.
Due to their small boilers, the class had a reputation of being indifferent performers and were widely seen by many as being the least successful of the range of steam locomotives that were designed by Stanier. Yet despite the problems that they had, the class managed to stay in service for close to 30 years and undertook all kinds of secondary and lesser duties on the L.M.S. and B.R. networks, including on stopping trains, suburban commuter duties, branch line work, banking trains on inclines, as well as taking empty coaching stock in and out of major stations.
Withdrawals of the class began in November 1959, when the first eight engines were removed from service. The rest of the class followed along over the next three years until December 1962, when the final nine engines that were still running then were withdrawn en-masse before the end of the month. Sadly, none of this class have managed to survive into preservation, which is a real shame as many heritage lines around the U.K. would find plenty of use for an example or two of this class. There are no projects about to build an example of the class, but I have my own hopes that a new example of the class will be built someday in order to fill that significant gap in preservation.
After a few more moments of waiting, the last of the parcels and sacks of mail were loaded aboard the parcels van and the doors were closed up. At the same time the last of the waiting passengers had boarded the train, and the porters had closed the doors to the coaches. Ahead, the signalman in his signal box had set the signal to show the way ahead was clear, and then the guard stepped out from the front coach and blew his whistle while waving his green flag.
"Oh, it's time for us to be off!" No.67656 said, as his driver blew his whistle, and then opened his regulator a little.
"Good luck getting those passengers and mail to their destinations!" No.200 said, as he watched the L.N.E.R. V3 Class 2-6-2T set off on his way again.
"Thanks very much!" No.67656 said, as he slowly set off again, with his wheels slipping a little on the icy rails as he moved forward and took up the weight of his train, with the sounds of exhaust from his chimney being very loud as he moved off with his coaches following along smoothly behind him.
Elsewhere around the Island of Sodor, most of the other engines were still working away at getting their trains to where they needed to be. And despite the snow and icy conditions that they were working in, they were all determined to see that they got their trains to their destinations on time.
One of the engines was L.N.E.R. O3 Class 2-8-0 No.63491, and he was at the head of a very lengthy freight train that was bound from Knapford Harbour to Kirk Ronan Station. Having left Knapford Harbour on time, he was making his way along at a good speed along the Southern Main Line with his train following along smoothly behind him. On his footplate, his driver and fireman, along with one of the boys who was on the apprenticeship scheme, kept him going along at a good rate. There was plenty of steam in his boiler, the fire was burning brightly, and there were no strange sounds or funny noises to be heard anywhere as he powered on ahead.
As he approached Cronk Station, he saw activity taking place at the station and within the adjacent yards; he saw Neville, the S.R. Q1 Class 0-6-0 standing at the down platform with six coaches coupled up behind him and taking on more passengers. Inside the yards, he also saw S.R. W Class 2-6-4T No.1925 being turned round on the turntable there, having rolled into the yard a short while before after dropping off a line of fully loaded vans, which were sitting on the same line leading towards the barber shop that Duck had crashed into many years before. Giving a short blast of his whistle as he went on by with his train, No.63491 rolled on by through Cronk Station, as Neville also whistled back in return as the train went on by. At the same time, No.1925 also whistled in return.
However, despite many trains running to keep to their schedules, there were some places on the island where the drifting snow was causing problems for the engines who were trying to get through with their loads. On one of the lines that went through the central part of the island, the snow had built up enough in one spot going through a narrow stretch that trains had to be stopped and men had to be called in to help clear the snow away. Among those who was helping to clear the snow away was none other than Terence the Tractor, and he'd had his snowplough fitted to his front so that he could help get the line cleared.
"Lovely stuff this is!" Terence said, as he helped to push the snow aside. Men with shovels and spades, as well as a variety of other different tools, also worked away at clearing the snow from the line.
(Insert soundtrack – Terence's Theme – Season 1)
It took a bit of time for them to get the snow cleared off the line, and they also had to remove quite a bit of snow away from off to the sides of the line as well, so that more snow wouldn't be able to fall down onto the tracks. And they soon had the line cleared of snow, which mean that trains would be able to move on their way again.
Once all the workmen had stood aside, the signal was given for trains to move on their way and soon the sounds of a whistle and chuffing could be heard from down the line as a train approached. It turned out to be G.N.R. N2 Class 0-6-2T No.2587 with a line of six red coaches coupled up behind him. He needed to get his passengers back down to Wellsworth Station, and now with the snow cleared off the line he would be able to get them there on time. As he chuffed past where the snow had been cleared away, he blew his whistle in appreciation to the workmen who were standing along the side of the line. And the workmen all cheered out loudly and waved their arms about when they saw the train pass by before them.
As No.2587 passed by where Terence was standing, he blew his whistle in greeting to the orange tractor by the side of the line.
"Thank you, Terence!" No.2587 called, as he went on by.
"You're welcome!" Terence called out, as he watched the train go on by with all the happy passengers looking out the windows and watching the groups of workmen waving to them as well as Terence by the side of the line.
Elsewhere on Sodor, trains ran smoothly along the Northern Main Line despite the heavy snowfall and a bitterly cold wind that was blowing in from the north. Among the engines who was working to keep the trains moving on this bitterly cold December afternoon was L.M.S. Princess Coronation Class 4-6-2 No.46224 Princess Alexandra, and she was at the head of a long passenger train of 12 coaches that were painted in maroon red livery. With a fire burning hot and bright in her firebox and a good head of steam in her boiler, she didn't feel the cold too much as she powered ahead with her train following along smoothly behind her. Aboard the train, the passengers were sitting comfortable at their tables and were enjoying the ride. The two buffet coaches were providing a good selection of different hot food and drinks to the passengers while they relaxed at their tables and read books or magazines, worked on their laptops, or chatted with friends.
After passing through Heathfield Station and the complex of different lines that were in the junction there, as well as past the enormous marshalling yard and series of different factories and rail-side industries, Alexandra made her way along towards Harwick which was her first stop for this trip. As she approached the station after a few minutes, she slowed down as the driver closed the regulator most of the way and then gently put the brakes on. As they pulled into the station, Alexandra saw a number of passengers step out from the waiting room within the station building, where a warm fire was burning away within the fireplace there, and out onto the bitter windswept platform so that they could board the train.
After she came to a stop, the coach doors were opened and the passengers who had to disembark at Harwick got off the train, well wrapped up in their warmest clothes, before the new passengers stepped aboard. As she waited to set off on her way again, Alexandra heard the sounds of chuffing in the distance with the sound of a whistle being sounded as an approached train closed in on the station. A few moments later, L.N.E.R. J38 Class 0-6-0 No.1419 approached on one of the other lines with a long, and very mixed freight train coupled up behind him.
"Hello, Alexandra! Can't stop to chat!" No.1419 called, as he blew his whistle in greeting while he headed on by.
"Okay, No.1419! Good luck!" Alexandra called, while the air was filled with the sounds of clanking and clattering from all the different trucks as they went on by. As the brake van wen on by, she then heard the sounds of the doors closing on her coaches, followed shortly after by the sounds of the guard blowing his whistle loudly.
"Okay, Alexandra! Let's go!" her driver called, as he released the brakes and then blew her whistle for a few seconds.
"All right, driver!" Alexandra said, as the driver then opened the regulator a little, allowing high-pressure steam to flow into the four cylinders. Slowly, she moved forwards and took up the weight of her heavy train, with her six large driving wheels slipping a little on the icy rails as she moved off. But the driver activated the sanding gear, and Alexandra's wheels gripped the rails more firmly and she slowly headed on out of the station, heading northwards to round the northern part of Sodor before heading down to Vicarstown.
Down in the south-eastern area of the Island of Sodor at the seaside town of Norramby, work still continued on at the harbour there despite the bitterly cold weather. Among the engines who was helping out was L.N.E.R. J39 Class 0-6-0 No.2989, and he was waiting to set off from the harbour with a long freight train that was coupled up behind him. Some cargo that had been offloaded from a number of small freighters had been loaded aboard his trucks, and a few last checks that needed to be made and that the loas were secured before No.2989 could set off on his way.
Despite the cold weather, there was still plenty of activity going on within the small harbour as workmen helped load up trucks with freight that had arrived on several small freighters during the day, with the sounds of small dockside cranes unloading the ships of their cargo and onto the trucks, or else a few small electric-powered trolleys took some of the cargo elsewhere in the harbour to where it needed to be loaded, either onto railway trucks or onto road lorries. From the high-speed line that crossed over the bridge that went over the harbour entrance, the sound of another whistle was heard as another engine approached, and a few moments later G.W.R. Cathedral Class 4-6-2 No.8006 Chester Cathedral went on by over the bridge at about 70mph with a train of sixteen coaches coupled up behind him.
Soon, with everything at last in order and with all the cargo loaded aboard and secured, it was time for No.2989 to be on his way with his train. With the signal showing the way was clear and the points set, the guard leaned out from his brake van and blew his whistle and waved his green flag.
