Rails To Refuge | Season Three Episode One | Dark Days

[@AdamTandy92203]

A cracking start to the latest season of RTR; it's been thoroughly enjoyable watching this series evolve from its inception to the present. Well done on the production of this fine show! It was great to see all the changes to the R&CHR, the route certainly benefits from this in certain areas, the station & yard at Redwick in particular having gained a more detailed setup. The music selection featured in this series is also a joy to listen to, this episode having a superb mix of tracks e.g. "Late Night Train", "Snow", etc, as well as some new additions to complement the soundtrack. The piece that plays over Drax assisting Russell up the bank ("That One Bar Scene") is a proper banger too! 😃 I was saddened but hardly surprised to learn how badly the operations of the line have been impacted in the months following Gregory's crash, with passenger numbers dwindling & freight work being more prevalent. Sadly, a derailment leading to scores of casualties was bound to have such dire implications for the R&CHR. It was very intriguing to see how each of the engines have been affected differently by these events & their resulting consequences, some more so than others. Having a more central focus on Drax & Russell was a nice feature, seeing as these two haven't had as many starring roles as others & both could have so much potential. Drax definitely seems the more mature of the two, being perfectly willing to help the 42xx tackle the bank in spite of the latter's behaviour towards him; the fact that Russell himself was evidently surprised by the lack of animosity was rather touching as well. I can't help but wonder at the reasons behind Russell's behaviour towards Drax as depicted in this episode. True, this could still be due to Drax's loyalty to Mr. Stard, but, to me at least, it does feel like there's a deeper meaning that might originate from before the feud between the Stard & BR forces. 7227 in real life was rebuilt from a 5205, so perhaps this bad blood could have something to do with Drax's rebuilding? Russell's retorts after being accused of jealousy seemed to convey some degree of denial, almost as if trying to convince himself that Drax was nothing more than an stretched-out version of himself despite the 7200s being known to have a higher power rating. Just a theory I will add, but perhaps the two had a closer relationship back when still in 'as-built' condition, before Drax's rebuilding caused this to break down in some way e.g. Russell's bitterness at Drax being rebuilt whilst he was kept in his original form & not given this opportunity. Russell's desperation to prove himself worthy of mainline work was an interesting plotline, though his attitude to being restricted to local goods whilst Hart & Richard travel a wider distance on passenger runs, a mixture of anger & jealousy, was a surprising turn to say the least, considering his association with the other two. The fact that he has now seen Mr. Knox's dark side, having being outright threatened with scrapping if his steaming troubles can't be sorted, means there could be all kinds of potential for the character later in the season, be it good or bad. Speaking of Mr. Knox, what a nasty piece of work he is. We all know of his atrocity at the end of S2, but his actions here further portray him as being extremely dictatorial & purely sadistic at times, going as far as judging Reggie purely based on his ownership & even telling him as such was abysmal to watch, the last straw being his leaving the failed pacific in the back of the works; Reggie's crying at the end was difficult for me to hear & it honestly left me seething at Mr. Knox. Fingers crossed he'll get his comeuppance one day... 🤞 Though his involvement was relatively brief, Anthony Manor is clearly one of the worst affected by Mr. Knox's takeover; he's lost Gregory after the latter essentially sent him & his passengers to their deaths, and is implied here to feel responsible for his friend's demise. His massive falling-out with Thor in light of those events will surely have been a further blow to Anthony's morale, and now that his involvement with spying for BR is out in the open, those associated with Mr. Stard have turned against him & hold the 'manor' responsible for what has happened on their line. Anthony also seemed to be in a more 'neutral' position in this one; though his overall view of Mr. Stard doesn't look to have shifted much, he also stands up for Reggie against Mr. Knox (albeit in a rather gruff manner) & then essentially orders Richard to shut up during his torment of the Cathedral, only for Reggie to turn on him & assert that he's one to talk. I'm particularly invested in seeing where Anthony's story goes from here, so I look forward to seeing more involvement & potential for the 'manor' as the series progresses. All in all, a top-class episode by all accounts; keep up the great work! 😁👍 Kind regards, Adam T.

[@EpicBanastard]

Thank you so much for the fantastic comment! I'm really happy you noticed so much in the episode :D i can't confirm or deny any theories simply for not wanting to spoil anything, but honestly, very well observed on a lot of points!

[@johncorrigan3068]

TDRS season 12 finale in two days, then after that a new episode of Tales of New Wessex and the start of season 3. We are fine dining this week.

[@cameronebert4454]

Dark DJ finishes off TDRS Season 12, Andy is preparing another ToNW episode, and you Mr. Banastard have finally come out of hibernation to start up Rails to Refuge. I have never, I SAY, *NEVER* seen the main trio of the 77c crew being this active!

