In the workshops, the men woke Clyde up one morning. He opened a sleepy eye.

"What do you want?" The big engine grunted, "I'm trying to sleep here."

"Some people are coming to look you over soon and you seem like you need to stretch your wheels, so we're taking you out on a run 'round the workshops."

"Oh alright, alright, let's just get this over with. I'm trying to get my beauty sleep." The men stoked Clyde up and he was soon enough rolling along among the other sleeping engines. Up ahead, he saw Percy sleeping in front of a line of trucks.

"Little squirt must have forgotten to move them," chuckled Clyde, "let's remedy that." And with that, he began to go faster.

"Slow down, Clyde!" His driver called, but it did no good. Clyde rammed into Percy, sending the little black engine flying forwards into the trucks.

"Wh-WHOA!" Percy tried to stop, but he had no driver and couldn't. He rammed into the trucks and sent them hurtling through the buffers. Clyde snickered.

"That'll teach you, runt." And he rolled away. Percy felt awful, and even more so when the chief engineer ran over.

"Percy! What is this?" He was very cross, Percy looked down sadly.

"It was Clyde, sir, he-"

"Percy, in case you haven't noticed Clyde isn't anywhere near here. Now if I were you I would start cleaning up this mess before I ram you off the rails myself!" And he stomped away.

As Percy brought a crane to clear up the mess, he looked crossly at Clyde, who simply sat on a siding, very proud of himself. Percy growled.

"I'll teach that big bully…" he said, and then shunted the trucks he had rescued away while the crane cleared up more.

Thomas arrived the following day at Elsbridge Station to wait for Henry's train. He had to come down the entire line that morning, which was a decently long journey.

"I'm parched!" He said, but then he looked to the water tower. It had a sign on it, which read…

"Out of order?" Thomas said in a rather confused manner, "Botheration! I always get my water from here!"

"Patient, Thomas," reminded Clarabel, "there's always water at the other stations!"

"I'm afraid not, Clarabel." Thomas' driver peered out of the cab, "Your tank doesn't seem full enough to make it to the next station."

"Relax, driver." Thomas smiled, "I'm fine. Clarabel's right, there's plenty of water at the other stations."

"Yes, but what if you run dry?"

Thomas was so busy arguing with his driver that he didn't notice when Henry arrived with his passengers. Henry let his passengers off, rolled his eyes, and continued on his way.

"My tank is f-oh, Henry! Henry, come back! I have something I want to say to you!" But Henry was already out of sight, trying to make up for lost time.

"There goes my chance," sighed Thomas.

"Don't worry, Thomas. He does come here every day," chuckled Annie.

"You're right." Thomas smiled, and the guard's whistle blew. Thomas made sure everyone was aboard, and he started off.

"I'll be at the next station in no time," Thomas said to himself, "Nothing to it."

Unfortunately, Thomas didn't make it to the next station, and he ran out of water on a bridge overlooking a river.

"That's torn it," sighed his driver, "How are we supposed to get to the next station now? We're stranded!"

Thomas looked down at the river, and had an idea.

"I see people fishing here all the time," said Thomas, "maybe we could do some fishing of our own…"
"Engines don't go fishing, Thomas!" Annie groaned.

"Don't be daft!" Clarabel agreed.

"I don't mean actually fishing! I mean using a bucket to get water from the river that will fill my tank!"

"I don't know, Thomas," said his driver, "There could be something in that water that could damage you…"
"We don't really have another option..." The fireman sighed, "Thomas is right. I'll get the bucket."

Thomas' crew took out a leaky bucket from the cab. It had five holes in it, so they had to hoist the bucket down multiple times and as quickly as possible.

"I'm not too sure this is a good idea, Thomas…" Annie said, but Thomas scoffed.

"It's not like we have another option! And I'm sure this will at least last us to the next station!"

Thomas' tanks were finally full, and they set off for the next station. Thomas was very happy when he made it.

"See, I told you! Nothing to it!"

Thomas had been delayed by taking on the water in the river, and he didn't have time to clean his tanks out with clean water, so he simply continued on…with the river water still in his tanks.