"Okay, here we go, old boy!" the driver said, as he blew the whistle for two seconds and then opened the regulator a little.
"All right, driver!" No.2989 said, as he slowly moved forwards and took up the weight of his train, and then gradually moved out of Norramby, with his loaded trucks following along smoothly behind him.
(With Carrie and her friends, time 4:35pm, Knapford)
Having finished lunch with her Sodor friends and classmates at the hotel, Carrie was with all of them, as well as Rita Desjardin, and were going along the streets of Knapford and taking in all the sights of what was going on in the leadup to Christmas. They took in the sights of the shop fronts where there were Christmas scenes, including moving figures, models, as well as brightly twinkling and coloured Christmas lights. The sights of many local people going about and enjoying themselves while they did whatever jobs that needed to be done before Christmas finally arrived warmed the hearts of the group, and especially those from Chamberlain. The familiar sounds of Christmas songs and melodies could be heard playing from the open doors of different shops, and from a number of different places along the streets they passed the smells of traditional Christmas food could be smelt as it drifted through the air.
"Oh, I'm so glad that we're spending Christmas here on the Island of Sodor for a change instead of back home. It should be much more relaxing as well." Sue said to Tommy as they all walked along the street.
"Yeah, and I know what you mean by that, babe. And it also means that having Christmas dinner won't be such a stressful thing, considering how much work is needed to prepare it." Tommy said, as he smiled.
"But even so…I'm sure that we'll all be glad to be spending Christmas back at home next year. Nice a place though Sodor is…it's always good to spend Christmas at home." Sue said.
The group soon reached the large park in close to the centre of Knapford and strolled into it; looking around, they could see all the bright Christmas lights that had been set up on special Christmas trees that had been put into place around the park, as well as on other trees and bushes as well. Then, making their way into the middle of the park, they came upon a large skating rink that had been set up, with a lot of people standing around and watching other skate away on the rink. Among the sounds of music being played and people chatting with each other, the sounds of ice skates on the ice could be clearly heard.
Gathering round the ice rink to see what was going on, Carrie and her Sodor friends, as well as her classmates and gym teacher, stood around and watched as the people on the rink skated on the ice, with some clearly having done it before as they were able to keep their feet and go at a faster pace than others who were going at a slower and more careful pace. As she watched the skaters on the ice, Carrie could see that all those who were skating seemed to be enjoying themselves. She even saw a number of young kids who were trying out ice skating for the first time, and yet even they were enjoying their time on the ice as well with their parents.
"You know, Carrie…I've tried ice skating here a few times over the years." Simon said, as he looked at his girlfriend.
"Really? And are you good at it?" Carrie asked.
"Well…the first time that I tried it when I was nine-years-old, I ended up slipping and falling on my back after about 10 minutes. But luckily, no damage was done." Simon said.
"That must have been embarrassing." Rachel Spies said, having overheard the conversation that Carrie and Simon were having.
"Oh, it was a bit. But then again…I do clearly remember that quite a few others who were on the rink that day ended up falling in some form or another too. Although no one got badly hurt, I'm pleased to say." Simon said.
"And do you still go skating here every now and then?" Jessica Upshaw asked.
"Yes, I still do on occasion. And some other people who I've known for years still go skating here as well." Simon said.
"Have you gone skating yet, Carrie?" Norma Watson asked.
"No, not yet, Norma. I've actually been too busy working on the railway to think about going ice skating. Although with me and everyone else on the apprenticeship scheme due to take a few days leave over the Christmas holidays, I think that I might try skating before we can go back to work." Carrie said.
"Sounds fair enough to me, Carrie." Simon said, as they all turned their attention to watch those on the ice rink skate. For several long minutes they stayed and watched, while chatting with each other and watching those who were skating and enjoying themselves.
Eventually, the group moved away from the ice rink and made their way out of the park and back out into the town of Knapford, heading towards where the Christmas market was being held. With the cold temperatures, many of those in the group wanted to get something hot to eat or drink so as to warm up. Carrie, Simon, as well as Olivia, Saoirse, Sophie, and Alice were keen to enjoy the rest of the day, but at the same time they also had to keep a close watch on the time, as they would need to get themselves home soon as they all had to be up early the next morning for work on the railway.
Once they arrived at the Christmas market, the group went over to the stalls where they knew they could get hot food and drinks that they really liked. Carrie and Simon, along with the four girls as well as Rita Desjardin went over to a stall where burgers were sold. There was a short queue of people who were waiting there as well, but they didn't need to wait for very long as they were soon at the head of the queue and they ordered the burgers that they wanted to order. While they stood around and waited for their burgers to be readied for them all, Rita turned to speak to Carrie.
"Are you feeling all right from the news of your mother's death, Carrie?" Rita asked, as she looked towards her favourite student with some concern. Even though Rita had spoken with Carrie earlier on during lunch about it, she still wanted to know how Carrie was feeling by the news.
"Yes, I'm all right, Ms Desjardin. I…I'm just still allowing the news to sink in. It's still a little too early for me to know exactly how I feel about it." Carrie said, as she looked up at her gym teacher.
"It's all right, Carrie. I understand. It's just that I thought that you'd be more upset about hearing the news." Rita said.
"Well…I guess that only time will tell for sure on whether or not I will. But for now, I just don't want to think about it…and especially this close to Christmas." Carrie said.
"I understand, Carrie. I guess that the way each person reacts to the death of someone that they know or have lived with is very different." Rita said, knowing from her own experience that each person reacts very differently when they hear the news of a death.
"I'm just wondering if your father has heard about the news yet." Sophie said, wondering how Ralph would react when she heard the news of his ex-wife's death.
"Well…I guess that I'll soon find out when I get back home in a while, Sophie." Carrie said. The thoughts of what her father would think of this news did get her curious; would he be relieved as she was feeling right now? Or would he feel somewhat indifferent to it? Carrie knew that only time would tell.
It wasn't long before the burgers were finally readied, and Carrie, her boyfriend, Saoirse, Sophie, Alice, Olivia, and her gym teacher were handed the burgers that they had ordered, along with any drinks they wanted and French fries. Then they made their way through the crowds of people over to one of the covered seating areas where they could eat, and were pleased to find two tables that were still unoccupied and went to sit down at them.
Tucking into their burgers, the small group were silent as they ate, with the only sounds they could hear being people chatting or laughing at the other tables in the space, as well as the sounds of Christmas music being played from somewhere nearby.
"Hmm…this is good." Simon said, as he savoured the flavour of his burger.
"Absolutely! I really love the burgers that stall sells." Olivia said, as she took another bite out of her burger.
"You know, I'll be a bit sad when the Christmas market finishes up on Sunday evening, as it means that we'll need to wait another year for it to come back again." Saoirse said, as she took a sip of her can of Pepsi.
"I know…but even so, we should still enjoy the time that it's still here before it finishes on Sunday." Alice said.
"I agree. And I want to try as much of what's here before then." Simon said.
"I also want to go to one of the cookery demonstrations in the cookery tent. There's a few things going on in there that I want to see, including how to stuff a turkey and how to make the perfect mulled wine." Rita said.
"That's something that my mother also enjoys as well. She always like to go to the cookery demonstration tent every now and then when the Christmas market is here, and she likes to see what's there and how she can improve her own Christmas recipes." Simon said.
"Yeah, mine too." Alice added, knowing that her mother liked to improve the family's Christmas recipes every now and then. Where she was sitting at the table, Carrie enjoyed the burger that she had ordered and listened to the conversation her Sodor friends and gym teacher were having. Then her mind went back to the news that she had heard of her mother's death earlier on in the day; the news of it had suddenly been a shock to her, and Carrie was even more surprised to realise that she wasn't sad to hear it. But Carrie knew that would likely be different in a few hours once she had been given a chance to thing about it. Deciding to worry about that later, Carrie continued on with enjoying her burger.
(Later that evening, 6:25pm)
With Christmas music playing and with the buzz of activity taking place as people enjoyed the Christmas market in the cold December evening, Carrie, her Sodor friends, along with her gym teacher and classmates, were strolling along and taking in the sights of the Christmas market with everyone there really enjoying themselves. Even though Carrie was enjoying herself as well, she also knew that she had to keep a close watch on the time as she and her friends had to go to bed early that evening as they needed to be up very early the following morning to start work on the railway.
"Are there any other places here on Sodor that we could visit while we're over here?" Sue asked, as she looked at Olivia.
"Yes, you guys should go and visit the Skarloey Railway. It's a narrow-gauge railway over on the eastern side of Sodor, and thousands of visitors go to it every year to see the engines who work there, as well as the spectacular scenery within that part of Sodor." Olivia said.
"And is the Skarloey Railway still running at this time of year?" Tommy asked.
"Absolutely! It runs trains year-round, except on certain days, and we went up there earlier on this year on Sophie's 17th birthday as a day out with friends." Olivia said.
