The end of the line!

Mayor Flint is in deep problems. By telegraph he has found out that the foreign secretary The Earl of Kimberley is on his way to Middleford. The Earl is not pleased with the action taken by the Middleford Shoelace Factory in a small North African town last week. The story has it that workers from the factory arrived at night in small vessels from Italy to sell, as they said, shoelaces. But unfortunately the Osman Empire army arrested them and accused them for belonging to the organisation Shoestring Associated Salesmen (SAS).

Mr Incognito
playing croquet

The Earl of Kimberly is not
pleased with the situation

Mayor Flint has no idea what is going on in the Middleford Shoelace Factory and even worse, he has no clue what the code Mi6 stands for that’s written on some of the wagons that arrives to the factory. In his contacts with the factory manager Mr Incognito the only enlightenment he got was that the factory is number six in the Middleford Shoestring Factory complex in Brittan and that’s why they mark the wagons Mi6 for Middleford six. Mayor Flint is not convinced.

Even worse Police officer Stevensen said that he would investigate the matter. Right now he is working as a signal man at the Middleford Railway but besides the fact that he cant read he is also colour blind witch creates some problems since he can’t tell the different between a red handle and a green handle in the lever frame.

This colour blindness gave Mayor Flint some time to catch his breath when Mr Stevenson used the wrong handle in the signal box and switched the train that the foreign secretary used to Witless junction the end of the Middleford Railways.

The King is arrested

To implement law and order in Middlefords more obscure areas Police officer Owen Stevenson is patrolling the areas close to the railway station and the park Kings Garden. The reason for this is the worry that younger women feel when they walk in these areas on their way to and from the station. Some people call the area: “The slum of Middleford” or “The disgrace of Middleford”. Mr Stevenson has so far been successful in his bravery to fight crime and Mr Jenkins dog that use to scare people. 

Unfortunately Mr Stevensons ability to read is, as we all know, poor and his ability to understand art and culture is even poorer. So if Mr Stevenson had been able read the Middleford Journal he would be aware that a theatrical company would perform in the Kings Garden. If he then had been a bit cultural he would have noticed that it was the Famous History of the life of King Henry the Eight by Shakespeare this time portrayed in the 18^th century. Sadly for the actors Mr Stevenson did not recognize this and acted instantly on the scene where a woman was to be beheaded with a big axe. This was probably the only time Anne Boleyn was saved and the King arrested.

Middleford Theatrical Company having a tea break before the catastrophic event occurred. Sam Niel on the right is now in custody for attempted murder.

The Middleford Theatrical Company is now looking for a new actor who, on a short notice, can play the leading role as King Henry the eight.

The return of a Hero

The Andersen Fabulous Steel Company, which is famous for delivering the springs to the seats in the Metropolitan Opera in New York, have made a new brilliant deal to deliver steel springs to the Swedish army. The new springs are invented to keep the Swedish armed forces white flags flying even in a mild summer breeze witch earlier had been a problem that almost paralysed the armed forces capability to engage in war fighting. The mastermind behind the deal is no less than Edward Andersen. His contacts with King Oscar the second of Sweden has now grow deeper and hopefully Mr Andersen will be able to sell some of the products from Middleford Shoelace factory that been irritating the neighbourhood to the Swedish army as chemical weapons.  

King Oscar the second is pleased with the deal
that will give his army new courage

Mr Andersen on the train from Stockholm
after the deal has been signed

Unfortunately the deal with Germany failed since they saw no reason in using white flags. 

Middlefords new police officer

Mr Owerkil failed the rifel test

A new police officer in Middleford has been appointed. After a hard examination containing tests for intelligence, strength, bravery and ability to make strong coffee five young lads were found appropriate for the service. To separate these five from each other even harder tests were preformed. Skills with rifle, handgun and catapult were tested as well as the ability to help old ladies over the street without making a riot.

The last test were really difficult for the lads since no old lady would admit being old when asked about it, especially not if the question came from a young handsome man. Fortunately the rugby game was over and the test was changed to: Helping drunken unstable supporters get on the train. One lad Owen Stevenson completed this test with brilliance. He got everybody on the train including the other competitors and judges by shouting “Free drinks in third class”. He then closed the doors and signed for the engine driver pull out. This was the first time the Sunday train left on time after a rugby game.

