Leon Van Bel is the engineer-stoker of La Douce, a steam locomotive capable of reaching an incredible velocity. He knows his trade like the back of his hand and can lead this machine to the right destination in any given condition. And it just so happens that the conditions are, indeed, getting worse and worse. The water is rising inexplicably throughout the country, flooding the rails more and more often. The railway is holding on to its last hours; the authorities have selected air travel instead. From now on, all transport, both of goods and of people, is via cable car. Leon watches the railway disappear and sees his colleagues joining the aerial tramway. But for him, it is unthinkable. And it is impossible to let his machine go to the scarp yard. It would be like dying.

enjoy