"And was the weather good when you went up there?" Sue asked.
"It was, I'm pleased to report. And we visited a number of places up there that day, including the boat tours that go on the really big lake up there. As well as a café on one of the hills up there with very good views of the surrounding landscape." Sophie said.
"And is the café a good one?" Sue asked.
"It is, and it serves some of the best food that you can get anywhere on the Island of Sodor." Sophie said.
"The only thing is that the café we went to isn't open during the winter months due to the snow and freezing weather conditions up there." Simon said.
"Oh, that's a pity. Though I don't know if I'd ever be able to stand the intense cold up that's up there in those hills at this time of year." Sue said.
"Well, you guys should come back for a visit in the summer as that café is open from the end of March until the start of October, though it can get quite busy up there." Sophie said.
"Well…we'll see." Tommy said, knowing that there was no guarantee that they could be able to come back to Sodor when the summer came around.
They soon reached the area of the Christmas market where there was a large white marquee tent, and this was where the Christmas cookery demonstrations was being carried out by a number of chefs who were behind a series of cookery stations. This had been quite a common sight here at the Christmas market for the last three years, and the chefs would give demonstrations to people visiting the market on how to make their Christmas food even better, which included making the best mulled wine, how to bake Christmas cookies, and even how to make the best roast potatoes or how to make the best stuffing for a turkey.
"Have you guys ever gone in here to this tent while it's been here for the last few weeks?" Heather asked, as she looked inside the cookery demonstration tent where the chefs were going about their demonstrations with a large group of people sitting and listening to what was going on at the cookery stations before them.
"Yeah, we have a few times…though not as much as our parents have done since the Christmas market began back in November. My own mother has come here a few times to get ideas for recipes that she can use to improve Christmas dinner." Simon said, as she looked towards the tent and all the people who were in there and listening to the chefs who were working away.
"We've also gone in there for a time earlier this month as well, and it's interesting to see those cooks work away at cooking in front of everyone there." Carrie said.
"And I can tell you that it's actually quite interesting for some of the time in there as well." Simon said, remembering that he had seen a few recipes being made in there that his own mother had tried over the period of a few Christmases.
"And I'm sure that some of our own parents have gone in there as well over the last few days." Norma Watson said, as she looked into the tent. She knew for a fact that her own parents had been there and had seen a few cookery demonstrations, and had also gotten a few different pamphlets on how to prepare certain Christmas recipes.
"Yeah, and my parents have been in there as well." Freddy Holt said, knowing that his own mother had gone in there for a while the day before to see what things she could improve on some of the dishes that she usually served each Christmas.
Just then, Carrie felt her mobile phone buzz in one of the inside pockets of her coat, meaning that a text message had come in. Taking her phone out and checking, she saw that it was from her father. After excusing herself from the group for a moment, she went over to answer the message as her father was wondering when she was coming back to the house. After answering the message, she then went back to the group.
"Look, I'm afraid that I need to be off home now, everyone." Carrie said, as she looked at each of them.
"Do you have to be off now?" Sue asked, a little surprised that she needed to be off home now.
"Yes, I'm afraid that I need to be. After all, I'm due to be up very early in the morning to start work." Carrie said.
"And speaking of which, I think we should get ourselves back home as well, seeing as we're starting early tomorrow as well." Saoirse said, as she checked her watch.
"Yeah, and I think that the six of us are very likely in for another busy morning once we get to work." Simon said, well aware that they were going to be kept busy moving passengers, mail, and parcels from one part of the island to another.
"Well, if you guys have to be working tomorrow, I think that we'll let you set off home. And good luck with your work tomorrow morning out on the railway." Rita Desjardin said.
"Thanks Rita, and I think that we'll need it too, especially considering how much work we'll be doing." Olivia said.
"And shall we see all tomorrow afternoon once we finish work?" Sophie said.
"Yeah, I think that would be good. Shall we see you guys here?" Sue asked.
"Yes, of course. Anyway, goodnight you guys." Simon said, as he along with Carrie and the other four girls turned away and headed off on their way.
"Good night!" the Ewen High Seniors and Rita said, as they watched Carrie and her Sodor friends set off on their way out of the Christmas market.
(Back at the White Residence, a little later on)
Sitting at the kitchen table, Carrie and her father were having dinner together before they went over to Tidmouth Sheds, as they would be spending the night in the crew building there so that they could be at work quickly the following morning. Both of them were eating in silence, and Carrie seemed to be aware of the fact that her father had heard the news about the death of her mother. Taking a glance over to Carrie, Ralph saw that she was looking down at her food as she ate, and he was well aware that she had a lot on her mind.
"Did you hear the news of Margaret's death earlier on today?" Ralph asked, aware that the news of it was no doubt playing on Carrie's mind.
"Yes, it is. It was just so sudden when I saw it on the news earlier on." Carrie said, with the memory of that moment still fresh in her mind.
"Well, it was somewhat of a shock for me as well," Ralph said, having never expected his ex-wife to have passed so suddenly after less than a year of being locked up in Arkham.
"I…I thought that I would have felt sad by the news." Carrie said, as she looked at her dad, "…but instead…I just feel…indifferent to it."
"Well…I think that it means that maybe you just didn't love Margaret the way that you thought you did." Ralph said, though he was being cautious with the way he was saying it.
"Yeah, maybe." Carrie said, thinking that her father was right.
"And try not to feel too bad about it, Carrie. I'm not gonna judge you for how you feel…that is if you are feeling anyway sad." Ralph said.
"No, I'm not actually, dad. I just don't feel anything to it at all." Carrie said.
"All right, but try not to let it bother you too much." Ralph said.
"Okay…I'll try not to." Carrie said, as the two of them continued on with their dinner. Carrie knew that she would have plenty of time to mourn her mother's death another time…if, that is, she felt anyway upset by it.
After a few more minutes and they had finished up eating. As they set about cleaning up and placing the dirty dishes into the dishwasher, Ralph turned to Carrie.
"So, did you meet Stepney earlier on today, Carrie?" he asked.
"Yes, I did. And he seems to be quite a character as well. Very friendly and eager from what I gather." Carrie said, as she smiled a bit.
"Yeah, Stepney's quite a popular engine, and a welcome visitor to Sodor too. It's been quite a while since he last came to Sodor, and the fact that he's come here for Christmas will make the holiday a bit more special." Ralph said, as he placed some of the dishes into the dishwasher.
"And have you worked with him?" Carrie asked, as she placed the salt and two bottles of condiments into one of the cabinets.
"I have, and I've enjoyed each moment that I've worked with him." Ralph said, as he closed the dishwasher door.
"I hope that I'll get the chance to work with him while he's here." Carrie said.
"I'm sure that you will. Now, you'd better get upstairs and get your bag. We need to be leaving here and heading over to Tidmouth Sheds in the next few minutes." Ralph said.
"All right." Carrie said, as she turned and headed out the kitchen.
(Meanwhile, over at the hotel)
With most of those from Chamberlain having finished their dinner not too long before, many of the seniors were socialising together in the hotel's main bar area, where a few of the adults were also socialising and enjoying after-dinner coffee while they quietly chatted with each other. The most obvious talk amongst many of the seniors was the news of Margaret White's death, with those seniors who hadn't heard the news having only just heard the news within the last hour all wanting to hear from those who had been with Carrie earlier on that day about what her reaction had been when she had been told the news.
"You mean…that Carrie's reaction to her mother's death was just…indifference?" Nicki Watson asked, as she and her sister, Lizzy, leaned in, unable to believe that they had just been told.
"Yeah…that's exactly what Carrie's reaction was. It was as if she didn't quite believe what she had seen on the television. And then…she turned back to eating her lunch…though with a slightly disappointed look on her face." Sue said, as she and Tommy looked towards the Watson Twins. And just like the Watson Twins, all the others in the small group in this part of the bar couldn't believe what they'd been told, or seen from earlier on.
"I wouldn't have expected anything like from someone like Carrie." Lizzy said. "Surely, she'd have been upset about her mother's death."
"Yes, but just remember one thing…" Tommy said, "…keep in mind all the horrible things that Margaret did to Carrie inside that old house over the years. I'm quite sure that anyone who's seen that their abuser who tormented them for a long time is finally dead would probably feel somewhat relieved. And so, I actually quite understand why Carrie felt the way that she was from earlier on."
"You maybe right about that, Tommy. But even so…Margaret was still Carrie's mother after all." Vicky said, as she took a sip of her hot chocolate.
"Well…I suppose that we'll all find out a bit more about Margaret's death in the coming days. And maybe…just maybe…we'll find out how Carrie really feels about it." Sue said.
"And Freddy and I already know how Chris, Tina, and Donna feel about it." Norma Watson said, as she sighed heavily while rolling her eyes.
"And what was their reaction?" Sue asked, as she and the others looked towards Norma, with them already slightly dreading the answer.
