One day, the Earl sent Duke to the Blue Mountain Quarry to fetch a load of stone for Ulfstead Castle. As the old engine rolled across the drawbridge to begin on the line down, whistling at Stephen as he passed, he grinned at the little blue van he was hauling behind him.

"I have to say, Cora, it's lovely to be working together again; feels just like the old days on the Mid Sodor when I would head up and down the line with the Picnic with you at the back of the train, keeping a watchful eye to make sure nothing went wrong." He smiled back at his old friend, Cora the Tool Van. She beamed.

"I'm glad to be working with you again too, Duke; the castle seems like such a lovely place!" She replied happily. However, she looked down at her buffers.

"Sir Handel and Peter Sam must miss you when you aren't around though." She added. Duke chuckled.

"Just because I've been spending time away from the young'uns doesn't mean I'm any worse at keeping them in order!" The two laughed as they were switched onto another track, bringing them closer to their destination.

"Besides, they usually come to me when they need help anyway." Duke continued. Cora smiled.

"You know I keep an eye on them too; have since the Mid Sodor days." She reminded him. Duke smirked.

"Oh, I know, Cora; you and I always keeping an eye on everybody." However, even though he laughed, Cora didn't. She simply stared at the ground, worried.

"Cora? Are you alright?" He asked. Cora cleared her throat.

"Sorry, Duke, I was just thinking about…someone." Duke raised an eyebrow.

"Who?" He asked.

"Oh, it's nothing important; I'll tell you later." She replied. Duke was confused, but simply decided to continue on towards the quarry, pulling the pensive tool van behind him.


Duke and Cora soon reached the quarry, and saw Thomas speaking to Paxton and Luke over by Owen, where he was being loaded up. The old engine whistled as he rolled past, causing Thomas to look up.

"Oh, hello, Duke!" Suddenly, his eyes drifted to the clock on the building that he could see above the line where Duke had passed him and gasped.

"Oh no! I'm going to be late! Sorry, Paxton! Sorry, Luke! I've got to go; the workmen need these stones to help fix that bridge on my branch line as soon as possible!" The tank engine jerked forwards, causing his trucks to cry out as they bumped together.

"Ouch!"

"Ouch!"
"Go gently! Go gently!" However, there were worse to follow; Thomas had sped forward and was approaching the path of an oncoming Sir Handel, who blew his whistle as loudly as he could.

"Thomas! Look out!" He cried. Thomas gasped and slammed on his brakes, but the weight of the trucks caused him to surge forwards.

"GAH!" Sir Handel yelped and sped forwards as fast he could. Thomas shut his eyes tightly as his wheels hit the points; they were set against him, causing him to come off the rails and firmly to a stop. Thomas gingerly opened an eye before realizing that he had come off the rails, and turned bright red in embarrassment.

"Uh oh." He winced, before chuckling nervously and looked back at Paxton.

"Paxton, I don't suppose you could fetch Rocky to put me back on the rails?" He asked hopefully; Paxton could only give him a sheepish grin.

"Um, sorry, Thomas, but with you, erm, off on the points, I'm sort of…trapped back here." He replied. Thomas groaned in annoyance.


The quarry workers quickly sized up the situation.

"The Foreman's called for Rocky, but couldn't give an estimate on when he'd get here; apparently there's another accident in the Container Yard that needs clearing up." Skarloey explained. Thomas sighed.

"Thank you, Skarloey." He replied quietly. The little engine whistled and rolled away to return to work, leaving Sir Handel, Luke, and Duke (still pulling Cora) alongside, and Paxton trapped behind him; Thomas grit his teeth in frustration.

"Great! Now I'll have to wait even longer for that bridge to be repaired!" He complained. Duke gave him a stern look.

"You wouldn't have to wait if you hadn't tried to rocket out of the quarry like some sort of speed demon, youngster!" He scolded.

"I was running late! I had to make up for lost time!" Thomas spluttered.

"Yes, you attempt that on the main line; not in a quarry with engines rushing about! Young'uns just don't have patience anymore!" Duke replied. Thomas was still cross.

