"A long, long time ago, there lived an inventor."

"What's an inventor, daddy?" Sarah asked, looking up in awe at her father.

Argyle smiled. "An inventor is a person who creates new machines that help people. And this inventor lived a long way from here. You see, he had a problem that he wanted to solve."

"What was that, daddy?"

"He had been working on a problem involving something called steam. Steam is what you get when you boil water; if you'd like I can show you tomorrow with the kettle. People before him had built very big machines that used the power of steam to run, but they were not very powerful as a pressure was low. People feared that if they increased the pressure of the steam, there would be an awful accident."

Sensing his daughter's lack of comprehension, Argyle changed tack. "Pressure is sort of like power. The higher the pressure is, the more power the machine has. But you also need to be able to hold the pressure in, or you risk an explosion."

Sarah nodded, her eyes still wide at her father's story.

Argyle took this as the signal to continue. "This was the problem. The inventor had been trying to find a way to increase the pressure without causing an accident, and had struggled to find a solution. Then, one day, he had an idea."

"What was that, daddy?"

"He watched his kettle boiling, and saw the steam rising from it. 'Aha!' he thought, in a moment of triumph. 'That kettle uses high pressure steam, but the kettle doesn't break! If I can somehow harness that power, I can build a more powerful engine!' And he did. His new engine used a similar shape to the kettle, and could succesfully contain the high pressure steam, and furthermore he stored the steam in a separate piston, which moved the machine."

Argyle then leaned slightly closer. "And eventually, another inventor was able to take this machine and add wheels to it, creating the first steam locomotive. But that story will be for another time."

"Could I hear another story? Pleeeeeease?" Sarah asked.

Argyle glanced at the clock on her bedroom wall. "Alright. I guess we have time for a short one." He thought for a moment for which story to tell. "Many miles from here, there is an island called-"

"Sodor!"

"Very good. Now then, this island is surrounded by beautiful blue sea. It has fields of green and sandy yellow beaches. There are rivers, streams, and lots of trees where the birds sing. There are windmills and a coal mine; and docks where visitors to the island arrive. The island also has lots and lots of railway lines. And our story concerns one of the engines.

"Once upon a time, three engines lived in one shed on this railway. One of them was called-"

"Edward!"

"Edward was very old, and hadn't run in a long time. The other two engines were rude to him about it. 'They won't choose you!' they said. 'They want big, proper engines, like us!'

Sarah looked sad. "That's horrible!"

"Edward thought so too. He wanted to pull trains again, and see the outside world. Luckily, the driver and fireman saw just how sad Edward was, and decided to take him out for a run that day. You should have seen the looks on the other engine's faces as he steamed away!"

Argyle showed Sunny a picture from his scrapbook. "That's Edward. He had a wonderful day, pulling passengers across the island. And the next day he would prove himself very useful indeed." Argyle then closed the book. "But that, Sarah, is a story for another time."

Sarah seemed to be happy, but also very tired, as she yawned and slipped back in her bed. "I'd love to see a steam train someday," she said drowsily.

"Well, someday you will, I promise you that," Argyle said, as he stepped towards the door and flipped on his daughter's night light.

"Goodnight daddy."

"Goodnight, Sarah," Argyle said, as he closed the door. He then walked back to his room. "Now to get ready for bed without waking Goldie up." However, an idea was already forming in his mind.

"So, how was your first week at school?" Argyle asked, as he put some plates down on the table.

"It was great!" Sarah replied. "Apart from the teacher getting my name wrong. She called me Sunny!"

Argyle looked surprised. "That's funny. How did she get to that from Sarah?"

"Mrs Tearose said that somebody mis- mis-" Sarah's face scrunched up in frustration as she tried to recall the word, then gave up. "Miswrited it!"

"Oh! Mistyped it!" Argyle popped a drink and a cupcake down on Sarah's plate. "Though quick tip; the past tense of 'write' is 'wrote'."

"That doesn't make sense," Sarah said. "English is weird."

"That's because English involves a lot of influences. For example, what is the past tense for go?"

"Went."

"So why is the past tense of 'go' 'went', when so many other words just stick '-ed' on the end?"

Sarah thought for a moment. "Because it's a word they changed from something else?"

"Good guess, but not quite. Went comes from the word 'wend', which is a really old way of saying 'go'." Argyle then thought for a second. "How did we get here again?"

"The teacher got my name wrong, and the other kids all started calling me Sunny."

"Was that an issue?"

Sarah shook her head. "I actually kinda like it. I don't mind being called Sunny."

Argyle thought aloud to himself. "Yeah. It has a nice ring to it, and fits not only your personality but the family name. Besides, your mom and I often go by nicknames as well, so it only makes sense you have one too."

Sunny quickly drank from her cup- only a small amount, to avoid spilling it down herself. "Thanks."

Argyle smiled. "No problem, Sunny Bunny." He laughed. "That has a nice ring to it. But I've got some good news. We're going somewhere special tomorrow!"

"Where?" Sunny asked.

"If I told you it would ruin the surprise," Argyle answered. "But we'll have to be up bright and early tomorrow. We're travelling a fair way- by train."

Sure enough, Sunny was off to bed early that night, but the next day the family was up and ready to go fairly early. All the things they needed were packed well in advance, and they headed for the station. A short train ride later and they had arrived at Truro, where a mainline train rolled into the platform.

"Where are we getting off?" Goldie asked.

"Bodmin," Argyle replied. "Just a few stops up the line." He knelt down. "Not long now, Sunny."

Sunny had to do all in her power to keep her excitement in check.

Once they were onboard, they seemed to fly through the Cornish countryside, the scenery changing so rapidly it was as if they were flying. Through towns with quaint names like Par and Lostwithiel they flew, the rolling hills giving way to pleasant forests and lush plantlife.