"Earlier on, I heard Chris singing the song "Ding, dong, the witch is dead" from the movie The Wizard of Oz, and Tina and Donna were laughing along and singing it as well." Norma said, and the others in the group couldn't help but sigh and shake their heads at just how inappropriate that was.
"I don't think anyone should do anything like that to anyone who's died…and it doesn't matter who the person is, or even what their personality was like." Rachel Spies said, knowing what sort of a person Chris was.
"Yeah, but there's no stopping Chris from doing anything like that." Sue said, as she looked towards the doors leading out from the bar where Chris, Tina, and Donna had stepped out from a short while before.
"I hope that she watches what she says or does…because I'd hate for her to get into any sort of trouble with that lark." Tommy said, and everyone else in the little group agreed with him.
(Saturday, December 22nd 2012 – 10:50am, Sodor International Airport Station)
With the buzz of passengers who were getting aboard the coaches after stepping out from the warm waiting room filling the air, Carrie leaned out and watched from the footplate of G.W.R. Cathedral Class 4-6-2 No.8006 Chester Cathedral as the passengers stepped aboard the train. She watched as the porters who were standing on Platform 2 assisted the passengers with their bags, as well as the passengers stepping aboard the coaches, and she saw that every one of them were well wrapped up in warm winter clothes.
So far, Carrie has experienced a fairly busy morning since she started work at 4:00am after getting up at the crew building at Tidmouth Sheds; first of all, she had worked with B.R. Standard Class 6MT No.72024 Clan Scott on taking a number of different freight and parcels trains along the western side of the Northern Main Line between Knapford and Emily Road, before being transferred over to Chester Cathedral a little after 9:50am. After helping to get Chester ready for his morning run, which including helping to oil up all the different moving parts and rubbing down his paintwork, they soon set off from the depot to take Chester's first train of the morning, which was an express train from Knapford Station to Vicarstown along the Southern Main Line. Before they left the depot bound for the station, Carrie noticed Stepney sitting in one of the other lines being readied for his next job of the day. As she watched the ochre-gold livery 0-6-0 tank engine being prepared, Carrie hoped that she would get the chance to work with Stepney while he was here on Sodor. Not too long afterwards, with everything finally ready, all the moving parts oiled up and with a full load of coal and water in the tender, Chester soon left the depot and headed down the line to Knapford Station. Looking out from the cab as they headed on their way, Carrie's mind was wondering whether or not the rumoured second special visitor was coming to Sodor would be arriving today.
After departing from Knapford on time at exactly 10:40am, Chester made his way along the main line with a long line of 14 heavily-laden coaches behind him. The trip went very smoothly and they made good progress through the falling snow and freezing cold until they reached their first stop of the trip, Wellsworth Station. After stopping at the platform, they dropped off some passengers and picked up a few more while they waited for a banker to buffer up to the back of the train. Once they heard the whistle from the banker after he buffered up to the rear coach, they just needed to wait until they were given the all-clear to go from the guard and the signal had dropped to show the way ahead was clear.
With the sounds of whistles sounding loudly, the train set off on its way again, with Chester pulling ahead at the front while the banker, G.W.R. 94XX Class 0-6-0PT No.8450, pushed as hard as he could from the back. After running along the line, they soon began to climb up Gordon's Hill and the sounds of loud chuffing echoing all over the hill as the train began to climb up the hill. Looking out from the driver's side of the cab as they made their way up the hill, Carrie took a rest from shovelling coal into the firebox and looked over the snow-covered fields off the side of the line. It was a beautiful sight to see with the crisp white snow seeming to brightening up the scene.
About three quarters of the way up, Carrie noticed the big café close to the top of the hill with the car park around it, and the very large open snowy field at the base of it. In recent days when she had gone past here, Carrie had seen a lot of people, including a lot of children, having fun on the snowy slopes with snowboards and even skis, as the slope of the hill was more than sufficient enough that people could enjoy the snowy weather. Carrie was wondering if she'd ever get the chance to enjoy the snowboarding and skiing there, as it sure looked like fun. Right at that moment, she could clearly see a few people heading on down the snowy slopes on skis and snowboards, and she could see that there were some children amongst them. Some of those people who were waiting to go on down the hill waved to the train as it went on by on the last part of the climb. Seeing these people waving, Carrie couldn't help but smile and eave back.
But before she knew it, they had finally reached the top of the hill and the driver, after blowing the whistle to let No.8450 know that they had reached the top of the hill, opened the regulator a bit more and wound the reversing gear back a little towards mid-gear, and the train began to pull away as they headed on down the other side of the hill and headed on towards Maron Station and the airport beyond. After passing by the café and then feeling the train speed up, Carrie went back over to the fireman's side of the cab and waited for her next turn to stoke the firebox with more coal.
(Back to the present)
The last of the passengers at the airport station had at last climbed aboard the coaches and it was time for them to be on their way again. As the signal ahead dropped to show the way ahead was clear for them, they heard the sound of the guard blowing his whistle loudly and, looking back, the driver saw the green flag being waved before the guard stepped back into his compartment within the first coach.
"All right! Here we go!" the driver said, knowing that they had the right of way. After releasing the brakes, he blew the whistle for a second or two and then opened the regulator a little while keeping a sharp watch on the steam chest pressure gauge. As Chester moved forwards, taking up the weight of his heavy coaches behind him, Carrie moved up to check the water gauge glass to make sure that the water level was okay. The glass was still around three quarters full, and the tender tank had been topped up while they had been taking passengers at the airport station, and so there was no need to worry about them running out of water anytime soon.
The rest of their trip along the Southern Main Line went uneventfully, with them making two final stops of the trip, one at Rossington Junction, and the second at Crovan's Gate, where a few passengers disembarked and a few others came aboard, before they continued on up the line towards Vicarstown. By then it was close to 11:50am and Carrie was feeling somewhat tired from all the work that she'd done from. She was looking forward to having a good rest in the crew building for a while before having a ride back to Knapford Station, as she was due to finish her shift at 1:00pm. She had left her bag with her spare clothes and wash things back in her locker at the Tidmouth yards, and she would need to get back there anyway she could.
As they finally arrived at Platform 3 at Vicarstown Station, Chester could see that there were a few people waiting on the platform for them to arrive. Standing over at Platform 4, he could see another engine standing around and waiting. It turned out to be No.79010, a B.R. Standard Class 7MT-2 2-8-2 (137), and he was waiting for his train to be brought from the nearby yards so that he could take it back across the island to Knapford.
"Hello, Chester!" No.79010 said, as he watched the G.W.R. Cathedral Class 4-6-2 come to a gentle halt.
"Morning, No.79010!" Chester said, as he stopped and then the porters on the platform opened the coach doors, and the passengers on the train began to disembark.
"Did you have a good run from Knapford?" No.79010 asked.
"Yes, and I think that all the passengers enjoyed the run over here. I didn't hear any of them giving any complaints." Chester said, as he listened to the passengers make their way out from the station and towards Vicarstown.
"It may interest you to hear that the rumoured special visitor who was coming to Sodor arrived not long before you arrived." No.79010 said. On hearing that, Carrie couldn't help but smile. The rumours of the second special visitor coming here for Christmas were true, and she was wondering which engine or person it was.
"And where is the special visitor?" Chester asked, with his curiosity now up.
"He's over in the engine depot nearby…and I think you'll be surprised at who it is." No.79010 said, as he smiled at Chester.
(137): The B.R. Standard Class 7MT-2 2-8-2 was designed by Robert Riddles and they were a slightly smaller-wheeled version of the earlier 7MT-1 Class, and which were intended to be used on lines that couldn't take any heavier engines, and they were also quite powerful and able to move very heavy loads on those lines. And just like the earlier 7MT-1 Class, the 7MT-2 Class engines were basically a light 2-8-2 version of the B.R. Standard Class 6MT Clan Pacifics. They were also one of the last classes of the B.R. Standard Classes to be introduced and built before the 1960's rolled around.
After the first examples of the 7MT-1 Class came into service, it was realised that there was the potential for a smaller-wheeled version of the type, as it would offer a higher tractive effort and the ability to haul heavier trains on the lines that they were intended to work on. And so Riddles set to work on designing a smaller wheeled version of the 7MT-1 Class, with not much redesign work that needed to be done as the vast majority of the components that the new class would use would be identical to those used on the other B.R. Standard Classes as well as the 7MT-1, including the boiler, cylinders, tenders, and cab, with the only major difference being the size of the main driving wheels.
Just like all the other B.R. Standard Classes, the engines of the 7MT-2 Class were fitted with rocking grates, hopper ashpans, and self-cleaning smokeboxes, all of which made disposing of the engines at the end of a long working day a much easier task for the shed crews. The engines were also fitted with mechanical lubricators on their running plates, which helped to provide adequate lubrication for the motion and cylinders. The cabs also had comfortable padded seats fitted, as well as having generators for providing electric lighting, and offered plenty of shelter for their crews, which was seen as necessary for when the engines were working out in the highlands of Scotland. Smoke deflectors were also fitted to the sides of the smokeboxes in order to help life the exhaust clear of the cabs when the engines were running.
