Duncan Gets Spooked

Based on "Duncan Gets Spooked"

Recently on the Skarloey Railway, Mr. Hugh, Rusty and the workmen have been hard at work in restoring many parts of the line to make them stronger for longer and heavier trains. The line to the Incline was one of those lines and during that time, Peter Sam had been assigned to help Rusty with the workloads.

The workmen loaded up Peter Sam's wagons with rubbish and old rails that needed to be replaced, then Peter Sam would take the trains away for the rubbish to be recycled.

One day, the workmen had finished loading up Peter Sam's trucks, but he was low on water and wasn't going to make it to the next water tower.

"Don't worry Peter Sam, I'll give you a push!" called Rusty and buffered up behind Peter Sam's train.

He pushed behind the train until they finally reached the top of the hill, "Thank you Rusty!" tooted Peter Sam. Rusty tooted back and rumbled away to do some more work.

Peter Sam was soon having a nice long drink. As he waited, he overheard his crew talking.

"I'm personally glad we're away from that bridge," said the fireman, "it gives me shivers everytime we cross over it."

"Why do you say that?" Peter Sam asked curiously.

"Well..." but the fireman was cut off when he heard some groaning coming from behind Peter Sam.

It was the loaded trucks, they were bored of sitting around doing nothing, they wanted some excitment and to do so, they were pulling on the coupling, "break away! Break away!" they said with determined tones in their voices.

"Stop that!" snapped Peter Sam, "or you'll..."

It was too late, there came a snap as they broke the coupling and started to roll away from Peter Sam, "Surprise! Surprise! Try and stop us now Peter Sam!"

"Stupid trucks, why can't they behave themselves?" groaned the Driver, shaking his head.

"Worry about that later, we have to stop them before they get to that bridge," said the fireman as he climbed down from Peter Sam's tank, "that bridge was not designed for trains at high speeds, they'll end up derailing."

"Then what are we waiting for? Let's go after them!" cried Peter Sam.

When his crew were back in the cab, Peter Sam chased after the runaway trucks.

They had gathered speed down the steep hill and were going faster than they had ever gone before. The guard in his van tried to slow them down, but it did no good, "On! On! On! Faster! Faster!" giggled the stupid trucks.

Then the guard noticed a sign ahead, it read "Slow Speed, Ravine Ahead."

"Oh good glory," he cried and jumped from his van. He knew he couldn't stop them in time.

The trucks cheered with joy, but they would soon regret their decision as they came to the old Iron Bridge. It was very long with no hand rails and stood a long way's up from the swampy ravine below. The trucks rolled onto it, then the van rolled off the tracks and over the side. The rest of the trucks followed and they all fell into the swamps below.

Peter Sam had continued his chase, but slowed when he, his crew and the guard, which they had picked up, got to the Old Iron Bridge.

"Stupid trucks, they deserve a dip in that swamp," muttered the Driver. "Now we'll have to get help to pull them out, I wonder what the Thin Controller and Mr. Hugh are going have to say about this."

When they heard the whole story, they went to speak with Peter Sam, "well Peter Sam, after hearing about what happened, we can say for sure that you are not to blame for the runaway," said Mr. Hugh kindly, "it was those silly trucks. Though in a way, it is my fault for not checking those couplings earlier, they were quite old and with the right amount of tugging and pulling, those trucks could easily break them."

"Well just be thankful it was a rubbish train and not a passenger train," said the Thin Controller, "otherwise we would've had a serious tragedy on our hands," he then turned to Peter Sam, "all the same, I think it would be best if you do shunting work for a while, I'll send Duncan to work with Rusty."

Duncan was not pleased when he heard the news, but he couldn't help but tease Peter Sam.

"Fancy losing all those trucks on the hill Peter Sam, your perfect record is ruined at last," he chuckled, "now you're going to be in real trouble for dropping those trucks into the swamp, the ghosts will come and haunt your special funnel. Ooohhh!" he said in a ghostly way.

"Stop it Duncan!" snapped Skarloey, "Peter Sam was lucky that he had only trucks. If it was a passenger train, it wouldn't have been a laughing matter."

"Besides, who's to say you're not afraid of ghosts Duncan?" asked Rusty.

"I'm not afraid of ghosts," he said with a smirk, "things that go bump in the night are such rubbish. Besides, there's no such things."

"So you say," said Rheneas, "but Skarloey and I know a story that'll make you shiver in your frames."

"Very well then, scare me," Duncan smirked.

And so, Rheneas began to tell the story of the old Iron Bridge.

"This story takes place many years before Sir Handel and Peter Sam had arrived on the railway. Workloads had increased on the line and we were wearing down fast. The Thin Controller brought in another engine to help with the workloads, he was always working his hardest and was very friendly to everyone, including the trucks and he was always on time with his journeys...but that was due to change one night."

