Thomas and Friends: Race to the Edge

by The Blue EM2

Rating: everyone
Tags: Queen Haven, Alternate Universe, Original Character, Comedy, Misty, Argyle Starshine, My Little Pony: A New Generation, Adventure, Equestria Girls, Mane 5, Crossover
Length: 7205

All is at stake as old and new go head to head.

After a series of long adventures, Sunny and her friends figure that they've got things all under control.

All of this is challenged when a trio of precision racers and car enthusiasts arrive in Falmouth. Determined to prove their modern speed machines to be superior to anything on rails, they challenge the five to a race from Penzance to London Paddingon-an epic race of over 360 miles.

With only a few crews, one clapped out Light Pacific, and several hours of harsh conditions awaiting them, can the heroes of Falmouth defend the honour of steam against the onslaught of modern technology?

Loosely based on the Race to the North episode of Top Gear, and the first of several specials within the Mainland Timeline.

Published 2023-02-27 13:10:00 UTC
Last updated 2023-03-05 19:34:41 UTC

Credits

Cast-In order of Appearance:

James Marsden-Hitch Trailblazer
Sofia Carson-Pipp Petals
Lizy Koshy-Zipp Storm
Bahia Watson-Misty Brightdawn
Vanessa Hudgens-Sunny Starscout
Tara Strong-Goldie Starshine
Michael McKean-Argyle Starshine
Jane Krakowski-Lady Haven
Steve Blum-Isaac Moonbow
Kimiko Glenn-Izzy Moonbow
Felicia Day-Aurora Dawn
Chris Harris-Harris
Paddy McGuinness-Mark
Fred Flintoff-Clive
Richard E. Grant-Lord Haven
Rachel Miller-Rebecca
Theresa Gallagher-Sophie
Jeremy Clarkson-Charles
Keith Whickam-Salty, Assorted Voices

The yellowy-orange diesel that had been following the duo rolled to a stop in the yard near Paddington. He smiled. "Steam engines," he said. "And not only, ones who are opposed to us. Dispatching them will be pretty simple."

The figure inside spoke. "We need additional forces. Notify the factory and prepare more war engines. We cannot move forward unless we get more forces to use, as the defector could talk." There was a pause. "And I think I know just how to deal with her."

And introducing Tim Curry as Diesel 10

Opening Credits

Fimfiction Proudly Presents

An Story by The Blue EM2

Sponsored by the Guild of Equestrian Railroaders

And Based on an Idea by Thomlight Sparkle

Starring the Voices of:

Vanessa Hudgens

Kimiko Glenn

Sofia Carson

Liza Koshy

James Marsden

Jane Krakowski

Michael McKean

Bahia Watson

Keith Whickam

Rachel Miller

Theresa Gallagher

Richard Hammond

Jeremy Clarkson

James May

And Richard E. Grant

Animation by Boulder Media and Arc Productions

Model Effects and Sequences recorded at Ellstree Studios

A Hasbro and Mattel Co-Production, Copyright MMXXIII

So, here's a Health to the Company

One nice evening at the Fisherman's Arms, several familiar faces were seated in various different chairs around tables. The usual gang- Sunny, Hitch, Pipp, Zipp, and Misty- were sat around one table, and several of the adults were seated to themselves, conversing about a variety of different things.

You will probably have noticed one notable exception to this list. "Have any of you seen Izzy anywhere?" Hitch asked. "She's not usually this late."

"Well, she did mention something about helping with a festival or something," Pipp replied. "She's been suspiciously quiet on Twitter though, so I can only assume she's preoccupied."

"Though with what?" Zipp added. "She did seem to be quite bouncy when we finished work earlier today."

"That's Izzy normally," Misty commented, then drew back. "Sorry. I shouldn't have spoken."

"No, it's OK," Sunny replied. "You're more than welcome to contribute. But let's focus on where she could be."

"She's probably not home, as her parents are here," Zipp contributed. She indicated to Isaac and Aurora seated nearby, currently in conversation with Argyle and Lady Haven.

