//------------------------------//
// The Phantom Express 
// Story: Thomas and Friends: Tales from the Mainland Volume 3 
// by The Blue EM2 
//------------------------------//

It was night time at Falmouth, and unusually the shed was awake with activity. Engines were being readied for duty, and Rebecca had been left in steam from her duties that morning.

Hitch finished oiling round in readiness for departure. "Good stuff, this new oil!" he said. "Helps to keep the wheels and equipment lubricated."

"Always a useful thing," Charles said. "Wouldn't want Rebecca breaking down more than she usually does, would we?" And he laughed as though it was the funniest joke in the world. Which it wasn't.

"Really, Charles?" Sophie said.

"She is pretty unreliable. I mean, we had blown safety valves and a leaking oil bath and wonky injectors and wheelslip and oil bath fires and-"

"Alright, alright, don't pile it on," Rebecca said.

"But what I want to know is why you're running at night," Salty asked. "The landscape is very different at night."

"Well," Hitch explained, "the railway has had a bright idea. Instead of running during the day and interfering with passenger traffic, what if we deliver mail at night?"

"We used to do that back in the day," Charles mentioned. "Parcels moved at night so that people get their things in the morning. That was when most people were still in bed, dreaming of terrifying monsters or of being at the sea at Weymouth or Paignton."

"I thought it was Cranston's or Crawford's," Sophie said.

"The poem is very Scotland centric," Charles grumbled. "I know Midland engines talk endlessly about Beattock, but I'd like to see one of them tackle Honiton with a banker."

"Isn't that when the Phantom Express runs?" Bellerophon asked.

"When is when the Phantom Express runs?" Rebecca asked.

"Has Salty been telling tales again?" Porter asked.

"I don't know of a Phantom Express," Salty said. "But I can tell you the Flatbeds of Fear-"



"We did that joke back in October!" Sophie said. "And it stopped being funny after one or two times."

"-are nowhere near here," Salty finished. "So, please do tell us about the Phantom Express."

So Bellerophon began. "The Phantom Express is rumoured to run at night, when no other trains run. He runs up and down the line, blowing his whistle in a ghostly way. If you're not careful, he might find you!"

Rebecca sighed. "I'll keep an eye out." Hitch was now on the footplate, and with a blast of steam she pulled away.





Rebecca was soon hooked up to the mail train. Hitch had powered up the generator whilst they were waiting, and switched on the front lights. Before long the line was illuminated with bright electric light.

"We'll see any ghosts for sure with this lot," Hitch said. "This is like driving a rock concert."

"You didn't believe that story, did you?" Rebecca asked. "It sounded like a lot of old nonsense!"

"Considering the other things we've seen since magic returned I'm surprised you draw the line at ghosts," Hitch said, as he looked down the line towards the signal. At last it dropped, and they could set off.

Unfortunately, the weather wasn't going to make their run easy. A fog had fallen into the valley owing to the weather, and this was making it hard to see. When they arrived at their first stop, Hitch looked back to see the station staff unloading the mail in big trolleys, before wheeling other trolleys loaded with different mail onboard.

"Looking good so far," he said, before looking forward. "Now we just wait for the guard's whis-"

Suddenly, a strange noise came down the line up ahead.

"What was that?" Rebecca asked.

"I don't know," said Hitch. "Be ready for anything."

Moments later, the sound approached them, and a familiar green tank engine rolled into the loop with some trucks.

"What a relief!" Rebecca said. "It's only Brookes!"

"Hello!" Brookes replied. "How's it going?"

"Pretty well. But I thought you were the Phantom Express!"

Argyle looked up the train. "Has Salty been pulling your wheels again?"

"Bellerophon told the story, actually," Hitch replied.

"Well, I saw nothing ghostly on the way here," Brookes continued. "Good luck!"

The signal had changed in the meantime, and they were on their way once more. The line was soon starting to change in character, with the fog becoming thicker the higher they got. It was a tough old run to Penrhyn, where they pulled into the platform. To their surprise, Harvey was there.