[@bulleidsteam1814]

Best way to start us off. Never thought I could hate someone more than Hart, then we got Mr Knox. Hate him so much. I love that we got some Drax and Russel action. We don’t see too much of them so that was nice. Feels like we may see some character development from Russel soon. As for Reggie, I feel so bad for him. Him breaking down again made my heart sink. And when he started crying when he was left in the back of the works pulled my heartstrings. All in all a great start to a great series.

[@electrik_loss]

Ay, and given the altercation, those tears were awash with so many painful emotions; anger, frustration, hatred, sadness, and a potential hint of fear.

[@EpicBanastard]

It hurts me every time I see that part of the episode xD

[@peterfoxon5498]

I love how Draxx has finally got the spotlight, felt like he was a bit of a background character up untill now. As for Russell it seems like the seeds are being planted for some kind of turning point or personality shift in the future for him. Can't wait to see how this season unfolds! Also i liked the station cat on the roof when Pat came to move Reggie to the works.

[@Delta4280]

I love how Mr. Dexby's Maus even has the markings of his railway... I almost want to see it fully painted in the Dexby blue livery at some point

[@EpicBanastard]

if only

[@NorthernSoulExpress]

New episodes of Rails to Refuge, tales of New Wessex and the Dark Railway Series? This is going to be a great weekend!

[@Pyrotrainthing]

I really hope the payoff to Mr.Knox is him being arrested or something if he slips up his actions and gets caught with what he's doing as manager in Mr.Stark's absence.

[@NorthernSoulExpress]

nice to see Pat again, feels like we haven't seen him for a long time. Also i really like the changes and improvements to the route. looking forward to seeing how this new series will play out for the main characters, hope we're gonna see Buck return at some point.

[@EpicBanastard]

Many thanks :D

[@kupferbergbahn7952]

Man, this episode had me seething! (at Mr. Knox). You've done an amazing job making an antagonist who we can truly resent every time he appears or speaks. The gloomy weather really helped the atmosphere as well, makes things feel like they'll never get better.

[@EpicBanastard]

Thank you!

[@MrRocklover18]

Mauss tank 😂 LOVE THAT THIS SERIES IS BACK❤

[@Antonio-ui2mh]

They way Mr. Knox regards the engines reminds me of the Star Trek The Next Generation episode “The Measure of A Man”. Commander Bruce Maddox from Starfleet regards Data as merely a machine to be replicated to serve Starfleet’s interests.

[@jacobmoss6830]

Mr dexby and the Maus object to track removal efforts.

[@loganbloom6191]

i hear a massive lawsuit of the engines against corrupted controllers coming soon.

[@EpicBanastard]

If only engine Testimonies counted in court

[@loganbloom6191]

@@EpicBanastard then maybe they need to hire an assassin and start looking for new homes then.

[@intercity-mq6qv]

@@loganbloom6191 buck "took care" of the last manager who posed a thret to mr stards rain... so maby if buck returns soon then mr knox will be "nutrilised".

[@loganbloom6191]

@@intercity-mq6qv we can only pray and hope

[@sirmatsdubois2509]

Mr Knox is playing a very very dangerous game of chest and he's beginning to run out of pieces to use. He also should really consider what would happen when it's discovered that Mr starred has absolutely nothing to do with the accident and an investigation begins into why it happened. because in my experience people won't just leave such a major investigation just because their Prime Suspect isn't the person they are looking for and would definitely look at other options. Plus I think if I was an investigator I would also check out everything about British railways operations on the line considering that They are the only other people with power on the railway. and I would love to see how British railways deals with the Enormous amount of bad publicity when it turns out one of their people deliberately murdered hundreds of passengers just to gain control of a stupid piece of track! that's definitely going to ruin their reputation and give Mr stard a large amount of pull over them considering what they put him through. My best guess is that in order for British railways not to be sued by him and to save their face in the public eye they will have to “donate” the complete line And any engines that Mr stard wants to keep. that would be realistically their only option moving forward from that point. and I have a saying when it comes to people like Knox: control is like a chess game with very fragile pieces. you place one piece in the wrong way, make one simple mistake and all the control you have will be taken away from you in an instant and you will be the only one to blame. and I also believe the British railways engines will finally see how British railways really sees them. but I also believe by that point it will be too late for them to change sides.

[@EpicBanastard]

thank you for the nice comment! Much appreciated :D

[@sirmatsdubois2509]

@@EpicBanastard It's just how I realistically see things going down in the long run. because people like Mr Knox always believe they have so much power when in the end that power can be easily taken away from them. unlike I said this would open up the opportunity for Mr stard to “negotiate” with British railways in order for them not to be sued by him considering they will be drowning in bad publicity and lawsuits. I mean you just don't cause an accident and not be found guilty for it. and I believe he would just ask them for the ownership of the entire railway line and allowing them to run their own surface on the line but they would have to pay him a fee to use it. that seems fair to me.

