Wheezing goes racing, by Matthew Quilliam

	Pinewood (Wokingham) Miniature Railway
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Wheezing goes racing

Wheezing is a Class 08 shunter. He is driven by three motors each powering one axle. Wheezing has been part of Pinewood Miniature Railway for many years and he is a great friend to everyone. He was named Wheezing because he sounded like he needed an inhaler. Wheezing tends to get the names of other locomotives mixed up or he says them backwards. This is his story.

Wheezing was in the yard, shunting the carriages around. They liked to tease old locomotives like Wheezing, and made it very hard for him to shunt.

“Come on!” Wheezing sounded like an old man with a young accent. He was in a GWR Dark Green Livery and was taking an overhaul tomorrow. The carriages were misbehaving all day. They derailed Gentoo, they made Apple bounce in the air and they crashed Sweat Pea. The locomotives were up all night planning revenge on the carriages. All of them, except Wheezing.

Wheezing was being transported to the Andy Walton's Denver Light Railway workshops for his overhaul. Mr. Andrew went to work right away. He didn’t want to get into trouble with Pinewood Miniature Railway again. The last Pinewood Miniature Railway locomotive to visit the workshop was Thunder Hoof, or at the time Old Glory, but that’s a different story. Wheezing’s three motors were immediately replaced. While inserting the new motors, Mr. Andrew’s daughter got to work on painting the frame of Wheezing’s body a lovely BR Blue. Soon, the overhaul was over!

Wheezing came back to Pinewood Miniature Railway after a few test runs and a welcome party was held. For the first of only a few times, Wheezing was allowed to haul a train of paying passengers around the whole line! It was wonderful! First, he was following Traction, who was guiding him around. Then, he pulled a train all by himself! Sadly, the end of the running hours came, and Wheezing went straight to bed feeling very proud and new. Stoomphy did the shunting instead.

The next day, the railway was closed. Everyone was away on holiday. The locomotives were free to roam around the railway as much as they liked. Metropolitan, Traction, Siemens, Royal Alex, Ruston, Apple, Stoomphy, Dick Woodruff and Wheezing the electric or petrol locomotives had a race with Moose Jaw, Thunder Hoof, Sylvia, Gentoo, 1466, Petrolea, Halleybury, Urie, Scamp, Harpford Belle, Sweet Pea, Phantom and Black Five. First, Dick Woodruff recorded how long each steam locomotive took to zoom around the circuit. He and Metropolitan counted up the scores.

“12 minutes, 53 seconds!” Metropolitan cheered! She then got ready to go around the track as it was now the electric and petrol locomotives’ turn to go around the line. Everyone went zooming off. Everyone came zooming back except for Wheezing! Oh no! Everyone went to search for him. But, they had no need to have done that! Wheezing was now so quick and camouflaged that no one saw him glide in. Black Five and Thunder Hoof had been counting up the scores this time.

“12 minutes, 52 seconds!” Black Five congratulated, “You are the winners! Wahoo!”

Click here for the story "Sylvia and the little bird".

© Pinewood Miniature Railway Society Limited 2011
Registered Office: - Pinewood Miniature Railway Society Limited, Pinewood Leisure Centre, Old Wokingham Road, WOKINGHAM, Berks. RG40 3AQ