Engines of War.
A Fan fiction, Written by Rhysicus.
Chapter 1 – Retirement, and a new beginning.
The sun was setting on the island of Sodor, and Thomas was heading back to the dockyard. He had just finished his days work, shunting coaches at the big station. He had been called to replace Percy as he was having a new Injector fitted. He had been looking forward to a nice rest in the shed when the fat controller came and ordered him to go to the docks at once. He would be meeting a ship, an ancient general cargo steamer called SS "Martha" that was arriving that night.
Thomas sat in the siding on the berth, waiting for the vessel. The sun had gone, and he could see the lighthouse shining its light brightly, to warn of the approaching coastline for sea going ships. Soon, the unmistakable, deep pitched whistle of an ocean steamer sounded, and Thomas knew that they would be arriving soon. The pilot boat steamed past at a full head of knots, along with customs and quarantine officers to clear the vessel in.
Finally, after the vessel had been manoeuvred into position, the cargo hatches were opened. The union purchase derricks were thrust into action, and began to discharge the foreign cargoes. Just then, the cargo superintendant came to see Thomas.
"Thomas, we're about to unload a new engine, his wouldn't tell us his name, but he did respond if we called him "Corporal". He said.
"Corporal?" asked Thomas.
"Yes, he is an ex-military engine".
"Oh god" Thought Thomas, "He's going to be just as bossy as Gordon!"
First came the Tender, the union purchase derricks struggled to cope with the weight between them, and the ship heeled over as the tender was swung out from the ships centreline. The moment it touched the ground, the vessel righted itself again. Thomas moved the tender clear of the unloading area, and watched in anticipation. The derricks groaned as they heaved the heavy load of the massive war department locomotive, a massive WD 2-10-0 locomotive. He was painted black, and looked as though he had not received any wash downs for a considerable time. Parts of his valve gear were rusted, and the white runs of lime scale trickled from his valves and joints.
Thomas watched in awe as the workmen pulled ropes and pushed the engine back and fore, to align him onto the track below. The foreman sighed with relief once the monster engine had been placed on the rails. Thomas shunted his tender into position, and waited for the workmen to couple him to it. He puffed forward to the new engine nervously.
"Hello, sir. My name is Thomas".
"Hello Thomas." He said with a deep, grainy voice. His eyes were old, and his face had scars on the left side. Thomas stared at them.
"Shrapnel, that's what did it" he then said, without warning.
Thomas was taken aback.
"I'm sorry?" he asked politely.
"Shrapnel, the scars on my face".
"Oh! Oh, sir, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to stare!" Thomas tried to explain.
"It's ok, youngster, I'm used to it now" Corporal sighed, and then looked once more at the ship. "I never thought I would travel on a ship again".
Just then, the engines noticed the foreman sign some papers, and then speak to Thomas' driver. His driver then came back and shunted Thomas in front of Corporal, and coupled them together. Thomas pulled hard but Corporal was very heavy. He struggled up the steep slope out of the dockyard, and along the coastline that lead to the mainline.
Later that night, they arrived back at Tidmouth sheds. Thomas was instructed to place Corporal onto the inspection pit, and then was allowed to go back to the shed for a well earned rest. When he reversed into the shed, the engines all asked questions at once.
"So Thomas, who is he?" they all asked.
"His name is Corporal, he's Ex military" Thomas replied.
The engines groaned, they didn't like the sound of a military engine.
"I remember during the war, when all the soldiers were heading out to France, all the shouting, drills, marching" Said Duck, "absolute discipline!"
"I hope he doesn't think that he can come here and order us about!" Piped up Gordon. "He's not in the army now!"
The engines all agreed, however Thomas remained silent. He was curious about the new engine. He didn't believe that he was arrogant. He seemed quiet, and distant. The next day, Corporal was given attention from the shed staff. The cleaners all set to work removing the lime scale, old grease and oil, and prepared him for his first day's work. They polished his brass work, and repainted his buffer beams. The fitters oiled and greased him up, shaking their heads in disbelief at how neglected he had been at his last shed. Thomas' cleaner began talking to Thomas and Emily.
"He was based at Cardiff canton depot, apparently" He said, "They've finally got rid of steam there now. The whole western region is fully dieselised".
Thomas didn't like the sound of that, but it was an all too familiar story. Engines were coming to the island of Sodor to escape scrap now; in fact, Oliver had recently arrived for exactly that reason.
