RAILWAY COP ROY
One would be hard-pressed to find a more dynamic duo on the Sodor Police force than Detective Miles Regan and his buggy, Sergeant Roy.
"Stop, thieves!" Roy shouted as a car sped over the top of the hill with the buggy in hot pursuit, blaring his siren. In the two front seats of the car, two thieves sat, nervously looking over their shoulders at the piles of gardening trophies sitting in the backseat.
"We've got to lose 'em; STAT!" The thief in the passenger seat shouted, and the driver quickly spun the wheel and hurdled onto a side road.
"Detective Regan! They're getting away!" Roy saw them turning and gasped. Detective Regan slammed into the gas pedal and started to turn Roy sharply.
"No, they're not! Faster, Sergeant Roy!" The buggy grinned as he swung around the bend and got right back into pursuit of the car again. Roy loves his work with Detective Regan; he thinks it's the most exciting thing in the world, and he loves helping the public by foiling dangerous criminals!
"Off our tail, coppers!" One of the thieves shouted as he hung out a window; he was holding a gun!
"He's packing heat!" Roy gasped. The thief fired a few warning shots, causing Roy to swerve out of the way. The buggy yelped in surprise, but Detective Regan remained stoic. He reached to his belt and brought out a pistol of his own.
"Detective Regan, you're using your gun now!? The Proper Firearm Handling and Use handbook says-"
"I'm not shooting it at them, Roy! Keep your speed up!" Roy knew Detective Regan had a plan and sped up, allowing Detective Regan to take aim out of his window (on the driver's side to avoid being shot at again) and promptly fire a single bullet…right into one of the car's rear tires!
"WHOA!"
"WHAT'S HAPPENING!?" The thieves tried to regain control, but the car spun out before careening off the road and colliding with a tree. Roy and Detective Regan promptly pulled over, where the thieves had just managed to crawl out of the wreckage, unharmed but needing to catch their breath. Detective Regan promptly stepped out of Roy and flashed his badge.
"Nicking the poor stationmaster's gardening trophies and having the cheek to steal his car to carry them away in? Gutsy move, boys…" The thieves noticed that Detective Regan wasn't stepping any closer and tried to run off in opposite directions but each quickly found themselves faced with one small and one tall officer.
"You're goin' away for a long time…" Sergeant Tall remarked as he cuffed one of the thieves against a tree.
"You have the right to remain silent…" As Sergeant Small continued giving the other thief his rights, Roy and Detective Regan shared a weary smile; Roy loves police work with Detective Regan more than almost anything else.
Unfortunately for Roy, not all police work is exciting work.
"Mornin', Roy." The police buggy's eyes fluttered open as he yawned. Once he saw who was standing in front of him, he jumped in surprise.
"Oh, good morning, Chief O'Connor! Ready for duty, sir! There's nothing Detective Regan and I can't handle! Thieves, burglars, pyramid sch-"
"Cool it, Roy! Let a man speak!" Chief O'Connor chuckled. Roy blushed.
"Sorry, sir." The chief cleared his throat.
"Now, I'm here to tell you that, for the next few days, you will not be working with Detective Regan." Roy gasped in horror.
"Not working with Detective Regan!? But…you can't! You can't fire him when he obeys the rules and regulations to a tee! I-"
"Easy, Roy! I'm doing nothing of the sort!" Roy stopped his panicking to raise an eyebrow.
"Oh?"
"He's come down with the flu and his partner won't let him leave the house until he gets better; til then, he can't do any police work and other officers have been assigned to cover his cases."
"Oh. I hope he feels better soon…" Roy looked down at his front tire. Chief O'Connor smiled.
"Now, Roy, just because Detective Regan isn't here doesn't mean you'll just be sitting around; I have another job for you to do until he gets back!" The buggy beamed excitedly.
"Really? What is it, chief? I swear, I'll put in one hundred percent!"
"DIRECTING TRAFFIC!?" Roy spluttered as his substitute officer drove him towards the main road in Knapford Town Square and pulled him to a stop on the side of the road. His substitute officer, a stout man with a mustache and a habit for chewing gum, stepped out and promptly leaned against the buggy while reading a newspaper. The buggy watched, irritated, at the cars, lorries, and buses driving past.
"This is it?"
"Eyup." His officer flipped a page in his newspaper and popped a gum bubble. Roy rolled his eyes and snorted.
"Not very exciting, is it?"
"Plenty exciting." The officer popped another gum bubble.
