PHILIP AND THE TROUBLESOME TWINS
Written by Zack Wanzer and Cameron Stevens
Set during "A Shed for Edward"
Following James' crash at Tidmouth sheds after his brakes failed on him, Edward was temporarily relocated to sleep at Wellsworth sheds with Philip. Although the diesel boxcab had been very chatty the first night, Philip came to understand that Edward needed his rest after the old blue engine nearly collided with Percy at Knapford.
Since sleeping at Wellsworth for the second night, and after having a proper rest for the first time in days, Edward began to notice a few changes; for one, he didn't have to travel a long distance when starting work on his branch line.
"It's more convenient that way," Edward explained to Philip one morning before he was about to set off for work. "And I won't tire that easily when I have to pull off a double duty. Although, I am keen to be really useful, but I can't dash around that much like I used to."
Philip was quick to offer some help, being that he was kind and eager to help any engine. "I can always help you with your work, if you'd let me!" he offered.
Edward smiled. "That's very kind of you, Philip, but I'm sure I can manage just fine. I'm sure you'll get your chance to help one of those days. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm off to collect my trucks." And he set off to find them.
Edward's branch line starts from the station at Wellsworth until it comes across a junction with one line leading to Gordon's hill and the other leading down the line towards Brendam docks. One of the first destinations Edward would pass through along the branch line is Crock's scrap yard where Reg the crane would work and the place where Edward had saved Trevor before he moved to the vicarage orchard. In fact, it was the second destination that Edward would pass through and would sometimes stop to greet and talk with Trevor. Today, the traction engine was delighted to see his friend again.
"Edward, my old friend!" Trevor whistled with delight. "It has been ages since I last saw you!"
"It has indeed," chortled Edward. "I have so much to tell you." He then went on to tell Trevor about some of the more recent events such as Rosie getting repainted red and James' accident at Tidmouth sheds.
"Sounds like a lot has happened," laughed Trevor. "I've got some good news too. I've heard from Jem Cole when I was working at the scrap yards that another old friend is coming back to Sodor from the mainland in a few days."
Edward was puzzled. "Who do you mean?" he asked. Trevor just smirked.
"I'm not telling you yet," he laughed. "It's a secret." At that moment, the signal changed, meaning it was time for Edward to continue on with his journey.
"Well, I must be off now. Can't keep Cranky waiting. Goodbye, Trevor. It's lovely to see you again!" Whistling to his good friend, Edward set off with his trucks with Trevor returning a friendly goodbye.
Meanwhile, Philip was back at Wellsworth yards, happily shunting and marshaling the trucks into place. He was having a lovely day and even the trucks behaved well, which came as a surprise to most of the other engines who passed through. Philip shunted the last truck into place and sighed contentedly.
"There," he said, observing his finest work. "Pretty as a picture." The yard foreman soon walked up to Philip with a clipboard.
"Ah, good work so far, Philip," he congratulated. "There's another train that I need you to arrange. Bill and Ben are coming up the line with their trucks of china clay. When they drop them off, I need you to arrange them for Henry's slow goods train."
"No problem, sir!" Philip said happily. "I can do it faster than Gordon's record with the express!" Perhaps it was lucky for him that Gordon wasn't around to hear that comment.
Philip waited on a siding for the china clay to arrive. Fortunately, he didn't have to wait for very long as a pair of whistles sounded in the distance. And there, steaming into the yards were Bill and Ben, double heading a long train of china clay. Judging by their raised voices, Bill and Ben were arguing once again.
"It's your fault we're lagging behind! Now we're two minutes late!" snapped Bill.
"I'm not lagging! By my count, we're two minutes early!" barked Ben. "You're the one who's lagging and that I have to do all the work myself!"
"Am not!"
"Are too!"
"Am not!"
"Are too!"
Philip was surprised by their entrance. He had not properly met Bill and Ben before and wasn't aware that they were prone to mischief and trouble making.
