BYRON ON THE LOOSE!

The construction site of Harwick Harbour is one of the busiest places on the Island of Sodor. Mavis takes trucks of stone from the quarry up to the harbour, where Gator or Ryan take the trucks away to be unloaded by Miss Jenny's Pack. Every member has an important role to play. Jack, Alfie, and Oliver unload the trucks of their stone and take it to various locations in the harbour, while Max and Monty take the construction waste away. One day, Jack and Alfie were making their way across the site to unload more stone when they suddenly heard a deep horn and a shout.

"Get out of the way!" The two diggers gasped and sped up immediately, getting out of the way just in time. They heard the disapproving voice of their near-attacker after the dust had settled.

"What were you two doing lallygagging around? I nearly flattened you!" Jack and Alfie looked away guiltily from the massive bulldozer.

"Sorry, Byron." Jack replied sheepishly.

"We really didn't hear you coming!" Alfie added. Byron sighed.

"Just be careful, alright?"

"We will, Byron!" The two raced away. Byron watched them leave sadly, before continuing carefully onwards.


Byron the Bulldozer is Miss Jenny's strongest machine. With his massive blade, he could move mountains if that's what was needed for a job; Harwick Harbour was certainly one of those jobs. Byron's job was to remove the excess debris from the newly dug piers and make sure new ground was even to build on as the harbour expanded. Byron could move piles upon piles upon piles of debris with ease, and create huge piles of earth for the others to load into Max and Monty. Byron had just finished pushing another huge mound of earth aside and was about to go for a rest.

"A job well done!" He chuckled. He then reversed away from the pile and went to take a quick rest where other vehicles were parked. One such vehicle was Miss Jenny's pride and joy, her Land Rover, which solitarily stood in the parking spot nearest to the one where Byron was trying to park. Byron was normally as careful as possible, but he had a new operator, a slovenly man who loved to eat whilst he worked, who frequently didn't watch what he was doing, and this was where it went wrong. Byron was rolling slowly into the parking spot when suddenly his operator lost his balance and slammed his foot on the gas.

"Whoa!" Byron shouted, and rolled forwards suddenly. His blade scraped the rover with a loud "screech" and he braked to a halt. Byron winced as he reversed to find a large scrape on the Land Rover's paint.

"Oh no."


Miss Jenny inspected the scrape, running her finger along the missing paint. Byron stood nearby, while his operator sat on his still caterpillar tracks, munching on a sandwich. Miss Jenny sighed.

"It's going to take a lot of money to get this repaired, Byron...Why weren't you watching where you were going?" Byron cringed and looked away.

"I was, Miss Jenny, but-"

"And you! Stop eating on the job, and start paying attention!" Miss Jenny shouted at the operator. The man held his hands up in mock surrender.

"Sorry, boss. It won't happen again!" He said without any enthusiasm. Miss Jenny was about to speak again but a loud horn sounded out from the other side of the yard.

"Max, Monty! Leave that crane alone!" Miss Jenny sprinted across the yard, leaving Byron alone. His operator climbed back into the cab, and placed his lunch pail on the seat beside him.

"Come on, Byron, we have work to do!" He began munching on a sandwich again, getting crumbs all over Byron's floor and causing the bulldozer to glare back at him.

News of Byron's snafu with Miss Jenny's rover spread quickly around the site, and some of the others very quickly capitalized on the opportunity to tease.

"Well, well, well, if it ain't fender bender Byron!" Max laughed as he and Monty drove on either side of the slow-moving Byron.

"Are you compensating Miss Jenny for the damages?" Monty asked innocently, and the two laughed again.

"Shove off, you two." Byron growled. Max and Monty chuckled.

"And why should we?"

"You gonna scratch our paint?" Suddenly, they heard a horn, and Oliver rolled alongside.

"Alright, you two, move on. There's a pile of waste that Jack and Alfie are waiting to load for you!" Max and Monty shared a glance before grumbling away. Oliver looked to Byron before frowning.

"You alright, Byron? Heard about your little slip-up with Miss Jenny's rover." Byron sighed.

