Being two engines from the same railway company, Edward and Albert got along splendidly. Both engines handled their fair share of the work, although Albert had to work more carefully due to his great age and older parts (whereas Edward had had most of his replaced very recently). Life was certainly running smoothly on the Ffarquhar Branch Line, and everybody was happy. The trucks even stopped grumbling, which was quite the achievement.
One morning, Edward and Victoria were catching up on old times. "So, what happened whilst I was working on Sodor?" Edward asked.
"A lot happened between 1915 and now," Victoria replied. "Myself and many similar coaches passed into the ownership of the LMS, but it wasn't long before we were replaced with newer rolling stock. Instead of breaking us up for spares or, worse, scrap, most of us were sold for use in other places. I, for example, was lifted off my wheels, put in a field near Grange over Sands, and became a summer house. This was back in the day before Grange over Sands became a major spot for people to go to the seaside, but I certainly can remember seeing trains flying back and forth between Cark and Hincaster, loaded with passengers and goods. I wonder if the old ironworks is still there? Anyways, I was eventually saved by a group of nice men from the Lakeside and Haverthwaite Railway, who restored me, redid my seating and upholstery, mounted me on a new set of wheels, and even updated my couplings so I could work with modern engines!"
"That must have been a splendid sight to see," Edward said.
"When did Albert get there?" Applejack asked. "Ah looked him up, and noticed he didn't return ta steam until 1998."
Just then, Albert rolled back into the shed, his cylinder cocks blowing steam as he came to a stop. "Perfectly executed stop!" he said. "I must say, these continous brakes are a most marvellous invention!"
"Possibly the most important development in railway safety, apart from the introduction of Automatic Warning System," Mistmane noted, as she slid down the cab steps and went over to lubricate Albert's parts.
"The last time I saw you was in 2000 something," said Edward. "Has anything interesting happened since then?"
"Mistmane and I have seen a lot," Albert replied. "I was built in 1863 for passenger trains, but was soon rendered too small for those. I soon became too weak for goods trains as well! I was then rebuilt as a saddle tank, and worked at a steelworks for 90 years, being withdrawn in 1960. It was sold to a school, and sat in a playground for decades until I was bought in 1983, taken to Carnforth, and restored to a tender engine once more. It's good to have all that weight off my boiler."
"We certainly have quite a few interesting stories from the Lakeside and Haverthwaite, if you'd like to hear them," Mistmane said.
"Lakeside and where now?" Applejack asked.
"Not far from Cark," Albert explained, "a line went off that passed through Greenodd, looped through some hills, and went through a tunnel into a station called Haverthwaite. The line then went to another tunnel, and rolled through a cutting and along a river bank, until it reached a station next to a big lake, called Windermere. This station was called, to nobody's surprise, Lakeside, and people got off there to transfer to the cruise ships that sailed off to the town of Windermere at the other end of the lake. But that only happened in summer and autumn, otherwise the line was quiet."
"The line closed in 1967," Mistmane continued, "but a group of determined volunteers reopened the line between Lakeside and Haverthwaite, and operate it as a tourist attraction to this day. This incident occurred back in the late 1990s, when Albert and I were new to the railway...
Lakeside Station, 1999.
It was a bitterly cold day. The wind howled, and huge snowdrifts had piled up near the line and in the cuttings. The terrain was tough, but the sky was clear and bright, so there were no visibility issues. Mistmane finished doing some checks on Albert and then adjusted her snow goggles.
"What do you need those for?" called the guard, a woman with orange skin, purple eyes, and two tone purple hair. "We're not going skiing!"
"We may be, Sable, at the rate the weather is going," Mistmane replied. "The snow is a lot heavier around Haverthwaite."
"True," Sable Spirit replied. "I'll see if there are any more passengers, then we'll set off."
A few minutes later, she blew her whistle, and the train set off. It proved to be an easier run than Mistmane had anticipated to Haverthwaite, as the snow was firmly staying on top of the valley and not falling into it. They arrived at Haverthwaite, and she uncoupled Albert to run him round.
"Here we go!" she called, and pulled on the whistle chord.
Albert puffed forward, producing a giant jet of steam as he moved off. This proved to be mistake. The force of the exhaust dislodged a mass of snow from the tunnel mouth, and it fell on top of Albert and around him, pinning him in place.
"Hoosh!" he hissed. "I wasn't expecting that!" He then saw somebody sniggering. "Stop laughing! It's not funny!"
Mistmane was quick to shut off steam, and dashed down the platform for a shovel. Working together, she and Sable Spirit worked for the rest of the day to dig Albert out. Another engine had to work the train topped and tailed with yet another, as the runround loop at Haverthwaite was blocked. Albert was finally out by the very next morning. But he was very cold, and very sad. "To get stuck in a snowdrift," he said. "Think of the inconvenience it caused the passengers."
"You're safe, and so are they, and that's all that matters," Mistmane smiled. "Now come on, off to the shed. Sable and I shall clean you up, and give you a fresh coat of paint. That'll cheer you up, I reckon."
"In short," Albert said. "Never mess with snow, as it can cause all sorts of problems."
"If only somebody had told Thomas that before he went into that snowdrift!" Edward laughed.
There was a moment's silence. "Who's Thomas?"