Just north of Trottingham Station, behind the goods shed, is a set of interchange sidings with a tramway connection to Freyhill Quarry. The locomotives of the Trottingham Vale Light Railway are not permitted to use the tramway, as were those used by the quarry when they eventually modernised. Loads of slate are brought to Trottingham multiple times across the day and as the years ed shunting ponies became overworked by the increasing loads of slate and general goods, thus the railway soon switched to using its steam locomotives for shunting. On this day the afternoon sun shines down on Trottingham yard as the yard manager, Topta Bottom, hands out another cargo manifest to the crew of TVLR no. 4 ‘TRISTANA’, which is currently designated as the shunting engine working the yard. Poppy Lentz, the driver, double checks the wagons she must collect and the order in which they must be arranged, while the firepony, Cork Top, peers out of the tender to listen to their conversation. All seems to be in order, they’d best get to work before the next train arrives…