[@jackthedragon612]

Man, what a way to bring in the newest season of RTR. And Reggie... Poor, poor engine.

[@AllThingsGreatWestern]

What an absolutely fantastic episode to kick-off Season 3 with, easily one of my personal favourites already! I can definitely see what you meant by how we'd see how Russell would tick in this episode. I've found this particular episode so fascinating to dive into as it's given me a lot to focus on. I knew going into this that Russell was going to be a very complex character and this episode seems to have enforced that for me. (It's taken me a lot longer than I had originally intended to write this as there is so much to unpack. I can only apologise for my waffling here but I'll do my best to make it as relevant as possible). After Gregory's crash, I believe Russell would have felt like he had no other option but to remain with Richard and Hart. This almost certainly has contributed to his current attitude as he seems to be more openly critical and pompous towards Drax, almost like we're hearing the influence Hart and Richard have had on Russell over the last 8 months. His rivalry with Drax has been something I've been waiting to see for some time now and he does carry a lot of resentment and anger towards Drax. I find it very intetesting that Drax seems to try reasoning with him time and time again and it clearly isn't the first time either as in Two Fronts when Drax said how he had to reason with Russell how his cylinders needed inspection and how he had to be shooed out the shed by the Yard Master to take the train. (In that instance it can be said it was out of spite, but I think it could have been out of some concern after the recent sabotage attempts so it's kinda reasonable in that case). Despite this, there were moments that suggest to me Russell is still hurting. Ever since BR had taken over, I feel like it's safe to say that Russell has become neglected due to his design. It's mentioned that even Mr Knox is not listening to Russell's remarks, implying he knows Drax is more capable of going longer distances with heavier trains due to his greater coal and water capacity, not to mention he has a greater tractive effort. When Mr Knox announces the roster for the day, Russell had ask for his own work and you can hear the sadness in his voice after this, BR have clearly mistreated him while they've taken over. His servicing and repairs are no longer as rigorous or frequent as they should have been and are most likely why he has steaming issues to begin with. When he was due for servicing, he skipped it so he could work. (I'm still a bit confused wether Drax's workload has remained the same and Russell's has just become local or if BR has just taken Russell's mainline workload and spread it across Drax, Axel and Ramsay's work with the increased goods because the expenses in maintenance. Again, I hope this makes sense, it's quite tricky for me to write rather than say). He's become so desperate to prove his worth that he's going the length of taking Drax's work which in turn with his deteriorating condition is breaking him. It's actually quite sad hearing him having to motivate himself through Colford (I hope I'm spelling it right) and his words on the hill before he stalls are tough to hear after hearing it a few times back when I was rewatching this "If Drax can do it, then so can I!" It sounds like he's in denial, he can't accept his design is becoming trouble for the deplorable British Railways. The 8 months with Hart and Richard will have made Russell believe his design is more successful because he wasn't rebuilt where that isn't the case. We saw in Winds of Change how well he was able haul a coal train up the hill from Colford and it is implied even the strongest engines can stall on the hill so you still have to give Russell some credit in terms of strength. The 42xx tanks are outstanding tank engines and were for decades the main freight engines on the Ebbw Vale Iron Ore trains, China Clay trains in Cornwall, Coal Traffic along the PC&N line and Rhymney Valley for Newport Docks, even banking duties from Aberbeeg. (Russell being a Newport Pill resident and a temporary Aberbeeg resident in early 1930, he's had experience with the latter two). Despite their effectiveness, the 42xx tanks at the end of the day were still intended for shorthaul heavy freight work and were limited by their coal and water capacity, making them expensive, hence why BR would have neglected him over more adaptable engines. It's extremely tough to say with any certainty this soon as it has only just started and in all seriouness, I am just theorising through my own eyes here so I know there is probably a lot incorrect here. I am gutted that he's showing signs of Hart and Richard's influence on him so far, but with it being this early I have hope that there's time for him to realise and possibly even change if there's a chance. We'll just have to wait and see. I will say this, I really like the mature way Drax helped Russell when he stalled on the hill. No squabbling, no nonsense, just straight to fixing the issue. It's a nice touch to add for Drax and shows how much he's come since Hold The Line when he just bickered with Ramsay and Pat after arriving with the cranes. I'm very happy with this plus the sequences of Drax on Russell's train and of them working both trains are easily some of my most favourite shots so far. One small detail I really love was Mr Dexby and Lord Stovell at 3:51 looking over Mr Knox's operations. I imagine they saw a lot more of what happened here that what was hinted at in The Tales of New Wessex episode The Bad Batch? I very much enjoyed this episode a lot Chris, was this one of the formats you had in mind for Season 2 at first? Either way, it was well worth the wait and I'm very much looking forward to what else Season 3 has to offer. I only hope my incoherent writing can make some sort of sense.

