Disclaimer: All recognisable fictional characters belong to Mattel. All fictional OCs belong to me.
Chapter 4
Thomas was parked in the shed, anxiously awaiting the arrival of his new driver and fireman. While a small part of him worried that he'd end up with a crew who'd mistreat him, he had tried to reassure himself that Mr Billinton wouldn't do that to him.
A light drizzle was falling, shrouding the yard in a misty haze. Thomas watched curiously as the puddles that had formed overnight continued to slowly grow. He'd rather enjoyed falling asleep the night before to the steady streams of rain pounding on the engine shed's slate roof. Although the rain was falling much more softly now, the steady beat was just as soothing. He didn't feel cold either, despite the ocean breeze, because a warming fire had been left in his firebox overnight. That meant that it wouldn't take very long for him to raise enough steam to enable him to move again.
A movement caught Thomas' eye. Two men wearing smart overalls were crossing the yard, trying to avoid the puddles. Thomas giggled when he saw the younger of the two men slip on a patch of mud. Luckily, the man managed to regain his balance quickly.
"Trust you to slip!" the older man exclaimed.
"Oohh! My socks are soaked through now!" the younger man complained.
"Well, if you'd been watching where you were walking instead of staring at that young lady on the platform, your socks might still be dry."
Both men entered the shed. The older man looked straight at Thomas. He was standing where he could easily see Thomas' road number, which was painted on Thomas' bunker.
"You must be Thomas," he said. "My name is Jeremiah, and I'm your new driver. And this, erm, clown…is your new fireman, Brian."
Brian and Thomas smiled sheepishly at each other. Jeremiah cleared his throat to get their attention.
"Right, well, now that we've all been introduced, let's get you fired up, Thomas. Then we'll take you for a short run."
Thomas smiled as Jeremiah and Brian climbed inside his cab. While Jeremiah began familiarising himself with Thomas' controls, Brian set about building up Thomas' fire. Before long, the fire was sizzling nicely, and Thomas had plenty of steam.
"Can we go now, please?" Thomas begged his crew. "I want to play in the rain!"
"We'll go as soon as Jeremiah gets back with the token from the signalman," Brian soothed. "However, if you want to play in the rain, I can move you just outside the shed…"
Thomas grinned as Brian released his brakes and opened his regulator. Brian slowly eased Thomas forwards until only Thomas' cab and bunker remained inside the shed. Then, he closed the regulator and applied the brakes. Thomas obediently stopped. The rain pelted down on his glossy black paintwork, making it glisten like stars in the night sky.
Giggling, Thomas tried to catch some of the raindrops on the tip of his tongue. The rain fell on his face, tickling his nose, cheeks, and eyelids. A particularly large raindrop landed on the end of Thomas' nose. The droplet tickled and made Thomas sneeze. His sneeze caused a huge cloud of ash and steam to escape from his funnel. Inside the cab, Brian laughed.
"Get a bit of water up your nose then, huh, Thomas?"
Thomas sniffled. "What was that I just did?"
"It's called a sneeze. It happens when you inhale something you shouldn't. The sneeze helps to get rid of the irritant."
"Oh." Thomas sniffled again. The rain increased, causing more water to run down his face. He wasn't so sure if rain was as much fun as he'd thought it would be.
A few minutes later, Jeremiah returned.
"Okay, young Thomas," Jeremiah said as his climbed back inside the cab. "Playtime's over for now, I'm afraid. We've been given permission to do a return trip to Newhaven."
"Newhaven?" Thomas queried. "I haven't been there yet. Is it far?"
"Not really," Jeremiah replied. "It'll take us about an hour to go there and get back here. Then, we'll have a couple of hours for lunch before we depart for London."
Thomas immediately felt sad. He was about to leave the only home he'd ever known. "Do I really have to leave Brighton? I've made a lot of friends here."
Jeremiah sympathetically patted the side of Thomas' cab. "You'll make even more friends in London. And, Mr Billinton has arranged a very special job for you in London. You're going to become the new station pilot at London Bridge."
Thomas smiled slightly. "Gladstone told me that I might become a station pilot. But, uh, what exactly does a station pilot do?"
Brian leaned out of Thomas' cab to get a better view of the line ahead as they rounded a curve. "Clear ahead!" he called to Jeremiah. Then, he answered Thomas' question. "You'll be responsible for looking after the yard. There'll be some shunting engines to help you, but you'll be the only shunting engine allowed to be seen in the station platforms."
Thomas liked the sound of that. "Oh! Will I get to pull any trains?"
