Operation Roadway
The Arlesdale Luxury Hotel was deep within the forests of the Arlesdale Railway and would be built over what remained of the Mid Sodor Railway. Though most people would be getting there by train, Miss Jenny and the Foreman decide to travel there for the first time by road in order to get a feeling of what the machines would be doing each day. The road they were taking went through the town of Ulfstead and past forests and old mines. After Ulfstead the road became rather bumpy due to numerous cracks as well as there being some rubble over the tracks.
"Do you think we should patch this up before we start work?" The foreman asked.
"I suppose we could. We do have two weeks until we start construction and we don't have any other projects lined up except for a few small jobs, so Buster and Patrick could do it." Miss Jenny smiled. They went to turn a corner when they hit some rocks lying on the road. The front left tyre burst and Miss Jenny stamped on the brakes. The car screeched and spun… right off the side of the road. Miss Jenny and the Foreman screamed as the Land Rover skidded and bounced down the hill before crashing into a tree. The airbags burst and the two lay on them as steam came from the car.
"And maybe we could add a few fences." The foreman gasped.
Kelly and Nelson arrived soon to help clear things up.
"Your lucky that you weren't injured." Kelly smiled. He extended his arm out to it's maximum lengths, lowered his hook which the foreman secured around the roof rack and then he retracted his arm to pull the Land Rover up until Nelson would be able to take over and pull it up onto his flatbed.
"I am glad I am not injured, but that car cost me quite a bit." Miss Jenny replied.
"That's why you shouldn't buy the flashest things around." The foreman chuckled.
"Yeah, like that hefty Rolex on your wrist." Miss Jenny chuckled. Kelly and Nelson laughed as well. It was a few minutes before the Land Rover was on Nelson's flatbed.
"Are we going to be doing any work on the roads before we start on the hotel?" The transporter asked.
"Of course, I don't want any more accidents. Buster and Patrick will start work as soon as possible." Miss Jenny explained.
"They'll love that." Kelly muttered and Nelson smirked. The two took their owner and manager and headed home. None of them noticed what the car had knocked out of the tree.
One Week Later…
Buster and Patrick came out of Ulfstead and reached the next part of their project; the scene of Miss Jenny's crash.
"I hate how we got the extra work." Patrick groaned.
"Oh stop complaining, I am sick of your moaning!" Buster huffed. The two glared at each other and turned away. They usually argued at the start of the working day and ended up talking again by the end of it.
In order to fix the roads, Patrick moved slowly across the original broken road and spread cement over it. Buster would then smooth it out and they'd move on, doing it in small sections at a time. Patrick preferred doing bigger jobs like filling in foundations and this slow work seemed tedious.
"You know what." Patrick said around ten.
"What?" Buster sighed.
"I don't think that this is really that important."
"Why so?"
"Well, most of us will be taken to the site by train, right?"
"Which train?"
"Isn't there a railway near the hotel?" Buster let out a low sigh.
"As Miss Jenny keeps telling you, the Small Railway has SMALL engines that won't be able to take us." Patrick looked affronted and let out a snort.
"Don't need to get so snippy about it." He huffed.
"Byron, Max and Monty are coming later to help clear the landslide up ahead so we should try and get the road down to that point." Buster suggested. Patrick's pride was hurt and he ignored Buster and continued pouring concrete. Buster let out a sigh.
It was going to be a long day.
Jack and Alfie were cheerfully travelling to Tidmouth. There had been an accident with a goods train and they had been asked to help clear up some of the debris.
"I love doing these small jobs. You get to go out and enjoy Sodor, do some nice dirty work without worrying about stuffing up." Alfie said with a beam.
"I don't see why you love dirty work so much." Jack laughed. "It's alright but I hate getting completely covered in mud.
"Are you afraid of a few specks of mud?" Alfie sniggered.
"WHAT, of course not!" Jack snapped. "Mud's nothing to a machine with determination!" He looked to see Alfie's reaction when he saw the excavator in front of him on the side of the road. "What exactly are you doing?" Jack asked. Alfie turned and laughed before he used his back wheels to spray Jack with mud.
"So, where's your determination now?" Alfie asked as Jack shielded himself with his bucket. The two were laughing so much they didn't notice three figures approaching them.
"What are you losers laughing about?" A voice sneered. Jack and Alfie turned to see who was talking; George the Steamroller. George was infamous to the engines, vehicles and machines on Sodor. He had caused several accidents in his time, his most famous one was when he drove into Sir Handel's train. George hated the engines because he wanted to replace all rails with roads, and he hated the Pack because they always worked with them. The other two were Mac and Grudge. Mac was a vicious black dump truck and a relative of Max and Monty's. His dream was to tip tons of sand over the engines of Sodor. Grudge was a large moss green digger and wasn't the brightest tool in the shed and did whatever George and Mac told him to do.