"Really? Like what?" Roy raised an eyebrow. His officer, without looking up from his newspaper, gestured with his thumb over his shoulder. The buggy then looked and saw George the Steamroller fast asleep…with his front roller firmly jutting into a no-parking zone.
"Great. Very exciting." His officer, without folding up his newspaper, walked across the lane to where George was parked and slapped a parking ticket onto his face. As the officer walked away, the steamroller's eyes blinked open and saw the piece of paper in his line of sight.
"OH, COME ON! DO YOU KNOW HOW HARD IT IS TO PARK AROUND HERE WITH A ROLLER MY SIZE!? I-" As George ranted angrily at the "injustice" committed against him, Roy could only continue to watch the traffic roll by with a bored expression.
"I miss Detective Regan…" He muttered, pouting.
Roy helped direct traffic in Knapford Town Square, as he promised, to the best of his ability. All the same, he couldn't help but miss his exciting work with Detective Regan.
"I should be out stopping crime! Keeping the streets of Sodor safe! But instead, I'm giving out parking tickets and-"
"Excuse me, constable, would you mind giving me a path through the intersection? I'm not quite as aggressive as these other vehicles and my engine might give out if I push it too hard!" Lenora the Catering Lorry called from a stop sign, watching nervously as the traffic sped by in front of her. Roy sighed.
"That." He finished. Roy's officer put the key in the ignition and the buggy whirred into life, rolling out into the intersection and turning on his siren, causing traffic to stop so Lenora could pass through.
"Thank you, constable!" She called as she puttered slowly away.
"Sergeant…" Roy corrected under his breath. To the buggy's surprise, his officer didn't end up driving him back towards their parking spot, instead heading further down the road.
"Where are we going? Aren't we still on duty! Officer Conduct (Section B, Passage 3) says that we can't leave our jurisdiction unmanned!" His officer rolled his eyes.
"Just grabbing a quick lunch from MC Bunn; be back in ten minutes, tops." Roy snorted.
"I'm bound to miss the one exciting thing…" He muttered. His officer pulled him into the parking lot, in a spot directly facing the station platform.
"See you in a bit, Roy." He walked up the stairs into the station, leaving the buggy to watch the engines puffing past. Roy sighed as he studied the only part of the busy station he could see.
"Even the engines are doing more exciting work than me…" He muttered. Suddenly, however, Roy gasped as he felt a great gust of wind blowing right in his face.
"Whoa!" He shut his eyes to avoid the gust, but got a surprise with it…
"OUCH!" A somewhat ratty paperback book had been blown into Roy's face by the wind, and smacked him right in the nose before landing on the pavement in front of him. Roy groaned; his nose felt sore.
"Ow…huh?" Roy looked down to where the book sat, face-up on the pavement, and could now read its title.
"'North Western Railway - Official Railway Handbook'…" He read out-loud, fascinated. Slowly, the buggy checked left and right to see if his officer was around, but he was nowhere to be seen. Roy then decided to try blowing on the book to turn to the next page, but that didn't accomplish much beyond moving it slightly farther away from him. He pouted at his failure, but his eyes lit up again when he saw his officer returning with an MC Bunn sandwich, his newspaper, for once, folded up.
"Constable Baxter! Do you think you could read me that book down there?" Constable Baxter looked down, saw the handbook on the ground, and raised an eyebrow.
"From the beginning?"
"Oh no, you can just turn to a random page; just trying to see what it's about!" Roy grinned eagerly. The constable simply resigned himself to his task and flipped aimlessly through the book before deciding on a random page.
"Uhhh, let's see here…" He promptly cleared his throat and began speaking in a much deeper, louder voice.
"SECTION 5: ENTERING AND EXITING STATIONS, SUBSECTION A; ENTERING A STATION. All engines should make sure to slow down to a speed no higher than twenty-five miles per hour before reaching a station platform to ensure a smooth stop for passengers and goods…" As Constable Baxter read, Roy heard a whistle and his eyes snapped to the platform.
"Here's James!" Suddenly, James the Red Engine thundered into the station at a speed much higher than that of twenty-five miles per hour, braking to a halt with a loud grinding sound.
"Somebody, fetch my coaches so I can have a rest in the shed!" He called to the rest of the station. Roy's eyes narrowed.
"A lawbreaker. We've got trouble on the station platform!" Constable Baxter's head whipped around to the station, confused.
"Huh?"
