"Did you spot that, gentlemen?" Lord Haven asked over the radio.
"Spot what?" Hitch asked in reply.
"There was a Class 42 idling in the siding we just passed," Lord Haven pointed out. "It's been trailing us since Plymouth. I wonder what the driver's up to."
"It might be those motorist's idea of a practical joke," Lady Haven contributed, in the middle of shovelling coal into the firebox. "Possibly serving as a backup locomotive in the event Rebecca goes wrong."
"But I can't recall ordering a backup locomotive," Lord Haven pondered, as he checked the line ahead. "Right, here we go. Approaching us is Wellington Bank."
"Where City of Truro is alleged to have achieved one hundred miles an hour?"
"Correct," Lord Haven said. "Let's see if we can equal that, as the speed limit is one hundred here. Let's see what this engine can do."
"Don't thrash her!" Pipp radioed. "We still have 180 miles to go!"
"I won't thrash her," Lord Haven replied, before shifting the regulator back. The Light Pacific obediently lurched forward, picking up speed on the short climb of a short hill before rolling down the other side. The engine then flew down the short grade through Tiverton Parkway before starting the climb of Wellington Bank.
Rebecca snorted furiously as she began to climb. "I am NOT stalling here!" she said confidently. "This is for you, Tangmere!"
They started to lose speed as they crested the hill, speed having dropped due to the fierce hill and the need to open the injectors at an inopportune moment. The train continued to climb, but once they were over the summit things suddenly seemed to change.
"Steady on!" Argyle radioed. "We're being hurled around like sardines back here! We're not breaking the record!"
"Rebecca has no dome, if that's what you're worried about," Lord Haven replied as they began to descend through the tunnel. As they descended, they began to pick up speed. The needle crept up higher and higher.
"If my reading served me correctly, Spam Cans were capable of one hundred," Lady Haven replied.
"In the final days of Southern steam, trying to hit the ton was a common objective!" Lord Haven said as the needle continued to slide upwards. "This gradient and the steaming of the boiler should make this section of the run rather simple."
The train was now halfway down the bank and doing ninety miles an hour. Just ten more to go. The bank showed no signs of letting up, and the formation flew down the hill at incredible speed. Once they were at the bottom, the needle hit the magic number.
"One hundred miles an hour!" Lord Haven radioed. "I'm going to see if we can keep this up to Bristol! It's the only realistic way we're going to catch those cars!"
"We don't even know where they are!" Zipp chimed in over the radio. "Misty, how's that tracking software working?"
"I can't get WiFi!" Misty told her. "We're out of signal range, which means the app can't work properly."
"They have only one passenger each and their own weight to move, and with high powered engines they should have no trouble holding the speed limit," Zipp said finally.
Just then, the radio buzzed. "Hello! It's Mike here. Just wanted to check where you were."
Lord Haven checked out of the window. "We've just passed Bridgewater."
"What?" Mike exclaimed. "Have you got a rocket engine in that thing?"
"One of the benefits of a much higher speed limit." Lord Haven closed the line. "We're ahead, and we need to maintain it."
People had turned out to see the express roar past, and were astonished to see a steam engine fly past being pushed extremely hard, with the coaches swaying and rocking as they bounced along. The motion against the rails with the wheels was producing the distinctive 'roaring' sound characteristic of wheels running against metal rails, and the noise was so loud it was triggering concerned phone calls.
Talk of a dragon would certainly haunt many message boards that day. Passengers onboard a passenger train that had been looped looked on dis belief as the railtour shot past them.
"Sorry, can't chat, goodbye!" Rebecca called, as she flew by and out of sight.
"Well, bubble my batteries!" the IET said. "I've never seen anything like that in all my years on the railways."
"Your four years on the railways," another diesel reminded him. "On the tail end of Scottish steam crews were pushing A4s to their very limits to achieve the magic 3 hours from Edinburgh to Aberdeen."
Back on the railtour, people were holding onto things to avoid falling over. The train rocked and rolled about with intensity. It's a miracle nobody was sick, although Pipp appeared to have turned something of a shade of green.
At long last, they began to slow for Bristol. The signals were guiding them in all the way, and they rolled to a stop underneath the station canopy. The crew got off to prepare for the next leg, and people crowded around in amazement as they connected the water pipes.
The door opened, and Lord Haven appeared, covered in soot and having gained a British Rail suntan in the meantime. "Pipp, Zipp, you're up," he said. "Next leg is from here to Reading, where the fast line via Westbury joins. If we're going to maintain our lead, we have to be off on the dot of our water stop ending."
"How big is our lead?" Pipp asked.
"I have no idea," Lord Haven replied. "Hence why I want to get going as soon as possible. Also add some coal to the tender. We'll need it."
The station became very lively as people bustled back and forth with bags and pipes filled with vital supplies. Many members of the team had drinks and food now, as they didn't know when they'd have another opportunity. Loading was soon completed, and the team was ready to go.
Pipp looked out of the cab and saw the signal indication. "Bother!"