The Kalos Railway Corrinne's Policies
When Thomas, Corrinne, and Gervase arrived at the sheds they found they were empty. The three assumed that the other engines were all busy and it was late. They also found that the shed was big enough to fit 12 engines and that the sheds could also do some minor repairs much like the sheds upon the Unova Railroad in the United States. The E2 tank and the Stanier Duchess both took the berths to the far right while the USATC S160 took his usual berth in the sheds before they all fell asleep in anticipation for the next day's events.
The Next morning Thomas and Corrinne woke up after getting what was possibly the best sleep they ever had upon European soil. They could hear some chatter in the sheds and it was apparent that the chatter was about them and their reasons for being on the Kalos Railway.
?: Our guests are awake. It's about time. For a moment I was gonna ask my driver to ring Corrinne's bell and wake her and our other guest up.
?: Greg can we please try and consider using a less invasive and loud wake up call. That's my cousin and her bell we're talking about and need Gervase and I remind you and Blaine of the last time you took matters into your own buffers and woke up the entire fleet?
Greg: At least the fleet and staff woke up though I will admit it was a bit much. But Blaine agrees with me.
Blaine: Greg does have a point about the wakeup call Princess Aurora. But on the same token we could tone it down.
Princess Aurora was about to comment but she noticed that Thomas and Duchess Corrinne were awake and she had a feeling that they had been listening to the conversation and all that was said up to this point.
This however was the opening that Duchess Corrinne needed to speak.
Duchess Corrinne: Thomas, Meet Princess Aurora the Princess Royal, Greg, Blane and Sophia the Black Fives, Coley, Jake and Michael the Stanier 8Fs, Claire the Stanier Jubilee and Noah the Fairburn Suburban Tank. Nine of the resident London, Midland, and Scottish Railway Engines of the Kalos Railway Fleet.
Thomas: Hello everyone. Corrinne and Gervase told me about you on the way here.
Noah the Fairburn Tank decided to answer Thomas' question and ask a few question of his own.
Noah: Well I'm glad that Corrinne has told you about us but you must also remember that we're a team and it's not just us former LMS engines. We've got all sorts of engines from the United Kingdom and France is much bigger than Sodor.
Thomas: I know that and to tell you the truth this is my first time away from the British Isles with just my crew. I went to London but that was myself and the first 8 engines to join the North Western Railway. Then I went to York when I was with my crew to represent the North Western in an event up there.
Noah: I remember that. My Driver showed me all of the Thin Clergyman's books. You were made an honorary member of the National Collection. And to think you started out as a Station Pilot at Tidmoth.
Thomas couldn't help but feel proud that he and the North Western were well known even in France and beyond but before he could speak the Kalos Controller arrived.
Kalos Controller: Good morning. For those of you who don't know who I am. I am William Belmonte the current Kalos Controller, Son of Aaron Belmonte the Second Kalos Controller, Grandson of Josiah Belmonte, the original Kalos Controller.
Thomas: Good morning sir. Thank you for introducing yourself.
Duchess Corrinne: IT's nice to see the Kalos Railway is in good hands and so are the locomotives working on the Kalos Railway. So what are we doing today?
William Belmonte: Well Duchess Corrinne you will be working express trains, Greg and Blaine, you two have coal and iron ore trains to the steel mill. Gervase, you're to take Thomas to the shops to learn Hassan's work. Noah you've got suburban duties. Jake thanks for winning us the steel contract with Noah's help pick up a load of steel at the steel mill then off to the quarry for stone train duties.
Jake: Yes sir. You're welcome, I couldn't have done it without Noah's help and advice.
William Belmonte: Anyway Sophia you've got a run to the dairy processor then you're off to the various farms.
Sophia: Why am I not surprised. Considering I'm second only to Tabitha when it comes to food related cargos.
William Belmonte: Claire passenger services, Joshua to the docks, Coley you've got a run to the logging camps to take some logs to the lumber mills. And as for you Princess Aurora. You and Michael are covering the repairs to our shops in the western section of the Kalos Railway. You'll be taking the personnel and workmen we need while Michael takes the supplies. As soon as the workmen get there, get back here. I want a word with you both at the sheds before I hand you your next job.
Aurora and Michael: Yes sir.
So the fleet went off to their assigned jobs and as they did the Kalos Controller was left to his own thoughts before he had to give out the jobs to the rest of the Kalos Railway Fleet.
Kalos Controller: (Thinking) I wonder if I should've told Duchess Corrinne about who else was here in France?
Meanwhile Gervase had taken Thomas to the workshops to see Hassan about the jobs that he would have to do. Thomas couldn't help but wonder why the Kalos Controller wanted to see Princess Aurora and Michael.
Thomas: Gervase, the Kaos Controller mentioned that he wanted to see Michael and Aurora. What's going on? Are they in trouble?
Gervase: Because they know Duchess Corrinne the best and they know her policies before she was on the Unova Railroad for a year. I also have a feeling that the Kalos Railway Controller will want to see me on account of me having spent time with her. So in a way they're not in trouble.
