Ep 4. Under the Circumstances

The excitement on the railway is the reinstatement of the telegraph system, allowing communication between the various stations, signal boxes, and the Carters' home. The system is immediately used by Commander Frost to notify the Carters of a traffic accident - there has been a pile up on one of the railway's level crossings. The Flockton Flyer returns to Flockton to collect medical supplies, blankets, the family, and the railway's 4-wheeled box van, which is to serve as a makeshift ambulance. Meanwhile elder daughter Jan, out marking the route of the new nature trail, stumbles upon an injured woman, and having taken her to shelter spends the rest of the episode fruitlessly dashing back and forth attempting to get help - her failure largely due to everyone dealing with the other, more serious emergency. Meanwhile the lady in question is rescued by Bill Jelly. By 1970s standards it is high drama when a somewhat primitive motor ambulance (with two-tone horns blaring) is seen speeding down a station platform to rendezvous with the Flockton Flyer and remove casualties. Finally the injured lady is identified as a well-known writer and archaeologist, and she agrees to officially open the new nature trail. The exhausted Jan receives no thanks for her efforts, but is criticized for having failed to produce the promised assistance.