Somebody then walked in through the door. "Sorry about that," Goldie said, as she rejoined the crew at the table. "Client decided to phone." She popped her phone away. "Hopefully that's the last of the excitement for this week."

"Same here," Argyle added. "It's been an incredibly busy month, what with all these new engines, extra business, and even Misty joining the crew. How's she coming along, Haven?"

"She seems to be fine, although rather quiet. I don't blame the poor girl. She did have an awful shock, and this Opaline woman sounds awful."

"We must keep an eye out for her," Isaac concurred. "Speaking of keeping an eye out, where on earth is Izzy? Surely it can't take her this long to get changed."

Suddenly, the door burst open, and there was Izzy. She had made some 'adjustments' to her usual dress, having added a headband with hearts on bouncy springs. She giggled as she walked in.

"Happy Valentine's Day, everybody!" she called, and began to sprint between tables, handing out card. "Just show a little love!"

And then the worst possible thing happened. She started to sing.

"It's all about your fellow people/
We all need a little love/
Don't have a heart of stone-y!"

She began leaping between tables with perfect precision and touching down near people, continue to hand out her cards.

"If you're feelin' what I'm feelin'/
Then get up and show me!
'Cause today's not the day/
For bein' lonely!"

Finally stopping with the jumping, she stopped in the middle of the bar.

"Oh, oh, I'm spreadin' the love/
Like, oh, oh, it's all I've dreamt of/
Oh, no, don't hesitate/
You better follow your heart, it ain't gonna wait!"

She finally skidded to a stop in front of her friends, grinning.

"Love, I'm gonna show it!
Love, I'm gonna show it!
Ain't no doubt about it/
Love's in the air, let's shout it!"

There was a monentary pause, then the sound of large numbers of people walking over to bins and dumping the cards in them.

Isaac rolled his eyes. "Not one of these incidents again. Izzy, people will think you're crazy. And look at the mess you've made!"

"Oh, I'll get that cleaned up," Izzy replied.

"Besides, Valentine's Day was several weeks ago," Sunny pointed out.

"It's a second Valentine's Day," Izzy explained. "The world could do with more than one day to spread love, after all!" She slid onto a chair that seemed to appear from nowhere. "So, how are things?"

"There already is a second Valentine's Day, Izzy," Zipp said. "It's on the 24th. You know, Christian Love Day?"

Izzy's jaw dropped. "YOU'RE A CHRISTORIAN?"

"Yep," Zipp casually replied. "Investigating internet oddities is my specialty. Seeing his reactions to the new generation of My Little Dragon was quite entertaining."

"Still," a louder voice called, "this is a perfect opportunity to have a toast." The voice was soon revealed to belong to Aurora Dawn, Izzy's mother. "Here's a health to the company!"

"A health to the company!" came the reply, and a variety of liquid beverages were consumed by the crew.

The merriment was suddenly interrupted by a series of loud roaring noises outside. "What on Earth was that?" Lady Haven asked, glancing over from the table.

Argyle heaved himself out of his chair. "I'll go look." He walked to the door, and opened it. "Well, that's something you don't see every day around here."

He stepped back as three men stepped into the room. All of them had short hair in varying colours and seemed to be wearing racing gear.

"Well, we seem to have arrived in the right place, Mark!" said one of them.

"Should be an easy challenge based on the locos they had in the shed."

"Gentlemen, you appear to be lost," Aurora said. "Brands Hatch is several hundred miles north."

"No, we're in the right place," 'Mark' said. "I'm Mark, and this is Clive and Harris. We're from the world of motorsport, and fancy a real challenge. I hear you have an express passenger train, so we hereby challenge you to a race from Penzance to Paddington."

Hitch looked concerned. "That may be a bit much on Rebecca," he said amongst his friends. "Considering the number of times she's gone wrong on shorter runs, 360 miles may be pushing it."

"We'll take it!" Pipp said suddenly.

"Very well," Clive smiled. "We'll see you on Monday for the race. Though I doubt you'll be able to keep up."

Once they'd left, Sunny looked over. "Pipp, what were you thinking?" she asked. "Rebecca isn't even your engine!"