Eventually, as Thomas approached Ffarquhar, he began to feel strange. Steam was billowing from his safety valve.

"There's too much steam!" The driver and fireman damped down the fire and Thomas struggled on to the station.

"I've got such a pain! I've got such a pain!" Thomas hissed.

"Easy does it, Thomas, we're almost at the platform!" Clarabel called, but Thomas could go no further.

"I'm going to burst!" He moaned. His driver uncoupled him from Annie and Clarabel, and rolled him onto a siding out of the way. His passengers weren't at the platform, but Thomas was too pained to care.

"I'll call the inspector!" The fireman sprinted off towards the telephone, and the driver found large notices, which he hung on Thomas in front and behind, which said "DANGER. KEEP AWAY".

"I'm going to burst!" Thomas cried in pain. Annie, Clarabel, and the passengers were very concerned.

It didn't take long for the inspector and the Fat Controller to arrive.

"Cheer up, Thomas," said the Fat Controller, "We'll have you alright again soon!"
"I hope so, sir," Thomas groaned.

"The water tower at Elsbridge was broken, sir, so we took water from the river. There's too much steam, but I don't know what caused it!" The driver scratched his head nervously.

"It seems to me like the feed pipe is blocked," said the inspector, "I'll take a look at it." He climbed on a ladder and looked into the tank. His eyes widened with surprise and he climbed down.

"Excuse me, Sir Topham, please look in the tank and tell me what you see."

"Well, alright then, inspector. Whatever you say!" The Fat Controller climbed up the ladder and looked into the tank as well. What he saw nearly made him fall off the tank in surprise!

"Bless me, inspector, can you see…fish?" The inspector nodded. Thomas was shocked.

"How did fish get into my tanks?" Thomas asked.

"We must have fished them from the river with our bucket," the driver said, "The fish must have been blocking the pipe, and that's why there was so much steam!"

"So you and your driver have been fishing, eh Thomas?" The Fat Controller strode off to the telephone, "Fish don't suit you Thomas, and we must get them out." And he called for his butler to bring down some fishing poles in the car.

Thomas was fuming as his driver, fireman, and the inspector all took turns fishing in his tank.

"Come on, come on, patience is the key, driver," said the Fat Controller, who was telling them how to fish, "let the fish come to you." The driver rolled his eyes, but soon enough all the fish had been removed from the tank.

"What are we to do with all this fish, sir?" The inspector asked.

"Hmm…" The Fat Controller pondered.

"Mmm…yes, that was wonderful. Lovely cooking, fireman." The Fat Controller happily wiped his face with his napkin after finishing off the lovely picnic supper of fish and chips. The driver, fireman, and inspector had greatly enjoyed their fish and chips as well, and the passengers had already walked to the platform, being led by the guard. Thomas felt very embarrassed.

"I'm sorry, sir," Thomas sighed, "This is all my fault."

"No it isn't, Thomas," the Fat Controller smiled, "that water column should be fixed by tomorrow, so we'll prevent circumstances like this in future! But fish don't suit you Thomas, so try to not let it happen again."

"Yes, sir," said Thomas, and he puffed back to Annie and Clarabel, while the Fat Controller went home.

"I have to remember the recipe for those fish and chips, they were delicious…"

The following day, Thomas pulled into Elsbridge Station, where Gordon was waiting.

"Late again, little Thomas." Gordon said, "You better keep to time, or I'll have to leave without your passengers."

"Rubbish," Thomas scoffed. He was still feeling under the weather from his fishing incident.

"Thomas, we tender engines have a position to keep up. It doesn't matter what you do, but for the Fat Controller to make us shunt and fetch our own coaches…" Gordon shuddered, "It's, it's not the proper thing!"

"Wow, hard work, Gordon. So demeaning!" Gordon grumbled as Thomas laughed and headed off with Annie and Clarabel, who were laughing along with him.

"Oh, the indignity!" Gordon continued on towards Vicarstown.

When the big blue engine arrived at Vicarstown, it was normal procedure for him to use the turntable to turn around.

"Driver, do we have to use this turntable? It's so small!"

"Not unless you don't want to look like a tank engine, Gordon."

