Desmond’s Toy Station

Desmond and Hugh build a toy railway across Grandad’s playroom floor. They add a cardboard station beside the wooden track. They choose a little red engine to carry three empty carriages around the new route.

The engine travels smoothly until it reaches the low wooden bridge. Its chimney fits underneath, but the tall cardboard roof on the first carriage catches against the bridge and stops the whole train.

Hugh uncouples the carriages and pushes the engine through on its own. It reaches the other side easily. Desmond sees that the track is not broken, and they do not need to rebuild the entire railway.

They compare the first carriage with the two behind it. Only one has a roof that lifts off. Grandad asks what they could change while keeping both their bridge and the train route in place.

Desmond carefully removes the loose cardboard roof and sets it beside the station. Hugh rolls the carriage beneath the bridge, checking that the top now passes through without rubbing against the wooden beam.

They connect the three carriages again and send the complete train round the track. This time it goes under the bridge and stops beside the station, where Desmond adds small wooden blocks as pretend parcels.

Hugh wants to load the blocks in a tall pile, but Desmond remembers the low bridge. They spread the parcels across the open carriages instead, leaving every load below the height they have just tested.

The parcel train completes its journey while Grandad waits at the station. “We found what was too tall,” says Desmond. They keep the loose roof in their toy box, ready for a different railway without a low bridge.