WEE ENGINES

Work on Duck's Branch Line, the Little Western, was more abundant than ever. The engines were all feeling rushed off their wheels, especially Donald and Douglas, and they weren't afraid to express it. One evening at Arlesburgh Junction, the engines were all complaining about the amount of work they had.

"The amount of passengers I have to pull is ridiculous!" Oliver lamented loudly. The Caledonian Twins scoffed and shared a glance.

"Ye think ye have any right tae complain about passengers?" Donald snapped.

"We have tae work with ballast trucks! They're the most troublesome of all the trucks!" Douglas added. Toad the brake van chuckled from behind Oliver.

"Mister Oliver would know, Mister Douglas! They did push him into a turntable well, after all!" The brake van and twins shared a laugh while Oliver scowled.

"Either way, we need more help around here." He said. Donald and Douglas murmured in agreement.

"Aye, and soon tae." Donald replied. Suddenly, the engines heard a horn and Winston motored up to the sheds, with the Fat Controller onboard.

"Good evening, everyone!" He called after getting out of Winston.

"Good evening, sir!" The engines replied.

"I've heard some rumors that the work was becoming too much for you four, so I'm bringing in extra help to help you all keep everything to schedule. They should be arriving tomorrow, so your workload will be considerably reduced. Hopefully this shouldstop the complaining, like the shouting match I heard coming from here on my way down." Donald, Douglas, and Oliver looked around nervously. Duck chuckled.

"Thanks, sir. We'll be sure to make them welcome."

"Splendid! Now, get some rest before tomorrow, you all." The Fat Controller reboarded Winston.

"Night, everyone!" Winston called as he sped away, leaving the engines to go to sleep, excited to receive their extra help.

As the sun rose the following morning, Harvey was working in the Shunting Yards, loading trains with crates, when he suddenly heard a familiar whistle.

"Is that...Samson?" He muttered. Sure enough, the viridian tank engine rolled alongside and grinned widely.

"Hello, Harvey!" Samson announced to the yard, shouting. However, Harvey winced as angry shouts came from nearby sheds.

"Shut up, you cabless clod!"

"Some of us are trying to sleep!" Samson chuckled quietly.

"Sorry, everyone!" He whispered. Harvey raised an eyebrow.

"I thought ye went back to the mainland. What are ye doing here?" Samson smirked.

"The Fat Controller has a special job for me, Harvey!" Harvey smiled, but his frown came back after he had a realization.

"Ye didnae bring Bradford with ye, didye?" He asked uneasily. Samson raised an eyebrow.

"No, he's on the mainland, working with some diesel to keep him in line while he's being punished. Why do you ask?" Before Harvey could reply, Winston rolled up to the duo, the Fat Controller driving him.

"Ah, Harvey! Samson! Just the engines I've been looking for!" He called as he stepped out. Harvey was confused.

"Why do ye need us, sir?"

"The engines on the Little Western need help with their work, so I'm sending you two down there for a few weeks to help out." Samson looked at Harvey, a confused expression on his face.

"Both of us, sir?" He asked. The Fat Controller smiled.

"Yes, Samson. Both of you." Samson grinned happily, and Harvey smiled.

"Thank you, sir! Come on, Harvey! We've got a Little Western to help!" Samson steamed away, leaving Harvey behind.

"Other way, Samson!" He called. Samson reversed backwards, leaving Harvey to follow him.

Harvey and Samson worked well on the Little Western. Duck taught them how to work with the Slip Coaches by having them do a trial run on his normal route, ending at Bluff's Cove.

"Don't slow down too much! The coaches could bump into the back of you!" Duck called. Harvey tried to stay at the same pace, but Samson slowed down and the rear Slip Coach bumped into the back of the train. Duck winced as Samson groaned and Harvey grit his teeth nervously. The Slip Coaches were not happy with Samson.

"Such a rough engine!"

"Not fit to carry us at all!"

"He should stick to trucks!"

Eventually, Sidney brought Harvey and Samson to Arlesburgh Junction to show them the ballast chute.

"Now, if I'm remembering this correctly, you bring ballast trucks under the chute, and then ballast gets dropped into them..." Sidney announced, and Harvey listened intently. However, Samson was more focused on small tracks on the platform alongside the chute.

"What are those?" He asked curiously. Sidney chuckled.

"Oh, that's the miniature railway! The engines who run on it are really nice! They run ballast down from the pits, I think..." However, Samson's laughing cut him off.

"Miniature railway? No surprise; they're tiny! How much ballast can they pull down at a time, one or two trucks?" At that moment, a loud whistle sounded out and Jock, the new engine, puffed in, hauling fourteen ballast hoppers behind him. Jock braked to a halt, and grinned proudly.

"Hello! Are you new?" He asked Samson, who was gaping at the little engine's strength. Sidney chuckled.

"Hi, Jock! I see you've brought the ballast!" Jock smirked.

"That I have! It's a bit more than usual, but it's easy for me!" Samson raised an eyebrow.

"More than usual? Why?"

