Normally, Argyle would have gone by train. Unfortunately, that wasn't an option today. The Falmouth Branch was very busy today, and as a result the trains were booked out with large numbers of tourists coming down to sample the beach and seaside customs of the town. There wasn't room to fit within the carriages, they were so busy, and they couldn't stick more trains in to make running simpler. So it was the car.
He glanced over to Goldie, who was in the passenger seat, and was coming with him. "So, what was it they told you again?"
Goldie glanced at her emails, which were on her phone. "Apparently, a locomotive owner has a piece of equipment he's planning on using for yard work. He'd heard we have quite a big yard in Falmouth, and was wondering if it was suitable for our needs. Hence why he'd like us to give it a try and see how it handles."
"I just wonder what he could have for us to need another engine," Argyle commented. "I mean, we've gone from no engines based here a few months ago to eight. Do we really need another one?"
"It keeps the options open," Goldie admitted. "Don't forget about Harvey either."
"Does he get much running, though?" Argyle asked.
"No, I'll admit. But he's quite useful for cleaning up messes."
"Still, I wonder what's in store for us."
Argyle arrived at Plymouth station and parked his car where he had been told to park in the instructions. As he got out, he saw a man in a suit waiting. "Argyle!" he said.
"Well, as I live and breathe!" Argyle smiled. "Rhys! I haven't seen you in years!"
"Who's this?" Goldie asked, as she got out of the car.
"Goldie, you remember Rhys, don't you? He's one of my friends from my photography trips in Europe. He was in the hotel bar where we first met!"
"Of course!" Goldie replied. "I didn't recognise him at first!"
"I will admit the years have not been kind to me," Rhys replied. "But we can talk all about our adventures as we walk over to the sidings. I have the engine there for you to inspect."
"Splendid. Shall we take a look?"
The three people walked across the station as a saddle tank blasted through. "What's Porter doing up here?" Argyle asked, more as a rhetorical question than anything else.
"Porter?" Rhys asked.
"He's one of the engines we have stationed at Falmouth."
Rhys laughed. "I had heard that Falmouth had become something of a railway hub. Tell me, how is Sunny? I believe she hadn't been born when we last met in person."
"She's doing great," Argyle replied.
"You really should come down some day," Goldie added. "We have quite an interesting town. We even did up a lighthouse as a home!"
"You always were inventive people," Rhys said. "And here it is! Or should I say, they are."
"What do you mean 'they'?" Goldie asked, and then saw what he meant.
The engine sitting in the sidings was not so much one engine as two bolted together. It appeared to be a pair of diesel shunters combined into one, but one had its cab removed, along with the cab controls. Only the rear unit had a number, and the combined noise of both engines was quite loud.
"What in the world?" Argyle asked. "What is this?"
"The only surviving Class 13," Rhys explained. "Hello you two! We have visitors!"
One of them spoke. "That means being on your best behaviour, Tinsley."
Followed by another voice. "I know, Thornaby!"
"We've got a short ballast train assembled in the yard if you want to try them out on a longer run," Rhys said. "I've got a slot for working from here to Liskeard to see what these two can do."
"You'll be my eyes, Tinsley!" said Thornaby.
Argyle climbed into the cab on one side, and Goldie took up position on the other. "So," Argyle asked, "which of you is which?"
"The one at the front is Tinsley, and the one you're standing in now is Thornaby. That's me," said the closest voice.
"This is gonna be confusing," Argyle sighed, as he adjusted the controls and began to back the pair up towards the ballast trucks.
"Are we going the right way?" Tinsley asked.
"Of course we're going the right way!" Thornaby replied. "The signalman sets our line for us, contrary to what you may have seen elsewhere."
Eventually, they rolled into the trucks and stopped, whilst Goldie got out to couple the engines up. Eventually, the signal changed and they were on their way.
After crossing the Brunel Bridge over the Tamar, the line climbs fiercely from there to Saltash, where it encounters a steep gradient. This section of line usually dictates that heavy braking is required before working down.
"I don't fancy my chances with the air brakes," Argyle said.
"You're in luck," Goldie told him. "The engine has a regenerative brake!"
"How useful!" Argyle said. "We can engage that when we go downhill and take the strain off the brake blocks."
As they rolled into the grade, Argyle flipped some switches and levers, and began to apply the regenerative brake. But this didn't seem to be having much effect.
He stuck his head out of the cab to hear Tinsley's regenerative brakes engaging, but Thornaby's engine was still going full blast. "What's going on?"
"You're meant to engage the regenerative brake manually on each engine," Thornaby explained. "Otherwise one of us is pushing back and the other is pulling forward."
"Ah!" Argyle said, and moved the other set of switches. "Sorry."
Much of the rest of the journey proceeded without incident, but they soon ran into problems again when they arrived at Lostwithiel. Lostwithiel has a number of junctions and complex track sections, all whilst hosting a double track mainline. Any train that is working onto the sidings needs to be aware of all trains at all times, and brake very precisely.
Unfortunately, this was not going to be the case today. Just as the train approached the signal, Argyle realised he had misread the signal. He reached down and slammed on the brakes.
But he forgot to adjust the engine power on Tinsley. The train screeched to a halt, but the engine in front was still revving furiously. The engineering had never been designed to deal with this sort of situation, and with a bang the coupler snapped.
Tinsley rocketed forward round the bend and derailed on the points, tipping over onto her side. "Ow!" she said. "That wasn't fun, you know!"
Thornaby rolled his eyes. "You just can't get the staff these days."
The line had to be closed in order to recover the damaged Tinsley, and Rhys was soon made aware. "I take it this engine is not so familiar in terms of running, is it?" he said.
"No," Argyle said, looking very embarrassed. "That was all too complex for my liking. I'll have to pass on adding that to the Falmouth fleet."
"Never mind," said Thornaby. "We aren't a simple engine to drive. We do go backwards to the forwards somewhat!"