?: They're not the only ones that know her. Corrinne used to chat with Joshua to ask what life on the LMS was like when Stanier first began designing locomotives for that railway and she also had a word with Jason and myself about what life on the LMS was like before Stanier was brought to the LMS by the chairman of the Railway Board Josiah Stamp to be the new Chief Mechanical Engineer.
Thomas looked and saw and LMS Jinty Class Tank Engine in the shops. The E2 class Tank engine looked and had a feeling that this was Hassan.
Thomas: Are you Hassan? My name is Thomas and I'm the one who is gonna be filling in for you.
Hassan: Hello. I know who you are well more like what you are really considering you're a Billinton E2 Class tank engine. As for who well I know you're Thomas the Tank Engine. That blue coat of paint pretty much makes you stand up.
Thomas: That's right. I'm supposed to be filling in for you while you're getting some much needed repairs. So what am I supposed to be doing?
Hassan: Well basically its odd jobs and utility work. And it's my turn for garbage duty.
Gervase: I understand if you despise it. I mean most engines despise it. But Mary pretty much usually gets the job since she knows it has to be done. She often says that it's not the glamorous or cleanest job but somebody has to do it.
Thomas: That's what Donald and Douglas usually say when they have to help Whiff with garbage duty.
Hassan: Anyway you two better get going. One more thing. The Kalos Railway's Loading Gauge is the same as the European Loading Gauge but it's much less restrictive than the British Loading Gauge so don't be surprised if you see a King Class engine on our railway.
Thomas: You lot have a king class engine?
Gervase: Yes.
Thomas: I'll be sure to ask the Kalos Controller about that when I see him. Either way I better get to work. The garbage isn't gonna get itself.
Gervase: Regardless of the consequences now you sound like Mary.
Thomas: Which reminds me. What is Mary like?
Gervase: Let me put it this way. You know how James is about staying clean and how he goes on about his shiny red paint? Think of Mary as his opposite when it comes to paint and cleanliness.
Thomas: So she's a slob?
Gervase: Nah but she actually doesn't mind dirty work and she rarely goes to the wash down. The only thing that gets cleaned out are her moving parts, her smoke box, her firebox and her funnel.
Thomas understood and he went to work at once.
Back at the yards William Belmonte the Kalos Controller was waiting for Aurora and Michael to return for their next set of jobs. They returned and they both had serious looks on their faces.
Kalos Controller: Michael, Princess Aurora. Welcome back. I'm sure you both know why I wanted to see you.
Michael: We do. It's about Duchess Corrinne isn't it?
Kalos Controller: That's right. I'm sure you both know that she's been through a lot over the past two years and if we're going to do much of anything we'll need to know what Corrinne is like in terms of strategy.
Princess Aurora: Well for starters Duchess Corrinne usually prefers to take the direct approach and use brute force. That isn't to say that she lacks finesse but she prefers to just cut to the chase and use brute force to solve a lot of her problems. And it seems to have rubbed off on Abigail as you have figured out by now.
Kalos Controller: Yeah but I'm not asking about her at the moment. She's currently on assignment in North Eastern France.
Michael: Isn't that where you sent the engines who could handle mountainous terrain to work?
Kalos Controller: Actually Southern France is where most of the mountains are and North Eastern France has some hills but we're not talking about Abigail or the London and North Eastern Locomotives at the moment. We're talking about Duchess Corrinne. Is there anything else about Corrinne's Policies that would've changed since she went to the States for a Year and returned to Europe with Gervase?
Princess Aurora: You'd have to ask Gervase for that. After all he was in the States and he came back with my younger cousin so he'll be able to tell you more than we can.
Kalos Controller: I'll be sure and ask Gervase about that. Either way you two better get back to work.
Michael and Aurora agreed as they headed off to do the jobs the Kalos Controller had given them.
Back with Thomas and Gervase the two were doing trash duty together as Thomas didn't know his way around and Gervase was scheduled to pick up a train on the route.
Thomas: So is Corrinne really as brutal as she is? She's obviously the loudest engine I've met when I was still a station pilot.
Gervase: Well she's got the loud part down and she can be brutal but she's only brutal to her enemies and their relatives. Overall though she's a good leader right up there with George Washington, Winston Churchill, Queen Elizabeth, and Napoleon Bonaparte.
Thomas: So basically you're saying that she's a perfect leader.
Gervase: Some engines would think that but don't tell Corrinne I told you this but I think she could learn a thing or two from Edward about facing her enemies' relatives.
Thomas: You're right about that. Last time she was on Sodor she rallied half the locals and they showed up with gardening tools and torches and they were ready to beat up Diesel's driver just because of what the crows did.
Gervase: Consider Diesel is a lying weasel it probably would've served him and his driver right. At least that's what Abigail would say.
Thomas: Abigail? As in Duchess Corrinne's apprentice?
Gervase: That would be her. You know her?
Thomas: Yes but that's a story for another day. Right now let's just finish our work and get back to the sheds.
So Thomas and Gervase went to finish up their work but little did they know that somebody else had overheard everything that had been said.