"Where did all these pumpkins come from?" Hitch asked, as he stood in the station yard. He was very surprised and more than a bit confused.
Sunny looked at them as well. "I think Halloween sales were a bit slow last year, so they have a huge stock of them left over. Clearly they need to get rid of them, so they dumped them here for us to take away."
"What are we even going to do with all these pumpkins?" Zipp asked. "They look to be in perfectly good condition, and seeing as food prices are what they are it seems a waste to just throw them away. Any thoughts, Pipp?"
There was no reply. "Pipp?"
Pipp, however, wasn't listening. She was on her phone. "Huh?"
"I said, any thoughts, Pipp?"
Pipp glanced up. "Oh! Sure, I'll ask the Pippsqueaks now!"
Zipp rolled her eyes. "You know I value personal freedom above anything else, but I'm beginning to think you might have a screen addiction."
"I do not!" Pipp huffed. "I can stop whenever I want!"
"Then why not come up with an idea on your own rather than ask the Pippsqueaks all the time?"
Pipp thought for a moment. "Pumpkin carriages!"
Zipp facepalmed. "How would that even work in terms of engineering?"
"Well, Cinderella used one to get to the Ball."
"But the pumpkin had been converted to metal and wood, and other materials you usually use for building carriages. Pumpkins aren't known for being very shock absorbant."
"That is a drawback. Still, she did get a pretty neat dress out of the deal!"
Zipp checked her watch. "I think I know who she'll be dressing up as next Halloween. Anyway, what will we do with this lot!"
"Guys, I have an idea!" Sunny said. "How about we make the pumpkins into pies, take them up to Truro, and showcase them at the Truro food and drink festival this weekend?"
"Great thinking, Sunny!" Izzy smiled. "Let's do it!"
After several days of making pies, the job was finally done. In order to convey the pumpkins to Truro, a special train was assembled. Many vans were shunted into the goods shed, and then loaded with boxes full of pies. The boxes were piled high, and reached almost to the roofs of the vans.
When the final van came to be loaded, a strange machine that looked like a unicorn made out of junk on wheels suddenly drove onto the platform. "Err, what's this?" Sunny asked.
"Oh! That's Senor Butterscotch!" Izzy said. "I built him when I was bored. He's also handy for entertaining children! The Pippsqueaks love him!"
Pipp was inside the last van, looking closely at the loads. "Well, these all seem to be somewhat securely loaded," she said. "We should be good to ship these away!"
Just then, the door suddenly closed behind her, and the sound of a lock engaging clicked. Pipp ran over to the door and tried to slide it open, but it wouldn't budge. "Hey! What gives!"
And then the floor began moving, indicating the van was being moved. "Hey! I'm still in here!"
Soon, the train was assembled in Falmouth Yard, and before long was ready to depart. Charles and Sophie were coupled to the front, and Ray had been martialled behind the brake van to help push the train up the hill.
"The train must be heavy," Ray said to Jazz, "if I'm needed to bank two diesels."
"I think we're on as redundancies," Jazz said. "In case there's an engine failure at the front."
"Fail? Me?" Sophie scoffed. "Don't be absurd."
"Well," Zipp said, "there was that time when your fuel tank got punctured and-"
"That was an act of sabotage. Nothing more, nothing less."
Just then, the guard whistled and waved his green flag. "Right away!"
The two diesels sounded their horns in response, and Ray blasted his whistle as well. With the roar of engines and loud puffing from the rear the train got underway, the vans rattling and rumbling and groaning the entire way.
"We feel so full! We feel so full!" they grumbled.
"I suspect the people who eat the pies will say the same as well," Ray joked.
At Penrhyn, Ray was detached, as the gradients were easier from there, and Jazz placed him on a siding in the meantime. This was a good opportunity for a break, and so she quickly took out her phone and checked if there were any new manicure suggestions and plans to use (she was running rather low).
She glanced over to Ray. "You know, it's strange that we haven't seen Pipp recently."