"Hello there!" the diesel boxcab called over to them. "I'm here to arrange your trucks onto Henry's slow goods train!"
Bill and Ben stopped arguing and noticed Philip. They'd not met him before either and both looked at each other with big grins; this was a perfect chance to make some mischief.
"My name's Philip, by the way," the diesel boxcab continued. "That's P-H-I-L-I-P, diesel boxcab number 68!"
"Well, nice to meet you, Philip," Bill said, pretending to sound innocent. "I am Bill and he is Ben."
"Hey, I think I can introduce myself, thank you," Ben sighed.
"Shh!" hissed Bill, before turning back to Philip again. "Actually, Philip, these trucks aren't for Henry at all. We brought them here for another engine to take instead."
Philip raised an eyebrow in confusion. "Another engine? Who are they for?" he asked curiously.
"Why, these trucks are for… erm…"
"Why, they're for Gordon, of course!" Ben quickly added, before winking at Bill, persuading him to play along.
"Yes, that's right!" Bill added before turning back to Philip. "He felt that he wanted to help Henry take the extra weight off his wheels, so he kindly offered to take these trucks and add them behind his express coaches when he arrives."
"Oh, well, that's very nice of him," Philip said. "Alright then, I'll do it!"
Bill and Ben snickered to one another once the diesel boxcab was out of earshot.
"Silly little boxcab," the twins giggled. "Gordon will be so mad at him when he finds out about this!"
Philip waited with the trucks of china clay until Gordon would arrive. He then heard his whistle and Gordon steamed into the platform with the express and came to a gentle stop, to drop off and pick up more passengers. This was Philip's chance to couple up the trucks behind the train.
Gordon hadn't noticed that Philip gently - perhaps too gently - buffered them up behind the coaches and were coupled up. No one had noticed this and Philip rolled away and back to his siding and waited for Gordon to depart. Soon the guard blew his whistle and Gordon snorted out of the station with the express and the china clay trucks trailing behind him!
"Express coming through!" he declared loudly, before straining as he puffed further away from the station. "Oh my; these coaches must be getting heavier today."
Philip watched the train disappear and was feeling pleased with himself. "Now Henry won't have to pull any extra weight on his slow goods today!" he said cheerfully.
A few minutes later, Philip could hear Henry's whistle in the distance and pulled in with his slow goods train.
"Philip, where are the trucks of china clay?" asked Henry.
"Gordon's taking them on his express," explained Philip. "Bill and Ben said that he was willing to help out."
Henry was not happy with what he had heard. "But Gordon would never ask to help pulling trucks. In fact, he doesn't like pulling trucks to begin with!" he snapped. "Don't you realize that these china clay trucks were meant for my train?!"
Philip's face went pale. He realized that Bill and Ben had tricked him and now Gordon was already far away with the trucks that Henry was meant to pull! The diesel boxcab felt silly and ashamed.
"Oh dear…" he said sadly. "Gordon is not going to be happy either…"
And indeed he wasn't. He returned to the station with his return express, red in the face and very cross!
"PHILIP!" Gordon bellowed. "What do you think you're doing adding those dirty trucks to the back of my train?! My passengers have been complaining non-stop throughout the journey!"
"I'm sorry, Gordon, but I didn't know Bill and Ben were playing a trick on me, honest!" protested Philip. By that point, Edward had arrived with a slow goods train. He wasn't all that surprised with what he was hearing.
"Is that so?" he asked, which caught Gordon and Philip's attention.
"I'm so sorry, Philip; I should have told you earlier about Bill and Ben and their antics," said Edward.
"What do you mean?" asked Philip.
"Bill and Ben are both known to be troublesome and will play tricks on any engine every chance they get. Especially to engines whom they have never met before and are clever enough to take advantage of your trust towards them," Edward explained. "They were so keen to know you better that they played a trick on you."
Philip looked at his buffers feeling greater shame. He had caused a lot of trouble today and it was all thanks to Bill and Ben's trickery.
