It was a beautiful morning on the Island of Sodor. The sun was slowly rising over the scarlet sky, small clouds slowly sailing by. The birds were singing their morning song, and there was a gentle breeze flowing in the air.
At Tidmouth Sheds, the workmen were opening the sheds, getting the engines ready for the day. One by one, the engines slowly waked up, their fires warming them up and getting ready for a hard day's work.
"I best get ready for the express I suppose." Gordon yawned, the big engine slowly going forward to get some fresh air.
Thomas and Percy giggled, "What if you have to pull a special train of trucks?" Thomas teased.
"Nonsense! Never!" Gordon boomed, "A fine engine like myself can not be seen with trucks! It's beneath me!"
"Why?" Percy asked cheerily. Gordon just huffed.
"Because I am a born express engine! I can not pull trucks!" Gordon just puffed.
"Oh don't be silly Gordon." sighed a voice, the engines looked at Edward, "You are built to be useful – no matter what job you get."
"Edward's right." Emily peeped cheerfully, "Me and many of my sisters were built for heavy freight, but we even managed to pull passenger trains, even the famous train than ran from London to Edinburgh."
"You mean, the Flying Scotsman train?" Henry asked curiously, "Isn't that what Gordon's brother is named after?"
"That's not fair!" James huffed, "I'm not named after something splendid! I should be!"
Gordon just laughed, "Fun fact for all you engines: My brother is one of the few of my brothers..." He paused ominously, all the engines now curious to listen to what he has to say, "Who wasn't named after race horses!"
And all the engines just laughed, even Gordon couldn't stop himself from laughing. Soon, they all heard the horn of a familiar car. They looked to the side to see the Fat Controlled walk up to the sheds, with a big smile on his face.
"Morning all, good to see you all in high spirits." He greeted cheerfully. All the engines just beamed.
"Now, I have a very important job for all of you today." The Fat Controller explained, "I want you to leave your jobs today – I have some very special deliveries expecting from the Mainland, And I want you to go and get them for me."
All the engines gasped in surprise and cheered happily among each other. The last time they went to the Mainland, it wasn't as pleasant as it seemed. Thomas had left Sodor without permission, and the other engines had to go and find him. It was an intense adventure, but they had a memorable time – and now they get to go to the Mainland again!
"Oh sir!" Thomas beamed excitedly, "We'd love to! Where do we need to go?"
"Oh, there are many places you need to go for this journey. Bristol, York, Doncaster, Brighton, Barrow-in-Furness and Derby, I've made sure I've told your drivers." The Fat Controller explained, before looking at Thomas, "And no more running off I hope. I've informed the managers on the Mainland, and they know you will be there."
Thomas blushed from embarrassment as the other engines giggled a bit. The Fat Controller left shortly, as the engines got ready.
"Oh Brighton!" Thomas sighed excitedly, "My old home!"
Edward couldn't help but chuckle at the young engine, "Maybe you could show us around there Thomas." He spoke. Thomas just giggled.
"We best be going, mustn't delay!" Gordon boomed proudly.
Emily just smirked, "I thought you didn't pull trucks Gordon." She mentioned. The other engines just laughed, as Gordon flushed from embarrassment.
"O-Of course I am! But this is important!" Gordon huffed, "People will be waiting to see me, the other Doncaster brother."
"They'll be queuing to see my splendid red coat you mean." James beamed excitedly.
"Hmm, how should we do this?" Thomas asked, "If we have multiple destinations, where do we start?"
"Percy?" Edward asked, "You do the mail train, how do you usually do your runs?"
Percy had a minute to think, "Well, I usually do the destination furthest away first. Then I go back, going furthest to nearest."
"So, if we start off with wherever is furthest away..." Edward thought.
"Then we can go to each destination on our way back to Sodor!" Henry finished.
"Hmm, Brighton is furthest. It's down the south of the Mainland." Thomas puffed.
"Then, I believe it's Bristol, then Derby?" Emily asked.
"Then Doncaster." Gordon boomed.
"And York after that!" James puffed.
"Which will leave Barrow-in-Furness last, and then back home to Sodor." Edward whistled.
All the engines whistled in unison as an agreement, as they started heading towards coal hoppers and water tanks, preparing for the long journey ahead.
Here's another story I've done. I have always been interested in the TTTE characters backstories ;) so I decided to make my own version! Now, I do hope I get most of the history facts about railways correct - then again, trying to mix history and fandom stuff together is hard enough as it is ^^; - Anyway, enjoy, and please do leave any suggestions for improvements!