The Road to Radstock is the ninth and penultimate episode of the first series of The Dark Railway Series.
Plot[]
Brian and Raymond are given the week off for rescuing Dave, while Dave bunks off work to chat with them. One day, the three engines are talking at Galen Junction when they are approached by Theo and Otto. They tell them that they require them to collect some wagons from Radstock on the Somerset and Dorset Railway, as they contain some valuable cargo necessary for their "top secret plan". They also tell them that a contact will be waiting for them at Templecombe and that they will be paid something much more valuable than their current wages in exchange. Wanting the money, the trio immediately accept the offer, and prepare for departure.
A few hours later, the engines arrive at Templecombe to discover that their contact is Sir Edgar Woolwinder, the twins' cousin. Learning about the security around the wagons, Dave comes up with a plan. At Radstock, Edgar approaches two shunters guarding the wagons, and gives them tankers of diesel fuel secretly spiked with alcohol. Soon, the shunters are under the alcohol's influence, and the engines take the wagons.
As they are leaving, however, a shout is heard and several diesels come charging after them. The engines run as fast as they can back towards Templecombe, but as they reach it, Edgar has to stop because of his hurting crank axles. Brian stays behind and pushes some wagons in front of the oncoming diesels, derailing them all. Edgar tells Brian to continue after his friends, while he returns home alone. Brian catches up with the others and they return to the Dark Railway.
When they arrive, Theo and Otto are waiting for them. The vans are opened, and the engines are surprised to see that they contain rope, hot dogs, and rusty rails. The twins give them their payment, which turns out to be several bottles of alcohol. Annoyed at the lack of money, the three engines start drinking until they are caught by Mr. Dark. As he proceeds to punish them, Theo and Otto arrive back at Soma, and begin to look at what else was in the vans.
Characters[]
Locations[]
- Galen Junction
- Templecombe
- Radstock
- Gillingham
- Soma
Trivia[]
- The events of this episode, particularly the contents of the vans, foreshadow the events of Event Horizon.
- The names of the drinks that the twins give the trio are parodies of real life alcoholic drinks.
- The title of the episode is based upon the "Road to..." series of episodes from the Fox TV Programme, Family Guy.
- The music that plays during the chase scene is a composition created by Dark DJ himself, and besides the opening theme song, is the first piece of music used within an episode of TDRS. It is titled "Revolution", and is also used during the ending credits of Event Horizon.
Goofs[]
- The diesels that chase after the engines include two Class 47s and four Class 55s. However, none of these engines existed in 1960, and it is said that Raymond was the only 47 constructed before 1962.
- There is a random glitch with the sky when we see the two security diesels (see gallery).
Gallery[]
