SIGNALS CROSSED

Toby the Tram Engine had settled in well on the Island of Sodor. The scenery of the branch line reminded him of his old tramway, and the people in the villages always enjoyed seeing him at the stations. Even Thomas warmed up to him soon enough, and it seemed to Toby that nothing could be wrong with his new home. However, as he and Henrietta drew nearer and nearer to the junction, his speed continued to decrease. Henrietta sighed.

"Slowing down again, Toby?" Toby grimaced.

"I don't know what you're talking about," he muttered. Henrietta smirked.

"You can't hide it from me, Toby. What's the matter? Is it that policeman? He can't harm us, you know, though I'd like to see him try."

"It's not him," Toby interjected before sighing.

"Have you ever seen such a big station as the junction, Henrietta?" Henrietta pondered the question.

"No, can't say that I have. Why? Is that what's bothering you?"

"...yes," Toby admitted after a moment of silence, "It's just so… disorienting. I've never seen so many engines in one place before. And the signals! Back on the tramway, there was only one light to keep track of. Here, how can anyone figure out which signal is theirs?"

"I'm sure it gets easier the more you do it," comforted Henrietta. Toby rolled his eyes.

"Easy for you to say. You never have to worry about signals."

"Maybe, but I am worrying about you. If we don't speed up, we'll be late and the Fat Controller will be cross. You don't want that, do you?" Toby chuckled.

"You're starting to sound like that Hannah you always talk about."

"Don't you dare compare me to her!" Henrietta laughed before continuing.

"All I'm saying is we wouldn't want our reputation to take a hit already. This is our home now, we have to be punctual." Toby sighed.

"I know, I know… It's just…"

"I know it's hard, Toby, but there's nothing you can't do. Remember that." That made Toby smile, and he quickly sped up to make up for lost time. Despite this burst in confidence, he nonetheless dreaded the thought of coming across the junction again.

As Toby pulled up to the junction, he stopped at a set of points, surrounded by many others. Above loomed an intimidating gantry with a sea of red and green lights. At the nearby station, Edward departed with a goods train, whistling cheerfully to Toby as he puffed past. Toby didn't reply, his earlier confidence evaporating.

"Oh dear… Do you see what I mean now, Henrietta? How am I supposed to get across without being smashed to smithereens?"

"Just wait for your signal to turn green, then you can make it safely to the station," Henrietta replied matter-of-factly. Toby grunted.

"You make it sound so easy." Toby glanced up at the array of signals and squinted as one of them dropped. He looked around cautiously and, not seeing anyone approaching, started rolling forward, only to be cut off by a whistle. Toby slammed on his brakes as Thomas raced past with Annie and Clarabel.

"Wait your turn, Toby!" Thomas called back, annoyed. Henrietta jolted from stopping so suddenly.

"That could've gone smoother," she remarked. She could feel Toby glaring at her from in front and chuckled.

"Never mind, perhaps it's the next one." Toby sighed and reversed back to where he was and waited. Two more signals dropped, making Toby frown.

"One of those must be mine, surely." He rang his bell and trundled forwards again when he heard a loud, shrill whistle. Toby gasped and braked frantically as Gordon thundered past, hissing steam at him.

"Watch out, you silly little tram, and wait for your signal!" Before Toby could blurt out an apology, Gordon had already braked at the platform in the station. Toby winced.

"Oh, I'll never get it…"

"Gordon's a bossy boiler anyway," Henrietta replied, trying to cheer him up, "Who needs his approval?"

"You're right, but…" Toby trailed off and looked up at the signal gantry again, then around the junction. Not an engine was in sight, aside from Gordon letting off passengers in the station. Toby narrowed his eyes and started rolling forward. Henrietta felt the jolt as she was dragged forward.

"T-Toby?! What are you doing?!"

"I'm not sitting there all day," Toby huffed, "I have to cross this dratted junction sooner or later." Henrietta, who had started to get rather bored herself, subsided. Toby sped up as he crossed several points. He was about halfway through when he heard the last thing he wanted to hear.

"Henry!" he gasped in fear. Down the line, a large green engine bucketed along the track. Henry smirked to himself as he raced through the station, catching Gordon's jealous glare.

"Bang on time, bang on time…" he repeated to himself to keep his momentum going. Suddenly, Henry could see what he thought to be a shed moving along the rails in front of him. Then, he heard the faint yet frantic ringing of a bell.

