It had been a very messy day up at the Truro yard, and large quantities of coal had been shunted about that day. As a result, the engines were not the usual spic and span colours they normally were.
Onyx brought Nigel to a stop at the fuel pump and shut down his engine for the day. "Time to go," she said. "Coal, the limitless fuel which seems to power so much of the world, burning, burning like a supernova."
Nigel sighed. "Enough with the poetry. And any chance I could have a clean? I look a mess."
Onyx looked back. "Sorry, Nigel. Not enough water. There's the threat of a hosepipe ban."
"Well, last time they said that it rained nonstop for weeks," Nigel replied.
"Perhaps the rain will clean the muck off you, then," Onyx suggested.
"I can only hope Brookes doesn't make a big deal of it," Nigel noted, sadly.
Brookes, however, was currently in conversation with Sophie. "Did you hear that they're cutting back on paint?" he said. "Instead of three coats of undercoat, they'll only be giving us two from now on."
"Why?" Sophie asked.
"It's to save money, apparently." Brookes looked unimpressed. "It's never good when standards get compromised. If we look messy, customers react badly, and take to the internet to complain."
Pipp leaned out of the cab. "I wouldn't worry about it. I get hate comments on my streams all the time."
"How do you deal with that?" Argyle asked. As a man growing up in an age when the internet was still in its infancy, a lot of internet culture was a mystery to him.
"Oh, I just ignore them. Never show them your buttons, and you can't push them. That and blocking is always an option."
"Anyway," Brookes said, "if anything I could do with some new paint. Or failing that a washdown. I'm the pride of the yard, after all."
"Aren't we all the pride of the line?" Sophie asked. "I mean, without any of us this railway would grind to a halt!"
"I don't think Charles would agree with you on that," Argyle noted dryly.
"It's not he's in a condition to complain, given we are here and he is there," Sophie said.
"I could also do with a clean," Nigel said, speaking to them from across the yard. "I've been working the hardest of any of us. Look at all this coal dust!"
"Coal is messy, I will admit," Brookes said. "If anything, we could all do with some paint."
The next day, Brookes was back at work, shunting trucks. Sophie had just arrived with a freight, and was propelling some trucks into the siding to be sorted. Unfortunately, she was going a little too quickly.
"You might want to start braking!" Brookes called.
But Sophie didn't. The brake van slammed into the buffers and derailed, and the trucks tipped over, spilling their load onto the side of the line.
"You might want to clear that up!" Nigel shouted, unhelpfully.
Just then, Rebecca arrived, running late. "Sorry for the delay!" she said. "Got held up."
"Talking to a tree, were you?" Brookes said, jovially.
"Funny you should mention trees," Hitch said, leaning out of the cab. "We received a warning earlier today that there's a risk of trees falling on the line. Take extra special care today."
"When is your next train going?" Pipp asked.
"In an hour. Why?"
Pipp indicated to the accumulated mess at the lineside. "You wouldn't mind helping to clean this up?"
"What would you do if you encountered a tree on the line?" Brookes asked. "The pit I worked at stripped all the trees out well before I began working there and turned them into charcoal."
"Stop and make a telephone call?" Onyx suggested.
"Or perhaps push it out of the way?" Sophie suggested.
"Good luck doing that, mate," Nigel sighed. "Sometimes we have the strangest of conversations up here."
Later that day, Brookes had been dispatched to Newham Harbour. The line there was having barriers installed to protect from fallen trees, and Brookes was pulling a train of bolster wagons loaded with barrier fences. He arrived at Newham to run round, and saw Salty waiting there. "Morning Salty!" he said.
"If only it were a good one," the diesel said, mysteriously.
"What do you mean?" Argyle asked.
Sunny looked over. "We've already had fallen trees. One knocked over a power line and cut electricity to Calmenick. And another fell into somebody's house and flattened the top floor!"
"Was anybody in it at the time?" Brookes asked.
"No, luckily," Sunny replied.
