Author's Notes:
I would like to say Thank You to entercleverpennamehere and thegoldsaddletank for betaing this.
I am using the TV adaption of Thomas.
I have used research from websites of Dock Museum of Barrow-In-Furness and the US Holocaust Memorial Museum.
According to other research I did, the steam engine model most often used in Nazi Germany was the DRB Class 52. It is highly likely all of the trains (including the Berlin Express) that Hogan and his Heroes destroy are this model. The Berlin Express train is featured in three Hogan's Heroes episodes: "The Missing Klink", "Will the Real Colonel Klink Stand Up Against the Wall?" and "Hogan,Go Home."
Disclaimer: I don't own any shows or any characters.
Thomas and the Really Useful Corporal
It was a peaceful day on the Island of Sodor.
Thomas, a small blue tank engine, puffed happily to Knapford along with his two coaches, Annie and Clarabel. Thomas was heading there because he had a special to do- he needed to pick up a new human employee of the Fat Controller's and take him for a tour.
Thomas was happy. Human employees were always pretty useful but this one would be especially so- he would help out the Express, which was usually pulled by Gordon, a big engine.
Thomas pulled to a stop and waited for the Fat Controller and his new employee to finish their cuppa. The new employee- whose name was Corporal Peter Newkirk- was tall with shaggy greying hair. Thomas could tell from his voice that Newkirk was from the Mainland, perhaps all the way from London. He wore the colour blue- Thomas' favourite!
Thomas could hear them and couldn't help eavesdropping. His coaches were not amused.
"That's not nice Thomas," Annie chided. "You shouldn't be listening in on human conversations."
"Don't get your doors unhinged, Annie," Thomas said. "He won't mind- I'm his No. 1 engine!"
Despite the protests of Annie, Thomas continued to listen. He heard the Fat Controller ask Newkirk how else he could be useful and Newkirk replied:
"Well, sir I can also crack a joke and do a magic trick. Here let me borrow your top hat for a second- tada!"
Thomas' boiler bubbled. He assumed that Newkirk did some sort of trick as he heard the Fat Controller laugh. Thomas liked human children and the Sudrian children would appreciate Newkirk's tricks.
Thomas then heard something that startled him.
"You must be glad the war is finally over. Tell me about your experience with that." the Fat Controller said.
Thomas' eyes widened. He had no idea that there had been a war going on. He figured that it must have been on the Mainland. He then remembered a period of time when The Fat Controller stopped his engines from going to Barrow, on the Mainland. The engines were very cross but the Fat Controller insisted on it. Thomas now wondered if a war on the Mainland was the reason.
Then there was trouble. Thomas heard Newkirk whisper:
"Well, I might make my mates in the RAF mad by revealing this but I never did things by the book as the expression goes. My unit was a nasty lot, sir. One time we teamed up to destroy the Berlin Express, for example."
Thomas' funnel flattened. The Fat Controller had hired someone to work with Gordon- who had previously blown up an Express engine? Thomas blinked his eyes- it couldn't be possible! The Fat Controller loved his engines and wouldn't stand for such a thing. He couldn't imagine the Fat Controller wanting any steamie to be scrapped in such a manner.
Then there was even more trouble. He heard the Fat Controller's quiet reply:
"Well, you had to do what you had to do, didn't you?"
Thomas gasped. Perhaps it could be true? That meant that Gordon could be in danger. And although Gordon could be arrogant at times, he was still a friend and no engine deserved the Berlin Express' fate.
Thomas continued to listen and heard more information about the Berlin Express. He decided to warn Gordon.
"Cinders and ashes!" Thomas cried. "Annie and Clarabel, prepare to depart."
"But Thomas," Clarabel said. "You need to give a tour."
"I'm not going to." Thomas determinedly said.
"You don't know the whole story." Annie said.
"But I know enough! Let's go!" Thomas yelled.
And then, ignoring a lack of a whistle from the human at the station, Thomas pumped his pistons and pulled away quickly and recklessly.
