Erosion

Erosion is a magazine story. The second part of this story is titled Too Heavy.

Plot
One day, Daisy the diesel railcar is running on the coastal line. Over the past few days, storms have caused some of the land and rocks to slide down into the sea. While going up a hill, a passenger pulls Daisy's emergency cord and she stops. The guard goes down the train to check who pulled the cord, and finds it was an old man who is worried about erosion near the tracks and asks if they have been checked recently. The guard dismisses him, stating that landslides are common in this area.

The old man is very cross at being dismissed by the guard and goes to see the Fat Controller in his office when they reach the big station. He tells him that he is a geological surveyor and that the tracks are not suitable for heavy traffic. The Fat Controller listens to what he has to say and agrees to close the line to investigate the erosion. He is too late however, as Henry has already gone down the line with a heavy goods train and is now stranded after derailing on some weakened track which buckled under his weight.

Characters

 * Henry
 * Daisy
 * Sir Topham Hatt

Locations

 * The Station Before the New Tunnel
 * Sir Topham Hatt's Office

Trivia

 * This story was partially adapted into the fifth series episode, Something in the Air.