Every day, the last train to run the length of the Trottingham Vale Light Railway is the ‘Midnight Goods’ (which actually departs Trottingham at 9pm). It is a long and slow train that stops at every station, dropping off its wagons at each of the goods sheds along the line ready for unloading in the morning. The gradient for Down trains is less intensive than going Up, but it can still prove a challenge and crews must work their engines hard. On this particular summer night the train is light enough for one of the TVLR’s smaller engines to take it with ease; in this case it’s the railway’s little workhorse TVLR No 2 “LUNA”, an engine beloved by crews for its versatility. As the train approaches an old occupational crossing near Studleigh, driver Summer Wainwright and firecolt Ashen Clinker check both sides are clear before proceeding. This is one of the loneliest parts of the line and the only sound you can hear for miles is the steady beat of “LUNA”’s cylinders echoing across the valley…
you impertinent scallywags, whatever you engines coming to?
Engines come, engines go,
Granpuff goes on forever!