It had been a particularly difficult winter on the island of Sodor. The normally chilly climate had taken an uncharacteristic plunge into unbearably freezing temperatures. To make matters worse, the bitter cold was accompanied by a low, heavy fog that hung damp and thick in the air. The strange ever-present wall of mist made work all the more difficult for the engines, and they could often be heard grumbling about delays. Oh, this weather is absolutely preposterous! My trains keep getting delayed, my passengers have places to be and I can't be kept waiting for this blasted fog to lift. I've never seen the main line in such disarray. Gen of Gordon, there's nothing we can do. We just have to wait for the weather to improve. Things weren't any better on the east side of the island. The narrow gauge engines were having even more trouble. While the big engines had their snowflowers and frightened levels to help them cope with the harsh conditions, the scallery railway engines did not. Because of this, all non-essential work had been halted and the little engines were being demolished.