TO BE QUITE FRANK
Based upon "We Need Another Engine" by Christopher Awdry
Adapted by Zack Wanzer and James Riddle
Set during Series 20-21
Autumn had come to the Island of Sodor, and on the Arlesdale Railway, excitement was in the air. Rex, Bert and Mike were to be part of a photoshoot session for the next book by the Thin Clergyman; he and the Fat Clergyman had arrived at Arlesburgh on Duck's train.
"Hello, everyone!" the Thin Clergyman greeted with a wave.
"Oh, hello again!" greeted Bert. "Are you here to shoot our photo? To be honest, though, I prefer a photo being whole."
"Oh, no, it's not like that," chuckled the Thin Clergyman. "Although I do strongly condemn the use of violence… Anyway, Teddy and I will be taking some shots of you three - as well as Duck here - for the cover."
"What's Duck got to do with it?" asked Mike. "He wasn't involved that much apart from learning about our line."
"But he was here when you made fun of his broken whistle, only to lose yours that same day as well," smirked Rex. The miniature red engine just stared daggers at him. Duck chuckled; it was never not amusing seeing Rex and Mike get under each others' frames.
As soon as everyone was in position, the two clergymen prepared to take the shot - Duck was facing away from the camera, as if he was speaking to the miniature trio, Mike had an expression of indignance towards Rex, who was winking at Duck, and Bert had his eyes closed, as if feeling satisfied about being painted blue.
Once several shots had been taken - this was so they could pick the best out of the sessions - the two clergymen got down to speak with the engines directly.
"We'd like to thank all four of you for your participation," said the Thin Clergyman. "The next book to be published shall be called… Small Railway Engines."
Rex, Bert and Mike each beamed with pride. Though as the two clergymen were leaving, Bert couldn't help but feel as though he had forgotten to tell them something…
Several months had passed on the Arlesdale Railway, with a few changes here and there. Among them being the arrival of a gray diesel called Frank to assist with track maintenance, a role not dissimilar to that of Rusty on the Skarloey Railway. Although Frank was a hard worker, he tended to be extremely moody.
That afternoon, Frank was pulling into Arlesburgh yards when he heard some excited chatter coming from the station.
"What's going on over there?" he asked his driver. "It's not even the summer rush yet!"
"I don't know," said the driver, "but let's shunt these trucks into that siding and find out."
Having suited action to word, Frank rolled over to where Rex was waiting with a passenger train and a large crowd on the station platform. Oliver was on the standard gauge platform, observing the scene.
"What's with all of these people?" asked Frank.
"They're excited to read the newest book of the Railway Series," explained Rex.
"The Railway Series?" Frank repeated, confused. "What on earth is that?"
"Oh, it's a series of children's books written by Reverend Awdry documenting some of the events that have happened on Sodor," explained Oliver. "Amongst many stories retold like mine and Toad's escape from scrap, Duck's incident with the barber shop, Donald and Douglas' trial runs, and so on. Of course, not every last detail has been put to pen, and some events were changed up to be more suitable for children, which has led to some… er, disagreements. Just ask Sir Handel."
"And this week marks the release of the first book about our railway, Frank," added Rex. His driver then showed Frank the cover of Small Railway Engines, depicting Mike, Bert and Rex talking to Duck.
"Am I in the book as well?" asked Frank; his curiosity about the Railway Series had already grown. Rex suddenly felt rather awkward about the question he'd been asked.
"Um… I'm afraid… not," he said, choosing his words carefully. "The Reverend and his friend didn't know about you when the stories were being penned, or during that photoshoot last year either."
"And when, pray tell, did those clergymen arrive for that photoshoot?"
"Erm… I'd say about two weeks before you came here."
"Two weeks?!" Frank's voice seemed to increase in pitch upon this revelation.
Frank was in a bad mood for the rest of the day. No matter where he went, the workmen and any engines coming his way had to put up with his sulky demeanor.
"It's not fair!" he whined. "Why did Mr. Duncan have to wait so long to purchase me? I could have been in the books by now."
"How long do you think he'll keep this up?" one of the workers asked their companion.
"I'd say give it at least three hours," the other workman replied.
While Frank was whining over being left out of the books, another engine was coming into view with a passenger train. She was a diesel engine like Frank, but she was painted in a two-tone blue livery and had a 2-C-2 wheel arrangement.
"Hello, Frank," she greeted. "What's the matter?"
"It's that new book about our railway, Sigird," Frank complained. "Rex, Bert and Mike have been getting all the attention, and none of the passengers seem to know who I am!"
"Oh yes, I've heard about Small Railway Engines being published," chuckled Sigrid. "Who hasn't? Although I've been around when the trio had their own misadventures, I've not had any interesting stories to tell myself. Nor have the Blisters, for that matter."
Of course, Sigrid meant for this to be reassuring to Frank, but all that it did was worsen his already sour mood.
"Do you want readers to think that us diesels are boring?!" he gawked. "We're just as reliable as any steam engine!" And he rolled quickly away before Sigrid even had a chance to respond. Some of the passengers had overheard their conversation, and were not impressed with Frank.