"I don't need your advice, you old fuddy-duddy!" He snapped; Duke seemed furious for a moment, but a twinkle appeared in his eye and he chuckled.

"Well, Thomas, I think I may have a story that'll show you the true value of patience…and respecting your elders!" He smirked wryly before looking to Thomas.

"Have you ever heard of an engine called Smudger?" He asked. Thomas raised an eyebrow.

"Isn't he an engine from your old line?"

"Yup; came off the rails almost every day, had a horrible attitude. Manager turned him into a pumping engine behind our shed." Sir Handel explained dully.

"Poor thing…" Cora muttered sadly; no one seemed to hear her. Duke cleared his throat.

"Well, Smudger did learn just how necessary patience is; would you like to hear the story?"

"Yes please, Duke!" Luke answered excitedly.

"You're going to tell it either way, Granpuff." Sir Handel rolled his eyes.

"I like stories!" Paxton added. Duke looked to Thomas and raised an eyebrow. Thomas sighed.

"Fine." Duke smirked, and the old engine cleared his throat to begin the tale.

"This is a story I like to call…

THE HORSE & CART"

"I've heard this one!" Sir Handel complained.

"Shush!" The other engines hissed before Duke continued.


"Smudger was a showoff."

A loud, deep whistle echoed through the valley as a red pannier tank engine rocked around the bend with a rake of coaches, looking like he was in a rush.

"Look how fast I can go, Dukey!" He boasted to a nearby Duke in the station, who could only roll his eyes in response.

"He was purchased by management from the War Department for cheap; so cheap, in fact, that they considered him a bargain!"
"No. 2 will be able to haul heavier loads than our other engines, and allow us to take more lead trains from the mines than ever before!" The Manager explained to the Board, who were currently studying Smudger as he prepared to shunt a line of trucks; he clearly didn't like everybody looking at him and pouted. The Manager promptly cleared his throat.

"Show your paces, No. 2!" Smudger rolled forwards, but rammed into the trucks too hard, causing them to shoot forwards through the buffers and off the rails. The Board gave the Manager unamused looks, causing him to furiously turn to a sheepish Smudger.

"Whoops…my bad." Smudger chuckled nervously.

"However, what they got was an engine who did more harm than good; he rode roughly and often came off the rails, and had a bad attitude to match it."

"Come on! Come on! I need to get back to the sheds!" Smudger snapped to his driver as he rattled along the line, his trucks bouncing along behind him.

"At the best of times, Smudger was reckless…"

"GAH!" Smudger shut his eyes as his front wheels left the rails, causing him to burst through the fence nearby the line. He opened his eyes and saw that he was now sitting smack-dab in the middle of a dirt road.

"…and crass."

"AH, SH-" Smudger's vulgar declaration was promptly covered up by the horn of a passing steam lorry.

"He brought a bad atmosphere to the yard, and had little patience for anything he considered in his way."

"Hey, you! Buddy! Get me back on the rails, will ya?" Smudger snapped at a passing blue engine, who simply ignored him and continued on; the pannier promptly grit his teeth.

"HEY! I'VE GOT PLACES T'BE, Y'KNOW! HEY! HEEEY!" He shouted, but the other engine continued to ignore him. Smudger rolled his eyes and grumbled under his breath as he waited for help.


"One day, Manager sent Smudger out on a passenger train; Smudger was never fond of passenger work, but that day in particular he was in a foul mood."

"Hurry up! Come on, ya slow coaches, I haven't got all day!" Smudger barked at the coaches as he rocked along the line, repeatedly bumping into the coaches; the passengers were not pleased at all to be bumped around like peas in a frying pan.

"What a horrid engine!" A woman groaned as she held onto her seat to prevent herself from being bounced around by Smudger's rough-riding.

"I've never had this rough a ride before!" A man replied before promptly being bounced and jerking forward, falling face-first into the seat opposite him as Smudger jerked to a stop. He soon picked himself up and stuck his head out of the window.

"Why have we stopped?" He asked angrily. Smudger grimaced.

"On the line in front of Smudger was a local farmer, driving his horse and cart to market."

