Lee's Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends

Stories

Austin the Amazing

Petrol is a key resource on the Island of Sodor. Without it, many vehicles simply wouldn't function at all, and very often, in the middle of the night come the Petrol Deliveries. The precious Petrol arrives in very big Tanker Lorries that go about slowly around the Island to make sure everyone gets the Petrol they need, but on this night there was a problem. The Tankers that had arrived had a slight fracture in their cylinders. From this, the Petrol could leak out, but none of the Tanker drivers realised this until they arrived at their first stops to discover much of the Petrol had vanished without reason. It wasn't only Petrol Tankers around on this night aswell as there was an even bigger Oil Tanker Lorry. It had had an accident on the way to Sodor and that was making it leak too. So, when the Oil leaked out over the Petrol, it congealed and formed a sticky, sticky pathway that no-one could break through. Everyone was stuck...

As morning rose on Sodor; all the vehicles discovered that they simply couldn't make their way at all. Bertie, Agnes, Cordelia and Bulgy were all mystified at the Bus Depot as one by one they tried to get out, but couldn't as the road was a sticky mess.
"What on earth has happened?" asked a puzzled Agnes, but no-one replied.
"Stupid, sticky roads!" muttered Bulgy to himself. Everyone around the Island that used the roads was simply surprised at what they were seeing before them. Miss Jenny and the Pack couldn't leave the shed and even vehicles like Byron who use Caterpillar Tracks simply couldn't make their way through.
"This is extremely serious!" boomed the Fat Controller in his office to the men who the Tankers belonged to. "You should know if your Tankers are not up to standard, and this is certainly a moment where they weren't!"
"We're sorry..." apologised the men. "...but we can't do anything...if it has congealed like it has, you would have to wait until it freezes...and then it can be broken up..."
"We're in the middle of hot spell..." retorted the Fat Controller. "A very, very hot spell..." he added as he mopped his brow with a handkerchief.
"Well, then you're in a pickle..." replied one of the men as the Fat Controller pondered at what to do next...

In conditions like this, the engines were thriving and taking business away from all vehicles. Buses, Taxi's, Lorries, Vans and just general Cars were all affected and simply couldn't do a thing. One vehicle in particular affected by the sticky roads was Austin the Works Lorry. All the little bright green Lorry and his crew could do was simply look out from their Shed and complain.
"Surely something can be done to solve this?" he asked to his driver.
"Well, lad..." he began. "It's a tricky thing when stuff congeals like it has done...I'm not sure how it'll be solved..."
"Well however it is, it will have to be done soon..." said Austin. "...otherwise the Sun will melt it into the road!"
"We don't want that!" laughed his driver before he left to join up with the others.
"Where are you going?" asked Austin.
"Work..." replied his driver. "We can still do it, we've just got to walk instead!" he added before he and the several other crew all walked off with equipment in hand and wearing their bright orange reflective jackets so no-one could miss them. Austin was then left all on his own which gave him time to think through what possibly could be done to help stop the sticky roads lasting even longer. Up above in the air, he could hear Harold the Helicopter whooshing by with a big bucket attached to the bottom of him.
"That's strange..." said Austin. "Why has he got a bucket on him?" but it soon became apparent why. In the distance, Austin could vaguely see trees on fire and Harold was presumably there to put the fire out with the bucket attached to him. He was relieved when he saw the fire go out and this then gave him an idea. "If water can get rid of fires, could it get rid of the sticky mess?" but no-one was around to hear his thoughts, so for now Austin had to keep the idea with himself.

Back at one of the main roads used on Sodor, the Fat Controller was angrily ordering the Tanker men about and made them think of ways to try and get rid of it. At first they tried smashing it with rocks but it was no use as the rocks simply stuck in.
"This is going to be harder than we thought..." sighed one of the men.
"Hmmm..." pondered the Fat Controller as the men then tried to scoop it away with shovels, but the shovels bent and broke and the sticky mess wasn't moving at all. "Hmmm..." pondered the Fat Controller once more. "This is definitely trickier than I first imagined it would be..."
"We're running out of ideas..." then called one of the men as he stomped on the mixture, but his shoes got stuck and he couldn't move unless he got out of them.
"Indeed..." agreed the Fat Controller as he was deep in thought thinking through any good ideas that could help solve the issue.

