The Modern Railway Series No. 23

BIG USEFUL ENGINES

Original stories by Andrew Brenner, Helen Farall & Lee Pressman

Foreword

Dear friends,

Sodor has got many tender engines. Some of them have been on the railway since the very beginning. They've taken great care of their duties on the main line across the whole island. But even big engines can get into all sorts of mishaps and surprises. These stories will tell you all about them.

The author

Henry gets the express

Early one morning, all the engines were leaving Tidmouth Sheds to start work on the railway. All, that is, except Gordon. "Wake up, lazybones!" laughed Henry. "Or you'll be late." "I'm not ready, Henry," yawned Gordon. "I need to get my firebox cleaned out." "You'd better get yourself ready soon, Gordon," advised Edward. "Or the Fat Controller might ask somebody else to pull the express." "Nonsense!" wheeshed Gordon. "Who would he ask?" "Henry's pulled it before," said Edward. Gordon didn't think that Henry would be good enough at managing the express like he does. "Ignore him, Henry," assured Edward. "He just likes to think that he's special." Henry grinned back at Edward.

At Knapford station, Edward told the Fat Controller about Gordon being late, as the express coaches were brought to the platform. He also suggested Henry to take the express. "Of course Henry can take the express!" said the Fat Controller. "Do you really think I could do it, sir?" asked Henry. "Definitely, Henry," beamed the Fat Controller. "It will teach Gordon a lesson."

So Henry set off with the express. At first he was a little nervous, but he soon began to enjoy himself. "Express coming through!" Meanwhile, Gordon came to Knapford station, where the Fat Controller was waiting for him. "It is extremely important that the express runs on time," he told Gordon. "People depend upon it. Since you were too busy this morning, I asked Henry to do your job." Gordon gasped as he was coupled to line of trucks. "Now you must do Henry's job, Gordon," said the Fat Controller. Gordon groaned with shame.

Henry arrived at Wellsworth station. The passengers thanked Henry for a very comfortable journey. "It's my pleasure," smiled Henry. "You're much more friendly than Gordon," said the stationmaster. "I wish you could pull the express every day!" Henry felt grand. Edward laughed. "Looks like we've got a new express engine on our buffers, don't we?" And he winked at Henry.

Gordon was not having anywhere near as much fun as Henry. "A goods train! A goods train! Oh, the shame…" He was pulling dirty coal trucks and he did not like it one bit. Gordon came to a stop at a signal. Presently, Henry passed him with the express. "Express coming through!" he called. "But, that's my line!" protested Gordon. "Hi Gordon, bye Gordon!" laughed Henry. Gordon fumed.

Soon, Gordon found himself at the Blue Mountain quarry, struggling to pull the troublesome trucks. The Fat Controller gave him another job to do instead of pulling the express. The troublesome trucks had put their brakes on, and held him back. "I'll have none of your nonsense!" puffed Gordon as he pulled with all his strength. The trucks released their brakes, and Gordon rolled right into the buffers. Luckily, no one was hurt. "That's it! Uncouple me! I'm going back to the shed!" snapped Gordon, who was beside himself with rage.

That night, when Henry came back to Tidmouth Sheds, Gordon was sulking. "I should never have taken goods trains today," he groaned. "I'm afraid it isn't up to you on which jobs you do, Gordon," came a stern voice. "You didn't even finish your jobs today! You must learn to do the jobs you're asked to do and tonight, I'm asking you to pull the Flying Kipper!" Gordon gasped. "I will not pull a smelly fish train!" "Very well," grinned the Fat Controller. "But if you don't do it, perhaps Henry will keep the job of pulling the express… forever!" Gordon groaned as he backed far inside his berth.

Henry wondered about Gordon. Then, he had an idea. "I guess the Flying Kipper isn't really such an easy job. Most engines aren't up to it. You probably wouldn't manage," he said, winking back at Edward. Henry's idea worked. Now, Gordon was determined to prove to Henry that he can pull the Flying Kipper after all. "No job is too hard for me!" Gordon boasted as he left the sheds.

