//------------------------------//
// The Day Cornwall Stopped, Part 2 
// Story: Thomas and Friends: Tales from the Mainland Volume 3 
// by The Blue EM2 
//------------------------------//

The situation was only getting more and more frantic as the minutes passed. The news was dominated by the growing traffic on the roads, as cars were getting caught in tailbacks. Attempts to get around the traffic hadn't worked; the roads of Cornwall simply weren't designed for all this traffic, and the cars were getting stuck in other tailbacks.

A driver was being interviewed about his experiences, and he wasn't hugely happy about the situation. "These people couldn't organise a drinking contest in a brewery!" he said. "How can organising traffic be so difficult?!"

The situation wasn't helped by a lack of communication. Devon was also experiencing severe road problems, and it was routing traffic into Cornwall along minor roads- the exact same roads that Cornwall was using to reroute traffic away from the trunk roads. The result was even more holdups.

The situation was soon even more desperate. On the dockside in Falmouth, a passenger ship suddenly docked at the harbour.

"A passenger ship?" Izzy asked. "We haven't seen one of those in quite a long time around these parts."

"Going by boat was very popular in the 18th Century," Salty clarified. "When the landscape was poorly developed and filled with highwaymen, going by sea up the country was frequently considered safer and faster."

"But we don't have enough coaches for them!" Sunny said. "We'll have to get some to the dock to get them to the station."

Passengers were getting off onto the dockside, rather annoyed there were no coaches.

"What a smell!" said one passenger. "I never thought they'd take us to this smelly harbour."

"Agreed!" said another. "I don't pay road tax to see them make a pig's breakfast of managing the roads!"

Porter glanced over. "Do you want a lift over to the station or not? Because if you do, stop complaining."

A pair of goods trains arrived within minutes of one another, with the resulting trains being too large to stable in the sidings.

"Charles?" Sophie called. "Could you help me take these trains apart?"

"We'll have to dismantle them on the main. They're too long to squeeze into the sidings!"

Pipp shook her head. "Just the day for Ray to have mechanical problems."





Goldie had arrived at the office block where she worked, but to her surprise the place was largely empty. Her boss was in, though. "Morning Jeremy," she said.

"Morning Gloria," Jeremy replied. "Glad you could make it in today."

"That was my question too," Goldie answered. "Where is everybody?"

"I got a lot of calls stating people couldn't make it today," Jeremy sighed. "All this travel chaos is preventing people from getting to work. Why does everything seem to stop working at the worst possible moment?"

Goldie nodded. "Well, I'll get to work if that's alright by you."

"By all means, but I doubt we'll be able to get much done with the lack of people in."

Taking this as cue to go, Goldie walked to her desk and took a seat. Her phone was still buzzing with news of the travel chaos across the southwest, but she resisted the urge to look at them. She had to focus now.





Back up at Truro, the yards were completely blocked back with trucks. There were so many the line was about to spill out onto the mainline. "We'll have to start stabling these in the goods loop," Nigel said to Brookes.

"What if a freight comes this way?" Brookes pointed out. "Trains are still moving from further west with cargo for Plymouth." As if to answer his point, a pair of diesels roared past with empty tankers from Burngullow.

"What a mess," Nigel conceded. "We'll need to keep those lines clear even as- really? More trucks?"

"Why not leave some on the access line at Penwithers Junction until we can finish processing this lot?"

Argyle nodded. "That's not a bad idea, actually. Let's do it."





This chaos continued for much of the day, and was still going late at night. A late night clay working was making its way towards Liskeard, with a Class 66 and 30 loaded hoppers. The line narrowed up ahead for the single track to Largin Viaduct. The driver on the lead engine took his radio out. "Banker, reduce power. Speed drops ahead over the viaduct."

"Understood," the banker driver replied.

The train rolled past the green signal and onto the bridge, when suddenly there was a sound up ahead. "Something's not right here."