"Toby?!" Toby, looking just as terrified as Henry, desperately tried to speed up, but it seemed to do little as Henry, despite braking as hard as he could, was still coming towards him fast. Toby and Henrietta slammed their eyes shut, preparing for the worst. However, Toby barely managed to clear the points before Henry whooshed past. Henry's horror quickly morphed into fury.

"Watch where you're going, Toby!" he shouted. Toby was too shaken to reply. He was trembling dreadfully as he came to a jerky stop at the platform.

"Toby…" Henrietta panted, feeling lightheaded, "...we're never doing that again." Toby silently agreed. Gordon, who had seen everything, stared at Toby agape.

"Hello, Toby!" Percy called cheerfully, rolling into the station to collect Gordon's coaches, "How are you?" But Toby didn't reply as the workmen on the platform climbed aboard Henrietta. Percy looked on worriedly.

"Toby?"

"Leave him be, Percy," Gordon sniffed, "He might be a bad influence on you." Percy wasn't sure what this meant, but before he could ask, Gordon whistled and rolled away, briefly glaring at Toby.

"Reckless tram engine…" Gordon muttered to himself. Percy frowned and reversed away with the express coaches. At the platform, Toby was looking out of the station and to the other junction. The guard had blown his whistle, but Toby had hardly heard it.

"Toby? We have to go, Toby," Henrietta called gently. Toby grimaced.

"Do… we have to, Henrietta?"

"Yes, if we want to get these workers to the quarry. We can't stay here all day, can we?" Toby looked from back at Henrietta to the large junction that lay ahead of him. He sighed in defeat and looked down at his buffers.

"I… I can't… I'm sorry, Henrietta…" Henrietta's eyes widened.

"What? But-" She was cut off by a whistle. Toby and Henrietta glanced over as Percy rolled alongside, having dropped off the coaches in the yard.

"Are you alright, Toby?" he asked. Toby hesitated before sighing.

"No…"

"He's scared of Knapford Junction," Henrietta put in. Toby spluttered.

"Henrietta!"

"Well, he has to know eventually."

"You didn't have to say it so casually!"

"How else am I supposed to say it?" Percy glanced between engine and coach, feeling like a third wheel.

"Um, excuse me?" he interrupted meekly. The two looked to Percy.

"Is it the signals?"

"Yes… There's just so many of them! So many tracks, so many engines… It gets me in such a flurry. I've never seen such a large junction before." Toby stopped his rambling and glared suspiciously at Percy.

"Wait, how did you know?"

"Because I felt the same when I first arrived." Toby raised an eyebrow.

"You did?"

"Oh, yes! We didn't have signals back at the workshop, and seeing so many at once made me dizzy! But luckily for me, Edward was there to teach me everything." Toby looked around the station; Edward was nowhere to be seen.

"I don't think that'll work for me," he muttered glumly. Percy smiled brightly.

"Never mind, Toby! I still remember what he told me! The only signal you need to watch is the one directly above your line! 'Everything else will take care of itself,' he said. From then on, I wasn't scared anymore!" Toby was stunned.

"Just one? But… No, it can't be that easy. What about all those points?"

"The path is set for you! All you have to do is move forward, and you'll be out of the junction in no time!" Percy grinned. Toby glanced between Percy and the junction and took a deep breath.

"Right. Thank you, Percy. I'll be on my way now." He rang his bell and cautiously moved forward to the signal gantry. Percy smiled and reversed back to the yard.

Toby braked just below the signal gantry, immediately looking to the red signal directly above his line.

"See? This isn't so hard, is it? I told you," Henrietta smirked. Toby rolled his eyes and kept watching. However, to his surprise, the signal stayed red.

"A signal's supposed to turn green, isn't it?" Henrietta raised an eyebrow.

"Yes, of course it is. You mean it hasn't?" Toby glanced back to the signal, which was still red.

"No…"

"Maybe there's been a delay down the line. You know how those big engines can be," Henrietta quipped. Toby chuckled and waited. He waited and waited some more, but the signal remained red. Soon, the workmen were growing restless.

"Why have we stopped?"

"What's the holdup?"

"We're going to be late!" To Toby's dismay, another voice joined the chorus of complaints.

"Have you broken down, Toby?" sneered James as he pulled up behind him, "That didn't take long." Toby glared back.