By the time Gordon came back from pulling the Flying Kipper, it was already morning. "There, you see?" he announced triumphantly as he got on the turntable. "I delivered all the smelly fish and I didn't find it difficult at all!" "Oh, good! You've finally done as you were told, Gordon," said the Fat Controller. "I must say, Henry did so well pulling the express, he'd be a great permanent replacement for you." Gordon was horrified. "But," continued the Fat Controller. "You can go back to pulling it, Gordon." "Oh, thank you, sir!" said Gordon feeling relieved. "I can start straight away!" Gordon was happy to be back to pulling the express. Henry was happy to have pulled the express while it lasted. But he felt that the express really suited Gordon better.

Pouty James

James is always showing off. He likes to be the centre of attention. James is a mixed-traffic engine. This means that he is equally good at pulling coaches and pulling goods trains. Some engines enjoy pulling goods trains, but not James. He only likes pulling coaches and wishes that was the kind of work he did all the time. James was in a particularly good mood one day, that he never stopped himself from showing off. He overshot platforms, and undershot others. He slammed on his brakes and bumped his coaches. He even startled some engines whenever he came up right beside them to greet them.

But when he got to Knapford station, he found the Fat Controller waiting for him. "Here's-" "James!" interrupted the Fat Controller. "I have had nothing but complaints about you all day! And the passengers have all been saying what a bad railway this is!" "The passengers are just being silly, sir," James simply replied. "Honestly, James, we are supposed to look after our passengers!" said the Fat Controller. "I think it's high time you change your attitude, and until you do, I'm taking your coaches away." James was shocked to hear this.

James was sulking in the sheds that evening. The other engines could see that there was something wrong. "What's the matter with you, James?" asked Emily. "Nothing," replied James, before giving in. "The Fat Controller says I need to change my attitude." "I think he's right, James," said Emily. "No, he's not! What's wrong with my attitude?" retorted James. "Look at that pouty face!" laughed Emily. "No engine is better at making a pouty face than James!" "How about this face?" said Henry, squeezing his lips and raising his eyebrows. "How about me?" said Gordon, lowering his mouth and crossing his eyeballs. This made the engines laugh. "Never mind, James," said Edward. "Whatever is bothering you will probably seem better in the morning."

But the next morning, not much had changed. The Fat Controller reminded James about changing his attitude. "You don't expect me to let you pull passengers with a face like that, do you? Don't you want a job today, James?" "What does it matter what I want?" muttered James. "Very well," said the Fat Controller. "You can stay here then. In the shed!" James was too sulky to care what the Fat Controller told him. "Why don't you just say you're sorry and stop being grumpy?" said Emily. "It's no fun sitting in the shed all day." The other engines made more silly faces and laughed. James sill pouted.

It wasn't much fun sitting in the shed and doing nothing. But later that morning, the Fat Controller came back and James tried to put things right. He apologized and promised to be on his best behaviour. The Fat Controller was suspicious, but James seemed keen, so he allowed him to come out. James was delighted… until he realized that he was given the job of delivering waste trucks! "Smelly waste trucks?! Why can't I take those lovely clean coaches again?" demanded James. "Edward has taken those coaches today. The Fat Controller's orders," said Rosie.

Unfortunately, James was in too much of a bad mood to work quickly and it took him ages to get to the waste dump with his trucks, and even longer to get back to the shunting yard. And he still didn't get any coaches to pull. When James got to Brendam Docks, he was still sulking. And there was the Fat Controller. "James, I've had almost as many complaints about you today as I've had yesterday! Going around in a sulk, being rude to other engines, and taking far too long to get your trucks from A to B! You need to change your attitude, young steam engine!"

James didn't stop sulking as the Fat Controller left the docks in his car. "Change my attitude? How am I supposed to do that?" "What a face, James!" laughed Cranky. "You look even crankier than me!" "No engine is better at making a pouty face than James is!" giggled Emily. "Stop teasing!" protested James. But Emily began making silly faces. James tried to stop himself from laughing. Porter made faces as he shunted James' trucks into place. James felt himself stifling a chuckle. Cranky made faces. James finally began to laugh. "That's it, James," said Emily. "That's much better!" "What do you mean?" asked James. "You're changing your attitude! Put a smile on that face!" laughed Emily. James couldn't help but grin back at her.

So James tried to change his attitude and work more quickly. He still had to pull trucks and do the jobs he didn't like doing. But whenever he started to look sulky again, his friends helped to remind him. And before long, James found he was even enjoying himself. He didn't even mind that he wasn't pulling coaches. And so that was how James learned to change his attitude.