"Then who's driving Sophie?" Ray asked.
"They're testing the new drive link technology. Essentially it synchronises all the engines and brakes to the lead locomotive which reduces the number of drivers required." Jazz shrugged her shoulders. "It still seems a bit odd to not hear from here, though."
Suddenly, there was a strange sound from up ahead. "Can you hear that?" Ray asked.
"It sounds like laughter," Jazz admitted. "But then why is the laughter getting louder and higher in pitch?"
Just then, some trucks came into view. "We've broken away! We've broken away!" They clattered through the platform and vanished into the distance.
Ray looked over. "If they hit something it'll be one nasty accident!"
Jazz jumped onto the footplate and opened the regulator. "We have to stop the runaway vans or else!"
Porter was busy shunting at Penmere. He had some trucks to deliver to the goods yard at the Haven estate, and then take some empties with him back to Falmouth.
Suddenly, there was a loud rattling noise from up ahead. "What's that?" Porter asked.
Izzy looked up the line, and suddenly increased the throttle. "LOOK OUT!"
Just then, the back of the pie train roared past them and vanished into the distance towards Falmouth. Porter, who was now going much faster than he should have been, slammed into the trucks in the private siding and was derailed.
"Really, Izzy?"
"Better to be off the track here than in Lady Haven's garden!" Izzy pointed out.
Just then Ray thundered through, running bunker first. "Sorry!" Jazz called. "But we have to stop the runaway pumpkin vans!"
"Good luck!" Izzy called.
Lady Haven emerged from her home to see Porter derailed. "What happened here?"
Porter looked over. "Your Ladyship, you wouldn't mind calling for the brakedown train?"
On the approaches to Falmouth station, Salty was putting the finishing touches to a train of flatbeds waiting to go to Plymouth. "And that's how you do it!" he said.
Sunny looked out of the cab, and suddenly saw a large number of trucks coming their way. "They're coming straight for us!" she shouted, and gunned the throttle in reverse. Salty rattled away from the trucks as they flew along. He narrowly made it into a siding as the train slammed into the buffers in the station platform and came to a sudden stop.
The vans slammed into each other, and the doors burst open. Boxes of pies flew everywhere and exploded when they hit the ground. Pie flew everywhere, and before long the entire station area was covered in pumpkin pie.
It was in the station canopy. It was all over the platforms and seats and benches. It was inside the ticket office. It was inside the station clock. It was all over the passengers.
The only place there wasn't any pumpkin pie was inside the vans- where it should have been.
Salty shuddered from the mess. "This reminds me of the great fish flood of Farnborough!"
Sunny was also covered in the stuff. "Oh not again..."
Once the news of the accident reached the others, they came along to help clean up the mess. Ray and Jazz removed the vans so that the cleaning process could begin.
The vans were shunted into the goods shed for unloading, and suddenly a voice was heard. "Hello? I'm still in here!"
Zipp blinked. "Pipp? Is that you?" She grabbed the keys and unlocked the door on the last van. And sure enough, Pipp was there. She was covered from head to toe in pumpkin pie remains. Crust, juice, and all.
"Yes, it's me. And it's gonna be a nightmare getting this lot out of my hair." Pipp staggered to her feet and wobbled out of the truck. "That was a close one."
"Why didn't you phone for help?" Zipp asked.
"Perhaps it's because somebody thinks I'm always asking for help and should try to figure things out on my own?" Pipp retorted.
Zipp's face fell. "Oh. Well, when you put it that way... sorry, Pipp."
Pipp smiled. "It's OK. This situation didn't end too badly. I'm still in one piece, even if these will need a wash. But all this pumpkin stuff gave me an idea. I'm totally recreating Cinderella's dress for next Halloween!"
Zipp nodded. "Now, how about we help clean this mess up?"
And so dear reader, whilst there are benefits to thinking for yourself, you should never be afraid to ask for help when you need it. After all, the only stupid question is the one that's never asked.