"Hello Harvey!" said Rebecca. "What are you doing here?"

"The station forklift broke down, so I'm loading some boxes into trucks," Harvey said. "Goldie says it's just like the old days."

"The cranes I operated on the dockside weren't moving about, though," Goldie said.

"You worked on a dockside? When?" Rebecca asked.

"When I was in college. Although I was on a scholarship I still took work to make some money on the side."

"I thought your parents were loaded," Hitch said.

"Yes, but I was always taught that the path to success is hard work. So far it seems to have paid off." Goldie looked forward. "Foggy, isn't it?"

"Have you seen the Phantom Express?" Rebecca asked.

"No, and I hope I don't," Goldie replied. "I've had enough encounters with killer ghosts to last me a dozen lifetimes. I wouldn't be skeptical about ghosts if I were you, Rebecca. We've seen enough weirdness in this place as it is."

Just then, a ghostly whistling sound echoed over the station. "What was that?" asked Harvey.

"Was it the Phantom Express?" asked Hitch.

"Possibly," Rebecca said. "Fancy sticking together, Harvey?"

"We have to finish here first, but we'll follow you up the line later. Got another job at Perranwell."

Goldie wiped her brow. "Good thing it's the weekend tomorrow. I wouldn't want to be doing this on a work day."





As Rebecca and Hitch got on their way up the line, the strange whistling seemed to be coming from behind them. "What if it's following us?" Rebecca asked.

"Let's speed up and see if the sound changes," Hitch said, and opened the regulator a bit more. Unfortunately, in the darkness he began to lose track of where he was. And- too late- he suddenly saw Perranwell looming out of the gloom. "Wait, what the?"

"We need to stop!" Rebecca called. Hitch slammed on the brakes, the brake blocks screeching as they struggled to slow the train down. They gradually got slower and slower, but at long last they stopped- with the last coach barely in the platform.

"You made a bit of a mess of that one!" said a station porter.

Hitch put Rebecca into reverse and backed the train into the platform. "Sorry. I lost track of where I was. This place looks so different in the dark."

"You tell me," said another porter. "This fog is very annoying. I nearly fell off the platform earlier on. Good thing the platform edges are painted white!"





At the same time, Harvey was making his way up the line to Perranwell. The area did look very spooky. "I hope Rebecca made it OK without difficulty," he said.

"Me too," Goldie replied. "And hopefully Sunny's been sensible and got an early night. The docks will probably be quite busy tomorrow, and not only that there's tryouts for the UK Roller Derby as well to go to."

Suddenly, the two of them heard a ghostly noise. "It's the same noise from earlier!" said Harvey.

Goldie looked behind her. "Ghost, if you can here me, kindly go away and haunt somebody else!"

Only for the strange sound to be heard once again. Now they were both surprised. "This is getting weird," Harvey said.

Luckily, they were in Perranwell before long, and saw the train being loaded on the line next to them. Not long after they got there, Rebecca left with the mail, meaning that they were alone.

And as they got to work the sound sounded again. "I think it's definitely following us," Harvey said.

And the sound slowly drew closer, combined with some puffing as well. They all looked back down the line. Could the story be true? Could this be... the Phantom Express?

And then a voice spoke. "Hello there Harvey!"

Harvey sighed. "Brookes. I might have known."

Just then, Brookes rolled into the other platform and stopped. "It's a dark one, isn't it?"

"It was your whistle, wasn't it?" Goldie asked.

Argyle reached up and pulled the whistle chain. "This sound?" He looked puzzled. "Looks like the steam pressure is slightly wrong. But I can fix that."

"There never was a ghost, was there?" Harvey asked.

"Not that I know of," Brookes replied. "Perhaps the weather was making the sound of my whistle distorted."

"Always possible," Argyle said. "I checked in on Sunny whilst I was down in Falmouth. She'd taken an early night to ensure she was in good shape for the tryouts tomorrow."

Once they work was over, everybody went to rest. After all, it was quite the relief that ghosts weren't following them around... for once!