"But it'll be good to have these barriers installed," Salty said. "These old trees have seen a lot. It almost reminds me of a song. Something about a Royal Tree."
"You mean the one where a single ship defeated ten enemy ones?" Brookes asked. "Yeah, that's not entirely plausible." He glanced over. "You look like you could do with some paint too."
"Possibly," Salty replied. "I know I was painted blue for most of my career, but I rather like red."
"None of which would help if a tree fell on us," Argyle reminded them. "So let's get these barriers unloaded and set up."
Once they had finished unloading the barriers, Brookes began to make his way back towards Truro. Truth be told, he was looking forward to some quiet shunting for a change. But things were not exactly going his way. As he pulled into the yard, he saw Sophie at the side of the yard, her engine shut down. "Something happen?" he ask.
"Sophie's engine is making a knocking noise!" Pipp replied. "We're taking her to the works to be looked at."
"So now we're down both Class 33s," Argyle said. "Looks like somebody else will need to step up."
Just then the yard foreman arrived. "Can you two take Sophie's train to Falmouth? You should be strong enough for the work."
"Understood," Argyle said, and opened Brookes' regulator. "I do have some interesting days off..."
Brookes, however, was a little surprised. "Haven't done a trip freight in a long time. Could be worth getting some water before we go."
The trucks, unfortunately, overheard. "Getting a bit overworked, old timer?" said one. "You should probably go to one of those heritage lines before you fall to pieces!"
Brookes looked annoyed. "Really? That joke wasn't funny in the 1980s and isn't funny now."
"Your paint's nice," said another truck. "Pity about your face though."
Brookes was about to say something, but then remembered what Pipp had said yesterday, and simply ignored them.
The weather had changed for the worst by the time he set off for Falmouth. After the fierce climb away from Penwithers Junction, he was rolling downhill with an unfitted train. Argyle looked behind them with a concerned look on his face. "This rain won't be doing the soil any good," he said. "Watch out for wind."
As they rattled through Perranwell and onto the next section of the line, they came towards an old section of hill. This hill had had taken a battering in the recent bad weather, and an old tree was being blown by the wind.
As they approached, the tree suddenly seemed to start moving. "That can't be right," Argyle said.
"What isn't?" Brookes asked.
"Can you see that tree?"
"No," Brookes replied. "I'm running bunker first, remember?"
Argyle was about to answer, but then realised what had happened. "The hill's giving way!" he said, and he slammed on the brakes. The heavy train worked against them, and it seemed as though they wouldn't stop.
But they did- inches from the tree that was now fallen over the centre of the track.
"Did we hit something?" Brookes asked.
"No, but we nearly did," Argyle replied. He reset Brookes' cutoff to forward, and tried to get the train moving again. But the rain was wreaking havoc with the ground, and Brookes' wheels slipped on the wet rails.
"Call for help?" the tank engine suggested.
Luckily, help was already on the way. The air soon sounded to the familiar sound of Salty's engine. "We'll get you out o' there, matey!" the diesel called. He rolled to a stop in front of the brake van, and Sunny jumped out to couple him up.
"Ready to pull!" she radioed.
"Ready to push!" Argyle replied. "And make it quick! Another tree's giving way!"
Salty's engine roared to full power as Brookes began to push against his train. The air was filled with the roar of a diesel engine and the loud percussive bark of a steam locomotive. And they were just in time. Just as they cleared the danger zone, the second tree toppled over and broke apart against the track.
That night, Sunny was just finishing putting Salty away when she saw Argyle enter the shed. "Hey dad!"
"Thanks for saving me and Brookes out there," Argyle replied. "Who knows where I'd be if that thing had fallen on us."
"You saved us from getting blown up by the oil refinery, so let's call it even," Sunny said jokingly. "Hopefully things will be back to normal tomorrow."
"They will for me at least," Argyle smiled. "After that escape I'll be glad to see a lecture theatre again!"