Special Guest: Ringo Starr as Mr. Conductor
Thomas was often talking to Edward and the others about his branch line and how well adjusted he become to running it. Edward was happy for his young friend, and saw that Annie and Clarabel had grown rather close with Thomas. To him they were like the older sisters he never had. But they often playfully flirted with him, and this made him feell a little silly, but Thomas knows they're only playing around with him.
One evening, Edward was in the driver's house common room at Tidmouth. He had just come in after a very busy day at work and felt very tired. Henry, Gordon and James were having a laugh at something.
Edward asked what they had found so funny, and they said, "Thomas was in a such a hurry today, he left his conductor on the platform."
Edward didn't find it funny. He found it rather uncalled for to make fun of Thomas like that.
"Come on, guys!" he shouted. "That's not funny. You all would feel embarrassed if you guys left something behind, you know." Edward of course hadn't forgotten about the time when Thomas had to pull Henry's train one day because Henry was sick. He was sure that the other three meant well with their teasing, but it didn't mean he approved of it.
"Come on, Edward," snorted James. "Where's your sense of humor?"
Edward didn't answer. He jsut walked slowly away to his room. He then sat down on his bed to read a book when Mr. Conductor appeared on the nearby dresser.
"Hello, Edward," he said to the young man. "I see you've had a quite a day of work today."
"Yeah, I have. Good to see you, though, Mr. C." he replied. "I can't belive the other three enjoy teasing Thomas when ever he messes up."
"Ah, so you heard about what happened today?" Mr. Conductor said. "Why don't I tell you the whole story?"
Mr. Conductor grabbed his whistle, gave it a blow, and began to tell Edward about Thomas's fiasco.
(Flashback; various times of day on Thomas's Branchline)
Mr Conductor (Narrating): Thomas Billington is very proud of his branch line. He thinks it's most important part of the railway. Annie and Clarabel agree with. As they run backwards and forwards, they sing songs to each other. When Thomas starts his trains at a station, he sings "Oh, come along. We're rather late. Oh, come along. We're rather late." and Annie and Clarabel would sing "We're coming along! We're coming along!"
They don't mind what Thomas says to them, because they know he's trying to please Sir Topham Hatt, and they know too that if he's cross, that he's never cross with them.
(Earlier that day)
Mr Conductor (Narrating): One day, they had to wait for Henry's train, which made Thomas very cross. Henry had been coming in at the stations rather slowly lately, which completely aggrivated young Thomas to the point of complaining.
"How can I run my line properly if Henry is always late?", he groaned angrily. "He doesn't realize that Sir Topham Hatt depends on me." Thomas growled impaitiently and blew his whistle too. He wanted to leave but he had to wait for Henry's passengers.
(5 minutes later)
Mr Conductor (Narrating): At last, Henry came as his train puffed slowly into the station. As he stopped at the platform, he stepped down from his Engine's cab looking rather depressed.
"Where have you been, lazybones?" asked Thomas angrily.
"Oh, dear," moaned Henry. "My engine's system is out of order, but no one understands my case. You don't know what I suffer."
"Rubbish," said Thomas. "That thing is too slow and you're too fat! You both need exercise."
Annie and Clarabel glared at him in shock.
Henry began to feel sadder. It was then that Thomas felt guilty.
"Henry, I'm sorry," he said. It's just that I work really hard to run my branch line and I'm just not liking that I have to keep waiting for you."
"It's alright, Thomas," said Henry. "I understand. I just wish I knew what I could do about it."
Mr Conductor (Narrating): Thomas climbed back into his engine's cab and once Annie and Clarabel boarded with the passengers, the conductor blew his whistle, and Thomas started so quickly that he left him behind. The conductor waved his red flag to stop Thomas, but he was well on his way puffing out of the station.
Clarabel noticed this quickly and tried to tell to Thomas.
"We've lost our nice conductor! We've lost our nice conductor!" she sobbed.
Annie tried to tell Thomas about it.
"We haven't a conductor, We haven't a conductor!"
But he was hurrying and wouldn't listen. He couldn't even hear them over the sounds of his engine.
Annie and Clarabel tried to put on the brakes, but they were not trained for this sort of thing. Only the conductor could do it.
"Where is our conductor? Where is our conductor?" they cried.
Thomas kept on going, and didn't stop until they came to a signal.
"Bother that signal", said Thomas. "What's the matter? No matter, I'm sure maybe the conductor will tell us in a minute."
Thomas decided to go into the coaches and look for him, but there was no sign of him.
"Annie, Clarabel, where is the conductor?" asked Thomas.
"We've left him behind," sobbed Annie and Clarabel together.
Thomas facepalmed feeling embarrased. "Oh, darn it."
Mr Conductor (Narrating): After a few minutes, Everyone looked, and there was the conductor running as fast as he could with his flags in one hand and his whistle in the other. He was very hot and exhausted, so Thomas gave him a drink. Then he told them all about it.
"I'm very sorry," said Thomas.
"We all make mistakes, Thomas," replied the conductor. "I know you were in a hurry. However, my shoe was untied and I stopped to tie it."
"Look! the signal is down we can go," said Thomas. "Let's make up for lost time."
Mr Conductor (Narrating): After everyone was gathered back in the coaches and the conductor was finally on board, they puffed away. Annie and Clarabel were so pleased to have the conductor back on board that they sang "As fast as you like! As fast as you like!" to Thomas all the way. And so, they reached the end of the line quicker than ever before.
(Back to present)
"The fact of the matter is, Edward," said Mr. Conductor. "That even conductors make mistakes, and so did Thomas. But he's learned from it now."
"Did Sir Topham Hatt find out about it?" asked Edward nervously.
"Of course, he did. But he wasn't cross at all," replied Mr. Conductor. "In fact, he forgave Thomas immediately after they both told him about what happened."
"Well, that's good," said Edward.
"Now, if you'll excuse me, I must get back to shining time station." Mr. Conductor said. "I wish I could stay longer, but i'm a very busy person, you know. Goodbye,"
He disappeared again in his usual shower of gold dust and Edward went along reading his book.