Meanwhile, Austin was now overjoyed to see his crew had returned. They didn't look too happy at all but smiled as soon as they saw Austin smiling widely.
"I've...I've...got an i...idea!" shouted Austin eagerly.
"An idea for what?" asked his driver.
"An idea to get rid of the sticky roads!" replied Austin happily. "Why don't we just wash it away?"
"Wash it?" said his driver. "I think they've already tried that..." Austin sighed as he thought his idea was quite a good one. His driver then thought it through and then called over a few of his other crew. "High-pressure Water, like the Fire Engines use, would that clear it?" he asked to some of them.
"I think it could..." replied one. "I'll get the pressure pump right away..." and as soon as he went to get the pump, Austin smiled.
"You see, it was a good idea!" he smiled.
"Just wait and see..." said his driver. "Don't jump the gun yet!" he continued as the man came back with the pressure pump. He set it up quickly and as a Water began to whoosh out of it, the sticky congealed Oil and Petrol mixture began to move and part.
"It's working!" smiled Austin. Everyone was amazed and just witnessed the mess on the road simply go away. Being directed into the nearby drains it allowed and freed up the entire road around Austin's shed.
"I'll contact the Fat Controller right away!" smiled Austin's driver. "You clever Lorry! You've solved it!"

The Fat Controller was soon informed and he made his way to contacting to the Sodor Fire Brigade.
"As high a pressure as possible!" demanded the Fat Controller on his office telephone.
"If you say so, Sir!" replied the Fireman before he and his colleagues began to set the pressures up. At the highest they could possibly go, the Fire Engines hoses obliterated the sticky congealed mess on the roads and washed it away as quickly as they could. Jumping aboard their engines, the Firemen sprayed as much as they could as they went along. The fact it soon began to rain too made it much easier and it meant the Firemen had to use less water, but as all the main roads on Sodor were affected, it was going to take a while. Refilling the tanks occurred several times and this delayed all the roads being ready for use, but the ones that had been washed clean were immediately in use again.
"Yippee!" cheered Agnes as she finally made her way around the roads again. "I can feel my wheels move once more!"
"Miss Jenny!" called Byron. "We can work again!" he then cheered as he proudly maneuvered all around showing off the roads use.
"Tis a brilliant sight!" she smiled. "Come on everyone!" she then called to the rest of the Pack. "Let's work!"
"This is how it should be done..." said the Fat Controller proudly to himself before having a go at the Tanker men who hadn't helped in the slightest. "Now, unless you help, and I mean really help, I'm afraid we'll cease trading with one another from this very moment..."
"But you can't..." replied one the men. "You're our best customer!"
"I have other contacts!" smiled the Fat Controller. "And so does the Mayor! We can easily replace the people who bring our resources and no doubt at a much cheaper price!" he continued before leaving.
"Where are you going?" quizzed one of the men.
"To my car!" replied the Fat Controller. "I haven't used it all day! And it'll be nice to not keep walking everywhere!" he added as he walked cheerily out of sight.

By late Evening all, if not most of the roads of Sodor had been cleared of the stickiness that had been on them for several hours. The whole entire fleet of the Sodor Fire Brigade had been used and with their many high-pressure pumps got rid of the mess in no time at all. The Fat Controller, now is his trusty blue car zoomed over to Austin's shed to congratulate him and his workmen on thinking up the most amazing of ideas to solve the problem.
"Austin!" he boomed. "You are simply amazing for thinking up this! I certainly would never have thought of it, and I doubt many others would too!"
"Why thank you, Sir..." said Austin who was completely astonished and overcome by the praise. The Fat Controller could only smile.
"Amazing Austin..." he said.
"How about Austin the Amazing?" then suggested Austin. "I think it has a better ring to it!"
"Indeed it does..." agreed the Fat Controller. "Austin the Amazing it is!" and from that day, Austin is still labelled with that nickname. Whenever he sees the newer, more reliable Tankers bringing in Oil and Petrol, he and everyone else is just reminded of the time when no-one could move. That was until Austin the Amazing intervened and made everyone happy once more!