A/N I don't know if I got any new readers, but this note's for any I happen to have. I'm not British, but my stories are in British English when a Sodor character speaks because they're British. The trip's somewhat inspired by the episode of the show in which Sir Topham Hatt went away for a week.

In the Bertram Hatt house after the school day ended, little Thomas was being impatient. He was eager to get "to the seaside" and could talk of nothing else. Gordon and Henry were annoyed and James was feeling caught in the middle. I don't want any of them cross with me, he thought. The brothers talked as the family got ready to go.

The twins told their little brother "You've got a long tongue for how little you are."

James just said "Let's do some trainspotting as we can. Like if we pass near any railway at a given moment, we can look and listen for trains. Maybe I'll see that red engine pull a train."

Gordon said, "Maybe we shall hear that big blue express engine with a really distinct whistle. Whenever I see that engine pull the express, I say "Express Coming Through!" because it just fits."

Thomas said, "I hope we shan't be held up by any trains. Now, I love trainspotting, especially that little blue tank engine because it's little and my favorite color's blue. However, I've got no patience today."

Henry said, "I like to see that green engine that sometimes pulls the express, but often pulls The Flying Kipper. Dad used to have so much trouble with that one. I remember when it needed special coal. But now it's been rebuilt to have a bigger firebox since that crash over the winter."

The family got on their way. Little Thomas decided to play a trick on his brothers. When they were within earshot of some rails, if there was a train on them, he made train sounds. They looked around and wondered where the train was.

James realized what Thomas had done by that cheeky grin on his little brother's face and said, "Wow,Tommy! Brilliant imitation of that tank engine you like!"

Thomas laughed and said, "It comes from practice. You know how much I play with toy trains."

James said, "All of us have played with that toy steam railway you and all your railfan friends now play with, like our cousins."

Gordon punched Thomas, saying "What cheek! Imitating a whistle and making us think there was a train!"

"Ow!", cried Thomas, literally crying because he was punched so hard. "Mummy, Gordon hurt me" he added, sniffling into his hanky.

Their father told Gordon he needed to apologize to his brother for hitting him so hard. The older boy did so.

Eventually, they arrived at their destination and settled in their rented house. They unpacked, settled in and had some dinner. The twins went to the sand to kick their soccer ball and since the parents needed some time to talk, they told James to play with Thomas for awhile. Then one by one, they each ended their day.

A/N The other humanization fics include the engines somehow, not just engine based human characters. In this one, they like to train spot, if they're named after a TTTE character. Even those with a connection to railway head can be railfans in a story because in a storybook land anything goes. I draw from British books I've read that have kids in them for certain elements of their behavior or just how siblings can be for other aspects, in addition to their personalities.