The New Fat Controller
By Joe
Summary: Sir Topham Hatt takes a vacation, so he temporarily yields control of the railway to someone else.
Author Notes: I do not own Thomas the Tank Engine, its characters, or any other copyrighted material. Also, this story contains some violence near the end.
Chapter 1
It was summertime on the Island of Sodor. And that meant that Sir Topham Hatt was ready to take a month off for vacation as usual. But the only problem was that he had nobody to control the station while he was away. He discussed the issue with Lady Hatt, his wife.
"What am I to do?" questioned the Fat Controller.
"Isn't your nephew able to take control as he does every summer?" asked Lady Hatt.
"Not this year," said Sir Topham Hatt. "And I don't know of anyone else who will help out."
"Why don't you check for people seeking jobs on the internet?" asked his wife.
"Good idea," said Sir Topham Hatt. He booted his computer and went to to look for people seeking work. He looked under the column for people seeking jobs for work in the mechanics area. "I need someone with a lot of experience with steam engines and diesel engines." The man looked over the credentials for the various job seekers, but he found nobody with the right qualifications. Sir Topham Hatt was about to quit, when he saw an ad at the bottom of the page.
The job seeker's name was Phil Harris, Jr. He was an out-of-work diesel mechanic and had lots of other experience with other forms of mechanics. From what Sir Topham Hatt could tell from the picture, Phil appeared to be steady, strong, and confident.
"This person is the perfect employee!" he announced. "He is underage, but he seems a lot more useful than those other applicants."
Sir Topham Hatt gave Phil a phone call. Phil, who lived all the way over in the United States, was busy in his garage practicing his diesel mechanic skills. He was working on his Scout II truck, which ran on diesel. Then, he heard the phone ring. Phil had a phone in his garage, so it was convenient for him. Phil stopped working and picked up the oil-covered phone. "Phil Harris, how may I help you?"
"Mr. Harris, I would like to schedule an interview for you," said Sir Topham Hatt. "I am looking for someone to take charge of my railway for a month while I take my annual vacation."
"Terrific!" said Phil. "What time and place?"
"Tomorrow at 12:00 noon. The railway is on the Island of Sodor near London, England. Do you think you can make it?" asked Sir Topham Hatt.
"Yes sir," said Phil. "Good bye." Phil was rather surprised that he'd been offered a job all the way in London. He rushed to the airport immediately to catch the next flight there.
The next morning, when Phil arrived, he took a taxi to the Island of Sodor. He saw all the steam engines working very hard. Phil smiled. It felt like home to him here. He then marched to Sir Topham Hatt's office for the interview.
When Sir Topham Hatt met Phil, he was rather impressed by his stature. Phil was much larger than Sir Topham Hatt expected. He was 6'6" and looked very heavy. Also, Phil had neatly-trimmed dark brown hair and thin-rimmed rectangular glasses. He wore a dark red plaid shirt and blue jeans. "Please sit down, sir," greeted Sir Topham Hatt. Phil took a seat, while Sir Topham Hatt sat at his desk. "Okay, how many years have you been in the area of mechanics?"
"About 5 years now," said Phil.
"Are you a strong, tireless worker?" asked Sir Topham Hatt.
"Yes, sir, I am, but I thought this job was for management," said Phil.
"Oh, it is," said Sir Topham Hatt, "but you need to be strong in case some disaster happens on the railway."
"I see," said Phil.
"Final question: are you confident things will run as smoothly as possible while I'm away?"
"Without a doubt. In fact, I think I can even make some changes to make things faster and more efficient," said Phil.
"Congratulations, Mr. Harris, you have the job!" said Sir Topham Hatt.
"Great," grinned Phil, who looked out the window of Sir Topham Hatt's office, looking at the engines that were working out on the railway.
As soon as Sir Topham Hatt left the Island of Sodor, Phil took a seat in his new office. He smiled and looked around. He then looked outside and saw the engines again. For some reason, he was very fascinated with them. He examined their work with steam-powered pistons. Too slow and inefficient, he thought. Phil called two of his closest friends, Tyler and Joe, to help him out on the railway. Things were not going to be the same on the Island of Sodor.