"Does he really think he'll end up in a book with that sort of attitude?" one asked.
"I've seen toddlers have more maturity than this!" agreed another.
"I just wonder what Mr. Duncan even sees in that gray diesel," said a third.
"It's just not fair at all!" Frank whined that evening. "Why couldn't Sigrid, the Blisters or I be put in a book like the steam engines?!"
"Lighten up, Frank," said his driver. "It's just a book; nothing to get your fuses in a twist over."
"There are pictures in it, aren't there?" Frank continued to sulk. "And I suppose we're not in a single one of them either?"
"Oh, come on, Frank!" groaned the driver, beginning to lose patience with her stubborn engine. "It's teamwork that counts on a railway, not books."
"I. Don't. Care!" snapped Frank. With a growl of his engine, he suddenly jerked forwards, and before his driver could stop him, he hit one of the shed supports head on.
"Ouch!" he cried. "Who put that there?!"
"You silly engine!" snapped his driver, gathering herself after the sudden stop. "Be thankful that we didn't end up going through the shed wall! Otherwise, the others would've had a rather cold, uncomfortable sleep, and you'd be stuck at the workshop for days!"
Frank's driver wasn't the only one to tell him off, for Mr. Fergus Duncan had come to the sheds to see what the commotion was about. When he saw the cracked shed support, he quickly put two and two together.
"Frank!" Mr. Duncan scolded. "Explain yourself."
The gray diesel sadly looked down at his buffers before explaining what had gone on since this afternoon. Mr. Duncan shook his head once Frank had finished.
"I understand you and the other diesels were feeling left out," he said, "but that's no excuse to vent your frustrations at everyone around you or throw a childish tantrum! You shall be sleeping with the Blisters at the ballast mines tonight and work there for the next few days. Perhaps this will teach you not to be such a crosspatch in the near future."
"Yes, sir," whimpered Frank, and he rolled sadly away, leaving Mr. Duncan to inspect the cracked shed support.
"It's shocking, isn't it?" exclaimed Mike the following morning. "Fancy nearly knocking our sheds over all because poor little Frankie wasn't featured in our book. 'Oh, hewwo, I'm Fwank, the most insignificant widdle engine on the iswand, waaah!'" he added, mocking Frank's tone of voice whenever he got cross.
"That's not funny, Mike!" snapped Sigrid. "Poor Frank must be feeling awful after what happened last night."
"As he should," huffed Mike, but he said that to himself.
"Well, look on the bright side," said Rex. "At least the sheds are still standing up, and that the shed support Frank ran into can easily be replaced."
Bert was the only engine not engaged in the ongoing conversation; his driver was having trouble getting the fire lit up.
"Must be your tubes that are clogged," the blue engine's driver sighed. "If I give them a good clean, that should help out a little."
Mike had overheard this and would not relent with his teasing. "Poor old Bert," he grinned. "Too tired to do any work like us younger engines?"
"I just can't get steam up," the blue tender engine protested. "This has been going on with me for months!"
"That's what you said weeks ago," grunted Mike. "And weeks before that, and then weeks before that… I swear, Bert, you're just being a big hypocrite… erm, no, I mean, hippopotamus… no, that's not right either–"
"I think you mean 'hypochondriac', Mike," smirked Rex. "Don't worry, Bert. If you're feeling unwell, Sigrid and I can help with your trains."
"Thanks, you guys," smiled Bert, gratefully. Mike simply rolled his eyes.
Meanwhile, Frank was helping out at the ballast mines with the Blister twins, Ivy and Idina; they were small black diesels with hazard stripes on both ends like Mavis.
"I wish I hadn't done that…" sighed Frank.
"Hadn't done what?" asked Ivy. Frank then explained about his tantrum over not being in the new book, and how he'd crashed in the shed because of it.
"Must've been quite a blow to your ego doing that," teased Idina.
"And all because of a book," added Ivy.
"It's mainly the principle of it," insisted Frank. "It's not as though we're any less important than the steam engines who help to run the line, right?" He looked at the Blister twins, both with uncertain expressions on their faces. "…right?"
"Er…"
"Well…"
"Now don't tell me you two actually think the steam engines are more important than us!" moaned Frank.
"No! Nothing of the sort!" insisted Idina. "It's just that diesels nowadays are a far more common sight on the railways. This means that steam engines are becoming rarer to see outside of heritage railways, and that makes them popular among rail enthusiasts."
"It doesn't mean diesels aren't important too, though," insisted Ivy.
Frank said nothing, but it seemed he had something to think about…
Meanwhile, down at Arlesburgh, Rex was departing with one of Bert's passenger trains. He struggled to pull the coaches as he started off.
"Cor, blimey!" he exclaimed. "It's heavier than usual! I can't imagine poor Bert trying to pull this!"
"Just do the best you can," assured his driver. "There's no hurry with the passengers."
But all the same, Rex's driver began to worry as he looked at his engine's steam gauge. The green miniature engine was beginning to climb the hill through the woods of Marthwaite.
"What's happening, driver?" called Rex as he felt his wheels slip. "There can't be any leaves on the line, nor has it been raining!"