"I'll speak with Sir Topham Hatt about what had happened today," said Edward kindly. "You have nothing to be ashamed of, Philip."
Philip said nothing. He felt that he had already done enough damage as of today. He slowly slunk away to the sheds without a word.
Gordon looked at his buffers. "Was I being a bit too harsh?" he asked.
"What do you think?" Edward asked sharply. That shut Gordon up immediately and set off once again with the express.
Later that day, Bill and Ben were at the docks shunting trucks. Both of them were feeling pleased with themselves with their trick they played on Philip. Just then, Sir Topham Hatt drove up in his car and stepped out, marching over to the twins.
"Bill and Ben!" he said crossly. The twins froze upon hearing his authoritative tone.
"Uh… y-yes, sir…?" they asked nervously.
"Don't you go playing innocent with me," scolded Sir Topham Hatt. "Edward tells me you tricked Philip into shunting trucks of china clay meant for Henry's slow goods onto the back of Gordon's express! All because you two wanted to take advantage of his trust and make him look silly! That is the most horrible trick that you two have ever played! And thanks to you two, the passengers have been complaining about my railway! I am most disappointed in you two!"
Bill and Ben looked at their buffers in shame.
"We're sorry, sir…" they said sadly.
"I don't think it's me you should be apologizing to," Sir Topham Hatt said, sternly gesturing towards Philip. The twins looked at Philip and knew he was right. It was Philip that they should be apologizing to for making him cause a great deal of trouble.
"We're sorry, Philip…" they said.
"That's alright," said Philip. "I forgive you." Although secretly, he was still cross at the twins for making him cause a great deal of trouble and wanted to get back at them for making him look silly. But he wasn't sure when or how.
A few days later, Philip was working at Wellsworth yards again. Edward had already left with his local passenger train which gave Philip plenty of peace and quiet for him to do his shunting. He was still thinking about how he could get back at the twins for making him look silly.
If I need to get back at those two, he thought to himself, I need to think just like how they would play their tricks. But he still wasn't sure how. At that moment, the yard foreman came to see Philip.
"Hello, Philip," he said. "I have a special job for you; an engine is coming from the mainland today with his train of vans that need to be shunted onto that siding over there. I need you to wait for him until he arrives. And if Bill and Ben happen to show up, don't fall for any of their tricks this time."
"Yes, sir," said Philip. "I'll try, sir."
Fortunately for the diesel boxcab, Bill and Ben didn't show up, for they were busy at the china clay pits with Timothy and Marion. However, Philip did hear an unusual horn from the distance.
"That's odd," he said. "I've never heard that kind of horn before."
And as he watched, along came a large diesel engine, pulling his long train of vans. He was painted in a bright green, had the number D5702 on his sides and had a Co-Bo wheel arrangement. Philip didn't realize that this diesel was an old friend that hadn't been on Sodor in ages and was happy to be home.
"Ah, Sodor!" he said cheerfully. "How lovely it is to be home again! Now I wonder where Edward and the twins have gotten to…"
"Excuse me, big diesel?" asked Philip. "What do you mean, home again? I've never met you before."
"Oh, hello there, little fella," the big diesel said kindly. "I've never met you before either. Allow me to introduce myself. My name is BoCo, Metropolitan Vickers diesel-electric Type 2. I used to live here on this island before I was called away to work on the mainland."
"And I'm Philip," the diesel boxcab introduced himself. "Did you say you happen to know Edward?"
"Oh yes, indeed," replied BoCo. "In fact, he and I go way back before I moved to the mainland. I have missed him during my time on the mainland. I bet he'll be happy to see me again. Well, I know Bill and Ben both would," he said, before chuckling.
"You know Bill and Ben too?" asked Philip.
"Indeed. They ran rings around me the first time I met them. They nearly made my eyes pop out before Edward put a stop to their tricks."
