bbll22's Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends

Stories

Edward's Final Day

It was a very sad day on the Island of Sodor as Edward had just announced his retirement. He did this as e felt he wasn't very useful anymore. Everyone was in shock at the decision, especially the Fat Controller. He'd tried to persuade Edward to change his mind, but it was no use. Edward was adamant with his decision, so his final day loomed nearer...

Next day, shock was still in the air at Edward's decision, but everyone put on a brave face and had to face reality, Edward would be retiring soon and they couldn't do anything about it. Meanwhile, at Vicarstown Station, Edward had just pulled up after taking a very heavy load of several coal trucks, he couldn't cope at all. Henry was at the station aswell and was deeply concerned for his friend.

"Are you ok, Edward?" asked Henry quite gently.

"No" replied Edward with a struggle. It was clear now that Edward couldn't cope with big workloads, but inspite of the glaring truth, Edward carried on. He slowly pulled away from the station while Henry looked on with concern. Edward was struggling to do something as simple pull away from the station, and it made Henry wonder how he coped before now. As Edward slowly went out of view, Duck pulled up at the station. He looked concerned aswell as he could see how bad Edward was, but like everyone else, he didn't want him to leave, but if he was in this bad a state. Edward's retirement would be for the best.

Meanwhile, back at his office, the Fat Controller sat back down in his seat as a meeting with the Railway Board got underway. The meeting went on for a couple of hours and it touched everything new that had happened on the Island of late. Eventually, the topic of Edward's retirement came up.

"So, who's going to replace Edward then?" asked the Fat Controller to one of the executives.

"Well..." wondered the executive. "There is always Molly, she will keep costs down" he then added. The Fat Controller nodded in agreement. He still couldn't believe that he was talking about a replacement for Edward, it was just surreal. The meeting then ended, and the Fat Controller immediately went for a cup of tea to take his mins off the Edward situation.

Later that day, Edward arrived at the Exchange Line station when he was struggling even more so than earlier at Vicarstown. On the narrow-gauge line of the station, Duke had just pulled in. He couldn't believe Edward was struggling this much. It was hard for Duke to comprehend that an engine who was a lot younger than him was struggling more than he was. The station-master then blew his whistle for Duke's train, and Duke had to set off, but as he passed Edward, he said "Good luck in the future, Edward." He then went off into the distance. Edward was too tired to have noticed what had been said, but he did notice his driver was talking to the Station-Master, he looked very concerned. Edward even overheard him saying: "That's it. He can't go anymore, that's it for him!" Obviously, Edward was surprised with what had been said, but he agreed, this was it, he was done...

Elsewhere, Edward's potential replacement Molly wasn't having a great day herself. She'd broken a support rod while on freight duty and Neville had been brought in to push her to the menders. He soon coupled upto Molly and began to push. For Neville, this would be quite easy as he was a relatively strong engine, but he had to slowly so that more damage wasn't caused to Molly. This annoyed Neville, but he had to accept it, just like everyone who had to accept Edward was retiring, and it was today. It had now been brought forward as Edward couldn't last any longer. Today was definitely a day full of mixed emotions.

Molly and Neville were admiring the view as they proceeded along to the menders. They were soon in view on the Exchange line station where Edward still was. They were making good progress indeed, but they were unaware of what had happened further up the line. A freight train has broken from its couplings and had proceeded back down the line, and at speed. Soon enough, the freight train would collide with Molly and Neville and disaster would strike. Meanwhile, Edward was just resting when he saw the station-master shouting to one of his colleagues.

"Runaway freight train on its way! Brace yourselves!" he bellowed. His colleague understood, but oddly no action was taken. Soon enough, Molly and Neville were coming into view and the rattling of the freight train got louder. They were going to crash unless action was taken, it soon was.

"Switch the points!" cried Edward. A quick-thinking signalman obliged and diverted the danger. Molly and Neville were safe while the runaway freight train slowly came to a halt as it approached an incline. Everyone was in shock, especially Edward. He felt useful once again, he really couldn't believe it.

As soon as he heard the news the Fat Controller made his way to congratulate Edward on his quick thinking. He also felt he could use it as a ploy for Edward to reconsider his retirement, the Fat Controller was so eager for him to go back on his decision, it was unbelievable. He knew Molly would do a good job as Edward's replacement, but no-one could replace him and try to be the "brand new Edward". The Fat Controller went to see him to explain the situation. After that, he went to his car to read the newspaper while Edward and his driver made their decision. About half an hour later, the Fat Controller went back to see what their decision was.

"Well?" he asked with anticipation

"I'm sorry" replied Edward's driver "He still wants to retire" The Fat Controller sighed, he thought he may have persuaded him enough to stay, but evidently, it hadn't worked. He was then just about to go back to his car when.

"Hang on!" called Edward. The Fat Controller immediately turned back round. "I am going to return, Sir. I will visit every so often, I promise. I won't forget to visit" Edward then added. This brought the Fat Controller's smile back, and then he looked on at Edward and his driver as he knew that for the time being, this would be the last time he would see them...