"Sorry 'bout this; we'll be out of your way in a moment! Come on, Delilah…" The farmer tried to coax his old mare to go faster, but she simply continued to trot along at her own pace; her cart dragging slowly along behind her.

"Can't ya hurry up!? I'm gonna be late if ya don't get that glue factory movin'!" Smudger grunted impatiently. The farmer chuckled nervously.

"Sorry! Delilah likes to go at her own pace." Delilah promptly whinnied; the rough-rider rolled his eyes.

"Well, pal, unlike Delilah, I got a schedule to stick to! MOVE IT!" Smudger promptly began blasting his whistle repeatedly as loudly as he could, causing Delilah to kick her legs up in fright. The farmer winced.

"Whoa, Delilah!"

"Go! Go! GO! GO! GO! C'MON! C'MON! C'MON!" Smudger barked, punctuated with each blast of his whistle as the horse and cart finally crawled clear of the crossing. Finally free to go, the rough-riding engine rolled his eyes and charged onwards.

"Finally! Do me a favor and stay outta my way the next time you take ol' Delilah on a stroll!" He snapped, leaving the farmer to look over his shoulder at him before rolling his eyes and returning to keeping an eye on the road ahead.

"Don't listen to him, Delilah." He whispered to his horse. Delilah whinnied in reply.


"Being held up by Delilah had made Smudger late, and, to his credit, he tried to make up for lost time…"

Smudger rumbled into the station, jerking back and forth as he came to a jittery stop, the coaches bumping into him. Once he had stopped, the big pannier tank quickly found himself swarmed by angry passengers.

"You spilled tea on my suit!"

"I thought I was going to be sick!"

"You are an utterly horrid engine!" Smudger's anger quickly turned to embarrassment, and he grew even more meek when he saw a familiar face walking across the platform.

"…but he took little care to ride smoothly, and the passengers quickly complained to the Manager about him. He was not pleased."

The Manager, a man in a grey suit with a thick beard, stepped out from behind the crowd with a scowl on his face, glaring at Smudger. The rough-rider grinned sheepishly.

"Heh…whoops." He grunted quietly.


"That evening, the Manager saw fit to punish Smudger for his roughness."

"Smudger, I can't have you treating our passengers like trucks!" The Manager scolded Smudger at the sheds as Duke watched disapprovingly from nearby; the rough-rider spluttered.

"It ain't my fault! Some farmer was moseyin' along with his horse and held me up at the crossing! I was tryin' to make up for lost time!" He protested. Duke snorted from nearby, causing Smudger to shoot him a glare.

"Stay outta this, Dukey!" He hissed but the Manager cleared his throat.

"It's clear that you have quite a bit to learn about patience, Smudger, so I will be assigning you to the slow goods until further notice." Smudger was fuming!

"The slow goods!? But-" The Manager held up his hand.

"You start tomorrow; you better hope that nothing goes wrong or your next punishment will be far worse. Understood?" He glared at Smudger in a steely way, causing the rough-rider to back down.

"…Sure. Whatever." He muttered. The Manager then nodded and walked away, leaving Smudger behind to grumble.

"I tried to warn him, but, as usual, he didn't listen."

"Why the heck is Manager so wound up? Back in the states, nobody cared a dime about a few spills!" The rough-rider complained loudly, gritting his teeth. Duke raised an eyebrow.

"Well, Smudger, I think the Manager is quite right; the slow goods lasts all day, so you shouldn't need to rush about like you normally do. In fact, I recommend that you don't do anything that you would normally do." He replied matter-of-factly.

"I don't need you tellin' me what to do!" Smudger snarled at the older engine. Duke snorted.

"I'm giving you advice; it's up to you whether or not to follow it." He said calmly. Smudger rolled his eyes and decided to head to sleep.


"The next day, Smudger headed to the station to pick up the slow goods, he-"

"Duke?" Cora interrupted. All eyes were on her as Duke raised an eyebrow.

"Yes, Cora?" The old engine asked, surprised at being interrupted. The tool van thought for a moment before speaking.