All in vain

One autumn day, James was out, doing his jobs as best as he could. The Fat Controller was going to a celebrity ball with the mayor of Sodor at Callan Castle. All the engines wanted to be the one to take them to the ball, but the Fat Controller chose James, on the condition that he gets all his jobs done on time that day. This made James feel proud, and determined to not let the Fat Controller down.

Unfortunately, James couldn't seem to stop getting his shiny coat of red paint dirty. Cranky accidentally spilled sugar on top of him while unloading sugar sacks. "Never mind, Cranky!" said James. "It's only stick if it gets wet." A wave of water splashed all over James. "Like that?" asked Cranky. "Oh no! My beautiful paintwork!" wailed James. But then he remembered about changing his attitude, so he kept on smiling instead.

James kept smiling as he went about his work. But as the day went on, his bright shiny red paintwork got dirtier and dirtier, and James got more and more fed up. Edward noticed how dirty James had gotten, and offered to do a couple of his jobs for him, so that James can get to the washdown early. But James politely declined his offer. "I can manage."

James was exhausted when he was done. But he was excited, having been cleaned up at the washdown. A workman examined James' running board closely. "What is it?" asked James. "Nothing, James, just a little scratch on your paintwork," said the workman. "Oh, a scratch…" said James. "…A SCRATCH?! But that isn't nothing! I can't pick up the mayor looking like this!" And James hurried off to the Steamworks.

James was soon repainted with a fresh new coat of red paint. His paint was still wet and sticky as he left the Steamworks. As James had predicted, it was very windy indeed. But unfortunately, that didn't help at all. James met Edward along the way. "What do you think?" Edward was very surprised. "James? What have you got all over your paintwork?" "What do you mean?" replied James. But when he looked back, he gasped. James' paintwork was completely covered with dust, leaves and twigs. "Oh, I should've ignored that little scratch," moaned James. "I can't pick up the mayor looking like this! Edward, I don't suppose, could you take the mayor to the ball for me? Please?" "I'd be happy to, James," said Edward. "Oh, thank you," said James, as he went off miserably to the sheds.

Edward was very proud to take the mayor and the Fat Controller to Callan Castle. "Here's Edward!" he announced as he arrived at Knapford station. They were expecting James, but they boarded Edward's coaches anyway. The next morning, the Fat Controller came to find James. "Stop hiding back there, James, I want to see you!" he called as he approached James' berth. Poor James slowly creeped out of his berth and revealed his messy paintwork to the other engines, making them laugh and tease him. "Well I must say, you do look ridiculous," commented the Fat Controller. "And if that wasn't bad enough, you let me and the mayor down very badly last night." "I'm sorry, sir," whispered James. "But, Edward told me all about what happened," continued the Fat Controller. "I hear you worked very had all day, James, and completed every job you've been given. If you hadn't have been so worried about a tiny scratch, you could've completed your special job, too. Now, go and get cleaned up." "Yes, sir. Sorry, sir," said James as he went sadly away to the Steamworks to be repainted all over again.

While James was waiting for his paint to dry, he had a surprise visitor. "Oh, hello, your worshipfulness!" he greeted the mayor. "Hello, James! Your friend Edward told me how disappointed you were last night, not to be able to take me to the ball at Callan Castle," said the mayor. "That's very kind of him, your highness," replied James. "You can call me Mr. Mayor, James," smiled the mayor. Then he turned to Victor. "Will James' paint be dry by this evening, Victor?" "Oh yes, sir, Mr. Mayor!" replied Victor. "Then would you like to take me to a dinner in Vicarstown tonight, James?" asked the mayor. James was so astonished, he couldn't believe it. "I'd be honoured to, Mr. Mayor," he whispered with joy.

That night, James felt very proud to be taking the mayor to Vicarstown. Edward came by as James left Knapford station. "You do look splendid tonight, James!" said Edward. "Thank you, Edward!" replied James, before feeling vain. "I know."

Something spooky (Henry in the dark)

One night, Emily was finishing her last job of the day, when she saw something strange in the distance. It was too luminous for her to make out, and it had a ghostly glow. "What's that?" When it got closer, Emily gasped. "Oh no! A ghost!" Emily rushed towards a siding and away from what seemed to be a ghost engine. Emily didn't peek out again until she was sure the coast was clear. Presently, Gordon came along with the express. "Gordon! I just saw a ghost train!" Emily told Gordon. "Don't be ridiculous," sniffed Gordon. "There's no such thing as a ghost train. But even if there was, I wouldn't be afraid of it."