"This will look great on social media!" Pipp replied. "Besides, cars racing trains is a staple of TV! Wasn't there a time in the 1930s when a plane raced a train from London to Crewe?"

"And the plane lost," Zipp added. "This may just be doable!"

Goldie overheard the conversation, and walked over. "If you're going to go for this, we'll all need to pull together," she said. "There goes my hopes for a quiet weekend..."

Author's Note

Hello, one and all, and welcome to the first of three Thomas and Friends specials! These are longer form adventures similar in style to the MLM specials. To kick off the gauntlet, I decided to write a story based on what is, in my opinion, one of the best Top Gear specials; the Race to the North (the one where the trio raced Tornado to Scotland).

'Christorian' refers to somebody who academically analyses the curious internet phenomenon known as Chris Chan (I spent much of the last year analysing his magnum opus Sonichu).

Next time; does somebody have a spanner?

Art is for Everybody

The situation had become serious, as could be clearly seen. This was because the main shed had gained a blackboard and several other boards, on which calculations and text had been added. Numbers and formulae marched across them like soldiers fighting mathematical battles against the certainties of reality. Seated in front of them were several figures, taking a closer look at the display.

"Can somebody explain what all these numbers mean?" Hitch asked. "This collection of symbols is, frankly, gibberish to me."

There was a brief pause. "We're trying to calculate the best possible performance line for the run." Argyle sighed. "This has thrown us down quite the challenge. Ten coaches down that line won't be easy."

Sunny spoke up. "It's complicated by the fact that there are no water troughs and no water towers along the line, as those were all removed in the 1960s. How are we supposed to get water to Rebecca when she needs it?"

"Not to mention light pacifics weren't fitted with water scoops anyway, as they were never far from a water tower on the Southern Region," Hitch pointed out.

Izzy looked exited. "I have an idea!"

"Go ahead, as we're fresh out of them here," Lord Haven said, who no matter what values he adjusted the formulae looked no closer to solving itself.

"How about we bring our coal and water with us?"

"Sorry?"

"How about we bring our coal and water with us?" Izzy repeated. "As you'll probably recall, I found an old MK1 NRA in the sidings, which had been left here a long time ago. This has a mixture of both seating and a luggage compartment which was meant to carry mail, parcels, and trolleys loaded with valuable things. What is we store our coal and water in there?"

"I remember seeing a railtour at Swanage using a similar trick," Lady Haven mused. "Of course! We can rig up a water pumping system from the carriage and pump it directly into the tender tank! Is there a shutter on the front?"

"Yes! We can run the pipe through that and connect it into the water system."

"That's gonna take a lot of work," Pipp said. "And where are we going to find all the coal we need?"

"We've got quite a bit in this shed," Zipp pointed out. "Why don't we just put it into bags and pop it into the coach? That way, we can take it out at booked stops and pour it into the tender as needed."

"So that means moving the coal into bags," Lady Haven said.

"Yes."

"By hand."

"Yes."

"With shovels."

"Yes. Your point being, mom?"

"Zipp, please do bear in mind none of us adults are getting any younger."

"We can do the heavy lifting!" Misty offered.

"Wait, what?" Pipp said. "No way. That stuff is really messy."

"Seeing as you got us into the mess it's only fair you muck in," Hitch replied. "If all is said and done, I suggest we get to work and cue the music."

The crew almost immediately got to work. The coach that Izzy had referred to had been shunted into position by Salty, and before long loading work was underway. Coal was being loaded into bags ready for transportation, each sack feeling as though it weighed forty tons. After some struggling, the coal was loaded in and placed against the walls.

"Phew, that stuff was heavy!" Sunny said, wiping her brow. "Good thing we didn't have far to carry it."

"Speak for yourself," Hitch said. "Pipp's still to move hers any considerable distance."

Pipp was straining with the heavy bag, dragging it along the floor. "Whoever... knew lumps of... rock... were so heavy?" she wheezed. "I... must be really... out of shape!"

Luckily for her, Misty came up alongside and picked it up as well. "Here you go," she said, with a smile. "Many hands make the lights work."