"But why was he so badly treated? What did he do to deserve it?" asked Emily.
"British Railways is trying to get rid of steam on the railways, and they want any excuse possible to just scrap them. Have you heard of Evening star?" asked the cleaner.
"Yes, the last steam engine to be built at Swindon. Everyone has heard of him!" exclaimed Emily.
"Did you hear that he has been retired?" asked the cleaner.
"What? But he isn't even 5 years old yet!" Thomas spluttered!
"Yes, he was involved in an accident and needed a repair that was estimated to cost £1000, but they won't spend the money on looking after steam engines when they are all going to be scrapped anyway!" explained the cleaner.
"My god." Sighed Emily. "What hope is there for any of us?"
"I wouldn't worry; the fat controller owns this railway, not British Railways. They cannot touch you!" said the cleaner happily.
Thomas and Emily were then given their days work, and set off from the shed. As they rolled past Corporal, they noticed bullet holes in the side of his cab, just underneath the window frame. Emily stared in shock at them. Corporal's eyes met hers, and she looked away quickly, and steamed away as fast as she could. The fitters that were working on Corporal were concerned, his front buffer beam looked damaged but, they could not see how.
"Corporal, can you tell me how long your buffer beam has been like this?" asked the chief fitter.
"Since 1943" sighed Corporal sadly. "Long story".
The chief fitter could sense the tension in the air, and decided to move onto something else. Soon, Corporal was in steam, and ready to work. He was driven to the water tower, and then to the coal chute. The fat controller came to see him.
"Good morning Corporal" he said.
"Good morning sir" Corporal replied.
"I Hope you are feeling well after your crossing, I hope the sea wasn't too rough".
"Force ten all the way sir!"
"Ah, well you'll be taking it easy today while the engineers let the new grease run into your system. Ive got some light work for you; it's enough to give you a challenge but nothing too strenuous. I want you to take empties up to the colliery for me, and then return to the docks with the loaded ones. You worked in the South Wales coal fields before so I'm sure you know what you are doing! It'll give you a chance to learn the island a bit". Said the Fat Controller.
"Yes sir" Grunted Corporal, his deep voice booming around the coal chute.
Corporal worked hard all day, but said little to anyone. Thomas and Emily were also working at the colliery today, shunting and preparing the trains for Corporal. Thomas and Emily decided to try and talk to Corporal to make him feel welcome, Emily approached nervously. She felt scared of him, his deep old eyes looked into her, making her feel afraid.
"How are you getting on Corporal?" asked Thomas. Emily smiled nervously.
"Fine, thank you" sighed Corporal.
After an awkward silence, Emily piped up. "You know if you have any questions, feel free... to... ask" she broke off, as his eyes returned to her, and instantly putting the fear of god into her.
"Thank you, I will" Corporal said. "Excuse me".
He then puffed away, and coupled up to the newly loaded coal train and puffed away with it. Emily watched him leave, and felt sad. She didn't know why, but she could sense that something was bothering Corporal. She didn't know what though, and couldn't even begin to put her feelings into words. Thomas could also sense something was bothering him.
"You know, he seems a bit, edgy, doesn't he?" said Thomas softly.
"Yes" replied Emily. She looked at Thomas, and then back at Corporal who was just passing around the corner and out of view. "I wonder if we should ask him".
"Not yet" Said Thomas quickly, "If there is something on his mind, I'm sure he'll tell us in his own time".
Sadly, that was to be wishful thinking. As time went on, and Corporal settled into his new job, the engines became more and more curious of him. He very rarely spoke to anybody, and seemed distant and preoccupied. He didn't sleep in the sheds with the other engines, but outside in the cold, on the inspection pit. Emily felt more concerned as time passed. Corporal did talk more to Emily and Thomas from time to time, but none of the others; it was as though he didn't trust any of them. It wasn't long before Gordon, Henry and James were planning their devious tricks to try and fool Corporal. Emily and Thomas warned them not to, but they took no notice.
One day, James was shunting down the docks, when Corporal arrived. He decided to play a trick on him.
"Ah, Corporal! I'm glad you're here! The fat controller was just here, and he asked me to take that train of vans up to the colliery, but I have to stay here to shunt these wagons as they are being loaded. Is there any chance you could do it for me?" he said deceitfully.
"Ok" grunted Corporal, and began shunting the vans onto the end of his train. James sniggered and laughed about how much trouble Corporal was going to be in when the foreman realised that he had taken the vans away.