"It's my new operator. He's constantly eating and never paying attention. I've almost hit so many things just because he's not paying attention. They all think it's just because I'm dangerous." He whispered, as so his munching operator wouldn't hear. Oliver grunted gravely.

"I understand. Do you want me to speak to Miss Jenny about it?" Byron sighed.

"No, thank you, Oliver. I'll just have to be more careful." His driver honked the horn, and Byron drove away, trying to be as gentle as possible.


Days went by, and not much other mishap occurred. The land rover remained damaged in the car park, as Miss Jenny had begun taking the train up to Harwick until it was fixed. That particular day, she had finally called Butch the Breakdown Lorry up to Harwick to take her car to the mechanic.

"Morning, Miss Jenny!" Butch called as he reversed into place to lift up the rover with the hook. Miss Jenny grinned at the lorry.

"Spot on, Butch! You'd make a mother proud with your timing."

"I'm just doing my job, Miss Jenny." Butch said proudly, and his driver hooked his hook onto the rover's front bumper. As Butch raised the rover into the air, Byron was working nearby. His operator was eating again, this time with an open lunch pail in his lap.

"Pastrami on rye...delicious..." He grunted as he munched on a sandwich. Byron was angled right towards Butch and the rover, and guiltily watched as Butch lifted it into the air. Miss Jenny saw Byron approaching, as well as his operator eating, and flagged him down.

"Byron! Stop!" His operator scrambled to put the brake on, and managed to stop him. Miss Jenny furiously shouted up to the operator.

"What did I just tell you? Stop eating and get down here!" The operator gulped.

"Sorry, ma'am! Down in a minute!" He slammed his sandwich in his lunchbox, and practically shot out of the cab, not noticing that he had left the box balancing precariously on the edge of the seat. Byron sighed as his operator scrambled down. Miss Jenny put her hands on her hips.

"What do I have to do to get you to stop eating at work?" She demanded.

"What's wrong with it? It's not hurtin' anyone!"

"You can cause a lot of damage if you don't start being careful!" Unbeknownst to the operator and Miss Jenny, the lunch pail had slowly begun to slide off Byron's seat. Byron felt it sliding and gasped.

"Miss Jenny! Something's slipping!"

"Not now, Byron! I-"

"But, Miss Jenny, it's going to fall onto my-" The heavy lunch pail fell from Byron's seat and slammed onto the gas pedal. His engine roared into life and Byron jerked forwards. Miss Jenny gasped as Byron began to move forward, beginning to tear up the earth in front of them. She pulled Byron's operator out of the way and leapt aside just as Byron tore by. The bulldozer cried out in horror.

"HELP!" He screamed, advancing towards Butch. Butch gasped, and sped out of the way, trying to drag Miss Jenny's Land Rover with him. However, the pile of debris Byron had begun to accumulate swept up the rover, adding it to the debris, and beginning to drag Butch along. Butch gasped and his engine roared as he tried to escape the debris.

"Whoa!" Butch's driver punched the gas, his line tightened, and the hook finally came free. Butch jerked to the side, just clear of Byron's cloud of destruction, but Byron continued onwards as everyone began to watch in horror. He gathered up all sorts of construction equipment in his wave of destruction, and his pile began to grow larger. He cried out in horror as he broke through a fence and began traveling through the fields, tearing up everything in his path. Every worker could only watch in horror as Byron disappeared into the distance, tearing up everything in sight. They suddenly heard a shout.

"What are you doing? We have to catch him! Come on, Butch!" Miss Jenny leapt into Butch's cab, and the tow truck looked rather nervous as he sped towards wherever Byron was off to.


Oliver the Great Western Engine was puffing along the Little Western with a goods train. He was having a pleasant enough journey, as was Toad the Brakevan, but Toad saw something that perplexed him.

"Mister Oliver, what's that cloud of dust?"

"Toad, you know I can't see what you do. Besides, I'm sure it's just that; a cloud of dust."

