1863 and All That (puzzle)

''The following story contains all seven stations of the original Metropolitan Railway opened in 1863. The solution is here.''

Ed G. Ware, road enthusiast and entrepreneur, was sitting in his office, looking at his iPad.

"Dington," he commented. "Theodore Dington, loyal employee, but clumsy. He should never have dropped that shipment. What do you think, Matt?"

This last question was directed at his good friend, Matthew.

"Regrettably, you may have to fire him," replied Matt. "Thanks to him you lost the entirety of import L, and Roaden and Street are on the case. We've managed to stop the chemical from spreading beyond Herne Bay; with a bit of luck we can pass it off as local geography."

"He has been extremely useful in the past though," said Ed, absentmindedly moving his hands towards the kettle. "I'll give him a decent pension, he was thinking of retiring. Ow!"

"Er, Street tends to move fast," replied Matt. "How about we figure out what that stuff does first? That way we aren't easy pickings."

"Cross that off the list," said Ed. "We bought it, remember? It makes birds sing in perfect harmony. Now I think we should get on with replenishing the drinks cupboard. We need some more of the homemade cider - let's get some apples off the baker's tree."

"To work, then," said Matt. "And I know just the man for the cover up job; he doesn't live far. Ring Don - Street won't know what's hit him, it'll be 150 years until that sort of genius is matched..."

Author: The Orange One (September 2015)