"We are having fun, something you probably don't know the meaning of." Jack growled.
"Of course we have fun. Do you think we dislike tearing up for steam buddies rails?" George chuckled.
"What exactly do you want?" Alfie asked.
"Your team stole our contract!" Mac snapped. "We worked forever building the new Knapford carpark and you lot waltz in and take our prize."
"We did a better job! The car park has more holes in it than the moon." Jack snapped.
"At least we didn't crash into any trains." Grudge chuckled dopily.
"We aren't here to argue, we are here to destroy some Packard slime!" George leered. The three surrounded Jack and Alfie, buckets raised and an evil look in their eyes. Grudge was about to hit Jack when Henry came up alongside.
"You three back off!" Henry shouted. "The Fat Controller is already mad at your lot for the Knapford Car park, he'll make sure your team is closed down if you keep up this attitude."
"Fine then, we'll leave. But you all better watch your backs." Mac growled.
"Yeah, and your fronts as well!" Grudge added. George and Mac rolled their eyes before heading off as fast as they could. Henry looked to Jack and Alfie once they were out of sight.
"Don't worry about them, they'll probably be scrapped in a month's time." He smiled and steamed off.
"I am more worried about what's going to happen before then." Alfie said and the two friends gloomily set off.
Jack and Alfie were soon kept busy tidying up the accident. Harvey and Rocky were on hand to help clean up the trucks and flatbeds that had come off in the accident.
"Do you think that we should worry about George and them?" Jack asked as the friends scooped up some rocks.
"Well, they have a reputation for threatening people and occasional violence." Alfie said. "Personally, I don't think we should worry. But there is always a chance that something might happen."
"That is a rather contradicting statement." Jack laughed. "I think we should go to their yard and give them a piece of our minds."
"They'll probably crush us!" Alfie gasped.
"I don't care, they can't go around bullying everyone just because they are too thick to know not to try and drive over wet cement." Jack bellowed. Harvey and Rocky laughed.
"Ah, that was so funny. I remember the look on Grudge's face when we arrived to get him out." Harvey chuckled.
"Bloody hard work." Rocky said. "And then I had to carry the loaf on my flatbed's all the way to their yard while he cursed and spluttered." Jack and Alfie exchanged looks.
"Can you remember where their yards are?" Jack asked while Alfie sighed.
"Yeah, a dingy old warehouse near Wellsworth." Harvey replied. Jack looked at Alfie and beamed brightly.
"Well, at least we have directions."
Byron had been a member of Miss Jenny's crew for many years and enjoyed the fun times he had had with everyone… except Max and Monty. The two had been fine for the first few years and didn't muck about much. Then, a few years ago, Buster, Patrick, Nelson and Monty went to work for a big building company in North England where Miss Jenny used to live. Max became very surly after not being chosen and acted out at everyone. When the four came back, Max and Monty started to argue and compete and caused much more mayhem. Today, they were racing to see who could get to the landslide first, but their bickering and scuffling was causing them to go very slowly.
"I am going to beat you!" Monty chuckled as he slammed into Max.
"I doubt it; you're slower than Buster going up a wet hill." Max sneered.
"Well, you're slower than Buster on an icy road." Monty scoffed.
"Yeah, well, you're slower than Buster…" Max began but Byron tooted his horn loudly.
"Will you two just shut up, at this rate we'll be lucky to get there before Christmas!" The bulldozer growled and then used his blade to push between the two. Max and Monty ignored him and continued to scuffle.
The next part of the road was narrower than the rest of the road due to unstable ground caused by the nearby mines. Max and Monty were still side by side, but their wheels were slightly over the edge.
"You two better watch it because I ain't pulling you out if you fall into a mine." Byron called back.
"Where will you put the rubble then?" Mac sneered.
"I'll dump on top of you two." Byron said and boomed with laughter. Max and Monty exchanged looks.
"He is a bit full of himself today." Monty muttered.
"We should teach him a lesson." Max said.
"Sure thing bro." Monty said and they grinned evilly. They charged forward and rammed into Byron.
"Quit it!" Byron snapped.
"Sorry, we're just trying to past." Monty chuckled.
"Your going so slow we'll be lucky to get their by New Year's!" Max sniggered and they rammed into him again.
"Ok you two, stop it or I'll tell Miss Jenny!" Byron growled and tried to speed up to get past a corner but the dump trucks slammed into him again in his side. Byron left caterpillar track left the road and he began to wobble.
"Help me!" Byron cried. Max and Monty could only exchange shocked looks as Byron tipped over and slid down the hill.