Eventually, the coal was loaded, and a forklift deposited a pair of large tanks into the carriage. "Have these been pressure tested?" Lady Haven asked.

"Indeed," Lord Haven replied. "I tested them in the garden a few days ago. They held all the water in the hydraulic test without leaking."

"That's a relief," Goldie noted, who had been using Harvey to help lift the carriage roof to the correct height (as bits of it needed replacing). "We wouldn't want to have to refill the refill tanks all the time, would we?"

Before long, the support compartment was packed to the brim with supplies. Tools, machinery, coal, water, and even a crafting bench (supplied by Izzy) was put in. The bench was put in just in case they needed to fabricate supplies and spare parts when on the move. Or even when stationary, as the bench would still work.

Then, it was time to crack out the heavy machinery. Lord Haven, who was a qualified welder amongst other things, started work on ensuring the coach panels were correctly secured and properly ready for use on such a carriage. He had to conduct several spot welds in several places, but otherwise the coach was in remarkably good condition considering it had sat out in the elements for years.

Finally, all that came was the paint. The collective scraped the paint off with tools, and then began to apply several shades of paint to protect the metal and ensure safety on the move.

"Come on, guys!" Hitch said, who had poured his back into it. "We gotta work, work, work! Got so much to do!"

"Hey, I don't mind the work, unlike some of us, because it means I get to work with you guys." Zipp's snark was not un-noticed.

Eventually, the carriage was fully restored to a rather interesting blue and red livery, which certainly made it stand out. "Looking good!" Goldie said, looking at the coach.

"If we work together, there's nothing we can do," Sunny noted. "Except invent nuclear fusion, perhaps, as I'm not a scientist."

"It's going to be one huge endurance test, this," Lord Haven noted. "Get some rest, all of us. We have a long day the day after tomorrow, and we need to figure out personnel allocations for the run."

Author's Note

This chapter is another big Top Gear callback. At several points during their long road trips, they would often pull into a garage and heavily modify their cars to face whatever challenges were coming up, often accompanied by the theme from The A-Team (or some regional equivalent in overseas broadcasts). Although the episode this story is based on contains no such scene, I thought it would be a fitting inclusion given the nature of the run.

The carriage is the same one Izzy found back in The Singing Brakevan, and is meant to serve as this world's equivalent of the Marestream (although with less incomprehensible controls). They'll certainly need it with the epic challenge ahead of them...

Stage 1-Penzance to Plymouth

The task of moving the fully assembled train from Falmouth to Penzance had proven to be a challenge of sorts. Rebecca had been put into light steam earlier that day, and this had been enough to get her lubricators checked and various parts greased. After that, the engineers had ensured she was otherwise ready to run.

Hitch had then backed her onto her train, which consisted of the freshly restored support coach and ten MK1 coaches stringing out behind her. "360 miles is certainly quite a lot!" Rebecca noted. "I did some long runs in the day, but nothing quite like that!"

"What was your longest typical run?" Hitch asked.

"Atlantic Coast Express, Waterloo to Bideford portion. 181 miles bufferstop to bufferstop."

"So not quite as bad as the Proclaimers then," Hitch replied.

"Sorry?"

"500 miles? Based on calculations, they end up travelling 1,000 miles from Scotland to somewhere in either the sea or Europe, depending on which way they were going."

"Oh," Rebecca said, as Sophie was coupled to the front.

"Ready to go, Charles?" Sophie called.

A familiar voice grumbled from the back. "This is most undignified. I should be leading from the front."

"Arr, yee will be, matey!" Salty informed him. "When you change directions at Truro, you'll be leadin'!"

"And then everybody will see my magnificence," Charles smiled, as he blasted his horn. "Ready!"

With that, the pair of Class 33s moved off, towing the rather unusual train with them up the hill. It proved to be an easy run to Truro, all things told. At this time of day, traffic was light, and as a result there were very few crossing trains, only a single goods.

When they got to Truro, the convoy switched directions. "Keep a close eye on the signals," Zipp radioed to the others as they began to move off again.

