After working on it for a whole day, the three of them finally managed to install the four iron plates on the side of the train. Now, basically all the wheels were covered with a thick layer of what could be called an "outer armor". However, in terms of appearance, it didn't look so appealing.
Since the iron plates had been recut, Lambert added some extra scraps to the front of the locomotive, right at a position about one person's height. For several reasons, they didn't completely wrap the locomotive with iron plates. Firstly, doing so would block the connection part of the locomotive. If there were other trains blocking the way on the road, it would be rather difficult to push them away. Secondly, under the locomotive of the Type 68 train (the Type 68 train is a common train model in [the specific country's, presumably the UK's] railway operation, featuring [list some typical characteristics of this train model, such as specific body structure, power configuration, etc.], and it plays an important role in the railway transportation system at that time), there were ice scrapers that were originally designed to deal with the ice and snow that might appear on the rails in winter to ensure the normal operation of the train under the local climate conditions in the UK. In this special environment full of mutants, they could also be used to clear the mutants. Thirdly, Lambert had already installed iron plates in front of the cockpit, so adding more plates would be a bit redundant. Moreover, the workload would be too much for just three people.
Shao Ming threw himself into the back of the pickup truck. Although there was the help of a crane, it was almost purely manual operation, which really consumed a lot of physical strength. Fortunately, the windows of the Type 68 train were not big. Otherwise, they would have to figure out a way to reinforce them.
Now, perhaps the only one in the workshop who still had some strength left was Gordon. The dog walked around in the workshop and finally sat down beside the remaining cans. Shao Ming touched his stomach. He was also very hungry, but he was too lazy to move and just wanted to lie in the pickup truck and have a sleep.
It started to rain outside again, and the raindrops fell on the skylight, blurring the view. Feng Yusheng picked up three cans and put them on the fire, and then put several potatoes on it as well. "Time to eat," Feng Yusheng shouted.
Early the next morning, the several of them began to pack up their things and get ready to set off again. Shao Ming really wanted to take the pickup truck with them, but now they only had a locomotive and there was no place to put the pickup truck. And if they needed it later, they would have to search everywhere for it.
The three of them stocked some ammunition and food in the front cockpit, and put all the other items in the rear cockpit. The door that was about half a person's height was no problem for Gordon. It jumped up and got into the train. Although no one mentioned Gordon's stay or leave, it was obvious that they had already accepted this new member.
"Who's going to open the door?" Lambert asked when he saw that everyone had got on the train.
"Open what door," Shao Ming said. "Just crash through it and that'll be it."
The train started up and rushed towards the exit. The door of the workshop was pushed open by the train. After a short stay of a few days, their journey continued.
"Alright," Lambert said. "Keep the original plan unchanged and head for Birmingham."
Accompanied by the sound of the wheels rubbing and hitting against the rails, the train drove all the way towards Birmingham.
With the iron plates in front of the locomotive, Lambert increased the speed of the train a bit. Even so, he still needed to be on guard at all times in case there were other trains on the road.
"If we're going to take the Channel Tunnel (the Channel Tunnel is a submarine railway tunnel connecting the UK and France, which greatly facilitates the transportation between the two countries and between the European continent and the UK, and it occupies an extremely important position in the UK's foreign transportation network. The characters in the story are considering using it to leave the UK mainland and go to other places)," Shao Ming put down the tablet and asked, "do we need to pass through London?"
"We can bypass London from the outskirts," Lambert said. He took the tablet and looked at the map, and then continued, "The top priority now is that we need to change tracks near Rugby (Rugby is a town located in [the specific area in the UK, such as the central part of England, etc.]. It has an important position in transportation and is a key node connecting Birmingham and other important areas. The railway network converges and extends in different directions here, so it is compared to the 'bridgehead' of Birmingham in the text, meaning that it plays a crucial role in connecting the transportation routes to Birmingham)."
In the railway transportation layout in the UK, Rugby is like an important transportation hub (here, the term "bridgehead" is paraphrased as "transportation hub" for easier understanding). The railway has two branches here with different directions. One of the lines extends southward and can directly reach the urban area in the center of Birmingham, while the other line extends westward, passing through a group of small cities and towns and finally leading to the north side of London. Such a track layout plays a decisive role in people's choice of different travel destinations.
This track change is very crucial. Going south to the city of Birmingham is almost like a suicidal move, while going west can lead directly to the direction of London and leave the Isle of England through the Channel Tunnel.
In fact, the fastest train from Manchester to London only took two and a half hours, while Shao Ming and his group had already walked for nearly a week but hadn't even covered half of the journey.
"So we can't avoid it this time, right?" Shao Ming looked at the map. The track change point was right in the middle of the small town.
"We'll find out soon," Lambert pointed ahead. Rows of neat houses had already appeared in front of the train.
As the train drove into the small town, the mutants surrounded them as expected. But unfortunately for them, they were even unluckier than their predecessors. The protruding iron plates on both sides of the train became the best weapons to knock down the mutants. Dozens of mutants who were eager to get a piece of the "hot cake" were torn apart like pieces of tofu.
Not far away were two tracks in different directions. Due to the obstruction of the mutants, the three people in the cockpit couldn't see the specific situation of the rails clearly and could only let the train rush forward with a roar.
Hundreds and thousands of mutants swarmed towards the train from all directions, but they couldn't pose any threat to the three people inside the train at all.
The train went straight at the junction and entered the road heading westward.
"Oh," Lambert exclaimed and let out a sigh of relief. They had taken the "more ideal" road.
Shao Ming also breathed a sigh of relief, but immediately a question popped up in his mind. He said, "We were lucky this time. But what if we're not so lucky next time? How can we move that lever among thousands of zombies?"
"Uh..." Lambert replied awkwardly, "We can't. For relatively large stations like this, they are usually remotely controlled and the manual track-changing devices have been removed."
Shao Ming almost put the muzzle of his gun on top of Lambert's head.
"Don't worry," Lambert said. "Many track-changing systems in the outskirts are still using the traditional manual way. Otherwise, I wouldn't have been able to change the tracks of the train the previous two times. Besides, we can also destroy the automatic control system to make the tracks change in the direction we want."
"Good point," Shao Ming said. "But what if there isn't one?"
Lambert replied, "If there isn't one, we'll need to restart the central control computer at some key locations to change the route."
"But don't worry," Lambert added. "At least in the UK, most of the tracks will eventually lead you to London. Moreover, important places like stations will have their own emergency power supplies that can be turned on."
Shao Ming looked out of the window at the dense mutants and once again thought about whether it was right to go home by train. There were far more troubles than he had expected.
Indeed, the train was sturdy and could be fast if the railway was clear. But in most cases, they couldn't control which track the train would enter. If they were unlucky and went in the wrong direction next time, and even unluckier, they might end up derailing. No wonder Lambert would slow down the train to a very low speed every time they encountered a junction, which seriously affected the progress speed of the three of them.
Maybe it would be more convenient to travel through the suburbs by car.
Perhaps noticing Shao Ming's worry, Lambert said, "The car can't go through the Channel Tunnel (it is a tunnel specially designed for railway transportation and cars don't have the ability to pass through it). If there's a train blocking the tunnel, we'll still have to rely on the train to clear it. Given the sturdiness and powerful power of the train, only the train can push or clear these obstacles to reopen the passage, which is also the unique advantage of the train compared to the car in this special situation)."
Shao Ming looked worriedly at Feng Yusheng, and the latter's expression was also rather 微妙.
"I hope you're right," Shao Ming said. "I still prefer the feeling of being able to control the direction myself."
The train overturned two small cars parked in the middle of the road and dragged the corpses of the mutants all the way out of the city.