TROUBLE AT THE COAL MINES

Based upon "Put Upon Percy" and "A Surprise for Percy" by Britt Allcroft and David Mitton

Additional material by David Maidment

Adapted by Zack Wanzer and Rachel Ravens

Once upon a time, the coal quality on Sodor was some of the best in the United Kingdom, rivaling that of the Welsh coal that Henry used to cure his shy steaming problems. But in recent years, the coal's quality had decreased, which led to the coal mines being scarcely used unless there was no other option.

One day, the engines of the Ffarquhar branch line were about ready to go to work, when Sir Topham Hatt came up to the sheds.

"Good morning, sir," greeted Percy, and the other engines greeted their controller in kind.

"Morning, everyone," the controller replied. "Now, there's been a bit of a delay with the coal shipment to Sodor. We've got enough to last us for a couple of days, but for now, we'll need to make do with the coal mine."

Thomas shuddered at the word "mine" and the other engines glanced at him with concern.

"Er, probably not the best choice of words there," Sir Topham Hatt admitted. "My apologies, Thomas."

"I-it's okay, sir," said Thomas. "I know it was necessary to mention it."

Sir Topham Hatt nodded. "Percy, I'd like you to work down there. Julie will join you shortly."

"Of course, sir," smiled Percy. "But what about my work here?"

"The winter rush seems to have eased off by now," said Toby. "I'm sure we can manage fine until then, Percy."

"Thanks, Toby," replied Percy. "I'll see you lot later."

The saddle tank engine headed over towards the coal mines, which was just past Wellsworth. He was just turning the corner when he heard another whistle and a red tank engine puffing down the hill.

"Percy!" Julie cried excitedly. "Haven't seen you since Christmas last year."

"Hello, Julie," greeted Percy. "Were sent here to help out as well?"

"That's correct," grinned Julie. "Come on, I bet I can shunt more trucks than you."

"You're on!" grinned Percy as the two raced over to the mines.

It wasn't long before both engines arrived at the coal mines.

"You tackle that side, I'll do this side," said Percy as he was puffing down one of the tracks.

"Got it," said Julie.

Both tank engines managed to shunt the trucks around with ease, but it was very dusty and sometimes, coal dust got up their funnels.

"This is probably why most of our coal is imported these days," coughed Percy. "This coal's dirtier than usual!"

"But at least we're making… ah-choo! …good use of it," sneezed Julie.

"The engines better be grateful that we're…" Percy tried to hold back another cough. "…doing this for them."

It was long, dirty, dusty work, and by late afternoon, Percy and Julie looked more black than green and red.

"I think we're put upon, Julie," Percy muttered.

"What does that mean?" asked Julie, trying not to laugh. "Put upon the rails?"

"No! Put upon with work," explained Percy.

"You're not the only one who feels this way," muttered Percy's driver.

"That's a bit of a silly saying," giggled Julie, and she even made up a song about it.

"We're being put upon, put upon, put upon.

We're being put upon, Julie and Percy. Tee hee hee hee!"

"Very funny…" muttered Percy sarcastically. "I wonder what the others would say about this…"

To make things even worse, there was no time to give Julie and Percy a washdown as they had a couple more deliveries to make with the trucks.

"Duck or Thomas should have been sent down here," called the Bennett and Co. truck. "They might not have been able to get so dusty."

"You say one more word about Thomas coming down here, and you'll be off the rails!" snapped Percy, bumping the trucks into submission.

"That does sound terrifying," Julie gulped. "Thank the Great Railway Gordon got there in time."

"You and me both," said Percy. The tank engines went about with their last few shipments for the day, and they managed to get back to their respective sheds.

"Well, well, Percy," laughed Daisy when Percy backed into his berth. "We can see what's been put upon you."

"Oh, cut him some slack, Daisy," grunted Toby. "Percy's worked very hard all day."

"How was it down there?" asked Thomas.

"Kind of boring," sighed Percy. "Nothing but coal and trucks as far as the eye could see, though at least Julie was there with me. She did bring a little excitement, though it wasn't quite enough for the day."

"Excitement is surprising," observed Toby. "You never know when it will happen, otherwise it wouldn't be exciting."

"Sometimes, surprises can be too exciting," Annie admitted. "Thomas sets off on his races with Bertie without warning sometimes."

"Like that one earlier on today," sighed Clarabel. "A bit of warning next time."

"Okay, Annie and Clarabel," sighed Thomas, rolling his eyes cheekily.

The next day, Julie and Percy were back at the coal mines, and unfortunately, the trucks were still in a teasing manner, singing a song lead by Old-King Coal.

"Percy, Julie, green, red and small,

They're no use to us at all.

Around the yards, they'll puff and blow,

But on the hills, they're oh so slow!"

"Slow yourself!" retorted Percy as he bumped a line of trucks into place.

"Oh, shut up!" snapped Julie as she bumped her trucks together. "You take your lot to the hopper first, I'll get more trucks in line."

"Right," said Percy. He managed to load up his trucks without much issue and started to take them up to the main line where another engine would take them to the coal hoppers around the island.

"You're much too small to pull all of us," said an orange coal truck. "We want another engine or we'll be struggling up the hill all night."

"All night, alright! You can puff and blow, but on that hill, you're still too slow!" the trucks chanted.

"Be quiet!" snapped Percy, bumping the trucks again.

"Oooh! Temper, temper!" the trucks giggled.

"I'm getting tired of this," muttered the green tank engine as he started to climb a hill.

"Too slow! More power! Here tonight! Tomorrow too!" chanted the trucks.

"We're almost there, old boy," said his driver.

But then there was trouble, and Percy and his crew heard a snap.

"Surprise, surprise, Percy!" cried the orange truck.

"Catch us if you can!" added the teal truck.