"How can I?" Charles asked. "I'm staring at a tailboard here. The world is also racing away from me rather than moving towards me, which is odd."

The run to Penzance was rather more challenging than the run back to Truro, as the formation had been pathed behind a stopping passenger train. And that meant it was stopping everywhere.

Inside the support coach, a crew consisting of Sunny, Izzy, Argyle, Goldie, Lord and Lady Haven, and Misty (who would later be joining Hitch in the cab). Pipp and Zipp would also be helping out, but they were currently elsewhere.

"So, who's doing the first leg?" Argyle asked.

A sheet was rolled out before them. "I propose that we have Hitch and Misty go as far as Plymouth," Lord Haven suggested. "It is then that we have a crew change for the difficult climb over the South Devon Banks as far as Exeter. After that, another crew for the run from Exeter to Bristol. Then two more crews, as owing to projected traffic levels the section from Bristol to Paddington has been split into two sections."

A blast of a horn signified they had at last arrived at Penzance.

Sure enough, the three motorists were waiting for them. Whilst the two diesels were removed from the train and stabled in sidings, Hitch got Rebecca up to full operating temperature. Rebecca looked nervously at the three cars parked near the station. "Those all look very powerful," she said. "And they each only have one occupant- the driver!"

"Those cars may be powerful," Hitch replied, "but we have a shorter distance to travel to Plymouth. And a higher speed limit to boot. Hopefully we should be able to pull this off without any difficulties."

Mike called over. "Ready to go?" he said.

"Ready!" Hitch replied.

A man in a white labcoat blasted a whistle, and the drivers ran for their cars. Hitch blasted Rebecca's whistle, opened her cylinder cocks, released her brakes, and once the needle showed 21 inches on the pressure gauge opened the regulator.

Steam shot into the air as Rebecca began to move forward, steam also being propelled forward as the train got underway. Unfortunately, a good start was compromised was her wheels starting to slip quite badly. "Ease off a bit!" she called.

Hitch reduced steam in response, and the train was soon much more stable as it got underway. The formation thundered past the diesel depot doing about forty miles an hour, and was soon biting into the gradient on its way up into the hills. As the train cleared the junction for the St. Ives line, a short downhill section allowed them to gain a bit more speed. They would need it for the climb to Camborne.

And before long the climb arrived. The formation hammered into it at seventy miles an hour, and started climbing. They did lose a bit of speed on the climb, but Rebecca was steaming well and maintaining boiler pressure at a high rate.

Before long, they were flying through Truro, where a large crowd had turned out to cheer them through. On the footplate, Hitch carefully checked the gauges and controls. "I think we're good to go for the climb," he said.

Misty was, at the same time, shovelling coal into the firebox. "This is a larger firebox than I'm used to!" she said. "And a lot hotter too! What's our pressure reading?"

Hitch glanced up. "240 Pounds per Square Inch. At this rate we may have to let the safety valves open!"

As they started the climb towards Liskeard, Rebecca began to struggle with the heavy load. Speed was dropping as they climbed through Bodmin, dropping to fifty as they started the next grade. Once at the top, they flew down the other side, trying to gain as much speed as possible.

At long last, the difficult climb through Saltash was complete, and the train rolled over the Brunel Bridge- and into the welcoming arms of Devon, where another crowd had turned out to see them.

Hitch brought them to a stop and hopped off the footplate, walking to the compartment and opening it. "We're booked to wait here for twenty minutes," he said. "Get any water pumped that you need and replenish coal stocks."

"We're probably going to be quite tanned by the time this is over," Argyle noted. "Looks like it's us next, Goldie."

Author's Note

Leg one of the race is over, and it's unclear who is in the lead! Tomorrow, the train will make the next stage of its epic run. Tune in for the action then!

The Atlantic Coast Express was a premier passenger train operated by the Southern Region of British Railways that serviced many different towns and cities throughout the southwest. It was able to do this by the portion system, whereby different bits of the train would be attached and detached in different places.