"Well, don't just waste time, let's go!" Roy snapped. His officer quickly put the key in the ignition and Roy sped up the ramp onto the platform, where James was simmering happily as Philip moved his coaches away. The red engine raised an eyebrow as the buggy sped alongside.
"Can I help you, constable?"
"Do you know how fast you were going when you entered the station?"
"Not exactly, no." James replied. confused. The buggy's eyes narrowed.
"Well, much higher than twenty-five miles per hour, I'll tell you that much! For that, I'm going to have to give you a citation!"
"A citation!? For what!?" James spluttered, baffled. Constable Baxter, who had gotten out his notepad, looked to Roy, for he didn't know either. Roy rolled his eyes.
"Speeding! According to the official railway handbook, you aren't supposed to enter a station at a speed higher than twenty-five miles per hour, and you, James, were certainly going faster than twenty-five! I would put it at thirty-five! Forty-five even! Forty-five in a twenty-five zone…you should be ashamed!" Roy scolded as a still slightly confused Constable Baxter handed James' driver a speeding ticket. The red engine was furious!
"This is ridiculous! I've gone into stations at that speed hundreds of times and nothing's ever gone wrong! I-"
"Hundreds of times!? A repeat offender! That's even worse!" Constable Baxter handed James' driver another ticket. The red engine was at a complete loss for words, but his anger spiked once more when he heard the laughing of Philip, Stafford, and Charlie, who were all shunting and had seen the entire incident. The red engine was about to retort, but his driver shushed him.
"It's not worth getting into a row with a constable, James; let's just go to the sheds and sort this out with the Fat Controller when he's back from business."
"…alright, fine." James rolled out of the station, leaving the shunting engines to continue laughing and Roy to watch proudly at the preservation of the law he had just partaken in. Philip chuckled as he looked to Charlie.
"That should keep James from bossing us around for a while!" He chortled. Charlie grinned.
"Excuse me, constable! Thanks for keeping the station safe from hooligans like him; makes it a happier place for all of us!" Now, as he often was, Charlie had only been joking, but Roy smiled proudly.
"Just doing my job, civilians!" Constable Baxter re-entered Roy's cab and the little buggy hooted his horn before driving back towards the town square, the shunting engines still giggling behind him. Roy couldn't hear them however, and still felt rather proud. As he drove through the parking lot again, he noticed the book, still sitting where Constable Baxter had thrown it down. He curiously studied it.
"Constable Baxter? Could you grab that book please? I'd like to take a look at it again."
"Sure thing, Roy." Constable Baxter pulled Roy into the parking spot, grabbed the book, and backed out before driving towards the square again; all that was on the buggy's mind was reading more of that book.
That night, Roy and Constable Baxter returned to the police station. The constable pulled the buggy into his familiar parking spot before getting out of the cab.
"Night, Roy." Constable Baxter shut the door and promptly began walking towards the station to fetch his things. However, before he could leave, Roy cleared his throat.
"Could you leave the railway handbook on the ground in front of me? There's no breeze tonight; thought I'd do a little reading. Seems like fascinating stuff!" The constable shrugged before walking back to the cab and placing the book on the ground in front of Roy before walking away, still popping his gum. Roy promptly blew on the book lightly; it turned to the first page.
"Ha!" The buggy promptly began to read the handbook, which, later that night, he finished; cover to cover.
The following day, Roy was assigned to work with Constable Baxter again. However, as they drove through Knapford Town Square again, Roy had other ideas.
"Constable Baxter, we need to go to the station!" The constable popped his gum again.
"We were just at the station."
"No, the train station! I read through the railway handbook last night, and, according to that, the way the engines conduct themselves now is anarchy! For the safety of the people of Sodor, we need to restore order!"
"…alright, then." The buggy smirked proudly as they sped past the square and towards the station.
"Finally! Something exciting! Those lawbreakers won't stand a chance with Roy on the case!" He promptly turned on his siren and sped ahead; he was on the case indeed!
Over the next few days, Roy mainly hung around Knapford station, enforcing the rules of the railway handbook. Not one lawbreaker was let out of his sight!
There's a man who leads a life of danger
To everyone he meets he stays a stranger
As Gordon simmered contently in the platform one morning waiting for his express coaches, Stafford shunted them into place behind him. However, Stafford was surprised to hear a siren and looked to the platform to see Roy giving him a disapproving look.
With every move he makes another chance he takes
Roy looked to the brake coach and gave Stafford an expectant expression; he had added one too many carriages to the train. The electric engine was shocked, but couldn't argue with Roy before the buggy sped away, leaving Stafford to sigh as he pulled Gordon's coaches away to put some away.