In total, 76 members of the class were built between April 1957 and December 1959, with 21 being built at Crewe Works, 20 being built at Doncaster Works, and the remaining 35 engines being built at Swindon Works. The class were numbered from No.79000 to No.79075, and after being built, the class were put to work on trains mainly within the Scottish Region where the lines that they were intended to work on were located, but they were also used on the Eastern Region, the North Eastern Region, as well as in the London Midland Region for a brief time before going north to Scotland.
The class had two outside cylinders that were 19.5in in diameter with a 28in piston stoke, a boiler that was fitted with superheating elements and pressed to 250psi, and eight driving wheels that were 5ft 3in in diameter, which all combined to give the class a maximum tractive effort of 35,913lbf. The tenders that the class were paired with ran on six wheels and were of two types. These were the BR1B, which carried 4,725 gallons of water and 7 tons of coal, and the BR1, which carried 4,250 gallons of water and 7 tons of coal. The cylinders of the class were made of prefabricated steel sections what were welded together instead of being cast in a mould like on previous engine classes.
With the eight driving wheels that the class had, the 7MT-2 Class had a very light axle-loading and that meant that they could work on any line within Scotland where they were assigned to. And with their high tractive effort, they could also haul any kind of train that they were assigned to haul, whether it was a passenger train or a loose-couple freight train.
The first members of the class assigned to the Scottish Region were sent to Glasgow and Edinburgh, where they took over trains that ran north to places like Dundee, Aberdeen, Inverness, Stirling, and Fort William, and even as far north as Wick and Thurso. With their ability to haul heavy loads as well as their ability to not slip when they started off, as well as their fact that their enclosed cabs kept the crews warm and dry, they immediately became very popular machines with their crews. Their ability to give a smooth ride while hauling a heavy load also endeared them to their crews. They also had the ability to travel as high speeds as well, often reaching speeds of close to 90mph on occasion.
As well as seeing extensive service in Scotland, they also saw extensive use in England, including taking heavy trains along the Waverley Route from Edinburgh to Carlisle, as well as along the East Coast Main Line down as far as York, and on the West Coast Main Line as far as Lancaster. One of their tasks was taking nightly freights from yards and depots in Northern England and delivering them to Scotland in time to be delivered in the mornings, as well as taking the occasional daytime fitted freight from Scottish depots down into England.
Despite being intended to be used on freight duties, the class also did well on hauling the occasional passenger trains, especially special rail-tours running between cities, as well as on lines in Scotland where special trains would run among impressive scenery.
There was a brief proposal at one stage to give the class the names of Scottish town, firths, and islands, but this was quickly abandoned due to the Modernisation Plan and so the class ran without names for their whole working lives.
Very few modifications were ever made to the class while they were in service, with no double chimneys paired with Kylchap exhausts ever being fitted to them in order to improve draughting through their boilers, and no proposals being made to fit them with British Caprotti valve gear. One modification that was tried was streamlining of the inside steam passages in order to make the flow of steam from the boilers to the cylinders run faster, and it worked very well at improving the steam flow.
Withdrawals of the class began in May 1965, when No.79009 was removed from service at its base of Carlisle Kingmoor, and she was followed by No.79021 and No.79034 in June. The rest of the class followed along over the next three years, until late July 1968 when the final four engines still in service at that time, No.79000, No.79019, No.79051, and No.79072, were withdrawn from service en-masse, with No.79000 being the final member of the class to have its fire dropped while still in B.R. service.
Thankfully, six of the engines have survived into preservation, all of whom were bought from B.R. after they were withdrawn from service. All six of these engines have been lucky to have run under their own steam since being withdrawn, both on heritage railways as well as out on the main line.
The six surviving engines include;
No.79000; the doyen of the class, she was built at Doncaster Works in April 1957 and briefly worked in the region before moving north and spending the rest of her working life in Scotland. After being withdrawn in July 1968, she was bought for preservation as part of the National Collection and in 1975 was put on display in York's newly opened National Railway Museum. After spending many years as a static exhibit there, work on restoring her to full working order began in 2005 and was finally completed by end of October 2008 when No.79000 rolled under her own power for the first time in over 40 years. Since then, No.79000 has been kept in working order and has visited many heritage railways all over the U.K., while also covering many thousands of miles on the main line as well. As of 2025, after undergoing a second major overhaul from 2018 to 2021, No.79000 is in full working order and registered to run on the main line.
No.79005; built at Doncaster Works in May 1957, she was withdrawn from service in May 1967 but was bought shortly afterwards by a private individual who wanted a member of the class to preserve and run rail-tours. After spending a number of years in storage, work to restore No.79005 began in February 1979 and was fully completed by the end of April 1983 when she steamed in preservation for the first time. Since then, No.79005 has travelled many thousands of miles from one end of Britain to the other, both on heritage railways and the main line. As of 2025, No.79005 is based on the Great Central Railway where she's undergoing another overhaul to return her to working order.
No.79017; built at Doncaster Works in July 1957, she was withdrawn from service in December 1967 from her home shed near Glasgow Central, but she was bought not long afterwards and taken south to the Longmoor Military Railway and stayed there until the railway closed in 1969 and was taken to the Severn Valley Railway in 1972 where she's currently based. After running on the line for a number of years, she underwent a major overhaul to return her to full main line working order, which was finally completed by December 1989 and No.79017 finally returned to the main line in January 1990. Since returning to the main line, No.79017 has travelled extensively on the main line along the length of Britain as well as on many heritage railways and has covered many thousands of miles hauling special rail-tours. As of 2025, No.79017 is sitting in storage on the Mid Hants Railway with its most recent boiler certificate having expired in 2022 and is waiting for its next overhaul.
No.79024; built at Crewe Works in September 1957, she was withdrawn from service in November 1967 and taken to Carnforth where she became a part of Steamtown. After spending a number of years sitting in storage, No.79024 returned to steam in 1979 after undergoing an overhaul and she hauled her first main line special in June that year from Leeds to Carlisle via Settle. In the years since returning to the main line, No.79024 has travelled extensively on the main line, and hauled many special trains in those years, as well as undergoing three major overhauls to keep her running. As of 2025, having completed a recent overhaul that lasted from February 2019 to June 2022, No.79024 is in full working order and allowed to run on the main line.
No.79042; built at Crewe Works in May 1958, she was withdrawn in May 1968 having been in service for only 10 years. But she was saved from scrap by a small group who wanted an engine to preserve for future generations to enjoy, and she was brought to Leeds to be preserved. She spent a number of years sitting in storage within a secure shed before work began to restoring her to full working order again in May 1981. By the end of March 1987, the work was completed and No.79042 returned to steam, initially working on a number of different heritage railways for a time before returning to work on the main line in April 1989. Since then No.79042 has travelled far and wide, and has hauled main special trains all over the British main line network, ranging from Penzance in the south all the way up to Wick in the north of Scotland. As of 2025, No.79042 is in full working order and is allowed to run on the main line, being based in Birmingham.
No.79070; built at Swindon Works in November 1959, she spent her entire working life in Scotland being based at Edinburgh where she mostly worked on trains from Edinburgh to Glasgow as well as northwards to Aberdeen via Dundee. After being withdrawn in February 1967, she was bought in April 1967 and taken south to the Tyseley Railway Museum where she became a part of the museum's collection. After a number of years as a static exhibit there, work to return her to full working order began in August 1987 and was finally completed by March 1990 when she steamed again for the first time in more than 20 years. Since then, No.79070 has been a regular sight on special rail-tours on the main line as well as on heritage railways, including the Great Central Railway, the Severn Valley Railway, and the Mid Hants Railway. As of 2025, No.79070 is sitting in storage at the Didcot Railway Centre while waiting for its next overhaul.
A shunter had soon uncoupled Chester from his coaches, and stepped up to the cab and told the driver that he was clear to move off. After he was given the all-clear to leave the station, Chester slowly rolled forwards out of the station until he ran past some of the points before coming to a stop a little way beyond them. After the signalman had changed the points for them and given them the all-clear to move, Chester slowly reversed over the points and back through the station on his way back to the engine depot. Sitting down on the front of the tender, Carrie was wondering who the special visitor was, but she knew that there wouldn't be too long before she saw the visitor. She was feeling exhausted from the work, but she was feeling a bit excited at seeing the expected visitor.