Stage 2-Plymouth to Exeter

The time had almost come to go. The crew of the railtour busied around like bees, disconnecting water cables and closing pipes. Hitch climbed down from the ladder he was on and lowered down the bag of coal he had been holding. "That's another ton loaded in!" he said. "With efficient management of fuel, that should get us the rest of the way to London!"

"What concerns me more is the injectors!" Argyle countered. "I've heard that Light Pacifics can be very thirsty on water."

"They can be, but you've got 5,000 gallons in the tender there now, so that should at least get us to Bristol!"

Noise continued to echo as people dashed for the coaches and boarded. "Guys, we got a problem!" Misty radioed.

"What's going on, over?" Zipp asked.

"Some people have just boarded. They somehow didn't notice the train not in use signs on the coaches!"

"Brilliant." Zipp switched channels. "This is 1Z43 requesting assistance from Plymouth station staff in ejecting stragglers from the train, over?"

Clearing out all the people who had boarded, and getting the doors shut again, proved to be a bit of a job, and by the time they were done they had wasted 10 minutes. Argyle and Goldie clambered into the cab and set Rebecca up for departure.

"Right, we're running about 10 minutes lates," Argyle said. "We need to try and make up the lost time. Think you can do it, Rebecca?"

"I'll try," Rebecca said. "Based on the gradient profile we've got a long downhill bit coming up. Followed by a several mile climb at 1 in 48."

Goldie look concerned. "That sort of grade gives even the IETs problems. We'll have to drive well if we don't want to get stuck on that."

"We'll cross that bridge when we come to it," Argyle replied, and released the brakes before moving the cylinder cocks lever to fully open. He opened the regulator...

...and almost immediately triggered wheelslip. "Easy on the regulator!" Rebecca called. "I should be able to get up to line speed on the downhill bit!"

"Oops." Argyle reduced the regular by a considerable margin and added some sand to help with adhesion. The formation rolled out of the station, with crowds having assembled overhead to see what was going on. Eventually, the heavy train cleared the first climb out of Plymouth station and reached the downhill that sat between them and the next bank.

Once they were clear of the tunnel and descending past Laira depot, Goldie slid the firebox doors open to check how much coal was in there. "Misty did a good job," she said. "Fire's well built and burning hot. Steam pressure?"

"Still reading 240 PSI on the pressure gauge!" Argyle replied, as the long train was coming to the bottom of the bank. Argyle slid the reverser back a bit to try and maintain speed, but now the critical test was had they built up enough steam for the climb?

Just as they passed the speed board, the regular was opened to full. Rebecca's exhaust roared like an angry dragon, and steam shot into the air like a volcanic eruption as she began to climb. Pressure was held as high as possible, with only small increments added to the boiler in terms of water. This was because adding too much water in one go would drain the boiler of steam, which in turn would reduce their ability to climb hills.

And once they had reached the top, they were doing around 25 miles an hour, which is not too bad all things considered. Once on the flat, Argyle checked the line ahead. "We've got a few miles of flat track with the odd short grade," he noted. "I'm gonna try and use this to make up lost time." He soon saw that this was a wise move, as the relatively easy track lended itself well to very fast running over awkward terrain.

The South Devon Banks are less a series of gradients and more a cliff scramble, as the track rolls about like a rollercoaster. Not only that, the gradients are amongst the steepest you will encounter on a main line. This is because the route was originally engineered with atmospheric trains in mind; trains that used vacuum pressure to move along. When this system proved to be a failure, the response was to build incredibly powerful steam locomotives instead.

Admiteddly, Rebecca had not been built with this in mind, but she knew the route. "You seem to know the way!" Goldie commented.

"Back in the day Southern Region services were routed this way if the line via Okehampton was shut!" Rebecca replied. "I travelled over here in both directions several times, and I'm certain surviving engines of the Western Region can say the same about the old LSWR line!"

Down a grade they went, and they were shooting through Newton Abbot at line speed. Inside the carriage, Izzy looked out. "Hey!" she said. "This is where me and Porter took a wrong turn!"

"Possibly the most fortunate wrong turn in history," Pipp noted. "If that hadn't happened, we'd probably have never met!"