Mr Owen Stevenson is now the new police officer in Middleford but first he have to learn how to read and write. Unfortunately nobody thought about testing that before he was employed. But as Mayor Flint said “A solid performance could hide an ocean containing lack of knowledge”. 

A plan is nothing planning is everything

In Middleford the Railway is slowly making progress. The inhabitants are quite tired of having to wait for the train at a station without tracks. Mr Templot have done a lot of effort to make the ride as smooth as possible but facing the challenge to combine passenger traffic with goods traffic is almost to much for him. Especially the odour from the wagons that Middleford Shoelace factory is using. Tons of used shoestrings are sent to the factory to be recycled to new strings. Well that’s what the inhabitants think but nobody has seen the inside of the wagons. The mysteries surrounding the Middleford Shoelace factory is getting darker and more .

The transport of goods from and to Stoffton Brewery takes a lot of shunting and it’s a duty that engine drivers fights about to do since they get bribed paid in ale and beer. Stoffton Brewery is enormously famous for its strong ale and malt master Charles Hickory whom drowned in one of the brewery tanks. That’s why the Stoffton Ale has a significant taste of tweed witch is asked for among ale connoisseurs all over Middleford. After the tragic death of their malt master Stoffton Brewery decided to employ a new malt master from the Hickory dynasty, Charles less intellectual brother Dave Hickory, and to give the workforce cotton clothing.

Right- or left hand traffic?

The office for planning and building railways in Middelford announced that the track plan for Middleford is finshed. The project will cost a lot and the project manager is not quite sure how long it will take to complete the task or how much labour it will take. But one thing is clear: No one will be responsible for failures, economic disasters or if the railway will effect the milk production on Swivelness farm. One thing is unresolved and that is if there should be left-hand or right-hand traffic on the single track. 

Ability to lay track Zero, ability to make big plans One

A lot of springs to be installed

As always the story goes beyond the building part. Life in Middleford is quite ruff now days, No railway even though Mayor Flint promised in the latest elections that this would be done. Well its time to put our act together and start out with the station. Middleford station is a small station with plenty of goods coming in to be delivered to Stoffton Brewery and Macwall distillery. The farms produces meat and wool and the Middleford shoelace factory together with Andersen Fabulous Steel Springs have some gods both arriving and leaving the plants. Andersen Fabulous Steel Springs are famous for delivering steel springs to the seats at the Metropolitan Opera in New York 1883. The Middleford Shoelace factory is famous for not being famous. Discretion is their trademark. They are so discreet that nobody, except the workers, knows about the factory well at least a majority of the workers know about it. Some still thinks they are unemployed with pay.

On the passenger side it’s mainly the morning- and afternoon trains that are crowded on weekdays. But on Saturdays the supporters of Middleford RC fills the train to se the game. Unfortunately there are less people leaving the games in time to catch the train back due to problems to let go of the handlebars at the bleachers.

Well back to Mr Templot to start working. Maybe God makes a siding today. 

Law and order in Middleford!

Well given Macwall distillery and Stoffton Brewery Middleford really needs a police force. There have been a lot of truble outside the Black Swan and Mrs George has been complaining about nightly disturbance. Even the local rugby team, Middleford RC, are having a difficult time keeping the supporters standing during a whole match. Even though they invested some money in handlebars to hold on to when the world starts spinning to fast. Unfortunately this only increased the problems since supporters would not leave the bleachers because they were afraid of falling down. The only organisation that has not been affected by this “problem” is the church quire but on the other hand nobody comes to church on Sundays, at least not before noon and absolutely not before they are able to let go of the handlebars at the Middleford RC.

But who will be able to face the challenge to be a police officer under these circumstances. The butcher’s sons are quite well built and are famous for their ability to take initiative as well for their lack of judgement. Well in this matter we must not hurry, there are many good boys out there in Middleford just waiting for the opportunity to become a policeman. We just have to find one that full fills the qualifications, legality, strength and ability to make strong coffee.

The transport sector is now growing and a brand new loading stage have to be built together with a new signal box and a coaling stage. There are plenty of work to be done and miracles only works on Tuesdays or when ever God feels for working on the layout.