"I've not broken down, I'm waiting for my-"

"This railway isn't like your tramway, Toby," James continued haughtily, blatantly ignoring him, "It's not a free-for-all. We have rules and regulations here, such as something called a schedule." Toby grit his teeth, but Henrietta spoke first.

"We know what a schedule is, James," she retorted, trying not to lose her patience, "But Toby's signal is red." James rolled his eyes.

"Everyone knows Toby doesn't know his signals. He probably thinks green is for stop!" James chuckled at his own remark but stopped at the scowl Henrietta was giving him.

"Fine. If you won't move, I'll make you move. I'm not waiting around for you." James whistled and bashed into the back of Henrietta, who bumped into Toby. Toby slammed his brakes on, just avoiding a collision with a passing Thomas.

"Learn your signals, Toby!" Thomas called back, more annoyed than before. Toby glared.

"I have learned them, a long time ago in fact, and it's red."

"I'm flattered you like my color so much, little Toby, but you can't start seeing it everywhere," James smirked.
"Why you-" As James, Toby and Henrietta argued, the Fat Controller was inside his office sipping a hot cup of tea. From his desk, he could hear the commotion outside.

"What on earth is going on out there?" he muttered to himself. He stood up and walked through the door onto the platform, where he could see James and his train behind Toby and Henrietta. The Fat Controller sighed.

"Oh, Toby…" He walked over to the trio, who hadn't noticed him arriving.

"SILENCE!" The three stopped at once.

"Thank you. Now, what is the meaning of this?" Toby was about to speak but James cut him off.

"It's this dirty object, sir. I haven't the faintest idea why you thought bringing him here was a good idea. He doesn't even know his signals, sir! The poor old thing thinks the signal is still red!"

"It is!" Toby growled. The Fat Controller held his hand up.

"Now, Toby, I don't agree on James' attitude, but he does have a point. That signal can't still be red, and-" As he was talking, one of his assistants had looked up at the signal and started whispering into the Fat Controller's ear. The Fat Controller stopped and looked up.

"...it...is red?" Henrietta smirked at James, who gaped in shock.

"B-But-"

"The signal must be broken; the gantries here have been needing maintenance anyhow." The Fat Controller turned to Toby with a broad smile.

"I'm proud of you, Toby, for sticking to your instincts and not passing through a red signal." Toby grinned excitedly.

"Thank you, sir!"

"I know this junction isn't quite like your old tramway and you had to…" He cleared his throat tactfully.

"...adjust, but I'd say you know your signals better than some engines here do!" James spluttered indignantly at this. The Fat Controller ignored him and continued.

"How would you like to take the workers here to the junction so the signals can be maintained?" Toby's eyes widened; he was proud of himself for standing his ground, but he wasn't sure if he wanted to come to the junction more often than ever.

"Well, sir, I…" He stopped and looked back at Henrietta, who gave him an encouraging smile.

"I'd be honored, sir."

"Excellent! You can get started right now as soon as you take these workmen to the quarry." Toby grinned.

"Yes, sir!"

Soon, workmen had been called to help flag the engines through the junction while the signals were being repaired. Toby rang his bell and trundled through the junction, finally feeling at ease. Henrietta gave a smug look to James, who seethed furiously. Toby's journeys to the junction became more frequent as maintenance trains were added, but he didn't mind; his fear had gone. Instead, it had been replaced with annoyance as whenever he arrived, James, still bitter about the signal incident, would be very rude. That, however, is another story…

Author's Note: Hello! Yes, it has been practically two months since I've lasted posted anything and I'm sorry. Wasn't an intentional break, just kinda had a rut. Luckily for me, I struck inspiration with this rewrite. I didn't think I was gonna be doing rewrites for a while after the S22 ones (before anyone asks, I'm not sure if I'll do more of those, guess it depends), but here we are. As one could probably pick on rather quickly, I shifted the story's place in the timeline from Season 18 to Season 1 between Thomas in Trouble and Dirty Objects. Why? I think it makes a lot more sense that way with the premise and Toby's characterization. Speaking of Toby, I feel like I got his and Henrietta's dynamic here, putting them on a bit more of equal footing than in the episode proper, though Toby obviously does still need reassurance. Plus, it leading into Dirty Objects was something I didn't plan at first but loved the idea so I added it in at the end. However, as much fun as this was, rewrites that change a story's time period aren't going to be that common. As for what the next rewrite will be... no idea, it's kind've a coin toss at this point. I have a bunch of ideas, but we'll see. In the meantime, look out for an original story I've got cooking up!