The Parting of Ways

"The Parting of Ways" is a special episode of The British Railway Series: The End of the LNER which continues the events of the previous episode.

Diesel Depot
Stephen arrives at Leeds Central depot, where several steam engines are waiting on the out of use line. He goes up to the diesels waiting at the sheds, and asks to speak to Gronk. Gronk moves forward, scowling. He is still very angry about being sent away from the home he had known for years just because of the incident with Nigel, and when Stephen tries to speak to him, he snaps this at him. Stephen points out, however, that the move will be the best for Gronk, as he will be in a cleaner diesel depot. One of the diesels, Brush, tells Gronk that he should listen to Stephen, and the old engine agrees. As he prepares to leave, Stephen says that he and Allen will still visit him as much as they can. Gronk, still looking cross, hoots to Stephen as he backs away from the shed.

Night Hawk
As Stephen approaches the junction, he hears someone call out to him (sarcastically claiming to be Isambard Kingdom Brunel). Going to investigate, he finds Hawk sitting on one of the sidings! Hawk explains that he got a hot axle box after leaving Copley Hill, but rather than being repaired, he was shunted onto the out of use line. Stephen decides to take him back to Copley Hill, and Gronk offers to help.

When they get back to the yard, all of the engines are asleep. Stephen calls out to Tavish, who ends up waking up after Stephen insults him. He tells Tavish to take Hawk home on his early morning goods train, before telling Gronk to bring the train around to the junction.

Jerry's Ghost
Hawk is put onto Tavish's train, and he says goodbye to Stephen and Gronk before Tavish pulls him away. Stephen then tells Gronk to return to the diesel depot, saying that he will be happier there. Gronk leaves smiling, and Stephen leaves soon after, saying that he has something to do.

He returns to the depot and meets Jerry, the Standard 4 that he had once had a discussion about the Modernisation Plan with. After sitting in silence for a while, they begin to discuss the Plan again, and Jerry reveals that whilst the other engines are awaiting scrapping, he is simply waiting for a crew to take him home. Sitting in silence for a little while more after that, Jerry tells Stephen about something he had seen a few nights ago following the cutting up of a shunter: an old-fashioned engine which glowed in that dark. He says that the engine moved towards the shunter's remains and disappeared. Stephen says that he has met the engine too, and leaves, saying that he hopes that they don't see it again. Jerry asks if the engine was a ghost, but there is no reply. Jerry simply shrugs it off.

Characters

 * Stephen
 * Tavish
 * Hawk
 * Jerry
 * Gronk
 * Brush
 * Allen (does not speak)
 * Fowler's Ghost (mentioned)
 * Isambard Kingdom Brunel (mentioned)

Trivia

 * This episode originally aired as 3 shorts made for the "Making of the British Railway Series" video.
 * This episode marked Tavish's first speaking role since Scott and the Herring Gull.
 * This was the final episode to use the layout known as "Copley Hill Mk. 1".
 * Simon Martin has said that this will be the last episode to use snow whilst the models are still being used, as a result of the problems that the snow created on the layout.
 * Three images were released after the episode which showed Hawk on the siding and Gronk at the diesel depot in daylight.
 * This episode mainly focuses on characters whose roles have been relatively minor: Tavish, Hawk, and Jerry.
 * This was the last episode to utilize still images and Photoshop to change expressions on most of the characters: the rest of the series featured new models with expressions that could be added on. (Fowler's Ghost briefly used Photoshop, as the titular engine appeared only once, so there was no need to make new facial expressions for it.)
 * This episode marked Hawk and Gronk's last appearances.

Goofs

 * In "Diesel Depot", the cutup GWR engine next to Hawk does not have a face, but in "Night Hawk", he does.
 * In "Night Hawk", in the scene where Tavish is waking up, there is one shot of Tavish having his eyes closed, with Stephen nowhere in sight. However, when the scene fades to represent his eye opening, Stephen also fades into the scene.
 * Due to a repeatedly used shot when Gronk and Stephen had their final talk the goods train could still be seen from the side.
 * In the "Making of the British Railway Series" movie, the cut up GWR Engine next to Hawk is revealed to be numbered 6000. This is inaccurate, as the real 6000 is King Class "King George V", as the real life engine is currently preserved at the Swindon Steam Railway Museum, where "Hawk" is also located.
 * In the first short Hawk was clearly noticeable so why didn't Stephen notice Hawk when he first puffed up to the Diesel Depot?
 * Brush appeared in a 1959 set episode but Class 47s were not introduced until 1962.
 * Allen and Sir Ralph are still painted in BR Express Passenger blue. At this time, they should have been painted in BR Brunswick green. However, Simon Martin explained that this was because he couldn't afford to buy new models at the time.
 * A signal box could be seen from the edge of the set in "Jerry's Ghost" but no points lead from that section.
 * Once again the edge of the set could be seen in a few shots.
 * The Claude Hamilton appears in the scrap line at the Diesel Depot, but appears to have been stored to become a stationary boiler in The Last Run.