(At the Vicarstown Motive Power Depot)
As Chester slowly entered the depot, where a number of other engines were being readied for work or were being cleaned and having the ash cleaned out of them before they could go out again. As they rolled into the depot, Carrie looked out to see if there was anything that would catch her attention, but she couldn't see anything that looked as if was special. And then, as Chester slowed down while they approached and then rolled onto the turntable, Carrie looked over towards the shed and then she saw a very familiar engine sitting on the outside of the shed and being prepared for a run. The engine looked very much like Gordon but was painted in L.N.E.R. apple green livery and had two very familiar tenders coupled up behind him. And then Carrie noticed some very familiar numbers on the engine's front buffer beam; 4472. She smiled, as she knew who this engine was.
"It's…it's Flying Scotsman! You know, I had a feeling that he would be the special visitor coming over here to Sodor for Christmas!" Carrie said, as she smiled.
"Well, to be honest there Carrie, I sort of had a similar feeling as well!" the driver said with a smile as he stopped them in the right place on the turntable. Slowly, the turntable turned round until it stopped in the right place and then, Chester slowly reversed off the turntable and into the berth beside where Flying Scotsman was standing and being readied to set off for Knapford in a short while. There were a number of workmen going over Flying Scotsman and doing all sorts of jobs, including rubbing down and polishing his paintwork, topping up all the different oiling points with more oil, as well as a variety of other little jobs that needed to be done.
"Good afternoon there, Scotty! Welcome back to Sodor!" Chester said with a smile, as he was brought to a stop.
"And hello back to you, Chester! It's nice to be back here, and in plenty of time for Christmas as well!" Flying Scotsman said, as he smiled. After having finished his earlier trip to Sodor back in September, he had spent the intervening time between then and now running special rail-tours for the National Railway Museum out on the main line around Great Britain, as well as on a number of different heritage railways. Now though, with the busy autumn and winter schedule for the main land over, Flying Scotsman was back on Sodor to spend the Christmas holidays here, with the arrangements having been made some time earlier in the year by the Fat Controller himself.
As she stepped off of Chester's footplate with a smile on her face, Carrie slowly walked up alongside Flying Scotsman until she was standing in front of him.
"Hello there, Scotty! Do you remember me?" Carrie asked, as she looked up at him.
"And hello there to you too, Carrie! I was actually hoping to see you around sometime today!" Flying Scotsman said, as he smiled down at Carrie.
"Well, here I am! Have you been on Sodor very long today?" Carrie asked.
"I actually only arrived about two hours ago after a long trip over from York. And I had a special train with me that was full of people who were all coming here for Christmas, and I got into Vicarstown where a lot of people were standing there and waiting for me to arrive. After I was uncoupled from my train, I came over here to be serviced before I could go back out again in a while." Flying Scotsman said.
"And you're heading over to Knapford?" Carrie asked.
"Yes, I am, and with a special train as well." said Flying Scotsman.
"Well, I was wondering if you could give me a lift back to Knapford, please. I'm actually finishing up my shift for the day at 12, and I left all my things back in my locker at Tidmouth Sheds." Carrie said.
"That's no problem at all, Carrie. I think that could be arranged. But there's still a little time left to go until I can leave here." said Flying Scotsman, as he smiled.
"Thanks, and I think that'll just give me enough time to get myself sorted out beforehand." Carrie said.
But then, there came two familiar voices close by. "Hang on a second…Carrie White? Is that you?" came one voice that was definitely a female one.
"We didn't expect to see you here today." came the second female voice. Turning her head to see who it was, Carrie saw two very familiar women step over towards her; it was Laura and Chloe, the two women who had been the driver and fireman respectively back in the summer when Flying Scotsman had visited Sodor.
"Hey there you two! It's nice to see you again!" Carrie said, as she stepped forwards and shook their hands, one at a time.
"It's nice to see you too, Carrie. We were hoping that we'd get to see you here on Sodor while we were here for this Christmas." Chloe said.
"Oh, you're spending Christmas over here on Sodor this year?" Carrie asked, a little bit surprised to hear that.
"Yes, we are. And our families are already here on the island and are waiting for us at a big house that's been rented over on the outskirts of Knapford." Laura said.
"And I just hope that this Christmas will go well." Chloe said.
"Yeah, me too. And when are you going to be leaving here to head over towards Knapford?" Carrie asked.
"We should be heading off in about half an hour, as that's when we need to set off from Vicarstown with our train." Chloe said.
"All right, I'll just go into the crew building and get myself sorted out and to make any last checks if there's anything needed for me." Carrie said, as she turned and headed over towards the crew building.
"Okay, Carrie. But try not to leave it too long, as we'll be leaving the depot soon." Laura said.
"All right!" Carrie called out.
After going into the crew building, Carrie made her way to the ladies toilets and took a few minutes to use the toilet and then wash her hands and face of any coal dust. Once that was done, she left the bathroom and spoke with the yard manager if there were any jobs that were assigned to her for the last hour of her shift.
"No, Carrie. There's no other job here for you, so you're to return to Knapford on Flying Scotsman when he leaves to take his train there." said the yard manager.
"Thanks, sir. I'll head out at once." Carrie said, as she turned and left the office, heading out into the yard. Going up to where Flying Scotsman was being readied to depart, Carrie had a smile on her face as she approached.
"I guess that I'll be going with you over to Knapford on your run over there." Carrie said, as she spoke to Laura and Chloe.
"That's good to hear, Carrie. Now we need some help getting Scotty for his run, and we don't have that much time to do it." Chloe said, as she handed Carrie an oil can and a few rags.
"Okay, now what do we need to do?" Carrie asked, as she looked towards the valve gear.
"Follow me this way please, Carrie." Laura said, as she led Carrie over to the valve gear on the left-hand side of Flying Scotsman.
With Carrie's help in working on the last jobs, everything was soon finished and it was at last time for them to be on their way out of the depot. Stepping onto the footplate, Carrie was feeling very pleased with herself and was looking forward to getting some work done on the footplate of Flying Scotsman while they were on their way back to Knapford. After helping out with the final checks on the footplate, Carrie quickly pulled out her phone and sent a quick text to Simon, to tell him that she would be a bit late getting back to Knapford and that she was coming in on the second of the special visitors.
As she put her phone back into her inside pocket, Carrie turned her head and saw both Chloe and Laura step up onto the footplate.
"Okay Carrie! We're all ready to go and get our train!" Chloe said, as she went up to the driver's seat and took up position there.
"And it's going to be a very long and heavy train as well! And with a lot of people going to be aboard it too." Laura said, as she checked the main steam pressure gauge and the two water gauge glasses.
"All right then." Let's go and get that train." Carrie said, as she put her work gloves back on. After Chloe wound the reversing gear into full forward and then released the brakes, she opened the regulator a little; slowly, with hot steam filling his cylinders, Flying Scotsman rolled forwards out of the depot and made his way out. After pausing to pick up his support coach, he rolled out from the depot back out onto the Southern Main Line and then reversed back along the line to Vicarstown Station.
They soon arrived at Vicarstown and rolled slowly in reverse over the long, red-brick viaduct as they approached the station. The signalman had already set the points for them to roll on through into the station, and Flying Scotsman gently went over the points and back into the station on the line that ran beside Platform 3. His coaches were standing there and waiting for him to arrive, and they were smartly turned-out Pullman coaches with their chocolate and cream livery. They were also rather unique coaches due to the fact that each of them ran on twelve wheels with each of the two pivoting bogies at each end of the coaches having six wheels instead of the usual four. There were 16 Pullman coaches in the train, which included a special observation car in place at the back of the train. The passengers were already boarding the train, and there were already quite a few photographers on the different platforms and getting pictures of Flying Scotsman as he arrived back in the station.
Looking out from the side of the cab as they slowed down, Carrie could clearly see that there were one or two news crews on the platform as well and she had a feeling that they were likely here to get images of Flying Scotsman for the news. But then again, keeping in mind the news of her mother's death the day before, Carrie had a feeling that the media might be looking for her in order to get a comment on her mother's death, and so she pulled her head back into the footplate to keep out of the way.
Slowly, Flying Scotsman reversed into the station until the back of his support coach gently buffered up to the buffers of the first coach. Once he had stopped, the shunter quickly got in between the support coach and the first coach of the train and coupled them up before he then connected the brake pipes together. On the footplate, Chloe put the reversing gear into full forward and, once informed that the brake pipes were connected together, she set the ejectors to release the brakes on along the length of the train. Keeping an eye on the brake gauge, she watched as the two indicator arrows rose up slowly as the brakes along the length of the train were taken off. As soon as the two indicator arrows got to a point between 21 and 25 and had stabilised, Chloe adjusted the controls to keep the brakes at that level. At the same time, Laura took the chance to top up the fire with some more fresh coal, and she made sure to place the coal to where it was needed in the firebox including within the back corners and under the firehole door. From where she was sitting on the fireman's seat, Carrie just sat and waited for the time when they could set off with the train. She knew that with the long day she had experienced since she started work at 4:00am, she was going to be feeling tired by the time that they got back to Knapford Station and that she would be a bit late in meeting up with her friends as well. But she decided not to worry about that for now and just sat back and waited for when they could leave.