The final sprint to Exeter St. David's awaited, and the light pacific dug into the rails, clearly up to the challenge. She flew along the track, the coaches bouncing up and down as they roared along the Riviera.

Alas, such fast running must eventually end, and they pulled into Exeter St. David's only five minutes late. "Right, make this fuel stop quick," Lord haven instructed as the crews switched around. He looked at the gauges. "We did get through a lot of water. We've got 3500 gallons left. Will that get us to Bristol?" He then began to do calculations.

Seeing her husband was in analytical mode, Lady Haven looked back. "Pump some more water into the tender, please!" she called.

They had to hope they could refuel relatively quickly. The more time they spent, the further ahead those cars got. Speaking of which, where were they?

Author's Note

Stage 2 down, not many to go. Many bits of Southern Region history here for you to enjoy. See how many you can spot!

Stage 3-Exeter to Bristol

"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!"

Author's Note

Another leg down, two to go! But who is that mysterious diesel?

Tangmere is another Bulleid Light Pacific, which has the class representative on many mainline railtours. The comment Rebecca makes is a reference to an incident that occurred in 2017, where an overloaded Tangmere slid to a standstill on a steep mainline.

Stage 4-Exeter to Reading

Zipp quickly checked over her paperwork to ensure nothing was amiss. "All looking good so far," she said, glancing over charts of numbers and other data. She then glanced up and saw Pipp looking concerned. "Hey, what's the problem Pipp?"

"Did you not see what just happened?" Pipp asked.

"No, I've been checking the paperwork and ensuring the fire's up to temperature. Has anybody used the driver's side water injector? It felt a little stiff compared to the one on the fireman's side, presumably due to a lack of use."

Pipp indicated to the signals in front of them. "They've let a stopping train out in front of us. That means it's going to stop at every station between here and Didcot. We can probably say goodbye to any rapid progress from here, as we'll be held up at red signals the entire time."

Zipp nodded. "It's not neccesarily a big deal. We just need to drive efficiently and make better use of the ground than our opponents. Speaking of which, we've reached our booked departure time."

Pipp checked her watch and then the station clock. And it was time to leave. "O. M. Goodness!" she exclaimed. "Let's go!" Without hesitation she opened the regulator and prepared to set off. The train slowly rolled over the pointwork on the London side of the station and began to make its way over the hill. There was a bit of flat on the exit where the lines to St. Phillip's Marsh Depot and Avonmouth diverged, and sidings sat on the left. The engine began to enter a tunnel, but as it did they caught a glimpse of something.

Lord Haven pointed out of the window. "Good grief! It's that diesel again!"

"What diesel?" Sunny asked.

"The yellow one that's been trailing us since Plymouth!" Lord Haven said. "Looks quite boxy, with a strange checquered pattern on the side of it."

"Well, if we see him again we'll let you know," Lady Haven said reassuringly. She was certain it was a coincidence, but something in her suspected this was not the case.

Meanwhile, the train finished climbing out of the tunnel and rumbled along the flat for a while. The new speed limit was coming up. "Temporary speed restriction through Bath Spa!" Zipp called. "Slow down to 25 miles per hour!"

"Probably a good thing too!" Pipp added. "There's a red signal up ahead." To accent her point, the AWS then went off for a single yellow indication.

Once the signal had cleared, Rebecca was on her way again and rumbled round the tight bend, which was speed restricted to prevent a derailment. Once the restriction was out of the way, they suddenly saw one of the cars fly by below them on the road.

"We're neck and neck!" Zipp called. "And the climb through Box tunnel is coming up!"

"Shame we don't have a banking engine!" Pipp replied. "I'll have to work Rebecca with all she's got!"

They were ratttling up the climb with impressive speed as the tunnel seemed to stretch into eternity. Pipp had pulled on breathing gear to be safe, having heard about the dangers of a steam engine stalling in a tunnel. But mercifully her fears proved to be unfounded.

A new speed board informed them that the speed limit was now one hundred and twenty five miles per hour, and not only that the line was going downhill. And they were prompty gaining speed as they flew down the grade, with the speedometer needle climbing as they made their way down.