James came to a stop at a signal further up the line. Then, he saw the ghostly glow, and got frightened. "Ghost!" He reversed quickly, to hide himself from the ghost train. When it was gone, James slowly approached the junction, as Gordon passed him. "Watch out, Gordon! There's a ghost train ahead!" squealed James. "Nonsense, James!" said Gordon. "There's no such thing as a ghost train!"

Gordon thought the other engines were being silly. "Fancy being frightened by a-" but then he froze, when he saw that the ghost train was right beside him. "Oh, help!" Gordon raced away as fast as he could. He didn't stop until he left his coaches at Knapford, and rushed to the sheds. The other engines were talking about the ghost train as Gordon got onto the turntable. "Did you see the ghost train, Gordon?" whispered James feebly. "I, did, James, but I'm not scared of a silly little ghost train," replied Gordon, trying to hide his own anxiety. Edward wasn't so sure about a ghost train being real.

The next morning, Henry came to the sheds after taking the Flying Kipper. "I didn't get a wink of sleep last night thinking about that ghost train," yawned James. "Good morning!" whistled Henry. "I've got something to tell you." "Have you seen the ghost train, Henry?" asked Emily. "You were out all night." "Well, the thing is," began Henry. "I'm sure Henry has seen it. He must've been shaking in his smokebox!" interrupted Gordon. "We all know what a scaredy-engine you are, Henry!" said James. "Once an engine attached to a train, was afraid of a few drops of rain," sang Gordon. This struck a nerve at Henry. "I'm not scared of that ghost train, and yes, I have seen it, but it didn't frighten me at all!"

Henry backed into his berth and didn't leave until the other engines had left. Edward felt sorry for Henry. He was pretty sure that there was no such thing as a ghost train. So he decided to get to the bottom of this situation. "Henry was repainted at the Steamworks the previous day," thought Edward. "Maybe Victor knows what's going on."

Edward came to the Steamworks and met Victor. "Hello, my friend!" said Victor. "What can I do for you?" "Hello, Victor. I've come to ask you something. Was Henry repainted?" "Yes, he was," replied Victor. Edward then told Victor about the ghost train and how frightened the other engines were. "Kevin!" called Victor. "Yes, boss?" said Kevin. "Can you bring over the paint we used to repaint Henry?" said Victor. "Yes, of course, boss!" said Kevin as he rushed off and brought back the tray with the paint cans. Victor examined them, and then laughed. He told Edward what must have happened, and Edward understood now.

Edward met Henry that evening and told him that he knew the truth. "I have an idea, Henry, how the others can see that you were right," Edward told Henry. And he whispered a plan to Henry, that made him chuckle. "We'll do it tonight," whispered Edward.

That night, the other engines were in the sheds. They made sure to get back before it got dark. No one wanted to come out while the ghost train was about. Suddenly, Edward came rushing in. "Look out!" he called. "It's coming!" "What's coming?" asked Emily as Edward got on the turntable. "The ghost train! I saw it! It's coming this way!" said Edward as he reversed into his berth. The other engines shivered in fear. And then, there it was. The ghost train approaching the turntable, and gave a loud whistle. This was too much for the others. They shrieked and backed inside the sheds, slamming their doors behind them. Only Edward didn't move. "Look out, Edward! The ghost train will get us all!" yelped Gordon. But Edward took one look, and burst out laughing. "Don't worry, everyone! It's not a real ghost!"

The engines crept out of their berths quietly and they were surprised to see… "It's only me!" said the ghost train. "Henry? You were the ghost train this whole time?" asked James. "Why didn't you tell us?" "I tried to, but you wouldn't listen!" said Henry. "You called me a scaredy-engine!" "Well, I hope you've all learned your lesson by now," came a voice. The Fat Controller came to the sheds. "Henry obviously must've been painted in the wrong colour. Neon-green, for making signs and posts visible at night." The other engines felt silly, and they apologized to Henry. "You'd better go to the Steamworks and get repainted first thing in the morning. Since you were the only one who has worked hard tonight, you shall receive a glowing report!" said the Fat Controller. "Thank you, sir!" replied Henry. The engines agreed that they would never speak of this predicament again.