"…could I tell the rest of the story? I was, after all, Smudger's brake van on that day." She asked carefully. Thomas raised an eyebrow.

"You knew Smudger too?"

"Oh yes; I frequently travelled on the back of Smudger's trains so I could keep an eye on him." Cora chuckled fondly, but Duke was utterly baffled.

"I thought Manager made you go with Smudger." He muttered; Cora nervously smiled.

"Oh no, Duke, I chose to work with him myself; he wasn't a bad engine deep down, he just needed a bit of guidance."

"I gave him guidance!" Duke spluttered, but calmed himself down with a breath.

"Alright, Cora, continue." He muttered. Cora smiled.

"Well…"


"…The next day, Smudger headed to the station to pick up the slow goods; he was very cross to be stuck on the slow goods, and banged his trucks about."

Smudger angrily charged towards his long train with his last few trucks and slammed into the rest of the train.

"Ouch!" Cora cried out from the rear of the train; Smudger's anger promptly vanished as he winced.

"Ah, sorry, Cora; you okay?" He quickly rolled alongside Cora at the rear of the train. The tool van smiled.

"Yes, Smudger, I'm fine, thank you. What's gotten you so riled up?" She asked. Smudger snorted and rolled his eyes.

"It's Dukey! He's constantly tellin' me how he 'knows best' and the way I do my work would 'never suit his grace', blah, blah, blah…what an-" Smudger's insult towards Duke was censored by the horn of the same passing steam lorry.

"Smudger!" Cora scolded. Smudger blushed.

"Sorry, I know…I just wish I could get some work done around here without Dukey breathing down my funnel." He muttered. The tool van smiled at him.

"Duke's a bit harsh, yes, but he just wants what's best for the railway; I think you should prove Duke wrong, and try to do the best job possible on the slow goods!" She encouraged. Smudger thought for a moment before breaking into a grin.

"Yeah! That's a great idea! I'll show Dukey that I can pull a slow goods train without anything going wrong! I'll be right on time!" He boasted. Cora cleared her throat.

"And careful, Smudger." She reminded him. Smudger grinned and winked.

"I gotcha; careful as can be. You're the best, Cora!" He whistled and headed to the front of the train, leaving the tool van to smile fondly at the pannier tank.


"Smudger worked well at first, but he never enjoyed traveling slow and began to grow impatient."

Smudger crawled along the line with the slow goods train behind, exhaling with boredom. He heard a whistle and looked to the nearby road before seeing a traction engine stroll slowly past and groaned.

"This is gonna take forever!" He complained. Slowly, he began to unconsciously speed the train up, and began rattling back and forth. Cora could feel Smudger beginning to get up to his old habits and winced.

"Smudger, can you please slow down? We're running to schedule; no need to rush!" She called. Smudger sighed and slowed the train down before approaching the first station and braking to a halt to drop off some trucks. As Smudger moved some goods into a siding so he could continue on, he heard a whistle and saw Duke rolling into the platform with some coaches. The older engine eyed Smudger suspiciously.

"What? I'm on the rails, ain't I?" The pannier snapped.

"You should hope you stay that way." Duke replied before his guard blew the whistle and he continued on, leaving Smudger to growl furiously as he reversed back towards his train and banged into the trucks.

"Smudger!" Cora grimaced in pain.

"He was even too cross to apologize for his rough-riding."

Coupled up once more, Smudger whistled before charging onwards with gritted teeth, leaving a concerned Cora to be rattled along at the back of the train.


"Eventually, he approached the last stop of the day, which happened to be on the other side of the farm crossing."

Smudger rounded the bend and saw the crossing before an expression of horror crossed his face.

"I was here at this time yesterday…I'm gonna see that horse again! She's gonna make me late again!" He began to speed up even more, causing Cora to be shaken back and forth even more roughly.

"Whoa!" She gasped before looking to the front of the train.

"Smudger, please slow down! You're going to be on time no matter what, there's no need to be so rough-OH!" She pleaded.

"I tried to reason with him, but he was so focused on doing the job on time that he charged on over the crossing…and towards trouble."