Corporal steamed up the valley, the smoke was thundering out of his chimney like a volcanic eruption. The cinders being thrown out set fire to the surrounding landscape, and regularly they had to stop to put out the fires. These delays made Corporal very angry, but this wasn't made any better once they arrived at the colliery. The foreman took a look out of his window, and smashed his coffee cup in anger. He ran out of his office and demanded to know what was going on. Corporal explained that James had told him to bring them, and received a mouthful of abuse from the colliery foreman. He was then ordered to take them back to the docks, and that his next journey, he would be pulling the wagons from two trains in one, twice as long, and twice as heavy. This made Corporal's water boil, and his safety valves boomed into action. For the whole journey, his driver and fireman had to hold their hands to their ears because of the noise.
When they arrived at the docks, Corporal dumped the vans where he had found them, and found Gordon, Henry and James waiting at the other end of the docks, all laughing and jeering at him. He steamed forward, and bumped James backwards. The engines, all taken aback, watched in horror as Corporal pushed James towards the edge of the dockyard, and knocked the buffers through and stopped. James began to panic as Corporal's seething eyes dug deep into his, James immediately regretted his little joke. James' tender teetered dangerously close to the edge of the berth, and the concrete began to crumble as it took the weight of James' tender.
Corporal sat there, safety valves blasting and preparing for revenge, His face full of anger.
"CORPORAL! THAT'S ENOUGH!" bellowed a distant voice.
Corporal's face changed from anger, to sudden surprise, and regret. Instantly he backed away, and closed his eyes. The man who had shouted came running over from his car. A tall, balding man, fully uniformed in army officers uniform, and well decorated with medals and colours. A Large scar line ran across his face.
"Corporal, Stand down at once!" he shouted again, and ran over to the large black engine. James, now realising that his life was no longer in danger, puffed forward towards Gordon and Henry, who sat transfixed on the General and the engine. The General was shouting now, and angrily pointed away, to which Corporal steamed away as fast as he could. The general approached James.
"I think it would be best, if we forget what happened today and keep it our secret", he said quietly. "Bad for morale, you see".
"But... But... He tried to kill me! Why shouldn't I tell..." Began James, his voice shaking.
"Because if it wasn't for me, he WOULD have killed you! You have no idea what he has been through, nor what he is capable of!" Shouted the general, his face glowing red. "Next time I hope you think carefully before you play one of your little tricks".
James did think, as did Gordon and Henry. They decided it would be best to keep the story quiet, as the General said. If the news got around that they had received such revenge for one of their practical jokes, then it may spread around the shed and they would lose their respect and be laughed at. They went back to the shed, sad engines.
Sadly, news of James' near death experience did spread around. The dock workers who had witnessed the incident had spread the gossip around, and it wasn't long until the other engines heard about it. Emily was absolutely petrified of Corporal now. Thomas fell silent whenever Corporal approached and tried to keep his distance.
Corporal felt terrible, he had just undone year's worth of counselling and treatment, all in one backlash of anger. He had worked so hard to try to forget what he had seen, and now some stupid red engine with a very strange sense of humour had made him crack.
"I'm stronger than this" he told himself, but he knew he wasn't.
One night, he was alone at the coal chute; he decided to stay here for the night, where he definitely wouldn't be disturbed. Thomas and Emily plucked up the courage, and decided to try and talk to him about what had happened. When they arrived, Corporal sighed.
"I suppose you want to know what happened between me and James?" he asked sadly.
"Not for the gossip, we want to know if we can help you, Corporal" Whispered Thomas, Emily kept perfectly silent.
"It was just an angry outburst" Corporal replied, "I can't seem to control them anymore. They are getting worse as I get older. They said that they would go away, they said I would forget, but every time I close my eyes, I can still see them, I can still hear the shots, I can still hear the roar of the explosions, I just can't get it out of my head. I can still see them".
"See... See who?" asked Emily, as quiet as a mouse.
Corporal sighed, and decided, it was finally time to open up. The general had told him that opening up and not keeping his memories bottled up inside, was very beneficial. He had even ordered him to do it, but this was the only order that corporal had ever refused in his life.
"Ive spent the last 20 years trying to pretend it never happened" He began, "I Just want to move on with my life, but I just cannot forget".
A silent tear fell from his eyelash, Emily suddenly felt sad, and not scared.
"It's ok, Corporal, you can tell us" She said softly, "We'll listen".