Engines of Britain

Chapter 15: Back on Home Rails

After what could be maybe a few moments on Sodor, it was now time for the Godson Railway engines to go back home. It was bit saddening for the engines to say goodbye, but it wasn't goodbye for them all. More like 'see you later'.

At Knapford Station, Henrietta, Kate, Clarkson, Elena, May, and Keshaun were ready to go, with Eric, Christian, and Hammond were all loaded up onto well wagons. They were ready for the off. Sir Topham Hatt and Mr. Croft stood at the platform, the latter about to board the coach.

"We thank you for what you've done for my engines and my railway," Sir Topham said to Mr. Croft, tipping his top hat to them.

"It was definitely an enjoyable time for us all, sir." Mr Croft smiled back. Then, he gave a salute. "Maybe we'll come another day."

"Maybe another day or so, sir. But we have got a railway to go home and take care of." Eric reminded to his controller.

Mr. Croft smiled, looking at the LB&SCR E2 tank engine. "Of course, Eric. I get it." He laughed, then he gave a final salute to Sir Topham. "Hope to see you soon."

"Take care on your way home. The tracks are clear for you." Sir Topham said.

"Come back and see us soon." The NWR engines whistled to the Godson engines.

"And we hope to see you all very soon." The Godson Railway engines replied back with smiles on their faces.

The engines then gave a chorus of whistles, the Godson Railway engines whistling back, and they all began to make their way down the line, heading off to Vicarstown Station. The NWR engines soon began to make their way back to work, while the Godson engines headed off down the line.

~*~*~

Soon enough, Henrietta, Kate, Clarkson, Elena, May, and Keshaun made their way down to Vicarstown Station, the engines need a small rest before they could continue on with their journey. The six engines began to take on more water, before they head off to the mainland.

As they waited, the sound of a large steam locomotive approaching the station. As they looked over to the platforms, they see a large green locomotive pulling in, coming to a gentle stop with a hiss of steam from her pistons. The engine was none other than Sarah, who had the newly-formed Godson Flyer express.

Sarah is a Great Northern Railway (GNR) Class C1 4-4-2 steam locomotive. Her type of engine was a class of ninety-four 4-4-2 locomotives designed by Henry Ivatt for haul the fastest and heaviest express trains on the Great Northern. Sarah is painted in LNER green with black and white lining on the boiler, pistons, splashers, as well as on the tender. She has the number 2800 on her buffers, and on both sides of the cab.

The C1 Class, as it was known under both GNR & LNER classifications, was designed by Henry Ivatt as an enlarged version of what became the LNER C2 Class. The principle of the design was to produce a powerful, free-steaming engine to haul the fastest and heaviest express trains on the Great Northern. They could thus be seen as the start of the East Coast 'Big Engine' policy. None were ever named.

They were eventually superseded on the heaviest trains by Gresley A1 Pacifics in the early 1920s. They continued to haul lighter expresses up until 1950, although this did include the Harrogate Pullman for a period during the 1920s and 1930s. They were often called upon to take over trains from failed Pacifics and put up some remarkable performances with loads far in excess of those they were designed to haul. One once took over the Flying Scotsman from a failed A3 at Peterborough and not only made up time but arrived early.

"Hello there, folks." Sarah called to the Godson engines. "On your way back home?" She asked.

"Yeah. How are thing on the railway?" Kate asked to Sarah.