"Come on! Come on! Come-AHHHH!" Smudger gasped as his rattling caused his front wheels to jump the rails. He bounced through the dirt as his driver slammed on the brakes and he eventually jerked to a jittery stop…all ten wheels firmly off the rails. As the dust cleared, the pannier coughed furiously before opening his eyes, looking down, and realizing where he was.

"F-" The steam lorry nonchalantly swerved around Smudger, honked her horn to censor his expletive, and continued on her way.

"Poor Smudger was stranded."


"His crew looked him all over, and very quickly determined that there wasn't a way to get him back on the rails again by themselves."

"Smudger, why is it always so difficult with you?" His driver sighed after he inspected the rough-rider's chassis; for once, Smudger had nothing to say. His driver placed his hands on his hips and sighed.

"Well, we're stuck here for the time being. The goods are sure to be late now."

"Being late with the slow goods is quite the feat, Smudger." The fireman pointed out. Smudger looked down at his buffers in shame.

"Aw darn…I can't do anything right…" He muttered. Cora heard the pannier's dejected voice and smiled.

"You were trying to be useful, Smudger; I'm sure that Manager will understand." She tried to encourage him.

"It ain't Manager I'm worried about, Cora; Dukey's gonna be worse than ever to me now…so much for provin' him wrong." Smudger sighed. Cora looked sympathetically at the derailed engine, but she suddenly heard a trotting noise from down the lane and looked up.

"Before my guard could go for help, we saw the farmer coming down the lane with his horse and his cart once again."

"Whoa, Delilah! What happened here?" The farmer brought Delilah the horse to a stop right by the derailed Smudger; the pannier could swear the mare was smirking at him.

"Nothing happened! Carry on!" Smudger snapped quickly.

"We've come off the rails; our goods are sure to be late if we don't get help soon!" The driver explained, stepping in front of Smudger. The farmer looked concerned.

"Oh my! Anything we can do to help?"

"…you got a cigarette?" Smudger asked hopefully, but his driver cleared his throat to cover the request up.

"If you could head down the line and find another engine to rescue us, that'd be great! We'll still be late, but at least we won't be stuck out here." He said. However, the farmer looked at the train and scratched his chin curiously.

"Actually, I may be able to do you one better; this train doesn't look that heavy, so I'm sure Delilah and I could just take it down the line ourselves if you could keep an eye on our cart." Smudger raised an eyebrow as he looked at the old mare.

"What? The horse is gonna pull my train? Baloney! She looks like she's strugglin' along with just that cart!" He snarked. The farmer chuckled as he climbed down from Delilah and pat her mane.

"Delilah may be old, but she's the strongest horse I've ever known. Ain't that right, ol' girl?" Delilah whinnied in reply. The driver and fireman shared a look before shrugging.

"It's worth a shot." The fireman sighed, and the farmer grinned. Smudger seemed quite unamused.


"And so it was decided; Smudger was uncoupled from the train and Delilah was attached to the trucks."

"We'll get help as soon as these goods are delivered!" The farmer called from atop Delilah, who whinnied proudly. Smudger, still sitting in the middle of the road, grunted as Delilah began to struggle away with the trucks.

"Come on, ol' girl, you've got this…" The farmer coaxed, and sure enough Delilah began to slowly trot along the line, dragging the train behind her with Cora at the rear.

"I'd never been pulled by a horse before; quite an experience to say the least! All the same, I felt sorry for Smudger."

"Don't worry, Smudger! We'll be back for you soon!" She made sure to call as the derailed pannier seemed to get farther and farther away. Although he didn't reply, Cora could see him give a small smile.


"Delilah worked harder than any engine I'd ever worked with! Because of her efforts, we managed to reach the top station right on time."

"Well done…Smudger?" The stationmaster looked up and jumped in surprise at the horse standing nearby the platform, the train behind her. Duke, sitting in the other platform with his coaches, appeared just as baffled as the stationmaster.

"Cora? What happened? Where's Smudger?" He asked. Cora chuckled nervously.

"Smudger came off at the crossing; the farmer offered to take the train onwards. Delilah did splendidly!" Duke looked to the horse again in surprise.