The last minutes ticked by as the last of the passengers boarded the train and took their seats, and it was soon time for them to be on their way. As the porters closed the last of the doors, the signalman in the signal box set the points as well as the signal to show the way ahead was clear. Then the guard leaned out from his compartment of the first coach, and blew his whistle loudly while waving his green flag.
"Okay, here we go!" Chloe said, as she blew the whistle and then opened the regulator. With steam shooting out from the front and exhaust steam and smoke chuffing loudly at his chimney, Flying Scotsman slowly moved forwards and took up the weight of his heavy train. Slowly, the sounds of his whistle and chuffing echoing around, they rolled out from the station and headed out over the long red-brick viaduct leading out of Vicarstown.
"Come on! Keep moving! Come on! Keep moving!" Flying Scotsman called out to his coaches. Leaning out from the cab, Carrie watched as they moved out of the station, with a few lone photographers to be seen here and there getting pictures of the train as they moved on out. Looking across the lines, she could see the sight of the town of Vicarstown as they rolled along the wide viaduct and the sights of people and vehicles going through the streets. As she felt a smile cross her face, Carrie turned her attention back to look forwards as the train slowly picked up speed.
They soon reached the junction a little outside of Vicarstown where they were diverted to run along the High-Speed line that ran along much of the southern part of Sodor as far as a junction about halfway between Wellsworth and Maron Stations. Once they were on the High-Speed line, they would be able to run at higher speeds and be able to get over to the western side of Sodor much quicker than they would if they took the Southern Main Line. Running smoothly over the points, they rolled onto the High-Speed line which was ideal for very fast running as the four tracks that made up the line consisted of continuously welded rails for the entire distance and which rested on sleepers that were made of steel-reinforced concrete. The speed limit for the High-Speed line was normally limited to running trains at up to 90mph, although some trains could run at even faster speeds than that with special permission.
Chloe opened the regulator even more and then wound back the reversing gear towards mid-gear, and slowly the train began to gather more speed. Taking a glance over towards the speedometer, Carrie could see that they were already travelling along at around 40mph and, remembering from the run that they had on this line earlier in the year, she knew that Flying Scotsman could run at faster speeds than this.
"Okay, now let's see at getting to Knapford as quickly as we can!" Chloe said, as she settled down in the driver's seat and looked on ahead while checking the controls and various gauges in front of her.
"Her Carrie!" Laura said, as she offered Carrie the coal shovel. "Want a go with firing?"
"Sure would!" Carrie said, as she stood up and took hold of the coal shovel. Using it to open the deflector flap within the firehole door, Carrie took a look inside amongst the dancing white-hot flames to check where the coal was needed, and then she turned to the tender. With the shovel full of coal, Carrie turned back and placed the coal into the firebox, placing this load along the left-hand side, before turning back for another. Altogether, Carrie placed seven shovelfuls of coal into the firebox. Then she stood up and checked the main boiler pressure gauge, and saw the indicator arrow was just below 250psi. Feeling satisfied with that work, Carrie placed the shovel back into the coal space and sat down on the front of the tender, enjoying the feeling of the tender swaying gentle from side to side as they ran along.
As they ran along the High-Speed line, they soon reached a speed of 90mph and Chloe adjusted the regulator to keep the train at that speed, while keeping her eye on the speedometer to be sure that they didn't go over that speed. Carrie was feeling impressed by how smoothly they could go along at such a speed, as there wasn't too much side-to-side movement at all. But then again, she realised that was due to the quality of the track that they were riding on. Taking a look outside the right-hand side of the cab and watched as the snow-covered landscape went on by, and she occasionally saw a few people who were standing on the sides of the few roads that went by the sides of the line. She also noticed a few people who were waving to the train as they went on by, and at times Chloe blew the whistle in greeting to those who were waving. At the same time, Flying Scotsman couldn't help but call out "Hello!" to those who were watching them go by.
As they went along the bridge that went over the estuary that went past Norramby, Carrie couldn't help but look out down to the estuary and the port where she could see a number of boats secured either to the quays or to buoys sitting in the middle of the wide channel leading out to the open sea. She also saw steam rising up from an engine that was standing on one of the quaysides, though she didn't see which engine it was. For the next few minutes, they went along the line at 90mph with Chloe doing a very good job of holding that speed. Carrie took another go with the coal shovel to keep the firebox stoked with fresh coal and, despite the speed that they were going along at, as well as the fact that the footplate was shaking slightly on occasion, she was able to keep her feet as she worked away.
After finishing another go with the shovel, Carrie went to sit down on the fireman's seat and rested for a while until it was time to shovel coal again. Looking forward along the line, Carrie saw another engine in the distance on one of the other lines going in the other direction; it turned out to be L.M.S. Princess Coronation Class No.6222 Queen Mary, who was in her original streamlined condition in Caledonian blue with silver stripes. Behind her was a passenger train of 14 coaches, all of which were painted in the same identical Caledonian blue livery with silver stripes.
"Good afternoon!" Mary called out when she saw Flying Scotsman and blew her whistle.
"Good afternoon to you too!" Flying Scotsman called, as he whistled in return as he went on by with his own train.
The rest of the run along the High-Speed line went uneventfully for them, and they soon came near to the end of this line as they could see the airport off to their right, with an airliner to be seen coming into land. Chloe closed the regulator most of the way and then, after a minute or two where Flying Scotsman gradually slowed down, she reached for the brake handle. With a sound from the brake blocks, the train slowed down from about 90mph down to around 35mph as they approached the western junction of the High-Speed line. Looking out ahead of them, Chloe saw a signal and it was showing a yellow light, meaning "Proceed with Caution."
"Yellow light!" Chloe said, as she pulled on the brake handle a bit more and reduced the speed down to around 25mph.
"All right!" Laura and Carrie called, as Laura looked out from the fireman's side of the cab while Carrie leaned out from the driver's side just behind Chloe.
"The junction should be just ahead of another mile or two!" Chloe called out, as she closed the regulator most of the way and wound the reversing gear near to full forwards. She kept a close eye out for the state of the signal that would be the closest to the Southern Main Line and whether or not it would be green or at red. As they approached at about 20mph, Chloe saw that the signal light was showing green which meant that they could proceed on their way.
"Green light!" she called, as she blew the whistle and then opened the regulator a little more. Going past the signal, Flying Scotsman went over the points onto the Southern Main Line with his coaches following along smoothly behind him. Looking out behind them, Carrie watched as the coaches went over the points and onto the Southern Main Line.
"Okay, they're following along behind us!" Carrie said to Chloe.
"Thanks, Carrie!" Chloe said, as she opened the regulator a little more and wound back the reversing gear towards mid-gear. Slowly, Flying Scotsman picked up some more speed as he climbed up the slope of the eastern side of Gordon's Hill.
(Meanwhile, at Wellsworth Station)
At the platform for the down line at Wellsworth Station, Percy was standing and waiting for sacks of mail and parcels to be loaded into his mail vans. So far, Percy had been busy this morning and afternoon, first of all taking heavily loaded trucks from the yards at Knapford down to Brendam Docks earlier in the morning, and then shunting some trucks at the docks for a while before taking some heavy mail trucks from Brendam Docks back to Knapford, while making stops at Wellsworth and Cronk Stations along the way. It had been a fairly uneventful time as well, and now Percy was eager to collect the mail before getting onto his next job once he had delivered the mail.
As the sacks of mail was loaded up into the vans, Percy sat and waited until he could set off again. He watched as L.M.S. Black Five No.44686 headed on past with a lengthy refrigerated train that was loaded down with meat, fruit, and vegetables. From the back of his train, Bertha pushed as hard as she could to help get the train on the move so that they could get the train up Gordon's Hill. Then, as that train moved off towards Gordon's Hill, Percy heard the sounds of another engine in the distance, followed shortly afterwards by the sounds of a whistle.
"Who could that be?" Percy said quietly, as the sounds of the whistle faded. It sounded very familiar, but Percy wasn't sure whose whistle it might be. His driver leaned out from the side of his cab and looked back along the line leading towards Gordon's Hill.
"I think that you'll be surprised who it is, old boy!" the driver said, as a smile crossed his face. And then the sound of the whistle sounding was heard again, and it was closer than before, with the sounds of chuffing being heard approaching too. After a minute or so of waiting, Flying Scotsman came on past with his train, with his whistle blowing again as he went on by. On seeing him go on past him, Percy was surprised to see Flying Scotsman back on Sodor and then realised that he was indeed the second special visitor who had been rumoured to have been coming over to Sodor.
"It's Flying Scotsman! I didn't expect to see him back on Sodor for this Christmas!" Percy said, as he blew his own whistle in excitement on seeing the world's most famous steam locomotive roll right on past him. Each of the Pullman coaches had passengers looking out of them as they went on past while the train built up more speed.