And then, everything happened at once. The shape of an IET suddenly loomed out of the darkness, going far too fast to stop!

The driver of the freight blasted the horn at them, but knew this was too late to stop. The two lead units slammed into each other, knocking them to one side. The heavier freight engine slammed into the retaining wall of the viaduct, and plummeted down into the valley below, dragging several of the hoppers with it.

The passenger train was slided in half by the trucks, and several coaches were badly compressed.

The driver of the banking engine felt the train jerk to a stop, but before he could radio the front there was a bright flash of light, and a new light rose over Cornwall.





Zipp was suddenly awoken by frantic buzzing on the radio. She switched frequencies and listened in on the conversation.

"Plymouth Control, Plymouth Control! Is anybody there, over?"

"Plymouth Control, please state your train number and nature of incident, over."

"Plymouth Control, this is Six Whiskey Six Four Par to Plymouth Clay. We've been involved in a collision at Largin Viaduct, over."

"Six Whiskey Six Four, understand you have been involved in a collision at Largin Viaduct. Are you in lead or banking engine, over?"

"Plymouth Control, Banker. The lead engine and most of the train has left the rails and fallen into the valley below. There's destroyed coaches up ahead and a large fire down below, over."

"Six Whiskey Six Four, understood. Dispatching rescue services now."

Zipp knew there was no time to waste. She grabbed her gear and raced towards Charles, who was stabled in a nearby siding. "Come on! They need help!"

"Who needs help?" Charles asked quietly, clearly tired.

"There's been a crash on Largin Viaduct!"

"Sound the alarm!" Charles shouted.

Charles soon led the formation, with Sophie and Rebecca joining them for the run up to Largin. They came to a stop just behind the rear locomotive of the freight. Sophie and Rebecca backed up to the previous loop, whilst Charles coupled up to pull the Class 66 free. "Come on! We have to work together!"

Once the diesel and the rear wrecked trucks were pulled free, Sophie got to work removing the rear damaged trucks. The deeper they got into the crash the more hellish it became. The fire down below was burning hot, and the coaches had been smashed apart in the crash. Once the worst of the wreckage had been pulled clear, fire crews got to work, cutting people out of the wreckage. An air ambulance was also deployed to the scene, succesfully rescuing the driver of the lead freight engine.





Goldie finally clocked off from her work late in the day, and prepared to leave when she suddenly got a news flash.

TRAIN CRASH ON LARGIN VIADUCT - CORNISH MAINLINE CLOSED FOR FORSEEABLE FUTURE.

She then saw she had a lot of missed calls, all from Argyle. She dialled back. "Hello?"

"Goldie? Thanks the stars you're safe. I thought you were on the train that crashed!"

"I stayed later as I had a lot to get done," Goldie replied. "But it looks like I won't be getting back to Falmouth tonight. I'll stay in a hotel here tonight, work the day, then see where it goes from there."

Jeremy looked over. "The company will cover the cost of a hotel room for you."

"Thank you," Goldie replied. "I'll try to be home when I can. Tell Sunny I'm OK."

"I will and- wait a second, several engines are just returning now."

Goldie switched to a news view, and saw footage of two old diesels at work at the crash site. "Wait a second. Is that Charles and Sophie?"





The next morning dawned, and the darkest day in Cornwall's recent history was over. The travel chaos had tragically claimed lives, but it was thanks to the quick thinking of many that the situation was nowhere as severe as it could have been.

Work on clearing the county of abandoned cars and derailed stock was soon underway, with the investigation into the accident commencing shortly.

And the report was conclusive- a mixture of faulty signal wiring and an overworked rail dispatcher had resulted in disaster, as he had accidentally routed two trains into each other. The viaduct was shut for the forseeable future, as it needed heavy repairs. Though in anothe remarkable moment, the diesel at the bottom of the valley was recovered and later returned to service.

But nobody would ever forget the Day Cornwall Stopped.