"On the very rare occasion, you might," Jeremiah said, just before he made Thomas whistle. "No promises though. Station pilots have to be reliable and look immaculate at all times, because the passengers will see you. They don't like seeing dirty engines."
Thomas smiled conceitedly. He couldn't wait to start his new job now.
…
Forty-five minutes later, Thomas arrived back at the Brighton yard. The rain had stopped falling by then, but it was still overcast. Thomas yawned as he made his way over to the water column. He was glad he'd get to rest for a couple of hours before departing for London. Even that short trip to Newhaven had exhausted him. At least he wasn't going to be travelling to London alone. Jeremiah had explained to him that he was going to be travelling as a double-header with another engine and a goods train. Although Thomas hadn't quite understood, he trusted his crew knew what they were doing.
Thomas smiled when he saw Gladstone parked on a siding nearby.
"Hello, Gladstone!" Thomas called. "I'm glad to see you again before I leave. Have you been repaired now?"
"Oh, hello, one-oh-six," Gladstone replied. He didn't yet know that Thomas had been named. "I'm just out of the works on a test run, but I should be able to return to work in a few days. Are you leaving soon?"
"Yes. In a few hours, in fact. And you were right. I've been assigned as a station pilot at London Bridge in London."
Gladstone smiled. "I'm very happy for you. But remember, being a station pilot is a very important job. If you're late, everyone will be delayed. You'll also be responsible for keeping the shunting engines in order. I'm actually surprised that Mr Billinton has given you that task, considering how new you are. He must have a lot of faith in you."
Thomas blushed slightly. "I hope I don't let him down. Oh, and by the way, Mr Billinton has given me a name now. I'm called Thomas now."
"That is a nice name. It suits you. I was named after a former Prime Minister." And Gladstone beamed proudly.
"Oh. I don't know if I'm named after anyone," Thomas mused.
"I'm sure you have been," Gladstone assured him. "I don't know of any engine that wasn't named after someone or somewhere famous."
Reassured, Thomas smiled. Jeremiah and Brian finished refilling his water-tank, and they climbed back inside his cab.
"Come on, Thomas," Jeremiah said. "We're going to park you back inside the shed while we go and have our lunch."
"Could you park me next to Gladstone, please?" Thomas asked. "I'd like to keep talking to him."
Jeremiah released Thomas' brakes. "Well, since that siding is out of the way, I don't see a problem with that."
A few minutes later, Thomas' crew had parked him on the siding next to Gladstone, with the two engines facing each other. Once they were satisfied that Thomas was settled and comfortable, they headed off in search of a delicious lunch of fish and chips.
Although Thomas was still tired from his morning trip, he forced himself to stay awake so he could listen to Gladstone's stories and advice. The older engine talked about all sorts of strange things that Thomas could only imagine.
All too soon, Thomas' crew returned, and it was time for him to get ready to leave Brighton for London.
"Thank you for being so kind to me, Gladstone," Thomas said as Brian set about building up Thomas' fire for the second time that day. "I hope I get to see you again soon."
"I hope so too. After all, I do get to travel to London at least once a day, even though I'm mostly stationed in Portsmouth. Just remember to always do your very best no matter what task you're given."
"I will," Thomas promised. Then, after giving Gladstone a farewell whistle, Thomas headed over towards the goods yard.
When they had arrived in the nearby goods yard, Thomas saw a mid-sized tender engine shunting together a long goods train. The train consisted mostly of boxcars, but there were also a few tankers and open trucks. The locomotive, a C2X class, had the number 440 painted on the side of his cab.
When 440 had finished shunting, he steamed over a set of point and onto Thomas' line. The two engines stood facing each other. 440 sneered disapprovingly. "You must be the new engine that's on a transfer with me to London today," he said gruffly.
"Erm… Yes. I believe so…" Thomas replied.
"Huh! I just hope you don't need to stop for coal and water as often as your brothers do."
Thomas let off steam indignantly. "Hardly! Mr Billinton said he'd fixed those problems when he built me."
"We'll see about that. Just keep your brakes off, don't whinge and don't distract me. And, if I tell you to do something, I expect you to do it immediately, understood?"
"Yes, sir! Er, I mean… Yes, four-four-oh."
440 sniffed. "You can start by getting out of my way. Go and get yourself turned around and coupled up to the train."
Thomas wheeshed again. "You can't tell me what to do! I'm a station pilot!"
"Not around here, you're not! Now, are you going to move, or do I have to report you to the yard manager?"
Rather begrudgingly, Thomas asked his crew to move him out of the way of the bossy goods engine.