"Oh no!" cried Percy. "Driver, fireman, we've got to stop them!"

Unbeknownst to Percy and his crew, however, Julie was still shunting at the mines unaware of what was going on. She was pushing some empty trucks to the mine shaft.

"There we go," she smiled. She then noticed some more trucks just sitting there. "Shouldn't those trucks be in the mine shaft, not outside it?"

"They're stuck on the mechanism," explained the foreman. "All they need is a quick bump. Could you do that, please, Julie?"

"Of course I can," said Julie, and she backed up so she had room for a running start. Above her was a canvas barrier used to shield the engines from falling rocks. Before she could get moving, she heard a frantic whistling from further down the track.

"Percy, you're back already?" asked Julie in surprise. Then she saw a line of trucks speeding right past her, heading towards the trucks she was about to push!

"Uh oh!" cried Percy. "Now there'll be trouble!"

And there was; Percy's trucks bumped straight into the other line of trucks, causing them to break free and roll deeper into the mine shaft.

"On, on!" cried the trucks that Julie was supposed to shunt. "Faster, faster!"

"Er, fellas?" said Old-King Coal. "Do we even know where we're going?"

Before any of the others could reply, Old-King Coal derailed and ran straight into a support beam, bringing the rest of them to an immediate stop.

The crash echoed through the shafts to the open air outside, and the support beam's collapse triggered a chain reaction.

"Get out of here fast!" yelled the foreman as the alarm went off. "The mine's collapsing!"

Suddenly, with a loud rumble, a cloud of dust flew out of the mine entrance.

"We'll have to run for it, Julie!" cried Percy in alarm as the tank engines started to reverse. "There's going to be an avalanche!"

And he was right. Worse still, the track they were on began to crumble and rocks began falling faster and faster.

"There's a canvas barrier just down from here!" called Julie. "It might save us."

The two tank engines made it just in time, and the barrier was long enough for both tank engines to take shelter in. Their crews quickly put out their fires and ran for safety.

When the avalanche had stopped, Percy and Julie were buried underneath with the canvas barrier to protect them from damage. But the miners didn't realize what had happened.

"I think we'd better close the coal mine," said one of them.

"I'll go telephone Sir Topham Hatt," said another.

When the controller heard the news, he was horrified.

"Percy and Julie were down there!" he cried. Thomas was with Annie and Clarabel at Knapford and they overheard through an open window.

"They're not hurt, are they?" gasped Thomas worriedly.

"I… I don't know," Sir Topham Hatt admitted, rushing back outside with the phone dangling off it's cord. "Thomas, you've got your passengers to take, let me sort this out."

"I've got to see if they're alright!" panted Thomas. "Neither would have been foolish enough to do what I did back then."

"What's going on, Thomas?" asked Toby when he came in with Henrietta. The blue tank engine and the brown coaches summarized what they had just heard.

"Sir," said Toby, "is it okay if I take Annie and Clarabel with Henrietta while Thomas goes to see what's happened?"

"I suppose that'd be alright," said Sir Topham Hatt.

"Thank you, Toby," sighed Thomas. He was uncoupled from the coaches and went off to find Judy and Jerome.

"I've never seen Thomas so willing to go to a mine since… that one time," said Annie quietly, and the other three had to agree.

Thomas rushed towards the mine and came to the ruined site.

"Percy, Julie!" he cried. "Can you hear me? Oh… please be okay…"

"Thomas? Is that you?" came a muffled voice from underneath the rocks.

"Yes, it's me!" the blue tank engine exclaimed. "Percy, hang on, I'll get you out of there. Is Julie with you?"

"Yes," came the reply. "It's very dark under here. Hey, Percy, do stars come out when it's dark but not night?"

"Not exactly," chuckled another voice, and Lauren had come into the yards with some trucks. "Come on, Thomas, we'd better clear all this up."

It wasn't long before all the rocks had been cleared away. Percy and Julie squinted as their eyes readjusted to the light.

"Thank the Great Railway you're both safe," sighed Lauren.

"Are you alright?" asked Thomas. "No major damage?"

"A bit dirty, but otherwise, we're fine," said Percy. "I wasn't expecting you to come up here, Thomas."

"I was a bit shocked by it myself," Thomas admitted.

"You put your own fears aside to help your friends, Thomas," smiled Lauren. "That takes true amounts of bravery."

"Indeed it does, Lauren," said Sir Topham Hatt. "And speaking of bravery, Percy and Julie, your crews tell me you were both very brave today during this emergency. As a reward, you both will be repainted at the Steamworks."

"Thank you, sir," smiled Percy.

When the two tank engines returned, their green and red coats glistened in the sun.

"I'm sorry I teased you, Percy," said Daisy when the two met at the sheds with Thomas and Toby. "You and Julie were certainly put upon by that avalanche."

"Oh, that's alright," said Percy. "But as for my new coat of paint? I don't mind that being put upon me!"

"And I guess we shouldn't be surprised by surprise," added Thomas.

The engines laughed at those comments before they happily fell asleep.

THE END

Author's Comments

Here's episode eighteen of Series 5 Redux, being a mashup of Put Upon Percy and A Surprise for Percy. Given that a lot of elements between the two of them are fairly similar, wouldn't it have made better sense to have just one episode with grumpy Percy? That was where Trouble at the Coal Mines came in, using Put Upon Percy as the basis and throwing in elements of A Surprise for Percy whenever needed. We've also expanded a little bit on Julie the small Midland tank engine, and even gave Thomas a bit of character growth in overcoming his fear of mines, the point of which he will eventually reach.

Upcoming stories:

- Oliver Takes the Post

- Make Someone Happy

- Sir Topham Hatt's Holiday

- Henrietta and the Naughty Coal Truck

- Happy Ever After