"What a coincidence, big diesel! Er… I mean, BoCo," Philip said. "They played a trick on me just a few days ago." And he told BoCo about what Bill and Ben did to him and how he wanted to get back at them. BoCo listened carefully.
"I see," he said. "Well, Philip. Now you know what those two are perfectly capable of." Then a smile crept over his face. "I think," he said, "I know how I could help you get back at those two. And… it would be quite a surprise for them as a way of welcoming back an 'old friend'," he said with a wink.
"Ooh, what shall we do?" asked Philip. BoCo whispered his plan to the diesel boxcab, and both grinned at one another.
Later that day, Bill and Ben pulled into the yards. Not an engine was in plain sight.
"That's odd," Bill said. "Philip should be in the yards at this time of day."
"Maybe he's still pouting over that trick you pulled, Bill," huffed Ben.
"Me?!" spluttered Bill. "Why do you always keep blaming me for that trick?! It was your fault for playing that trick!"
"Oh, really? It was your fault for asking me to play along!" barked Ben.
"Was not!"
"Was too!"
"Was not!"
"Was too!"
In the midst of their bickering, a loud horn sounded across the yard, and then a diesel boxcab rolled up to the twins. It looked like Philip… except he had a different number on his sides.
"Who's that?" asked Bill. "Was that… Philip?"
"It can't be," said Ben. "Philip's number is 68. This one reads 26."
"Philip has a different number?" asked Bill. "Maybe you go and have a look."
"Oh no, you don't!" snapped Ben. "You go!"
"Fine! We'll both go and look!" sighed Bill.
So both engines set off to follow Philip. They puffed up and down the sidings, passing by long lines of trucks, vans, tankers and flatbeds. But they couldn't find Philip anywhere.
"Ohh, how hard is it to find one diesel boxcab?!" huffed Bill crossly.
"Look at this!" exclaimed Ben. "Philip's now wearing the number 59!"
"But wasn't he wearing the number 26 a few minutes ago?" asked Bill.
But before either twin could even speak, they could see Philip pass by a long line of trucks again, but this time he was wearing the number 31! Next time, it was the number 67, then 29, then 18, and then more random numbers between one and 68! It seemed as if there was more than one Philip! Bill and Ben began to feel very dizzy.
"Please, make this stop!" wailed Ben. "I don't know how much more my smokebox can take!"
"My eyes are going to pop out!" screamed Bill.
"Hello, guys!" Bill and Ben yelped, for Philip had just rolled up in between them, once again displaying the number 68. "Do you have any trucks waiting for me to arrange?" Philip continued.
Bill and Ben stared at Philip before they both looked around, trying to make sure that there wasn't more than one Philip.
"Philip?!" they gasped.
"Yes?" asked Philip, pretending to sound innocent.
"Did you see all of those boxcabs rolling about the yards?" asked Bill.
"There were sixty-seven of them in total!" added Ben.
"Oh, then you must have met my brothers and sisters then!" Philip laughed.
"Or perhaps it could be that he gave you two a taste of your own medicine!" a voice laughed from behind.
Bill and Ben stopped and looked around. That voice sounded familiar to them, but couldn't quite narrow it down.
"Wait… is that…?" asked Bill.
"It… it can't be!" gasped Ben.
"Oh, yes it is!" chuckled Philip. "Bill and Ben, I'd like to introduce an old friend of yours! Someone who you'd not seen in ages!"
And there, rolling out from a long line of vans was BoCo who stopped and tooted his horn.
"Hello, you two!" BoCo said. "Long time, no see!"
Bill and Ben were most surprised! "BoCo?!" they gasped.
"That's right," smiled BoCo. "I see some things haven't changed around here since I've been away."
At that moment, Edward had pulled into the yards with his stopping passenger train. He too was surprised to see BoCo again.
"BoCo!" whistled Edward. "My old friend! How good it is to see you again!"
"And the very same to you, my dear friend," BoCo chuckled, almost in tears. "Handling your position of keeping the twins in order, I assume?"