A few minutes later, after being turned around on a nearby turntable, Thomas backed down onto the goods train. A man carrying a long pole with a hook on one end coupled Thomas up to the train. Later, Thomas would learn that the man was called a shunter and was not to be confused with shunting locomotives.
Just as 440 was reversing onto the train in front of Thomas, Boxhill pulled up alongside them. Mr Billinton climbed down from the cab, and he moved into Thomas' line of sight.
"Well, Thomas," Mr Billinton began. "I guess this is goodbye, for now. I'll try and see how you're getting along the next time I'm in London. Just remember that the most important thing for a steam engine to be is reliable and really useful. Will you promise to try and do that for me?"
"Of course, sir!" Thomas promised. He glanced at Boxhill. "Uh, Boxhill? Would you mind saying goodbye to La France for me, please? I've already said goodbye to Gladstone."
"Of course, I will!" Boxhill promised. "They'll miss you. We all will. I hope you have a good life."
440 sounded his whistle shrilly. "We need to go now, Thomas, or we'll be late!"
Thomas looked down sadly at Mr Billinton. The man placed a hand on Thomas' buffer-beam. He sighed sadly before he nodded to Jeremiah. Jeremiah pulled Thomas' whistle cord, making him whistle to signal to 440 that they were ready to depart. The guard at the rear of the train blew his whistle and, with a couple of jerks, the train set off. Mr Billinton watched until the train disappeared around a bend in the track. Then, he climbed back into Boxhill's cab.
"I'm going to miss that cheeky tank engine around here," he said sadly to himself.
"You didn't have to send him to London, sir," Boxhill pointed out. "You could've kept him here instead."
Mr Billinton shook his head. "No, Boxhill. Thomas is needed in London. He'll be happy there, I'm sure."
…
"Don't tell me that you have to stop, AGAIN?" 440 exclaimed crossly as the train neared East Croydon Station on the southern outskirts of London.
"I'm sorry," Thomas panted wearily. He was red in the face from exertion and his wheels ached terribly. "I didn't realise just how far away London was."
440 grunted as he eased on his brakes. Thomas also applied his brakes and the heavy train slowed to a stop just outside the station. The signalman waved them onto a siding where Thomas could refill his tanks at a water column. Thomas felt close to tears. He felt inadequate and not anywhere near as useful as Mr Billinton expected him to be.
"It's okay, Thomas," Jeremiah soothed when he saw how upset Thomas was. "You're doing the best you can, and that's all anyone can expect of you. If it's any consolation, we're just outside London now."
Thomas was too exhausted to reply. Once his water tanks and coal bunker had been refilled, the train set off again.
Luckily, now that they were in London, the train was forced to stop at nearly every station to clear the line for faster passenger trains. Therefore, it took them another twenty minutes before they finally entered London Victoria Station. Dusk was falling while the two engines shunted the heavy train in reverse onto a spare line next to platform Number five.
"What happens now?" Thomas asked as both engines were uncoupled from the train and from each other.
"An engine from the London, Clapham and Dover Railway will collect the train overnight," 440 explained. "Most of the goods are heading to Edinburgh in Scotland."
Thomas was too tired to pay much attention to what 440 was saying. 440 left the station, heading towards the nearby shed. Jeremiah drove Thomas slowly back down along the line towards a junction. After a passenger train had passed through the junction, the signalman gave Thomas clearance to change tracks.
It was dark by the time Thomas limped slowly into the yard at London Bridge Station. His crew drove him over to a large engine shed where they parked him for the night. A stern-looking middle-aged gentleman wearing a bowler hat and brown overcoat walked over to Thomas.
"I expected you here over an hour ago," the man said to Jeremiah, completely ignoring Thomas. "Did you have teething problems, or just the usual delays that these E2s cause?"
Jeremiah leaned out of Thomas' cab, and he shrugged indifferently. "Sorry, Mr Drew. Thomas is still being run-in, and it was a long trip for him. It'll take a few weeks to build up his stamina. Mr Billinton said he'd explained that to you."
Mr Drew waved his hand dismissively. "I know you and Mr Billinton like to coddle these machines, but I have a job to do, and a strict timetable to keep. I can't afford to let you play nursemaid while our boys are fighting in the trenches. Now, I believe you have some paperwork for me?"
Jeremiah took Thomas' transfer orders out of his pocket, and he passed them down to Mr Drew. He glanced at them for a moment before he attached them to his clipboard.
"Shut down your engine and go home," Mr Drew ordered. "I'll see you both again in the morning."