The humans on the platform, including the Fat Controller, yelled for Thomas to come back. His coaches continued to lecture him.
"You'll be in trouble Thomas! And you're going much too fast again!" Annie and Clarabel chorused.
But Thomas didn't hear them. He was too consumed with worry for Gordon's safety.
"Gordon is the strongest engine on the railway- I must save him!" he huffed and puffed.
His driver and fireman fought for control of Thomas as he zoomed down the track towards the washdown area, where he hoped to find Gordon after a long day. He apologised to everyone, including Annie and Clarabel, about how fast he was going but he wasn't about to apologise for leaving- not when Gordon's enginehood was potentially at stake.
Thomas never puffed so fast in his life. Humans were noticing how fast the blue engine was going. Even cows stepped back from the fence as he passed.
He raced around the bend and sped through at a level crossing. Bertie, a red bus, watched where he was parked.
"Beep Beep!" Bertie honked. "Fancy a race today, Thomas?"
"Not now, Bertie- got to stop Gordon from being exploded at the hands of the Fat Controller!" Thomas cried back, as he hurried by.
"So that's why you're fast! Wait... what?" the bus questioned.
But Thomas was long gone.
Thomas arrived at the washdown area and was disappointed to find Gordon not there. And he was further disappointed to find Percy, a small engine. Although Percy was a dear friend, he tended to be scared of things and was the last engine he wanted to see. Percy was innocent- how would he ever understand something like this? Thomas needed to protect him.
"Peep Peep!" Percy whistled. "Hello my best friend Thomas. I was not expecting to see you yet. You got done your special that quickly?"
Thomas sighed- he didn't really want to give too much information. But then again, he wondered how long Annie and Clarabel would keep silent.
"I'm not doing the tour, Percy." he flatly said.
Percy was surprised.
"Oh?" he asked. "Why? What do you know, Thomas?"
"I know nothing, Percy," Thomas lied. "Or nothing that I can tell you. You'll just get scared."
Percy protested.
"Oh Percy- we all know you get scared of your own smoke sometimes." Thomas said.
Percy was cross.
"Oi! I do not! I actually understand a lot more than you and the other engines think- you'll see someday." he puffed.
"Sorry, Percy," Thomas said. "Well, it doesn't look like you'll have to wonder long anyway- Gordon is here."
A large blue No. 4 engine arrived. Gordon parked next to Thomas and Percy. He expected to hear a smiling Thomas tease him about an earlier breakdown Gordon had. But no taunts happened. And Thomas didn't look happy.
"Toot Toot!" Gordon tooted. "Hello Thomas. Hello Percy. What's with your face,Thomas? You act like you have six busted small wheels." He smiled at his own joke.
Thomas didn't smile back. He needed to address this seriously.
"Gordon, I am happy to see you. I have heard things from the Fat Controller. You may be in danger." he warned.
Gordon laughed.
"Rubbish...I am the strongest and most useful engine on the railway. I pull the Express after all!" he boasted.
Once again, the facial expression on Thomas did not change.
"Gordon, you will have a new human named Newkirk assisting you. I'm worried." Thomas continued.
Gordon scoffed.
"I hardly think the Fat Controller would associate himself with someone so dodgy," Gordon replied. "You small engines and your tall stories."
Thomas became annoyed.
"So you want to be in a million pieces laying on the Main Line, then?" he angrily asked.
That caught Gordon and Percy's attention. So Thomas continued.
"I heard the Fat Controller interviewing Newkirk. And... Newkirk seemed pretty proud that he was responsible for destroying the Berlin Express! And the Fat Controller didn't act upset that she was scrapped!" Thomas cried.
"Bust My Buffers!" a terrified Percy screamed.
Gordon's face turned pale.
"Bubbling Boilers," he gasped. "Did you say...Berlin Express? Why does that seem familiar? Did you... get the model number?"
Thomas sighed.
"A DRB Class 52." he darkly said.
Gordon's face got even paler.