Safe to say, Cornwall was a very varied place.

At long last, they arrived in Bodmin and got off the train, before crossing via a footbridge to another platform sitting to one side. This platform looked quite different to the others, having benches with the text G W R on them, and an old hut made of tin.

"I'll just go get the tickets," Argyle said. "Sunny, stay with mommy, OK?"

Sunny nodded.

Just as they split up, a whistle echoed in the distance.

Sunny immediately looked in the direction of the noise. Her eyes widened in wonder as something green rumbled round the bend, with a formation of other things behind it. As it rolled into the platform, she soon realised what it was.

They'd brought her here to see a steam train!

The train rolled to a stop, and Argyle returned to the party. "Welcome to the Bodmin and Wenford," he said. "This is your first time on a steam train, Sunny, so let's go!"

Goldie was last to board. "This sort of childlike enthusiasm is precisely why I married you, Argyle."

Once they were onboard, Goldie shut the door and closed it, sitting down in the compartment. "These seats are well sprung," she said. "They could do with fitting these to the commuter trains."

As everybody climbed aboard, the engine was moved to the opposite end of the train, ready to head to wherever it was going. A few minutes passed by, and Argyle handed Sunny something.

"You'll need these in case you choose to look out of the window," he said. "Helps to keep the soot out of your eyes."

Sunny nodded and slipped them on. The set of goggles seemed to make everything go funny, and she giggled at how the world was distorted.

A voice called down the platform. "RIGHT AWAY!"

There was a loud whistle, and a few seconds later the train started to pull away from the platform. Within a minute, the world of the 21st Century had vanished in its entirety, and the train has seemingly travelled backwards in time as it rolled through landscapes that had seemingly changed little since the 1930s.

Partway through its journey, the train stopped somewhere else, and Argyle leaned his head out of the window. "May I ask why we've stopped here?" he asked.

"We've halted to let the engine change ends!" said a friendly looking man. "We'll be here a few minutes, so feel free to hop out and stretch your legs. Tell me, have you had your tickets punched?"

"Not yet," Argyle said, and leaned back. "The man's here to punch our tickets," he said. He then opened the door. "Let's get them punched, then go and watch the engine running round."

Safe to say, Sunny was delighted to have her ticket punched, just as it would have been done back in the days of the old railway. Once the engine was on the other end, they reboarded the train and waited for departure.

The engine was working incredibly hard as it climbed towards the end of the line. The fierce gradient saw the driver and fireman working the engine as hard as they could, and Argyle pointed something out to Sunny.

"See that red glow?" he said. "That's the fire. That's an engine hard at work!"

Indeed, the constant percussive blasts from the exhaust made it sound as though the engine was speaking. Sunny hadn't noticed if the engine had a face like some of the engines in daddy's old books did, but she'd be sure to check if it did.

With a final blast of steam, the engine was over the summit, and rolled into the next station before coming to a stop in the platform.

"All change, please, all change! This is Boscarne Junction! Change trains for Wadebridge!"

The family had a lovely day out as the train pottered about the Cornish landscape. Sunny, though, noticed something odd when the engine was at the big station at the end of the line, where their journey had started.

"Why doesn't he have a face?" she asked.

One of the workers looked saddened, clearly having no idea how to explain the lack of a face to a small child. "I don't know how to say this, but... he lost the power to speak a long time ago. It was as if he went to sleep and never woke up."

Sunny's face fell, and she turned to Argyle. "Is that true?" she asked, tears in her eyes. For the young child, such a thing happening to anybody was a horrible thought. Could it befall her?

Argyle nodded. "Sadly, yes. There are fewer engines who can speak than when I was your age. But nothing's gone forever, Sunny. One day, they may return."

Sunny made a promise in her heart as she stood there. Someday, somehow, they would return. Somehow, she would find a way to bring them back.

Author's Note

Hello again! This chapter is intended to explain the origin of Sunny's hobby as a railway enthusiast (or railfan for US readers). The narrative is loosely inspired by an early memory of mine of visiting a heritage railway.

The two stories that Argyle tells are references to common stories told to children. The first is based on the popular legend that James Watt, a Scottish inventor who helped to advance stationary steam engines through the use of high pressure steam, got the idea from watching his kettle boil. The story is most likely apocryphal; the potential applications of high pressure steam had been known about since Ancient Greek times, but the engineering hadn't caught up. The story does have an element of truth to it, though; Watt used his kettle during his experiments into high pressure steam.

The scond story is based on an early draft of Edward's Day Out that Wilbert Awdry recalled in an interview conducted shortly before his death in 1997. In the interview, he revealed that the story started life as a series of questions and answers between him and Christopher, and this helped him flesh out the plot. He soon found he had to write the wording down to ensure no detail was left out, and even did some basic illustrations to go with it. From this developed the first book in the series, and the rest is history.

The Bodmin and Wenford Railway is a real heritage line in Cornwall, and runs from Bodmin Parkway to Boscarne Junction. The line is well-loved for its bucholic character and selection of rolling stock from the China clay industry. It's also the home of Alfred and Judy, the engines Bill and Ben are based on.

Argyle giving Sunny a pair of goggles is based on something I do at heritage railways, mainly to keep ash and soot out of my eyes. With oil burning, it's becoming less of an issue.

The locomotive in the story is a GWR 5700 Pannier Tank, specifically No. 4612. This class of tank engine is an icon of the GWR, as their low axle load, good adhesion, and simple design made them common across the network. 4612 belongs to the same class as Duck and has resided at the Bodmin and Wenford since 2002. The photo above shows the engine in the livery it carried between 2002 and 2019. As of 2024 the engine is undergoing overhaul.