As the observation coach at the back of the train went on past and headed away into the distance, Percy couldn't help but smile.
"Looks like it's going to be a very special Christmas on Sodor this year!" Percy peeped, as he watched the train disappear into the distance in a fading cloud of steam and smoke.
The last part of Flying Scotsman's journey along the Southern Main Line towards Knapford Station went very smoothly, with many people on the platforms or at viewing points along the side of the line calling out and cheering when they saw Flying Scotsman back on the Island of Sodor for the Christmas season. Many of them took a few pictures with their camera or smartphones as No.4472 and his long train went on by, before then texting their friends and families the news. At Cronk Station, U.S.A.T.C. S160 Class 2-8-0 No.96100 stood at the platform for the up line with 10 coaches couple up behind him, and was collecting another batch of passengers who were waiting for their train. When he heard and saw Flying Scotsman approach and then pass through the station and blowing his whistle in greeting, No.96100 couldn't help but blow his own whistle back in return as he watched the train go on past.
(Meanwhile, at Knapford Station)
Along the raised road that overlooked the long stretch of line leading into the station, a slow growing crowd of people were gathering by the walls and waiting for something to happen. Amongst them were a few of those who had come over from Chamberlain, including Sue and Tommy, Heather and Brian, the Watson Twins, Vicky, Rachel, Norma and Freddy, Kenny Garson, Jackson Talbot, as well as quite a few others including some of the adults and teachers.
"What's going on around here?" Tommy asked, as he looked around at the activity taking place around him with a lot of people milling about, chatting with each other, and waiting for something to happen. He noticed that quite a few of these other people had cameras in their hands, and he knew that something important was up.
"No idea, Tommy. But it's clear that there's something about to happen here." Vicky said, as she took a long sip of the cup of coffee she had in her hands.
"Maybe a special train is coming through, and all these people are coming here to see it come in." Rachel said, as she looked along the railway lines spread out before them.
"Do you think that we'll have to wait long to see it?" Kenny asked.
"I don't know yet, Ken." Freddy said, as he and Norma looked along the lines and waited for something to happen. The only thing that they could see was smoke rising from one of the smaller tank engines that worked as a station pilot at Knapford in one of the sidings leading off towards Knapford Sheds down off to their left in the distance. Apart from that, the only train that they had seen go by was an express train that left Knapford about 10 minutes before and which was bound for Brendam Docks. The engine who had been hauling that train had been B.R. Standard Class 7MT Britannia Pacific No.70047 Sir Ernest Shackleton, and they had all watched as he set out from the station, with his wheels slipping a little on the icy rails as he took up the weight of the train.
Taking a look towards the platforms of Knapford Station, Sue saw quite a number of people, including some of the media people who had been on Sodor to cover the Carrie case, standing on some of the platforms and milling around while waiting.
But they didn't have to wait for very long, as they soon heard the sounds of a steam whistle sounding in the distance, followed by the sounds of chuffing as an engine approached the station. On hearing it, many of the gathered Knapford residents turned their attention to the left and waited to see who it was. At the same time, those who were from Chamberlain all turned their attention to see as well.
"There he is!" someone called out, and cheers went up as they all saw Flying Scotsman come round the bend with a cloud of smoke and steam coming from his chimney. With a short blast from his whistle, Flying Scotsman rolled on slowly past with his train and he then looked up towards the people who were lined up on the raised road and waving to and watching him.
"Hello there!" he called out as his whistle, as a cheer went up from the Knapford residents. At the same time, those from Chamberlain who were present couldn't believe their eyes when they saw who it was that was about to pass by in front of them.
"Hang on a second…is that the one and only Flying Scotsman?" Freddy said, as his jaw dropped in slight disbelief.
"Now that's something I don't think any of us were expecting to see on this trip to Sodor!" Norma Watson said, as she felt herself smile. At the same time, all the others from Chamberlain couldn't help but watch as the world's most famous steam locomotive slowly passed by right in front of them, and they admired his L.N.E.R. apple green livery, his two large tenders, the first one with L.N.E.R. painted on the sides and the second one having 4472 painted on it, as well as how slowly the six large driving wheels were turning as Flying Scotsman rolled on by. They were also impressed by how many smart Pullman coaches that were coupled up behind him. Then, Sue noticed someone looking out from the right-hand side of the cab and waving up to the people lined up along the wall.
"Hang on a second, guys…" Sue said, as she pointed down, "…is that Carrie waving up to us?"
"Hey, I think that you might be right there. Sue!" Heather said, as she also waved down to the person, who they could clearly see was female, waving back up to them. At the same time, the other Ewen High seniors all couldn't help but wave back down to what they thought was Carrie waving up to them from the footplate of Flying Scotsman. They continued to wave until the train entered Knapford Station, while slowing down all the time.
Having closed the regulator almost all of the way, Chloe rested her hand on the brake controls and got ready to bring the train to a halt once they reached the end of the platform. Coming alongside Platform 5, Flying Scotsman saw that there were quite a few people standing on that platform and all the other platforms in the station watching him arrive. Amongst them were a few news crews and media photographers, who were waiting around to see him. Sitting on the front of the first tender, Carrie was just letting her muscles relax after the work that she had done in helping to get the train here. She had noticed the small groups of photographers as well as two news crews on one of the platforms outside, and she was hoping that they would stop at a point beyond the platform so that they couldn't look into the cab as she knew full well that they would want to get a quote or something like that about her mother's death and she didn't want to have to say anything about it.
With a hiss of steam and a squealing of brake blocks on the driving wheels, Chloe turned the brake handle round so that the brakes were fully applied and just a little way beyond Platform 5, Flying Scotsman came to a stop.
"And there we are…we've made it!" he smiled, feeling very pleased with himself with that good run.
"Well done, Scotty! A really good job too!" Chloe said, as she leaned out from the cab with a big smile on her face. She was also feeling very pleased with the run, and she was also hoping that the passengers would be pleased at having arrived on time. And she was right; as the porters opened the doors, the passengers stepped off the coaches with smiles on their faces and made their way out of the station with all their bags. A small number of them went along the platform to try and get close to Flying Scotsman and see him, but they couldn't get close to him as he had stopped a little way beyond the platform.
As a shunter uncoupled the support coach from the rest of the train, Carrie cautiously leaned out of the cab on the left-hand side of the cab, while keeping her hat firmly over the top of her head so as to hide her face, and looked across the tracks back to Platform 6; she saw a few people with cameras there but there was no sign of any news crews, much to her deep relief. Pulling herself back into the cab, Carrie sat down on the front of the tender and took in a deep breath to calm herself. And then suddenly, she remembered the text message that she had sent to Simon and she pulled out her phone to check if there was a response from Simon. There was, and it said;
"Don't worry Carrie"
"We'll wait for you to get back"
"Don't worry, and good luck :)"
Carrie felt herself smile when she read the message, as she knew that her friends wouldn't just leave her, and she also knew that they would be in for a big surprise when she arrived back at the depot in a short while.
"Want a cup of tea, Carrie?" Laura asked, as she picked up one of the tea cans from the warming plate over the firehole door.
"Yeah, I think that would be good idea." Carrie smiled as she put her phone away, while Laura took one of the white enamel mugs and poured some hot tea from one of the tea cans into it. Taking a long sip of the hot liquid as it warmed her through, Carrie felt a bit better.
Once the shunter told Chloe that they were uncoupled from the train, they got ready to set off on their way again. As soon as the signalman in his signal box had set the points for them and set the signal to show the way was clear, Chloe blew the whistle and gentle opened the regulator a little. High-pressure steam flowed into his cylinders and Flying Scotsman slowly rolled forwards out of the station, with his support coach following along behind him. Taking a peek out from the cab as they moved out of Knapford, Carrie couldn't help but breath a sigh of relief at the thought that the reporters on the platform hadn't caught sight of her while they were standing in the station. Now she settled back on the front of the tender where she was sitting and just relaxed, eager to get back to Tidmouth Sheds where she could get into the crew building and have a long, hot shower and change into clean clothes before she met up with her friends so that they could met up with her Ewen High classmates and head out to enjoy the rest of the day. As they rolled along the line, Carrie couldn't help but smile a bit…and it was at the thoughts of what would her classmates think when she told them that she had been working with Flying Scotsman today.
And I think we'll bring this chapter to a close at this point, everyone! We've all seen that Flying Scotsman is back on the Island of Sodor for the Christmas holidays, and that Carrie had a very good run with him all the way there from Vicarstown. I'm quite sure that it was a big surprise to many of you to hear the news that Carrie's mother, Margaret, has died. And it maybe a surprise to you that it seems to run contrary to what I said all the way back in the Author's Note at the start of the story, however that only referred to deaths taking place at Carrie's hands with her telekinetic powers during the Black Prom; natural deaths are still allowed.
I hope to have the next chapter written up and then uploaded as soon as I can. But please, enjoy this one in the meantime.