"Another engine was supposed to take four of these, but he was having steaming troubles, so I offered to!" At the moment, a whistle sounded and Bert struggled in with six ballast hoppers, puffing hard.

"Come on, come on..." Finally, he braked into the platform, red-in-the-face. Samson chuckled.

"Pity that none of you little engines could be as strong as I am, but I'm not surprised. A toy railway can't be as good as the real thing, after all!" Samson laughed. Jock and Sidney glared at him, Bert was too tired to reply. Jock shunted some ballast hoppers onto the chute, and Samson bumped into the ballast trucks to get them into place. They groaned loudly.

"He's so rough! He's so rough!" Samson, however, wasn't paying attention. Donald rolled to a stop at the signal nearby, and noticed Samson being rough with the ballast trucks.

"Ye should be careful, Samson! Ballast trucks dinnae like being bumped! They're sure to pay ye out if ye keep treating them like that!" Samson scoffed.

"I know, Donald. I've pulled trucks before."

"Aye, but ballast trucks are the worst of the lot. Never bump ballast trucks; they're sure to dae something about it!" Samson rolled his eyes as ballast fell into his trucks.

"I can handle trucks, Donald. Come on, Harvey!" Harvey rolled around the back of the train and buffered up, looking guilty. Samson smirked at the sickly Bert.

"Don't worry, toys! I'm sure if you size up a bit you could be as strong as I am one day!" He whistled, and the train departed with Samson in front and Harvey behind. Jock, who was still behind, looked at Bert, who was limping to the sheds and looking miserable. Jock sighed.

That evening, in the small engines' sheds, the workmen were inspecting Bert.

"It's not your fault, Bert. Some engines are just rude." Rex said sympathetically. Bert sighed.

"I know, Rex. It's just he's so rude about being much stronger than us because we're smaller...I wish the big engines wouldn't look down on us..." Frank scoffed.

"That's like asking the stars to stop shining..."

"Or Frank to stop complaining!" Mike cut in. The engines had a laugh while Frank scowled. However, Bert was still upset.

"We shouldn't be overlooked! We're just as useful as they are, even if they're bigger!" Jock smiled at Bert.

"Bert's right! We need to prove to Samson that we are stronger!" However, this didn't really get a reaction out of the other three engines. Rex yawned.

"Not worth the time."

"Nor the effort." Mike added. Jock simply grumbled in a huff. Bert was still upset about Samson, but didn't have any time to think about it and went to sleep.

The following day, Harvey was sent to work at the harbour, so Samson had to pull ballast trains on his own. He rolled into the yard and rammed into the trucks on a siding. They groaned loudly.

"OUCH! Don't be so rough, don't be so rough!" They groaned. Samson chuckled as he was coupled up.

"Come on, you lot! We've got ballast to collect!" He whistled loudly and rumbled away to Arlesburgh Junction. However, he started suddenly, and the trucks were beginning to get really cross.

"He thinks he can push us around? We'll show him!"

Samson arrived at Arlesburgh Junction again, and whistled loudly, braking to a halt as the trucks rammed into his rear buffers. They groaned loudly. Samson called out.

"Here for fresh ballast for Harwick Harbour!" However, the only engine available was Bert, who was sitting in the sheds, looking miserable.

"One moment, Samson! I need to get steam up!" Samson scoffed.

"If you were bigger, then you wouldn't have this problem. You'd have a bigger firebox! Like me!" He smirked. This made Bert very cross. He desperately tried to make his fire burn. His driver raised an eyebrow,

"Easy, Bert! Your fire's delicate!" Samson saw Bert straining to leave the sheds and called out.

"Are you alright? I have ballast to deliver, you know! Shunt it on the chute!"

"Just...a...second!" Bert's face went bright red as he strained to leave the sheds. Finally, Bert let out a deep breath and hadn't moved an inch. Samson raised an eyebrow.

"Is this a joke?" Samson asked, bewildered. Suddenly, Jock's whistle sounded out and the small engine rolled in. He saw Bert in the shed and sighed.

"Are you alright, Bert?" He asked, concerned. However, Samson cleared his throat.

"I need to be loaded!" He called. Jock continued looking at Bert concernedly as he bumped into some hoppers and loaded them onto the chute. The ballast tumbled into Samson's trucks and Samson whistled as he rolled away.

"Get your steam up, little fella!" He called. Bert frowned sadly as the tank engine disappeared. The ballast hoppers looked at Bert, and one spoke up.

"Is he alright, love?" She asked Jock. Jock sighed and rolled over towards Bert. Bert's fire was finally decently burning, and he was getting ready to pull a ballast train from the mines. Bert sighed miserably as Jock rolled alongside.

"Are you alright, Bert?" Jock asked.

"I'm fine, Jock. I've just got a train to take now." Bert tried to leave, but Jock cut him off.

"No, no, Bert. You get some rest. I can take your train." Bert sighed as Jock rolled away.

"Thanks, Jock." He looked sadly at the bigger railway, before dozing off to rest.

Samson rumbled along the line with his ballast trucks, riding as quickly as he could. However, Samson was unaware that the trucks were planning something...