Odds are he won't live to see tomorrow
Gordon, shocked at his coaches disappearing behind him, looked up at the clock and grimaced before glaring and harrumphing at a proud Roy, who took no notice.
Secret agent man!
Roy watched engines entering and exiting the station from behind a bush, his eyes narrowed at potential lawbreakers entering his domain.
Secret agent man!
He saw Vinnie entering the station with a goods train…without a brake van, and promptly turned on his siren before speeding towards the shocked heavy goods engine.
They've given you a number and taken away your name
Roy sped alongside the confused Vinnie and had Constable Baxter give him a ticket before speeding away. The aggressive engine spluttered in anger.
"THE VAN RAN A HOT BOX! I…grrr…." He grumbled; Roy, once again, didn't seem to notice as he sped away.
Beware of pretty faces that you find
Emily was entering the station with her local train and braked to a halt. She was surprised to see Roy glaring at her and tut-tutting her before having Constable Baxter give her driver a ticket.
A pretty face can hide an evil mind
Emily was stunned, but her driver showed her the ticket; "ARRIVING EARLY PUTS TRAINS THAT ARE DUE IN DANGER".
Ah, be careful what you say
Or you'll give yourself away
The emerald engine looked up at the clock; she was two minutes ahead of schedule. She was utterly floored, but couldn't even reply to the buggy before he raced away, proud of his work.
Odds are you won't live to see tomorrow
Emily's eyes narrowed at the departing Roy before huffing to herself and puffing away.
Secret agent man!
Constable Baxter handed a ticket to the driver of an irritated-looking Murdoch.
Secret agent man!
He then handed one to the driver a confused-looking Henry.
They've given you a number and taken away your name
All both engines could do is share a look before Roy sped away, eager to continue enforcing the law in this exciting place. Roy drove all around the station and yard, handing tickets to any engine he saw breaking the law…which happened to be a lot of the engines he saw.
Secret agent man!
Nonetheless, he was happy with his work, and settled contentedly into a Knapford station he now thought had order…he failed to notice the angry engines giving him dirty looks as they passed him by.
Meanwhile, in the town square…
"Come on!"
"Out of the way!"
"What's the holdup?" George glared at all the vehicles around him yelling at him.
"It's not my fault! If these stupid dump trucks had watched where they were going, there wouldn't have been an accident! They cut me off!"
"Nuh-uh!" Max snapped.
"No way! If you hadn't had your fat roller jutting out from that corner, I wouldn't have even been at risk of hitting you!" Monty added; the dump trucks had collided with George in the middle of the town square and accidentally dumped stones all over the road. The entire square was blocked!
"You calling me FAT!?" George shouted, but he was quickly interrupted by the sound of a horn.
"George! Max! Monty! Please hurry up and clear this mess; my passengers are going to miss their train!" Bertie shouted. Bulgy, stuck behind him, rolled his eyes.
"I don't see why that's a problem…" He muttered under his breath. Bertie sighed as he surveyed the chaotic town square; cars, buses, and lorries couldn't move a wheel.
"Where's the constable? They're supposed to be directing traffic when things like this happen!" George snorted as he started trying to reverse out of the way.
"You mean 'Sergeant Roy'? Hasn't been here in days; said something about the railway being 'anarchy' last time I saw him…"
"He's finally coming around to our way of thinking!" Bulgy shouted excitedly. George rolled his eyes.
"First of all, Bulgy, I'm not associated with you."
"FREE THE ROADS!"
"Second, what I think is he got bored of giving me parking tickets all day and decided to jump ship to get up in the railway's business instead. With all the 'accidents' that happen over there, I'm sure he's having a field day." George promptly ran over one of Max and Monty's stones, flattening it beneath his roller.
"Better there than in our hair." Monty agreed. Bertie frowned.
"Well, this is what he's supposed to be helping with! Without Roy, or somebody, this part of town is chaos!"
"Well, what do you want me to do about it?" George snorted. The bus glared, but he had to concede that there was very little George, or anybody, could do about it.
Back at the station, Roy was keeping a sharp eye out from any potential lawbreakers. Suddenly, he heard a whistle and saw Thomas approaching with Annie and Clarabel. Thomas saw Roy on the platform and winced.
"Oh no!"
"What's wrong, Thomas?" Annie asked.
"The last thing I need right now is a ticket from 'Railway Cop Roy'." Thomas muttered.