"Make sure you can control it!" Zipp called. "I'll keep the water and coal up and into shape."

"Of course!" Pipp said, as they flew down through Chippenham. As they approached Swindon, the run was ruined by a double yellow indication, suggesting they were catching up to the stopping train. This was bad, to put it mildly, so they were forced to slow down.

By the time they got through Didcot, the delays were stacking up. Not only did they know the cars were ahead of them, they also knew that the line was probably going to get more blocked.

They rolled through the station approaches and stopped in the platform. Pipp and Zipp bailed from the footplate as Hitch and Misty jumped out for the last leg.

Hitch took up his position as he looked at the controls. "This is it," he said. "Our last chance to turn this race around. Let's see what you can do."

Author's Note

The final stage looms, and Eurobeat is also on the horizon. Get ready for the epic conclusion tomorrow!

If the name of Box Tunnel sounds familiar, Awdry lived in the town of Box which is not far from the bank. He recalled in an interview that hearing freight trains being banked up the grade sounded like the locomotives on either end were having a conversation, and many years later drew on this memory when he penned Edward and Gordon.

Stage 5-Reading to Paddington

Hitch locked the reverser to full forward and applied the sanders, followed by released the brakes. "Here we... go!" he said, as the controls were moved to full power. Rebecca surged forward with the coaches moving forward at the same time. The passengers onboard were briefly thrown backwards as the acceleration kicked in.

"What in the world? What does Hitch think he's doing?" Argyle asked.

Sunny recognised what was going on. "Trying to win. He's got a competetive streak, remember?"

The train was now accelerating at an incredible rate. The formation rolled and rattled back and forth as the engine shook. Before long they had reached forty miles an hour, and the needle on the speedometer continued to rise as the train rattled forward.

As the speed roared higher and higher, people on the lineside turned out to cheer them on. Steam and smoke roared high into the air and briefly blotted out the sun as the train thundered by. Misty was relentlessly shovelling coal and managing water supplies to try and ensure optimum steam generation on the run. The sweeping curves allowed them to maintain the sort of run they were attempting.

"How fast are we going?" Rebecca called.

"We're up to seventy!" Hitch called. "Not fast enough!"

With some better management of the engine controls, the locomotive was finally up to speed, and speed continued to climb. They had to make the most of this section as the speed limit would soon drop.

As they flew through another station, the speedometer needle touched ninety. And it was still climbing somehow.

"What is the speed limit?" Hitch called. "Signal indications?"

Misty looked about. "Speed limit is good! First restricting signal for Paddington approaching!"

Hitch was forced to begin slowing down, and brought the regulator back in preparation to apply the brakes for slowing down (and eventually stopping). They rolled efficiently through the crossovers and continued to slow into the station, before coming to a complete stop.

As the train stopped in the platform, Hitch sighed. "I pushed Rebecca to her limit, and it still wasn't enough. Sorry, guys."

Just then, Misty looked out and cheered. "No, Hitch! We've won!"

"What?"

Just then, the three cars roared into the parking lot.

"We've come first!"

Hitch was stunned by this revelation. Somehow they had regained the lead they had lost and won the race.

A few minutes later, he and the rest of the crew had gathered on the platform as the three drivers turned out. "Incredible!" Clive commented. "I have never seen a performance like that in all my career!"

"That was one heroic run," Mark added. "Great job, you lot."

Harris then turned to somebody invisible. "And that race just goes to show that even with modern speed machines in our ownership, sometimes the older technology can outperform it, especially if driven well."

The station staff and passengers had turned out and began cheering, and locomotive drivers began blasting their horns in celebration of Rebecca's victory.

Clive spoke again. "And on that bombshell..."

Author's Note

Phew! What a race! Fans of motor racing may recognise the inspiration for this; James Hunt's heroic performance at the 1976 Tokyo GP which saw him move up from 5th to 3rd in the final laps of the race (giving him the points he needed to win the Championship).

Have some Eurobeat to listen to along the way.