"Well, it does have its challenges here and there," Edward admitted. "But someone has to do it."
"Hate to interrupt this heartfelt moment," said Bill, "but what did you mean, a taste of our own medicine?"
BoCo smirked. "One of the vans on my train happened to have carried number plates that I was meant to take to the Steamworks, but was asked to take them here instead," he explained. "After Philip told me about that little 'trick' you pulled on him, I figured that maybe we could use those number plates to our advantage of our own."
"And it worked well!" Philip laughed.
Bill and Ben's faces went red with embarrassment, realizing now that they had been tricked as well. However, they were still delighted like Edward to see BoCo again after so long.
"So it turned out it was BoCo coming back after all these years!" Edward was saying to Trevor. "It really was a nice surprise, and what a way for him to return as well; helping Philip giving Bill and Ben a taste of their own medicine!"
"Oh yes, I heard all about that too," chuckled Trevor. "Good to see BoCo again."
"And I'm sure Sir Topham Hatt would be once he greets BoCo again," Edward added. "But all the same, I have been thinking…"
"About what?"
"About my decision of me wanting to move away from Tidmouth and staying at Wellsworth," said Edward. "After all, I was given this branch line by Sir Topham Hatt so that I could run it. I do have fond memories of living at Tidmouth with my friends, but with me being at Wellsworth, I feel that it brings me closer to my branch line and that I could start work there straight away. I'm getting older every day and can't dash around like I used to. And besides, this branch line feels like home to me. And it makes it more like home when I have friends like you, Phillip, Bill, Ben, Timothy, Marion and BoCo."
Trevor was amazed over what Edward had said and smiled. He felt very touched by his sentiments.
"Well, if that's how you really feel, Edward," the traction engine said, "maybe you should tell Sir Topham Hatt about it. I'm sure he would approve of the idea."
And so, the following day, when Tidmouth sheds had been repaired and James returned to service, Edward had decided, with Sir Topham Hatt's approval, to move to Wellsworth sheds instead. The rest of the engines were supportive of Edward's decision, although it was Gordon who had taken it the hardest.
"All these years he's lived at Tidmouth, and now Edward decides to leave us as soon as they're repaired!" the big engine grumbled. "Whatever is this island coming to?"
"Er, Gordon…" James began.
"Not a word out of you!" Gordon snapped. The red engine was taken aback by the big blue engine's response. While James was supportive of Edward's decision, he couldn't help but feel a bit guilty following his reckless actions.
"It'll probably be a while before he accepts it fully," said Henry, watching Gordon puff away into the distance. "Whenever that is…"
THE END
Author's Comments
Another new Thomas story that serves as a midquel to A Shed for Edward, taking place between Edward and Philip's second night at Wellsworth and Edward deciding to move from Tidmouth to Wellsworth. It also provides further context as to why Edward made that decision to do so, which would hopefully soften the blow. But of course, the main story is really Philip meeting Bill and Ben for the first time and falling for their tricks, and wanting to get even with them for it. It also serves as a re-introduction to BoCo, which almost happened in series 22, but that was rejected in favor of the BWBA revamp instead. I've managed to salvage Andrew Brenner's plan by having BoCo reintroduced a series earlier, as it would make sense given his history with Edward, Bill and Ben. I see the four of them, along with Philip, being something of a family with BoCo and Edward being the dads (though Edward is a bit more on the motherly side of things), and Philip being the little brother who sometimes gets picked on by big siblings Bill and Ben.
Oh, and for those who are wondering, here's how I see the chronology of events taking place:
-Philip's Number
-Rosie and the Runaway Horse
-Hasty Hannah
-The Fastest Red Engine on Sodor
-An Engine of Many Colors
-A Shed for Edward
-Philip and the Troublesome Twins
Seriously, all of these stories together really feel like a movie, with Philip's Number coming off as something of a prologue and Hasty Hannah being a side story alongside the main events. I'd love to see someone put all of these stories together in the form of a movie!
More stories to come!