Cumbria Express

A railway can be well known for anything, but the passenger trains are what makes a railway, a railway, and the locomotive that is pulled in front of it. Lowca is a 0-4-2st built-in 1864 by Fletcher Jennings, his tiny railway, name after his town, has a passenger service, he was in charge of this train, and he loves it, he’s a shy locomotive and doesn’t talk a lot, but he works hard for his job, to make passengers happy.

Lowca woke up on a Sunday morning, it was another day to carry passengers. His twins, Moresby and Penrith were already awake, for the early mornings of shunting trucks, his fire was lit up, and Lowca left the shed. He went to the carriage shed and pulled out his four favorite coaches, Penelope, Amelia, Alice, and Isabella; he was in charge of the Cumbria Express for Sunday’s run.

Lowca yawns loudly since he had to make a late-night delivery to the station that bears his name. He only got a worthwhile 6 hours of sleep, so he brought the coaches where they would be filled up with passengers and take them to their destination. The coaches were clean and happy, this was the daily passenger train for the railway, the coaches were in a maroon and cream livery.

Most of the older folks were reading Daily Mail, and some of the kids were playing around the station, it was a normal day like this every day, a Penrith came to a siding and shunted his train of goods van so the fruits and vegetable would be loaded into the vans, Penrith decided to start chatting with his older brother.

“What’s on today’s schedule?” He asks Lowca.

“Same,” He told the younger twin softly and quietly, “Same as yesterday, and same as before.”

It was true, he would be doing the same thing every single day, which he doesn’t mind, he likes pulling the passenger train, his four coaches enjoyed it as well, and would often sing along for the ride.

“What’s the schedule for you two?” Lowca asked.

“After the fruit and vegetable, then my second task is to carry some or to the station,” He told his schedule to Lowca, “Then some building materials, and lastly, livestock.”

“That seems like a normal day?” Lowca chuckled nervously, “Will Moresby be with you?”

“Nope,” He replied, “Only for the ore train, but everything else would be done by me.”

It was an obvious answer, but sometimes the twins would work together and done very well while working together. Roger could see fruits being loaded onto the vans, which they’ll be sold for most of the markets All over Cumbria.

The guard blew his whistle, and Roger set off.

“See you later!” Lowca called out.

He could hear his brother whistle in the distance, the coaches were at a moderate speed, but it was the usual speed limit on the railway, he passed through trees and valleys, which seems to be a perfect spot for a picnic and relaxation. Lowca was humming to himself to keep him not being too bored because a passenger train is mostly looking in front so no one gets hit.

The children always greet the train whenever they have the chance to spot it, which was always a big bonus for the 40-year-old locomotive. He would whistle at them, and they wave back at him, he didn’t want to dawdle that much, but he needs to be on time since the new interchange at the station would be crossed if they were late.

He arrived at the station only 3 minutes early, which he was glad the passengers got out of, thanked Lowca and his crew, and wanted for the other train to arrive. Lowca was turned onto the turntable and was turned around to be in front of the train, he heard Noah, a small Beyer Peacock 0-4-0t who operated at the Lowca and Moresby Railway, which opened in 1900, and connect to the narrow gauge in 1902.

Lowca like the small tank engine, built in 1890, Noah is mostly used on light passenger duties and has his coaches. He could see two vans behind the coaches, the railway was just using Noah, and would be challenging for the small Beyer Peacock.

“You’re almost late,” Lowca told Noah, “That surprised me for a bit.”

He panting hard, “I’m sorry Lowca, there was a cow on the tracks, which took forever, and with the two vans on the train, I’m already tired.”

Lowca felt sorry for his friend since he had that experience of his own in the 1860s-1870s, having an extra locomotive can help a lot. The railway is only 8 miles but plans to extend beyond Moresby and connect to the Settle and Carlisle Line, which that’ll be the plan when new locomotives will be ordered.

“I don’t want the Cumbria Express to be late because of me,” He sighed, “But that's a lot of work for a locomotive like me.”

It seems like this year was busy, and with only 8 miles of track, and one steam locomotive, it made Noah’s life a lot harder. Lowca looked at the passengers, they were holidaymakers, who travel to Lowca for the summer season, during which the passenger trains become very busy. He likes the holidaymakers because usually they would spend a fortune on the tickets and would get a comfy ride.

“It’ll be a miracle if this railway can make it through this year,” Noah mutters to Lowca.

After the holidaymakers got in, the guard blew his whistle, and Lowca set off out of the station saying goodbye to Noah and going on his way to Moresby Station, which is a connection to the Village of Lowca.

40 years of operating on this railway cause Lowca to know every stop and station, the people, and animals, he knows all the operations for 40 years and counting. 

When he arrived at Moresby Station, the holidaymakers got out and now Lowca can have a rest or a layover, which is usually 30 minutes or an hour, mostly because if he’s needed for extra work or waiting for passengers, he usually likes it, because his crew could work on him, while he’s resting, he could see the twins shunting and pulling vans and trucks, which he always watch whenever he has these rest.

Then Lowca was feeling bored, even though it had only been 20 minutes, he wanted to work or at least do something, which he always missed back then before the twins came, extra work, which Lowca loves to do. It was the afternoon when he was finally back to work, after a 40-minute layover, he couple to his coaches, and slowly make his way to the station.

He looks and only sees a couple of older folks and some workers. It was better than nothing, the Cumbria Express usually takes any passengers, which is a bonus for the old locomotive. A group of women arrived, who also got on the train. Lowca was kind of happy about the increase of passengers when the guard blew his whistle, and he left the station.

It was probably his favorite time of the day since the sun just has the right color and the warmth of it can make him a bit drowsy, but not enough to cause any problems. He was humming along with no worries, then he noticed something in the distance, he went much slower and crept to see what’s on the rails.

When he came closer, it was a hay wagon, with the wheels popped off, and now blocking the rails, Lowca gruffed a bit, but safety was very important, so his driver ran back to the yard, since the railway is short, where the office is right a couple of yards from the sheds, and knock on the manager’s door. Meanwhile, Lowca has to wait, meaning trains were delayed since it’s a single-lane track, but he was calm and waited for help.

After Moresby came with a truck, the hay was filled onto the truck, and Moresby left the site with the loaded truck. Lowca whistles thanks, and leaves, he picks up speed since he’s late, but he hopes that Noah understands. He arrives at the station where Noah was waiting for him. When he arrived, the passengers got out and boarded the other train The return workers from this morning's trips got on, the look on the face of Noah suggested that he does understand and gave him a sympathizing look. 

After turning and couple onto the train, he left in a hurry, making sure to look in front, luckily, nothing came at him, so the rest of the journey home was successful. The Cumbria Express was delayed, which did upset Lowca a little bit at the sheds that night, the twins didn’t tease him, but since it did impress the passengers, who saw the quick-thinking operation, which by turn in his opinion, it would make the Cumbria Express very popular.

Lowca went to sleep, he was eager to pull another train, full of passenger trains, on this little railway.