This shut Gordon up at once. But he was still in a bad temper. The turntable was in a windy place nearby the sea, and Gordon was having trouble stopping in the right place. He wasn't trying.

"Come on, Gordon! Stop being so difficult!" The driver tried to brake Gordon, but he wouldn't stop in the right place and kept on upsetting the balance.

"This is as good as we'll get!" The driver called to the fireman. The fireman tried to turn the handle, but Gordon's weight and the strong winds prevented him from doing so.

"Well, what's the problem?" Gordon grunted.

"Your big tender upsets the balance, Gordon. If you were a tank engine this wouldn't be a problem!"

"A TANK ENGINE!?" Gordon was fuming, but the fireman was more concerned about other things.

"We haven't time to turn you 'round now, so you'll just have to pull the next train backwards."
Gordon's face turned bright red with fury.

Thomas was waiting at Elsbridge again when he heard a whistle and saw a humorous image.

"Well, bless me! If it isn't Gordon!" Thomas laughed. Gordon was puffing down the line tender-first, and looked very embarrassed.

"Look!" A boy called, "It's a new tank engine!"

"New tank engine, indeed!" Gordon groaned. Thomas was laughing so hard he felt his tanks might come off.

"Playing tank engine, Gordon?" Thomas grinned cheekily.

"Sensible engine!" Giggled Clarabel.

"Take my advice," continued Thomas, "Scrap your tender and have a nice bunker, then you'll feel much better, and be really useful too!"

Thomas, Annie, and Clarabel were laughing quite hard as they steamed away, leaving a seething Gordon at the platform.

Everyone laughed at Gordon as he passed by. Even James!

"Gordon the Tank Engine, haha, that's a good one!" James chortled as he moved his coaches to the platform.

"Take care, James, you might stick too!" Gordon said, but James just laughed.

"I'm not scared of some winds!" James laughed, "And besides, I'm not nearly as fat as you are!"
"Oh…" Gordon moaned but James was already off laughing. It was the first time in weeks that he wasn't the butt of the joke!

Later that day, James returned to Tidmouth Sheds to use the turntable. He stopped on just the right place to balance the table.

"I'm better than fat Gordon!" But James spoke too soon. Gordon was passing on his way to the station, and saw James begin to pick up speed.

"This should be good…" Gordon chuckled.

"Wh-whoa! Whoa-whoa-whoa-whoa-whoa-whoa-whoa-whoa-whoa…" James spun much too easily, and he began to pick up speed, whipping up the dust around him. The wind whipped him around like a top, and he couldn't stop. When he finally did, he was very giddy.

"Looks like you need to put on a few pounds, little James! Engines don't play roundabouts!" Gordon laughed, and James knew that he had seen the entire thing. So he said nothing, and simply backed into the shed to avoid further embarrassment.

That evening, the big engines had another meeting.

"Gentlemen, we are here to express our indignation. It-"

"I suffer dreadfully, and no one cares!"

"…Thank you, Henry. We are all aware of this fact. Anyway, it's absolutely shameful for us to be treated like this."

"Gordon has to go backwards and people think he's a tank engine…" Henry said.

"James spins around like a top and everyone laughs at him…" Gordon continued.

"Henry gets whooshed by an elephant…" James said.

"…And everyone laughs at us!" Gordon finished, "It's…disgraceful!"

"Disgusting!"

"Despicable!"

"…I like the sound of that. We should do that more often."

"Yes, indeed."

"I do concur."

"Anyway, to add to that, the Fat Controller makes all shunt in dirty sidings!"

"Ugh!"

"Gentlemen, our strike will come into effect tomorrow, and then the Fat Controller will treat us the way we should be treated! This injustice can not be tolerated!"

The big engines all agreed that the strike would begin tomorrow. And they wouldn't stop until they were treated better.

Well, well, well. Certainly, it has been a while. This chapter took the longest to write, and for good reason, as I've been very busy as of late. Don't worry, from here on out I'll have a more consistent update schedule. Next chapter is a bit of a breather, as it revolves around Percy and Clyde, with Thomas, Annie and Clarabel making a very short appearance to meet a new friend. See this in "Chapter 5 - New Friends, Old Enemies".