"Oh dear... my designer had plenty of foreign visitors as he worked on me and my cousins. I fear that The Berlin Express... she was probably a distant cousin of mine." he whispered.
A greiving Gordon moaned. A sad Percy groaned. Both engines also let out a puff of steam to express their anguish.
Thomas, though, was more determined than ever. As he thought about a plan, a blue car pulled up. The Fat Controller and Newkirk stepped out.
"Cpl. Peter Newkirk, these are three of my engines. This is Thomas, Percy and Gordon. Gordon is the engine I'd like you to help out." the Fat Controller said.
Newkirk watched in amazement as human-like faces emerged on the fronts of the brightly coloured engines.
"Bloody charming," Newkirk muttered. "First, I serve King and country by donning women's clothes- oh, the indignity!- and now here I am working with talking trains."
None of the talking trains appeared to be happy and the smaller blue one appeared to be a leader because he barked out:
"Newkirk will be working with Gordon over my scrapped blue paintwork, sir!"
This statement made the Fat Controller very cross.
"Thomas, not only have you caused confusion and delay...but you overheard a conversation not meant for you." he sternly began.
Thomas was ashamed but still defiant.
"And... you came to your own conclusions without knowing the full story." the Fat Controller concluded.
Thomas' face brightened.
"So it isn't true, then?" he asked.
A look of pain crossed The Fat Controller's face and he looked at Newkirk, who acknowledged him.
"No, it's true. The Berlin Express was destroyed. And it wasn't just the Berlin Express who was- it was many tender engines with their coaches and trucks. But there were reasons." The Fat Controller said softly.
The Fat Controller could see the pain in Gordon's face and how it increased. And he could see that Thomas wanted to get to the bottom of everything- even if the Fat Controller didn't want Thomas, Percy and Gordon to hear it.
"Reasons? Weren't...they really useful? Please tell us- if only for Gordon's sake." Thomas asked.
The Fat Controller stared at Newkirk. His face indicated that the story would be Newkirk's to tell.
Newkirk couldn't believe this. It was one thing to tell family members about why relatives died in this war, but now he had to tell trains? But the pleading look on Gordon's face explained that he had to know if Newkirk had any chance to work with him.
Newkirk put both hands in his pockets and stared at the engines before him. He desperately wanted to avoid eye contact, but he knew the engines would not trust him.
"The engines were being really useful, Thomas. But you'll see why they really weren't." Newkirk began.
"The Berlin Express worked on a railway in a country called Germany. Germany is a country like the Mainland. In Germany, a madman became powerful. This madman looked around his country and didn't like what he saw. He saw people who were different to him and he felt threatened by them. He never bothered to understand why they were different. He didn't know that the differences in people is what makes them unique." he said.
He cleared his throat. He knew there were emotional parts coming up. He could see the faces of Thomas, Percy and Gordon changing. Newkirk continued:
"The madman of Germany also wanted more power. Not only did he want control of Germany, but he wanted control of the countries surrounding Germany, too. Some countries went willingly, but a lot of others did not. The Mainland did not want to be under his control. They took up arms along with other places and fought him successfully. But it was not easy. Many places, including Barrow, were bombed and destroyed."
All of the engines gasped. Barrow was bombed? No wonder no engine was allowed to go there.
"Now the Berlin Express," Newkirk began. "She was useful as a mostly luxury passenger engine for a train that served their capital city. I say mostly... my former commanding officer Colonel Hogan learned that the Berlin Express would be smuggling guns and explosives to soldiers and it would have helped Germany win the war. And that's why she...and other trains who smuggled those things...were done away with."
Newkirk began to cry as he continued:
"I am sorry my mates and I destroyed so many of Gordon's relatives but we needed to win the war to stop the madman, Thomas. The engines were working for the madman and the madman was doing things against human nature. Remember those different people I talked about earlier? The madman sent those different people away. He forced them to leave their homes and took their things. He sent them to camps. At the camps, he didn't give them enough food or water. He forced a lot of them to work. He let them get diseases and didn't treat them. No one was spared- even children. He ruined families by separating human children from parents. Most of the humans in the camps were eventually... scrapped. Some humans didn't even go into the camp- some were immediately scrapped getting there. Some of these humans were only babies, Thomas...babies."