"Your steampipe must be leaking," said the driver. "We'll get you to the next loop line and I'll call for help."
It wasn't long before Rex and the train came to a stop at a place called the Green, close to where he once had an accident with some wool.
"Why have we stopped?" one of the passengers asked. "We're not at a station!"
"Something must have gone wrong," insisted another.
"I'm afraid Rex won't be going any further today," said the driver. "He can manage by himself, but the train seems to be too much for him."
"I'll walk over to the next station and telephone for help," said the guard. "Don't go anywhere!"
"Hmph. Very funny," muttered Rex. "Chance would be a fine thing…"
While the guard walked off to the next station and Rex's driver dampened down his fire, Mike came passing by with a loaded ballast train.
"Oh no, not you too, Rex," the red engine teased with mock sympathy. "First Bert and now you! Looks like I'll have to manage the line by myself while you two have a rest!"
"You're not the only other engine in operation today, you know!" retorted Rex, but Mike was too far away to hear him. "All the same," the green engine continued, "we'll need another engine to help us out…"
At the ballast mines, Frank and his driver received a message from the foreman.
"Rex has failed at the Green with a leaking steampipe," he reported. "We'll need you two to help get the passengers to the station."
"Me, sir?" asked Frank. "But what about Ivy and Idina? They aren't in disgrace like I am."
"They'll be needed here, I'm afraid," said the foreman. "You're the only engine strong enough to handle this train alone."
"Go on, Frank," encouraged Ivy. "We can manage things here."
"Well, I suppose…" With a toot of his horn, Frank set off to the rescue.
Back at the Green, Rex, his driver and the passengers stood waiting on the loop line when they all heard the sound of a diesel's horn.
"That can't be Sigird," said Rex. "She's not due for another twenty minutes." Around the corner came the sight of a familiar gray diesel.
"Well, here I am," said Frank, stopping alongside Rex. "I'll be taking over the train while you head on home to Arlesburgh. We can't let the passengers down now, can we?"
"No, we can't," agreed Rex. "Thanks for helping us out of this predicament."
"I'm glad I could help," smiled Frank. "Also… I'm sorry about what happened last night with the sheds. I have no excuse for how I acted."
"Ah, you're not the only engine to throw a hissy fit over something out of their control," comforted Rex. After the green engine had been uncoupled and backed onto the other line, Frank was coupled to the train and began pulling it to the top station at Arlesdale.
"Right, this could take a while to have your steampipe patched up," said Rex's driver, "but it should be at least enough to get us home."
At Arlesdale station, the stationmaster was waiting anxiously for the train to arrive. She was most surprised to see that it was Frank pulling in instead of Rex.
"We can't apologize enough for the delay–" the stationmaster began, but instead of being cross, the passengers sang their praises upon Frank.
"This helpful little diesel here managed to put things right when Rex broke down," said one of the passengers.
"Had it not been for Frank, we'd have had to walk the rest of the way here!" agreed another.
"Three cheers for Frank!" a third cried out. Frank didn't have anything to say, but he just beamed with pride.
When he'd heard about Frank's actions, Mr. Duncan was pleased with the gray diesel as well.
"Well, you've certainly made up for your outburst last night," he told Frank. "The broken shed support was also easily replaced; so long as this remains an isolated incident, Frank, we'll say no more about it."
"Yes, sir," promised Frank. "Such an outburst like that won't happen again."
"Excellent," smiled Mr. Duncan. "As Bert and Rex will be out of action for a while, we'll need you to help Mike and Sigrid with the passengers and ballast runs."
"You can count on me, sir," smiled Frank. "I'll do my best to pick up the slack."
As Frank rumbled away back to work, Mr. Duncan stood on the platform, deep in thought.
"Frank can't be relied upon to help out if any of the other engines break down," he said as he walked back to his office. "Perhaps it's time we had another engine for the railway…"
Once he was inside, Mr. Duncan picked up the telephone and dialed a number… but I mustn't reveal anymore, lest I spoil what happens next.
TO BE CONTINUED
Author's Notes
Here's a brand new Railway Series adaptation from me and James, focusing on the Arlesdale Railway! Kind of appropriate since the last adaptation from the books was based on another non-standard gauge railway - don't worry, we will get to the rest of Mountain Engines one day. As Small Railway Engines had been adapted in Series 20, it seemed only natural that fans wanted Jock the New Engine adapted as well. A shame that never happened, as I think they could've done a good job in bringing Frank and Jock to life in CGI. Speaking of which, my take on Frank is fairly close to how he was portrayed in the original story, albeit he'll throw tantrums if he doesn't get his way, often taking it out on the other engines. Mike seems to enjoy seeing Frank angry, and it's a rare day when the two are actually on good terms with one another. I've also decided to include the remaining Arlesdale diesels as they were never featured in the books. Sigrid is the big sister figure of the miniature railway, akin to Emily on the main line and Lauren on the Kirk Ronan branch line. Ivy and Idina are the Blister twins, and both can be rather cheeky, but thankfully not to the extent of Bill and Ben; the worst that they do is sometimes riling up the bigger engines (on their rails, at least), but they will help out when push comes to shove.
More stories to come!