"Goodnight, Mr Drew," Jeremiah replied as the man walked away. He patted the side of Thomas' cab. "That was Mr Drew, the yard manager. You don't want to get on his bad side, believe me! Thomas? Thomas?"
"I think he's already fallen asleep," Brian said with a chuckle.
"Ah! We can't blame him for that. Leave a warming fire in him overnight. I'll see you at six a.m."
"Right," Brian agreed.
Author's response to reviews:
SpartanPrime101 - Splendid work, mate. I'm really enjoying this story so far. I understand exactly what the other E2 was going through with her driver - my old boss was always treating myself and my fellow employees as being beneath him, and often ignored us in favor for his own ideas and demands. Suffice to say, I'm glad that I resigned to start my own business. So ,I know exactly how she feels, and am proud to see Thomas step in to help his older sibling. Other that that, please continue the good work; I can't wait for chapter 4.
CarsWorldFan – Aww, I'm sorry your boss treated you like that. I've had bosses like that too. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter too!
racefangurl - In one of my Sodor Tales, I show Thomas as a new engine. He comes alive when named, but can't talk until first steamed. The only way I show him cheeky right away's when someone smiles at him and he gives a cheeky/sweet smile in return. That was inspired by a fic I read that refers to "his sweet yet cheeky smile". I depict his cheeky ways more obviously in my Tootle On Sodor fic, which is a crossover. Someone talking about Tootle in a comment on a Thomas related post somewhere inspired that one. He's cheeky to Tootle, teasing him about his accent and his English. The last thing he heard before he got steamed for the first time was his name, so that's his first word. Repeating words is babyish, so maybe I show him a sort of babyish. I read a fic in which there's a new engine, Octavia, and she's referred to as a newborn and like a baby. There's a part in which I depict him not aware of much. As a '90's kid, I grew up with the models. The hardest thing about TTTE fics is, for me, making sure I honor the show being British when a Sudrian character speaks. I try very hard to mimic show English and only Americanize what the dubs I grew with did, not use too American a turn of phrase.
CarsWorldFan – I'm really enjoying ready other FanFics about 'baby' Thomas. There are so many imaginative interpretations out there! I'm so glad you're doing your best to honour the show's Britishness. I wrote a Tootle FanFic years ago, but I was too scared to publish it online. If I can find it again, I might consider publishing it now. Tootle is such an adorable character!
mean-scarlet-deceiver - Awww. The notion of engines needing a month to build stamina, and war necessitating engines being pushed beyond their natural limits... that's a brilliant concept/plot point but it also does things to my heart, you know.
CarsWorldFan – Sadly, during wartime, nearly everything was sped up. Poor Thomas has been thrown in the deep end here.
I enjoyed meeting both Thomas's crew and 102's for the sheer contrast between the two. Also because I am a complete sucker for engine-crew dynamics. Have definitely thought a lot about how engines can be abused in various ways. Never even dared go in as hard for the verbal lashing as you portrayed, though.
CarsWorldFan – I love the way you write crew dynamics into your stories! It really increases the realism. Sadly, I've seen first-hand when a crew verbally abuses a loco. I toned it down for this story, of course, but it happened when I was a trainee firewoman. The poor engine struggled to shunt a long train up a one-in-thirty grade and the driver's language became increasingly colourful. I felt so bad for the locomotive, even though it obviously wasn't alive.
Brb, gonna go see about loco-nabbing and re-homing fictional steam engines...
CarsWorldFan – Wait, what?
Anyway, good stuff all around! Great technical detail and pitch-perfect Thomas characterisation, as usual. I'm intrigued to see how things go for Thomas at his first assignment. Although his crew seems lovely, I am expecting that he is going to go through the wringer... My boy!
CarsWorldFan – London is going to be a real eye-opener for Thomas.
Thank you for the kind words. It's always great to know when someone is reading and I'm glad Ex-Condor passes muster. Fanfiction dot net makes it maddeningly troublesome to link or share URLs here, and my own WWI project (including my baby Thomas and hat/funnel scene) is still in the early-mid WIP stages with just little sketches, but it is posted on my tumblr under the "ttte: wwi" tag. My more polished and completed stuff is on Archive of our Own under MeanScarletDeceiver. I don't have much free time these days, but writing and reading Thomas stories is certainly a wonderful way to spend it.
CarsWorldFan – Thank you for that info! I'll take a look at your stories on Achive of our Own. I find that the best way to share links here is to add random spaces in the link. The other party can delete the spaces after copying the link. It can be tedious, but worth it for the right person.
Until your next post, best of luck in your creative endeavors.
CarsWorldFan – Aww! Thank you so much!