A respectful silence began to echo in the yard. A sobbing Newkirk had more to say.
"I hate to say it but the DRB Class 52 was responsible for taking those people away. The engines probably thought they were being really useful but an engine...can be really useful for the wrong reasons." he said.
Newkirk took a deep breath. His wiped his eyes and he noticed the sheer look of horror on the engine faces. Horror mixed with utter sorrow. He had one last thing to say:
"Can you feel for human death over an engine's this time?" Newkirk asked passionately.
The three engines understood, particularly Thomas. Thomas thought of the human child who liked to watch him from the bridge. Would that human child still be alive if he was different and lived in Germany? Thomas didn't think so.
Tears began to stream down the faces of Thomas, Percy and Gordon. Their drivers rushed up front and held up rags to stop the tears from rusting their paintwork.
Nobody in the yard knew how to act. The engines were completely silent except for their boilers bubbling. The various humans in the yard- engine drivers, firemen and the Fat Controller were in various states- some sobbed and some were silent. Newkirk regained his composure and lit himself a cigarette to relax.
After a period of silence, The Fat Controller finally spoke up.
"Newkirk was highly decorated for his service, engines. He came highly recommended. I am proud that he chose to work on Sodor. He will take charge of Gordon's timetables and make them an even bigger success. I would never have brought him to this job if I would have thought he would cause any engine- much less Gordon—any harm. Gordon, you are lucky you have Thomas as a friend." he said.
Gordon and Thomas smiled at each other.
Thomas felt rather silly.
"Sir, I am sorry I eavesdropped on your conversation and then ran away. I accept whatever punishment you may have." he apologised.
"Don't fret- I'm not going to take away your branch line, Thomas," the Fat Controller said. "But what you did must not happen again. Am I clear? Now can you take Newkirk on that tour? I want him to see the mountains before sunset."
Thomas brightened.
"Certainly, sir!" he cried.
Cpl. Newkirk nodded to his new boss as he climbed into the coach named Annie. Thomas smiled and blew his whistle.
"Peep Peep!" Thomas whistled. "Away we go, Newkirk. Our first stop is..." And he went down the track.
Back at the washdown area, The Fat Controller looked at Gordon. Gordon still looked gutted.
"Gordon," he began to say. "If you need some time off in order to recover from this news, I can ask another engine to help."
Gordon rolled his eyes.
"And have some other engine pull the Express? I don't think so! I will be ready, sir!" he said.
Gordon then pulled away in order to get washed down. The Fat Controller could tell the news was still affecting the engine, but he decided not to push it for now. He would have Gordon's driver check on him later. He hoped the Big Engine would be okay- Gordon was a very important and useful engine on the Island after all.
As the Fat Controller began to get into his car, he spied Percy. He had forgotten about Percy. And he was concerned about how much the green engine understood.
"Percy, will you be alright?" he asked.
Percy smiled.
"Of course, sir. I have a little time before the evening's mail run. May I ask your permission to do something, sir?" he began.
The Fat Controller told him he could continue.
"I'd like your permission to tell some other engines, machines and humans about what happened in Germany, sir. Would you need to do it, sir? I promise I wouldn't do it to scare them or make them uncomfortable but I'd do it because they need to know." Percy said.
"Why would they need to know?" The Fat Controller asked.
Percy smiled again.
"It's important that we don't forget that these things have happened, sir. If we forget, we might be doomed to repeat it. Am I right, sir?" he asked.
The Fat Controller was amazed that Percy was that perceptive.
"You have my blessing to do it. Be very respectful and sensitive, Percy. If I hear you aren't, you'll be in trouble." he said.
"Yes, sir!" Percy whistled. He took off down the track.
The Fat Controller stared at the No. 6 engine. Percy's actions stunned him but made him happy.
"Well done, Percy." he said. "Well done."
THE END