The rescue attempt has failed. The hand powered rail car and its elves are lost. That leaves the station master with no choice but to use foot powered transportation to seek help. Maybe the wood fired loco riding on snow was not such a good alternative to dead rail after all.
Alton Junction
My elves are not happy. While waiting for rave reviews of their wood powered train, the little loco ran out of wood.
So, now they are using a hand powered rail car to come to the rescue of their stranded fellow elves.
This baby doesn't need any rail. It travels on top of snow and has a wood fired boiler.