"Huh. Very useful." He muttered. However, he processed what Cora had said before, and looked back to her with a stern expression.

"Did you say Smudger came off at the crossing?" He asked. The tool van winced.

"…Yes."

"Typical. I'll go and rescue him." Duke sighed and began to puff away. However, the tool van cleared her throat.

"Please take me with you, Duke; he really was trying this time." She pleaded. Duke gave Cora an exasperated look and sighed.

"Does Smudger even have it in him to try?" However, he did couple up to Cora and the two rumbled away, leaving the farmer to continue to speak to the stationmaster.

"I'll be sure to tell the Manager to give you a reward! Thank you for helping keep the railway running to schedule!" The stationmaster pat the farmer on the back, who chuckled.

"Oh, don't thank me; Delilah did all the work." Delilah whinnied proudly in reply.


"Duke and I rescued Smudger and took him back to the yards, where Manager was waiting to speak to him; he wasn't happy."

"I didn't want to be late, sir! I was trying to be useful! Honest!" Smudger protested from inside the sheds as the Manager stood in front of him.

"No buts, Smudger! You failed on the easiest job I could have possibly given you! You shall stay in the sheds until I can trust you again!" He shouted. Cora, waiting outside the sheds still coupled to Duke, winced at the shouting.

"He was trying…"

"Cora, I don't understand why you keep giving that reckless engine second chances! He's been causing trouble ever since he arrived; about time Manager put a stop to this behavior." Duke replied simply. Cora looked down at her buffers as the Manager finished berating Smudger and slammed the shed doors shut, leaving Smudger inside. He stomped past Duke and Cora without a word before returning to his office, causing the tool van to wince.

"I knew Manager was cross, but I had been working with Smudger long enough to know that he didn't rattle like that on purpose; it was just the way he was built. I wanted to do something for him…and so I did."

Cora thought for a moment before she got an idea and smiled.


"A few days later, I spoke to the Manager and managed to convince him that Smudger deserved one more chance."

"Smudger?" The ashamed pannier opened an eye and was surprised to see the Manager walking towards him.

"Yeah?" He grunted. The Manager sighed.

"I have no desire to let you out…but Cora thinks you've learned your lesson and that you deserve another shot. So, against my better judgment, I'm putting you back on the slow goods. I expect that you won't need rescuing by a horse this time?" Smudger was surprised, but smiled.

"No way, sir! Wheels firmly on the rails!" He grinned. The Manager sighed and gestured over his shoulder with his thumb.

"Your train's waiting in the platform; use this chance well, Smudger." He stepped aside and Smudger steamed past towards the platform, looking forward to working again.


"Soon, Smudger got to work on the slow goods, only to find it now had another name altogether…"

"What are you doing here?" Duke raised an eyebrow as Smudger reversed onto his trucks, Cora sitting at the back of the train.

"Takin' the slow goods, what does it look like, Dukey?" Smudger snapped. To his surprise, Duke smirked and looked away innocently.

"The train's not called that now, Smudger."

"What?" Smudger looked to the schedule on the platform and his expression immediately turned to one of horror.

"F-" The steam lorry, sitting in the car park, honked her horn one more time before driving away.

"After Smudger's accident and in honor of Delilah's hard work, the railwaymen started calling the slow goods train 'The Horse and Cart'. The name stuck, and from then on, Smudger had a constant reminder of what would happen when he was impatient."

As Duke gave a hearty laugh, Smudger grumbled away from the platform dragging the slow goods train behind him.

"I think he took the lesson to heart; he still had a bit of an attitude, but I never knew him to rush again."

Cora raised an eyebrow as Smudger brought the train to a stop at a familiar crossing. However, she heard a whinnying and a quiet greeting from Smudger.

"Hey, Delilah." The tool van beamed to herself as Smudger patiently waited for Delilah and her farmer to pass with their cart before continuing onwards.


"Wow, Cora! Thanks for the story; I should've been more patient leaving the quarry." Thomas conceded, impressed. Behind him, Paxton snickered.