"Slow down then, Thomas! Who knows what qualifies as 'speeding' to him!" Clarabel hissed. The tank engine quickly slowed down to a crawl before beginning to slowly roll into the platform. Roy watched him with narrowed eyes before he gently braked to a halt. Thomas winced, waiting for the inevitable ticket, but Roy simply smiled at him.
"Good afternoon, civilian!" Thomas rolled his eyes and snorted. The tank engine's passengers promptly began to disembark, among them a mother cradling a sleeping baby. Back out in the junction, Hiro the Wise Goods Engine was approaching the station and saw the mother with the sleeping baby.
"Oh…adorable!" He smiled. However, a thought entered his mind.
"Oh dear…I don't want to wake up that baby…" He looked to the signalbox, where the signalman could see him giving him a look. He gave Hiro an "OK" hand sign before switching the points and allowing him to continue on without whistling. Roy, however, didn't see this, and simply saw Hiro continuing to cross the junction without whistling.
"Hey! You're supposed to whistle when crossing the junction! IT'S LITERALLY THE FIRST PAGE OF THAT CHAPTER IN THE HANDBOOK!" He shouted. Hiro, however, didn't hear him. Roy gritted his teeth.
"We got a runner; fine by me! LEMME AT 'IM!" Constable Baxter turned on Roy's siren before the buggy sped off the platform…and into the junction! Clarabel gasped.
"Roy! What are you doing!?"
"Sergeant Roy! And I'm upholding the law! Stop right there, wrongdoer!" Roy shouted as he began to race through the ballast up to an approaching Hiro. However, his confidence quickly faltered once he realized something; Hiro was very, very big, and Roy was very, very small.
"GAH! DON'T FLATTEN ME!" Roy cried as he saw the big engine speeding towards him. Hiro gasped and slammed on his brakes.
"Out of the way!" He shouted. Roy promptly swerved out of the way…but took the turn too sharply! He promptly overbalanced and somersaulted through the air.
"WHOOOOOOOA!" All the engines and people present watched in horror as Roy landed firmly in the bushes alongside the line, upside down and his tires spinning furiously. Hiro finally managed to stop at the platform and shared a horrified look with Thomas before calling back.
"I'm sorry! Are you alright?" Hiro called.
"GET ME OUT OF HERE!" Came the muffled reply. Constable Baxter promptly managed to force the door open before falling out of the bush and onto his stomach, groaning in pain.
It took until the evening for Butch the Breakdown Lorry to arrive to rescue Roy.
"Easy does it, Roy; we'll have you upright in no time!" He called. Thomas, Hiro, and a somewhat smug-looking James watched from the platform as the lorry pulled the dented police buggy upright, sticks lodged in his windshield wipers and his paintwork covered in scratches. Roy groaned in pain as he collected his bearings, but blushed bright red once he saw three figures standing in front of him in focus; Chief O'Connor, the Fat Controller, and a very stern-looking…
"Detective Regan! You're back!" Detective Regan crossed his arms.
"Yes, I've been back since earlier today, Roy." He said stoically. Roy raised an eyebrow.
"Why didn't you come to see me?" Detective Regan's eyes narrowed.
"I tried to."
"And he found the mess you had left in Tidmouth Town Square; all the roads blocked, traffic not moving! It's not like you to abandon your jurisdiction, sergeant; Miles was there for hours trying to sort things out and I wanted to give him a light first day back!" Chief O'Connor scolded. Roy blushed.
"I'm sorry, chief…I'm sorry, Detective Regan…" Detective Regan, however, was still cross.
"And I understand you've been making life difficult for Sir Topham Hatt's engines too! What on earth has gotten into you, Roy?" Roy looked to Constable Baxter, who promptly (and quietly) handed Detective Regan the railway handbook.
"I found a railway handbook on the ground and I saw that the engines weren't obeying it so I decided to…enforce the law." He chuckled nervously. The Fat Controller took one look at the book and, to Roy's surprise, laughed.
"This handbook, Roy?"
"Yes, sir." Roy raised an eyebrow. The Fat Controller continued to laugh.
"So that's where that got to! I was taking some old railway documents to the Island Records Office after clearing out my office and that old handbook must have fallen out of the box I was using!"
"Old handbook?" Roy was puzzled.
"This has been outdated for years!" The buggy's jaw dropped.
"Outdated!?…I've made a mess of things, haven't I?" He muttered quietly. Detective Regan sighed and leaned down to talk to the ashamed buggy.
