It was a dark, cold, but clear night. The moon shone high in the sky, and there was no fog. At Peel Godred depot, Fluttershy was currently busy preparing Henry for a run up the Harwick line, which at the time was being prepared for opening to passenger service. Edward was currently being readied to take some empties back to Knapford, and as they worked, Applejack and Fluttershy exchanged gossip.
"Yup!" Applejack laughed. "Granny didn't even know what our smoke alarm sounded like! Thought it were one of Apple Bloom's toys!"
"Oh my," Fluttershy said quietly, shivering despite her coat. "That sounds like it could be very dangerous. What if she didn't hear it?"
"She certainly knows what it sounds like now," Applejack replied. "Well, Eddie an' Ah had best be goin' now. Good luck!"
Suddenly, an owl hooted. Edward looked over, a serious expression on his face. "That doesn't bode well."
"What do you mean?" Henry asked, confused.
"There's an old legend about the branch to Harwich," Edward explained. "The line was ripped up in the 1930s, and the station master at Harwich, Peter Fogg, didn't take it very well. He set the old station ablaze so it would never close, and although the fire brigade were able to extinguish the fire, the old station master simply vanished. But they say whenever an owl hoots, a mist rolls in. And in that mist, the ghost of Peter Fogg can be found too."
Henry snorted. "Stupid bird."
"I don't think the owl appreciates you calling him stupid," Fluttershy said. "Harry over there is quite sensitive."
"Just how can you understand animals anyways?"
Henry rolled up the line, a scowl etched into his face. "I have no idea what Edward was talking about," he said. "Owls, mist, ghosts. He's going soft in the boiler, I tell you! There's no mist!"
But higher up the line, as they entered an old forest, full of dead trees that seemed intent on grabbing the big green engine. The mist rolled all around, looming and ominous. Henry couldn't see where he was going, but suddenly spotted a light in the distance. "What's that?" he asked.
Fluttershy slowed him down and stopped at the light. It was a yellow light attached to a distant signal that had been left there when the line had closed. "The signal has a high intensity light fitted," she said. "But we haven't taken any parts up the line to upgrade the signals! It's been token working so far!"
"Who's there?" Henry called. But nobody replied. He inched forward slowly, until he came to another signal, a lower quadrant signal set to red, fitted with another high intensity light. Next to it was a sign, written in red paint.
BEWARE OF THE VIADUCT
Fluttershy was getting creeped out. "W- what?" she asked. "There was nothing about the viaduct in the order papers! The signal's red, and the crossing gates in front are closed!"
"And there's a fogman's coat!" Henry exclaimed. Sure enough, a coat hung from a nearby tree. "But where's the owner?"
Suddenly, a light from the old Harwich station building caught their attention. A sickly yellow light suddenly moved from one room to another.
Fluttershy shivered. "This had better not be one of Rainbow Dash's pranks!" she said.
"There's no way she could do something this sophisticated!" Henry exclaimed. "It must be a ghost! By Stanier, Edward was right!"
"We should go back and try again tomorrow!" Fluttershy squeaked, setting Henry into reverse and backing him up the line.
"I'm not arguing with you on that one!" Henry replied.
The very next morning, Henry was still jittery from his encounter the previous night. Fluttershy and a foreman were talking to one another.
"Good thing you didn't cross the viaduct last night!" the foreman said. "It wasn't ready. But none of my crew put any of those warnings into place."
"That's just it!" Fluttershy said. "We have no idea who warned us." Once the foreman had gone, she spoke to Henry. "Good news, Henry! The viaduct's been repaired, and we can go again tonight."
Henry didn't like the sound of that, but, wanting to be brave for his friend, didn't object. He set about marshalling the train for the night, which was a hodge podge of bolster wagons, 12 ton vans, and a few 13 ton plank wagons. Due to the lack of a runround loop at the Harwich station site, he would need to propel the wagons down the line and leave them there. Although it was dark, the light was much better than the previous night. Due to the length of the train, he had no chance of running round at Peel Godred, and so needed to pull it back to there, and then propel it forward.
He sat in the centre loop, simmering gently. Suddenly, an owl hooted, and Gordon roared by with the express! He and Fluttershy were noticably startled by this, and the trucks chose to capitalise. "Oh look!" they cried. "Henry and Fluttershy are spooked! What scaredycats!" And they giggled in their silly way.
"Shut up!" Henry snapped, and bumped them. "We're not scared!" But as he set off for Peel Godred, he knew that was a lie.
After reversing at Peel Godred, they set off up the branch. As they approached the scene of the trouble, the mist suddenly rolled in again, and the amber light came into view once more.
"Well, here we go," Fluttershy said nervously, and opened the regulator a bit more. Henry soon sped down the line, but as he was at the back of the train, he couldn't see where he was going. As they continued on, the crossing gates moved seemingly by themselves, and the signal arm rose into the danger position.
The trucks saw this, and were spooked. "On! On! Faster! Faster! There's a ghost about!"
"Stop! Stop!" Henry cried, desparate not to encounter a ghost, but the heavy weight of the train meant he was struggling to slow down. The train collided with the crossing gates, and demolished them, taking part of the gate with it.
"I can't see!" the leading truck wailed.
The sickly yellow light came on once more as Henry shot past. Suddenly, three loud bangs sounded underneath the train.
"Detonators!" Henry cried. "There must be trou- LOOK OUT!"
Up ahead, a massive landslide blocked the line. Fluttershy slammed Henry's brakes on and prepared to jump. The trucks, unable to stop in time, collided with the landslide, and their sheer weight caused the coupling on Henry's end to snap. The leading trucks fell over the edge, well away from the viaduct, and plummeted into the ravine, the sounds of screams, tearing metal and broken wood audible for miles.
Henry just blinked at the van looking back at him. "What just happened?" the van asked.
Behind them was an odd squeaking sound. Fluttershy looked back to see a pump cart come to a stop. On it was an old man with white hair and a moustache, dressed in a brown suit. He climbed down from the pump cart and looked sternly at the mess in front of him.
"I tried to warn you of the blockage in the ravine," he said. "Why didn't you stop?"
"Sorry," Fluttershy said. "Thanks for the warnings. Is there anything we can do to help, Mr..."
"Cyril. Local fogman. I'd like to run the old station, if that's OK."
At the reopening ceremony for the Harwich line, Sir Toppham Hatt formally made Cyril the new station master. Afterwards, Henry spoke to Cyril. "Thank you for closing the crossing gates and operating the signal. We would never have stopped without them."
Cyril looked in confusion. "I never changed the signals or the level crossing. I only put the detonators down."
The steam in Henry's tubes ran cold. Was there a supernatural explanation for all of this? Was the railway still being protected by the ghost of Peter Fogg?