"As you may know, the old Iron Bridge that stands above that swamp was built in the early days of the Skarloey Railway. We couldn't built a viaduct due to the fact that the ground below wasn't level and after a rainstorm, the ground would become too soft for the stone pillars and so, we built the Iron Bridge that spanned from end of the canyon to the other."

"Anyways," Rheneas continued, "our visitor was making his way home with a loaded goods train. Heavy fog had began to roll in, making things difficult to see, but the moon was shining brightly in the night sky, "not long now before we get home," the engine to himself. But what happened next, no one really knows..."

"What do you mean no one knows?" Duncan interupted.

"You'll find out," Skarloey said, "now be quiet Duncan and let Rheneas continue."

Duncan went silent and Rheneas continued, "from what we can guess, the engine was making his way across the bridge slowly since the line wasn't maintaned properly. All was well until there was a bump and the engine leaned to one side and fell off the bridge, it's train followed closely behind. There was nothing the crew and the guard could do, they stayed with the engine as they went splashing into the swamps below."

"It was a sad day for the railway as they were never found again, but would be seen again..." Rheneas paused for dramatic effect, "I think Skarloey can tell you this next part."

And so Skarloey continued the story, "it was one year after the accident, I was travelling along the line with an empty goods train and as I got to the bridge, I stopped cause I had low steam preasure. As we waited, we heard a sharp whistle in the distance and then we saw it...it was the shape of an engine with a train coming towards us. We were all shocked to see another engine, the crew jumped in the cab and prepared to make us back up, but we had no need to do that as the engine vanished at the halfway point of the bridge. This was then followed by a loud splash from the swamps below. It sent shivers threw my frames I can tell you that."

"Now every year on the day of the accident," Rheneas continued, "When the moon is full and the ravine below is surronded by fog, you can see the little engine trying to cross the bridge and make it's way home, but it never reaches the other side."

Silence fell agmost the engines, they didn't know what to say - well, all except for Duncan, "what a load of rubbish," he sniffed, "you must've been seeing things Skarloey. There are no such things as ghosts."

Just then, the Thin Controller returned to the sheds, "Duncan, I need you to take some workmen up to the incline."

"But why now at this time of night?" Duncan asked, "wouldn't it be better to do it in the morning?"

"Nope sorry, we need to move alot of slate all day tomorrow, so we need that incline working again. Why do you ask Duncan?"

"Maybe it's because of the ghost engine of the Old Iron Bridge," chuckled Sir Handel, "maybe Duncan really is scared of ghosts."

"Shut up Sir Handel, I am not scared!" Duncan snapped in protest, "I was just curious that's all."

Sir Handel didn't believe him and said so, but Skarloey and Rheneas quickly told him to hush before an argument could break out. Duncan puffed over to the yards where he collected the workmen and some trucks, then he set off towards the Old Iron Bridge.

"Haunted Bridge, Pah!" he sniffed, "it's as tame as a pet rabbit."

But he didn't sound very convincing at all. As he got closer and closer to the bridge, Duncan kept thinking about the story that the old engines told him.

"I hope to get this job done soon," he said out loud, "otherwise Sir Handel or Skarloey will take my favourite spot in the shed."

"It might be an all night job Duncan," said his Driver, "we might not get back to the yards before morning."

Hearing that, Duncan began to grow anxious. Finally, they reached the Old Iron Bridge. The moon was full and fog was rising all around the bridge. Duncan whistled loudly and the sound echoed everywhere. Suddenly, they heard another whistle in the distance, Duncan's Driver stopped the train just before the bridge.

"Did you hear that?" he asked the fireman.

"Yeah I heard it," he nodded, "it sounds like a steam engine's whistle, but it can't be any of the other engines. They're all back at the sheds."

"I think I know who blew that whistle," Duncan groaned with a shaky tone in his voice.

"Who was it then?" the crew asked in unison, but they got no answer from Duncan.

They looked out the cab windows and saw in the distance, the shape of an engine and a fully loaded goods train was rattling onto the bridge from the other side of the canyon. Duncan couldn't say a single word, he seemed to have lost his voice at that moment. He and his crew watched as the engine puffed closer and closer towards them, but then as it reached the halfway point of the bridge, it vanished - then they heard a loud splash from below the bridge.

They were all stunned and remained where they were in silence until a workmen came walking up towards them, "What's the hold up? We need to get to work right away."

"Oh sorry," said the Driver, "We'll get going."

Once the workman was back in the coach, they set off to the incline. Duncan looked down anxiously and nervously to the ravine below, but still unable to speak a single word.

When they got to the incline and the workmen went to work, the Driver and fireman climbed down from the cab and spoke with Duncan, "well that's something you don't see everyday," his Driver said calmly, "do you want to talk about it Duncan?"

"No," he snapped, "I don't want to talk about it!"

"Okay then we'll leave you," said the fireman and they did, but they before they disappeared out of sight, the fireman whispered, "when you're ready, we'll talk then."

To this day, Duncan still tries to act like he saw nothing at all that night, but of course, we know of what Duncan saw on that bridge. Don't we?