[@EpicBanastard]

Thank you very much for the kind words! It was about time we got a Drax/Russell episode, and i'm glad i managed to pull it of in such a way that i get comments like these :D i can't wait to show what else is to come!

[@robertroman2738]

Maybe Buck will make his return to the railway

[@Arkay315]

Give me Gladys and nobody gets hurt.

[@EpicBanastard]

no.

[@blakesparman875]

We miss that bastard :(@@EpicBanastard

[@Arkay315]

I have waited so long for this.

[@Animesia2]

Your music selection is awesome !!

[@EpicBanastard]

Thank you!

[@Eflgoat]

Im excited for this episode but im actually really sad about gregorys death because he is my favourite type of engine and he was getting better he wasn’t really bad he was just angry because the stard lot embarrassed him he didn’t deserve that but heart hall did 😢

[@wolfie773]

Wait what happened with Gregory🤔

[@Eflgoat]

@@wolfie773 he was killed in an attempted murder against hart hall. That day hart hall was to take the first train of the day and a couple months before hart hall had tried to kill reily so darius wanted revenge we don’t know what he did but him and his crew tried to make him derail and either kill him or send him away but at the last minute gregorys passenger train was scheduled ahead of harts goods train. Gregory ended up derailing just before a bridge over water he rolled into the water fast and hit a rock in the face killing him his train was all injured and some people even died aswell so now darius has been scrapped and mr stard is in court

[@Antonio-ui2mh]

An excellent episode. Well done to all involved . At least we Know that Reggie is taken to New Wyseex . I’m still wondering about Buck. Lord Dexby is great friend and ally one must learn to never cross him.

[@intercity-mq6qv]

as thay say keep your frends close and the man in the purple sute with a mauz closer🤣

[@Antonio-ui2mh]

@@intercity-mq6qv indeed

[@yorkshirerailwayspotter9848]

Hell yes bring it on the new season can’t wait for this

[@electrik_loss]

If I thought the ending to last season was emotional, the ending of this episode shows how broken sone of the engines are. I won't say who or what happened, but God that last bit fucking hurt.

[@EpicBanastard]

The title was no joke :P

[@BlandSpagetti]

My god what is this Christmas in august?

[@thatonecaledonian812]

Mr. Knox sings how bad can I be when

[@williamscheuerman1867]

no help sorry, This entire episode was so hard to watch after getting attached to so many characters. Fantastic work to everyone involved

[@firstnamlastnam2141]

Man, I hope everyone on the BR side eventually get what's coming to them and way worse. I had no clue there was no bottom limit to how unlikable someone could be.

[@fluxthelycanroc9603]

Huh...glad to see the series back. Lotta stuff to take in but just one small issue really...i miss buck and his funny banter.

[@EpicBanastard]

All in due time

[@HenryYang-2623]

Chris, would it be possible if Lord Stove request the maker of Redwick come down here and bring back to Alfred? Also this is too dark for RTR...

[@EpicBanastard]

maybe

[@theradialtank212]

Holy balls it’s here

[@Iron_Blood_Enjoyer1933]

Two things: One: Why does Mr. Dexby own a Maus? Two: Will Bucklberry finally come out of hiding this season?

[@IndianaNorthWestern]

One: it's funny Two: funny haha locomotive run over mean guy lol

[@derironrailfan1919]

to get it out of commie hands

[@EpicBanastard]

Cause man is unstoppable. Time will tell

[@alexjones4249]

lets go, a new video coming out

[@arthurmelez4163]

I am curious..is a redemption arc for Anthony manor in mind, or is it just me that sees it so?

[@derironrailfan1919]

knew that maus was dexbys

[@EpicBanastard]

Man has connections

[@ryancampbell4119]

Was that a maus

[@EpicBanastard]

yes

[@crusaderiii477]

haus maus

[@Porter_9]

So when is episode2?

[@EpicBanastard]

When I have all I need to make it. Currently waiting on voice actors

[@Porter_9]

@@EpicBanastard ok

[@Porter_9]

Por Reggie

[@Thatspuremental]

Absolutely fucking not love his reaction tip top perfection

[@EpicBanastard]

Man is a weapon

[@bennytes7980]

So when new episodes

[@EpicBanastard]

Cancelled now. It will be out when it's out -.-

[@Steamies2011-braydenthefef-3]

Epic banastard please reply and give me my answer where did buck go!

[@HighLaneDepot]

He went on a trip to a place called...

[@EpicBanastard]

Somewhere

[@Steamies2011-braydenthefef-3]

@@EpicBanastardthank you for the answer