Steam Engines That Follow

Another story of utter nonsense to entertain and delight young and old alike. The Seam of Coal is inspired by the Settle Carlisle, Leeds Morecambe and the Kirkby Stephen Stainmore railways. Lenny Locomotion is bored and so he invites all his friends to join him and Puffing Billy for a Coal Tasting Festival. Puffing Billy missed the last party and is now registered disabled so Lenny puts Puffing Billy on two railway wagons and hauls him to the festival. Each engine gets some coal from a colliery of their choosing and takes it to Kirkby Stephen where Puffing Billy decides who has brought the best coal to the Coal Tasting Festival. (Locomotion is on display in the Railway Museum, Darlington.)

A story of utter nonsense to entertain and delight young and old alike. The Party Line is inspired by the Heart of Wales Railway that runs across the centre of Wales from Shrewsbury to Swansea where, even today, if you want to board the train you have to put out your arm to indicate to the driver you want him to stop. A friendly bunch of seven 19th century steam engines travel from various parts of the country and meet up at the Sugar Loaf station and goods yard to celebrate Rosebuds birthday. All except one. Puffing Billy. Hes the first ever steam engine in the world and worked for 50 years at a coal mine. Unfortunately his railway track was straight and it had no bends so he never learnt to go round corners. Poor Billy. All the engines, except Rosebud, were built in the 19th Century and hauled passenger and goods trains around the country and can still be seen in various museums. (Puffing Billy is in the Science Museum, London.)