"Pay Samson out! Pay Samson out!" They whispered, but Samson wasn't listening. He soon enough arrived at Harwick Harbour and braked to a stop, and Jack and Alfie began unloading his trucks. The foreman walked up to him with a raised eyebrow.

"Samson! We were supposed to receive double that amount of ballast! You need to go back to the Junction and get more!" Samson scowled, but began reversing with his now empty trucks to return to the junction.

Bert had finally got his fire up, and was slowly shunting ballast hoppers around the yard when Samson returned and whistled.

"I need more ballast!" Samson called, and Bert sighed.

"Right away..." He buffered up to some hoppers and pushed them onto the chute. As Bert moved the hoppers into place, the trucks below shared smirks and let their brakes slip on.

"This'll show him..." One of them whispered to the others, who giggled. The ballast fell into the trucks and Samson prepared to leave. However, Bert rolled down the tracks on the chute and noticed that the brakes on Samson's trucks were on.

"Um, Samson? There's something wrong with your-"

"I don't have time for this, small engine! I have ballast to deliver!" Samson whistled, and began trying to leave. However, his coupling tightened and he strained to leave. Bert tried to call out to him.

"Samson, your trucks are-" But it was too late. The coupling chain broke with a loud "SNAP" and Samson soared forwards. The points were set against him, so he hit them and came off the rails, crunching into the ballast before coming to a halt. He groaned.

"Ow..."

"I tried to warn him..." Bert sighed. The ballast trucks giggled.

"That'll teach him!" They chortled. However, a loud whistle sounded out that caused Samson to pale in fear.

"That's Donald! He's coming this way! If I stay here, he'll hit me! I'm a goner!" Samson whimpered in fear, but Bert looked determinedly at Samson, and spotted a chain nearby the shed.

"Not yet you aren't!"

Quickly, Bert and Samson's crews looped the chain around each of their rear coupling hooks, and Bert began to pull as hard as he could. Smoke and steam erupted from his funnel as he strained and Samson began to move.

"Hurry!" He cried, as Donald rounded the bend and began to approach. The Caledonian engine saw Samson and whistled loudly.

"Outta the way!" He called. Samson winced in fear, but Bert kept puffing. Little by little, he managed to pull Samson off the points, just as Donald rocketed by.

"Mind yer track, Samson!" He called. Samson let out a sigh of relief.

"You saved me!" He spluttered in disbelief, and Bert, now exhausted, smiled.

"It's what any engine would have done." He panted.

It was evening when Donald and Harvey arrived to help clean up the mess. Harvey lifted Samson back onto the rails, and Donald came to collect the ballast trucks. Samson spoke to Harvey, amazed.

"If it weren't for that wonderful small engine, I'd be scrap! Such a useful little railway, so strong!" He rambled. Harvey raised an eyebrow and shared a glance with Bert, who was resting nearby the chute.

"I thought ye said that they were tae small tae be useful, Samson?" Harvey pointed out. Samson coughed awkwardly.

"I said no such thing, Harvey! How could I when-"

"Samson..."

"Oh, alright. Sorry, Bert. I misjudged you and your railway, and I'm sorry. You saved my life. I don't know how I could ever pay you back." Bert smiled.

"I don't think you need to pay me back, Samson."

"Huh? Why's that?"

"The sight of a small engine like me pulling a big engine like you was payback enough!' Bert chortled, and rolled away. Samson stayed behind in disbelief as he was coupled to Harvey.

"It's amazing! Those small engines are so strong!" Donald rolled by Samson's trucks and chuckled.

"Ach, that's the thing about yon wee engines. Never overlook them, because they might just surprise ye!" Donald rolled away, leaving Samson and Harvey behind to return to the Steamworks. Bert rolled into the shed and sighed, but a whistle sounded out and Jock rolled alongside.

"What's up with him?" Jock asked, looking at Samson. Bert smiled.

"A 'wee engine' showed him that we're just as strong and useful, even if we are smaller! How's that for a 'toy railway'?" He chuckled, and Jock gave a small smile in understanding.

THE END

A nice simple story once again. I love writing the Arlesdale engines, and I think the main two I explored in this story, Bert and Jock, now have a fun dynamic. This story is a sort of subtle continuation from Jock of All Trades; Jock learned from Mike in the aforementioned story, and learned from Bert in this one. Come the next Arlesdale story, you'll see how he learns from Rex. Samson is also back on Sodor, albeit separated from Bradford. Harvey and Samson will continue working odd jobs together throughout the set, and will appear in various other episodes. And Bradford? He will make an appearance this set, but I'm not going to tell you where or when or with who! You'll have to wait and see for that. Sidney is also still buddies with the Arlesdale engines, carried over from The Missing Ballast Trucks, and female ballast hoppers reign supreme. The Arlesdale engines are a fun bunch, and I can't wait to use more of them.

As for what's next;

- Percy & The Watermill

- Vampire in the Tunnel

- The Duke & The Earl

- Thomas Gets Locked Out

- Diesel Up, Sidney! - 'Arry and Bert take Sidney under their wing to try and make him into a more malicious diesel while he works at the Smelter's Yard.