"Yes, Roy, you have. I appreciate that you were trying to keep everyone safe but there are people the railway has who are supposed to enforce the rules of the handbook; not you. You had a job of your own to do and you abandoned it, which caused us a lot of trouble. When you're given a responsibility, you have to complete it before taking on another one because there are people and vehicles counting on you."
"And when you take on a job that isn't yours where you don't know what you're doing, it can make everyone else's lives just as difficult." The Fat Controller added. Roy sighed.
"I'm sorry, sir, everyone…I promise I'll let the railway enforce the railway's rules in future." He smiled, and the engines promptly smiled back…even James!
"Now, Roy, let's get you in for repairs!" Butch called, and promptly began craning Roy into the air, his front tire still on the ground. As Roy stared at the ballast, Detective Regan walked alongside.
"Why so glum, Roy?" He asked. Roy continued to look down.
"…because I let you down and made the police force look stupid…" He muttered. Detective Regan sighed and smiled.
"We all make mistakes, Roy; I made a few of my own as a young man. What's important is that we learn from them. Why are we cops?"
"To protect and serve!" Roy shouted instinctively. Detective Regan chuckled.
"Right, and learning from this will help you do that better." He promptly pat Roy on the hood, causing the little buggy to smile.
"We're ready to go, detective!" Butch called, and Detective Regan walked up to the cab.
"Right away!" He climbed aboard, leaving Roy to stare at the ballast disappearing behind him as Butch dragged him onto the open road.
As Roy was pulled along through Knapford Town Square, his eyes studied the now tranquil town. However, he quickly saw something that made his eyes narrow.
"Butch! We need to stop!" The breakdown lorry promptly braked, confused. Detective Regan looked out of the window.
"Something wrong, Roy?" Roy continued to glare intensely at the thing he had seen.
"Lawbreaker."
George, taking a nap with his roller in the same no-parking zone, was promptly rudely awoken by being slapped in the face with a piece of paper.
"Huh?" He promptly read the ticket and groaned.
"THIRTY POUND FINE!? ROY!" Roy grinned proudly to himself as Butch drove away with him in tow; the law had been upheld once more.
THE END
Sergeant Roy, although he made his debut in Rampage of the Rail Bandits, up until now has not a story where he is entirely in the spotlight on his own; this, I feel, was a really fun outing for the character. Exploring his dynamic both with and away from Detective Miles Regan has always been fun, and giving him the extremely apathetic Constable Baxter to bounce off of was a lot of fun since it allowed his crazy law-enforcing impulses to take front and centre. The song sequence involving Johnny Rivers' "Secret Agent Man" was a ton of fun to visualize, and I highly recommend you read it alongside listening to the song. This is also Bulgy's first appearance in Thomas & Friends: Original Episodes, and although he had already returned and made several appearances in Season 21 Redux, know that you'll be seeing more of him here! Other than that, fun to use more of George and the road cast, as well as giving Vinnie a small role in the "Secret Agent Man" sequence. Really hope you enjoyed this one; tell me what you think!
As always, what's next:
- Blisters! - After crashing through the back wall of the shed, Frank is forced to spend the night at the ballast mines where the infamous Blister twins, two diesel shunters who were allegedly sent off to the mines after demolishing a shed and being declared too dangerous to work on the railway, live, and tries to survive without incurring their wrath.
- The Horse & Cart - Duke and Cora the Tool Van tell Thomas and the other engines the story of how the reckless Smudger learned to be patient while managing the slow goods service on the Mid-Sodor Railway by learning the value of a horse and cart that repeatedly holds him up at the crossing.
- Over Your Headcode - Fed up with delays and waiting, Vinnie decides to put his lamps into an express headcode while working on his heavy goods trains so he can get special benefits, not realizing that he's headed for disaster after speeding through a danger signal and straight towards the cleanup of an accident.
- Skyler in Shallow Water - Challenged by James to prove that the water is faster than the railway, Skyler the Submarine decides to use the canal as a shortcut, not realizing how quickly said canal becomes shallow and putting her in a predicament when rocks on the bottom of the canal scrape her bodywork and cause her to begin to take on water.
- Pen Pals - While taking stone to the Wharf alongside Arthur for a ship, Paxton very quickly realizes that both Colin the Crane and Owen the Incline Engine are rather lonely and starts ferrying letters between the two…quickly losing track of the job he's actually supposed to be doing by being so focused on nurturing this new friendship!