"At least they aren't calling that stone train 'The Squashed Sir Handel' now!" Thomas, Paxton, Luke, and Cora laughed, leaving Sir Handel to scowl.

"That's not funny…" He muttered. Suddenly, a deep horn blasted and Thomas looked up to see BoCo pushing Rocky into the quarry.

"Sorry for the delay; busy day for rescues! We'll have you on your way as soon as possible, Thomas!" Rocky greeted. Thomas smiled.

"Thanks, Rocky! I'll be able to make up for lost time now!" Thomas could see Cora giving him an expectant look and chuckled.

"…provided it's safe." He added. Cora smiled as Rocky began to lift Thomas back onto the line. However, she was surprised by Duke's silence; the old engine simply appeared lost in thought.


As Thomas puffed out of the quarry towards his branch line, Duke and Cora followed behind with their stone train bound for the castle. Thomas gave Duke a whistle before heading down the standard gauge line, and the old engine replied with a blast of his own before heading along his own route. Finally, he broke his pensive silence by looking back to Cora.

"Cora?"

"Yes, Duke?"

"Was I too impatient with Smudger? I never knew that he sincerely wanted to be useful." Duke asked quietly. Cora paused, trying to think of a way to word what she wanted to say.

"All engines do, Duke…I do think you were hard on him, yes. I don't think he would have ever admitted it and he probably wished he didn't, but he cared a lot about what you thought." She replied. Duke sighed.

"I wish I could've been more encouraging. Even if he was…a lot to handle at times, maybe he just needed a bit more encouragement and he could've been a more useful engine. You were right to try and help him, Cora." He admitted. Cora smiled.

"I only wish I could've helped him before…" She trailed off, leaving her and Duke to sit in silence for a moment. Eventually, Duke broke it.

"Well, Cora, I'm glad you told that story about him today. I think I just learned a lesson that Smudger learned long ago."

"What's that, Duke?" The tool van asked.

"I don't think it's ever too late for an old engine to learn patience." He replied. Cora didn't say anything else, but she smiled wistfully, thinking of her old friend.

THE END


Glad to be back after a bit of a break! The genesis idea for this story was "a Smudger flashback story", but I'm very happy with how much further it's evolved from that. As mentioned in his previous appearance in Set 2's The Duke The Earl, my version of Smudger is the character from the TV Series in name only; he shares his design and general traits with Stanley, his RWS counterpart, including being American and his smoking habit. However, I wanted to make him a sympathetic figure compared to traditional portrayals of the character, and thus I came up with the idea of making Duke's dynamic with Smudger different than one he shared with Stuart and Falcon; whereas he was an Edward to their Thomas, to Smudger's Thomas he was a Gordon, expecting the least of him and letting him know as such, allowing Duke to be the one to learn a lesson in the present in this story. Of course, I couldn't get through talking about this story without talking about who I think is the single most underrated character in the Thomas mythos; Cora the Tool Van. Given minor roles in the RWS but with a surprisingly rich history for such a minor character, I think Cora's backstory of being moved from the Mid Sodor Railway to the Skarloey Railway provides a lot of potential for a really dynamic character, and I'm really looking forward to exploring her further. Other points of interest include the blue engine mentioned working on the MSR, which I imagine as a BWBA-style recolor of Proteus' render from Set 2 meant to represent Albert, one of the obscure Mid Sodor engines from Awdry's layout, and the steam lorry who kept censoring Smudger's swears; you'll see more of her in the present later in the set! Would love to know what you thought of this one in a review!

As always, what's next:

- 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!

- Lightning Never Strikes Twice - Stepney the Bluebell Engine's return to the island quickly puts a bitter Class 40 in a horrible mood, especially after he breaks down on a hill and needs to be rescued by the former. However, when Stepney experiences technical problems prior to a railtour, Class 40 is the only one who can step in and save the day.

- Employee of the Month - In an attempt by Bear to help his former co-worker get his life together, Spamcan is hired by Deltic to work at Buffman Global when the workload gets busier but quickly proves himself a careless, utterly horrible employee, which Deltic stubbornly refuses to admit since he fought so hard for him to the other engines to begin with.