Lee's Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends

Stories

Postal Disaster

The post train is a vital service on the Island of Sodor, but in the middle of the night, disaster had struck. The train had had a major accident and it had left the vast majority of the postal carriages destroyed and letters strewn across the ground. Thomas had been pulling the train through the night, but in the darkness his headlamp had failed and he just couldn't stop in time when he saw some empty express carriages up ahead. His front badly bucked, Thomas would definitely not be working again for some time, but this wasn't the biggest concern. The postal carriages that hadn't been destroyed were in a bad way and just about useable, meaning the service was going to be very slow indeed so to preserve them from being ruined.
"I really don't know what we can do..." wondered the postmaster to himself the morning after the accident as he surveyed the scene.
"We will do all we can to help you," said the Fat Controller who was at his side. "If you need new carriages, I'll see what I can do." he then offered. The problem was that postal carriages were in short supply and meant for the time being, old unused carriages were having to make do for the time being. Old Slow Coach was among those being used, but even she knew this wasn't working.
"This isn't right." said Percy as he pulled some of the old carriages along on his shift. "This really isn't right at all."

Problems for the postal service weren't just limited to the rails either as vandals had targeted the postal depot and had badly damaged some of the post vans. Tom Tipper's van was among those targeted and he saw his wheels slashed and the seats ripped apart, but he was lucky compared to some others who had seen their van taken and never seen again. The slow deliveries had meant a backlog was forming and with crews at a minimum, the already growing backlog of post was getting bigger and bigger all the time.
"Sir, what are we going to do?" asked Tom to the postmaster who was sat in his office. "My van is ruined and we're just struggling with everything. When are these new carriages coming?"
"They're not, I'm sorry Tom." said the postmaster sadly. Just then, his telephone rang. "Hello," he said before listening intently to the call. "Right I see." he added before placing down the phone.
"Well?" asked Tom.
"They've found a few carriages at the scrapyards, one of which I haven't seen in years." smiled the postmaster. "They're cleaning them up for us as I speak. Tom smiled.
"Wow." he said simply. He couldn't quite believe it and as the postmaster lead him to his car, he began to wonder about what he meant. A carriage he hadn't seen in years. What did that mean? He soon found out.
"Mr Tipper, please meet Clarissa." said the postmaster with a big wide grin. There before Tom was a disused but wonderfully intact postal carriage with a happy looking face at its front. She was among six disused postal carriages at the scrapyards, but Clarissa looked the cleanest of them all.
"Well I never..." muttered Tom. "How long has she been here?"
"Many years," answered Clarissa. "Getting replaced with a newer model can become annoying, but you grow to accept it. I'll gladly help out in this trouble you're having." she added with a wide smile. Tom and the postmaster smiled back and soon it wasn't long before Clarissa and the other five carriages were coupled up to Percy who took them back to the depot. Things were looking up...

When they returned, the Fat Controller and his wife Lady Hatt were at the depot with a surprise of their own.
"Now," boomed the Fat Controller. "I understand things haven't been easy and to help you out, I spent some of my own money to bring you a new post van. Her name is Felicity." he added as he showed Tom and the postmaster the new little van who gleamed with a bright coat of red paint.
"Hello." she said. "I'm here to do whatever's needed."
"Well, that's to deliver post." said Tom who immediately grabbed a sack of post from the depot floor and put it in Felicity's hold.
"Ooh, I love to be useful." she smiled.
"Fill me up too!" called out Clarissa loudly as Percy brought her into view. Men quickly loaded the pair up and it wasn't long before they were off out delivering as much post as they possibly could. It was going to be a long, hard job but everyone knew that post was vital to Sodor's residents. Tom himself was waiting for post from his mother on the mainland but knew he had to put everyone else first.
"Come on Felicity, we can do this!" he said as they zoomed down roads delivering letters and parcels wherever they could. People were pleased to see Tom and the post and thanked him for everything he was doing. It was a similar story across the island with postmen getting congratulated for their work. Percy was also getting thankyou messages too as was Clarissa and her fellow old postal carriages. It was the first time they had done work in years, but they loved every second of it.
"This is brilliant!" called out Clarissa to Percy.
"We're only halfway through the backlog..." he pointed out as he steamed through station to station with bags full of post.
"Ah, it means plenty work to go though!" smiled Clarissa. "I'm not complaining with that!"

As the days passed by, the heavy backlog that had formed in the initial hours after the accident was quickly falling with Tom and Felicity working wonders on the roads, while Percy and Clarissa did what they could on the rails, taking post from stations to ports and high into the mountains where roads simply didn't reach. Even the Fat Controller and Lady Hatt were receiving post from their grandchildren Stephen and Bridget now and this made them happy.
"You spent well, my dear..." congratulated Lady Hatt to her husband. "It's now been thoroughly worth it." she added as she looked over her grandchildren's letter again and again.
"Why thankyou." the Fat Controller said as his wife kissed him on the cheek. Back at the depot, the postmaster just smiled as shift after shift, his men had done what was needed and the backlog was now gone.
"Well done everyone!" he said that evening. "It took a while, and everyone on the island understood this, but we've done it. We're back level." he said as everyone cheered. Felicity and Clarissa just smiled and couldn't believe how quick the job had been done.
"My wheels ache but it was only our job." said Felicity.
"Imagine how mine feel!" joked Clarissa. "My axels are older than you, but they managed to cope!" Then Tom came to the pair of them. He looked exhausted but proud all the same.
"Well done you two. I know it's been a team effort, but without you two in particular, I don't think we'd have done this." he said with a beaming smile on his face. Felicity and Clarissa didn't say another word as they let Tom return to the celebrations. The pair were tired, but proud.

Since the accident, the postal service on Sodor has never been in better condition and with the arrival of Felicity and Clarissa to its ranks, the service has gone from strength to strength. The pair get along great and are firm friends, but know that being useful is their main priority whether its with Tom Tipper or Percy, their job is vital and they know they have to be always at their best...