"But, it's moving, Mister Oliver...and it's quite big!" Toad watched a tree be pushed aside and fall over by the cloud of dust as it seemed to advance towards them. He gulped.

"Mister Oliver, I think we need to go faster!" Oliver rolled his eyes.

"Honestly, Toad, this pace is f-GAH!" Oliver slammed his brakes on as a telephone pole plummeted onto the line in front of him. Oliver could only watch in horror as it was swept up into the large pile of dirt and dust approaching, which just missed him. He heard Byron's horrified cry as the bulldozer tore by.

"HELP!" Oliver gaped as Byron disappeared.

"Mister Oliver, we have to raise the alarm!" Toad cried. Oliver could only stutter as he reversed towards the station to call for help.


Help had soon been called.

"End your destructive spree, criminal scum!" Sergeant Roy the Police Buggy jetted over the top of the hill, with Detective Miles Regan in the driver's seat. Roy's siren blared as he jetted around various cars, heading towards a section of road that Byron's onslaught was clearly approaching.

"We've got to stop him before he reaches a town! He's already caused this much damage, there's no telling how many people he could hurt!" Detective Regan shouted. Roy grinned determinedly, and swerved as Detective Regan turned his wheel. He braked defiantly in front of the oncoming wave.

"This is your last chance, criminal! Stand down, or be in the hands of the law!" The wave still approached. The two suddenly heard a faint voice over the rumble.

"I can't stop!"

"What'd he say?" Roy asked, but neither had too much time to react. Both screamed as they were swept up by Byron's pile of dirt, Roy ending perched upon atop the pile of dirt.

"AGH!" Roy yelped, and Regan punched the gas to keep Roy atop the wave.

"HELP!" Roy wailed, as he and Regan were battered about by the debris outside.


Butch drove along the path Byron had created, and both he and Miss Jenny were horrified by the destruction they were greeted with. Cars lay everywhere, and their drivers had just stumbled out of the cars and were being helped by people in ambulances.

"Byron did all this?" Butch stammered, astounded. Miss Jenny could only put her head in her hands. Butch sped ahead along Byron's path, trying to catch up with the bulldozer.


Thomas was traveling along his branch line when he suddenly heard a rumbling.

"What's that, Thomas?" Annie asked.

"Sounds big." Clarabel mused. Thomas listened more carefully.

"I don't know...maybe it-" Thomas was cut off by dirt flooding the valley and the roar of Byron's engine sounding out, as well as the screaming of Roy.

"OUT OF THE WAY!" Byron cried, and Thomas and his coaches screamed until they had come to a stop, just clear of Byron as he roared by. Thomas gaped.

"That was close." He gasped, before hearing another roar and Butch sped by as well.

"We've got you now, Byron!" He called, but he was no closer than before. Thomas gasped.

"Butch! You have to stop him before he reaches Knapford!" Butch gasped as Thomas began to disappear from his view.

"He's right, Miss Jenny!" Miss Jenny frowned and stuck her head out of the window to look back at Thomas.

"Thomas! Call an evacuation of Knapford! Get every person you can out of there!" Thomas whistled and raced back to the last station to raise the alarm.


"Philip, we need more coaches!"'

"Right, James!" Philip honked his horn and rolled away to get more. The station was flooded with coaches, and the entire town of Knapford was flooding into the trains. All other traffic had halted; this had become absolute priority. However, Byron was still approaching Knapford at a now breakneck pace. Terrified tears rolled down his face as he continued to rip up more dirt, fences and debris.

"Somebody, help! I need to stop!"

"You need to stop?" Roy snapped, still surfing the wave through constantly reversing. Suddenly, both heard the roar of Butch's engine and the tow lorry sped towards Byron. Byron gasped.

"Butch! Help!" He cried in horror. Butch tried to speed up, but Miss Jenny suddenly opened his door and began climbing around.

"Miss Jenny? What are you doing?" He asked in alarm. Miss Jenny swung her leg over Butch's side and climbed into the rear part, by his hook.

"Butch, turn around and start reversing!"

"What?"

"Now!" Butch whipped around and began reversing as quickly as he could. Miss Jenny tugged on Butch's hook until she had a full line in her hands. Byron approached the town limits, and cried out in horror.

"Somebody stop me!" He cried. Miss Jenny threw Butch's line as hard as she could, and it managed to catch onto his cab.

"NOW!" Miss Jenny called, and Butch's driver shifted the stick into drive while the tow truck surged forwards. Byron felt the line stretching behind him, and he began to slow down. However, the town began to get closer.

"You're doing it! Keep going!" He called back. Roy screeched from atop the wave.

"You have to stop him! I can't go on much longer!"

"We're almost out of gas!" Detective Regan shouted out the window. Butch revved his engine and resisted more. Miss Jenny clutched Butch's side as Byron began to slow down. Byron's engine suddenly began to growl and sputter, and Byron felt himself rolling to a stop, just outside the town. Butch's face was bright red as he revved his engine, and Byron finally stopped. His "wave" did too, and Roy fell into the dirt due to the loss of support. The dust settled, leaving Byron sitting just outside the town wall, out of gas, with an exhausted Butch sitting behind him, and a battered but unhurt Roy and Detective Regan laid out out of the pile of dirt he had accumulated.

"Ouch." Roy groaned.


Police flooded the scene. No one in town had been harmed, but several drivers on the road in the path of Byron's rampage had been hit by the wave and had needed to be rushed to the hospital. Detective Regan did an inspection of Byron, who looked very guilty and somber.

"Talk about running out of petrol at a lucky time!" The detective remarked, pointing at the dial on Byron's dashboard that clearly indicated so. Miss Jenny sighed, and stared back along the path of destruction Byron had created. Byron grimaced for a brief moment, before his resolve shattered and tears began rolling down his face.

"Miss Jenny, I'm so sorry...I've caused so much pain...so much damage..." Miss Jenny looked up at her bulldozer sympathetically, before looking to the pile of destruction. Her battered land rover lay at the bottom of the pile. She looked at Byron again.

"Byron, it's not your fault. It's your dratted operator's, for not listening to me about being careful!" Byron sniffled.

"But, I-"

"Byron, we're going to have to fix all this. I know you'll want to make things right, and I'll make things right for you." Byron looked at Miss Jenny and cracked a small smile.

"Yes, Miss Jenny." Detective Regan walked over to Byron.

"We've got to move on from our pain, Byron. Trust me, I know." He rolled up the right sleeve of his trenchcoat, and revealed bandages wrapped around his bicep from where Slim Jim Langley had shot him in the arm. Byron gasped, but Detective Regan held up his other hand.

"All we have to do now is make things right."


Byron's operator was arrested for criminal negligence, and Miss Jenny consequently hired Byron a new, more careful operator. The Pack were put in charge of repairing all the damage Byron had caused, and they tried their best to put everything back to normal. Miss Jenny visited the drivers that had been hit by the wave in the hospital with flowers, Jack and Alfie dug Thomas' Branch Line out of the landslide Byron had caused, Oliver helped put up new telegraph poles on the Little Western, and Max and Monty took fallen trees away to the sawmill. Byron worked hardest of all, helping get the roads clear of debris so George could repave them. It was expensive and tedious, but with all the Pack working together, they could get the job done. Byron is still upset about the destruction he caused, but he understands that he is making things right, and one day the pain will go away.

"One day..." He said wistfully to himself, before returning to work, and honking his horn at a passing Roy.

THE END


Day two is done! Writing the Pack again was fun, as was making Byron more distinct. He is larger than he was before, just to emphasize his power, although he doesn't want to hurt anyone. Byron is a fun character, although revamping him for the current series was a little difficult. I ultimately decided to up his size compared to the model series to emphasize his power and destructive potential. He has authority, but is concerned about hurting others. Byron's reign of terror has slowed down the construction of Harwick Harbour, but we won't be focusing on that next ep for the most part. No, come back tomorrow to get to meet the Set's second and final newbie; Clive the Tramway Diesel Engine! Come back tomorrow to read The Strongest Shunter, and continue the saga!