GORDON GOES FOREIGN

Based upon the story by The Rev. W. Awdry

Vicarstown is the big station on the eastern side of the North Western Railway. Every day, lots of passengers travel from the mainland to Sodor with some of their trains being pulled by foreign engines. These engines often stayed the night at the sheds of Vicarstown with the Midland engines before they departed home the next morning.

One evening, Gordon had pulled into Vicarstown with his express. On another platform was one of the mainland engines; he had a similar shape to Henry, but he was a darker shade of green, had a different tender design, black wheels and smoke deflectors.

"I say there," Gordon called over to the other engine, hoping to make pleasantries with him, "lovely evening we're having tonight, isn't it?"

The other engine simply looked at Gordon and said nothing. The blue engine suspected that he was not one to make small talk with Sodor engines, and decided to wait until both were resting on some sidings.

Gordon finally got his chance to speak with the other engine again while the latter engine was cooling down for the evening.

"Hello there again," said Gordon cheerfully when he was going to the water tower near the sheds. "May I ask what your name is?"

"It's Malcolm," the other engine replied bluntly. "I take it that you're Gordon, the North Western Railway's main express engine?"

Gordon was surprised that Malcolm knew who he was.

"Heard all about your exploits on the railway," Malcolm explained before Gordon could ask. "Even got to take the queen to visit your railway."

"It was indeed an honor, thank you," smiled Gordon. "How far do you take your trains on the mainland?"

"Sometimes," said Malcolm, "we can go non-stop all the way from Barrow to London."

"I remember going to London when I was young and green," smiled Gordon. "The station was called Kings Cross; one of the finest stations in all of the mainland if you ask me…"

While the big engines were talking, Duck had taken some trucks from the coal mine to the hopper at Vicarstown - normally this would be Katie's job, but she had broken down, and the pannier tank would be staying at Vicarstown that night. As Duck was shunting the trucks into position, he heard Malcolm snort with indignation as Gordon began reminiscing.

"Kings Cross?!" the dark green engine snorted. "Don't be ridiculous, Gordon! You've clearly not been to the midland railway at any time in your life! A true midland engine knows that London's station is called Euston."

"Euston? Kings Cross?" retorted Duck, backing alongside the pair. "What rubbish! You're both wrong, because London is actually Paddington. I know because I worked there!"

"Ah yes," snorted Malcolm again. "Only an engine from that tin pot railway known as the Great Western would make such a claim!"

"Tin pot railway?!" shouted Duck indignantly. "You did not just go there…!"

The three engines' arguing could be heard for miles!

Gordon and Duck were still at each other's throats the next day at Knapford station over what the station at London was called.

"That midlander Malcolm ought to know by now that it's Kings Cross!" Gordon complained as he waited for the express to depart.

"Both of you ought to know it's Paddington!" argued Duck. "Paddington! Do you hear me?!"

"You've been like this since last night!" grumbled Johnson, having had very little sleep last night due to Duck and Malcolm's arguing. He let out a yawn before continuing, "Kings Cross this, Paddington that! You make me exhausted! Thank goodness Katie's repairs were completed within twenty-four hours."

"There is at least one thing you two can agree on," added James as he entered platform three, Diesel shunting Sean, Mick, Harry and Dexter behind him.

"And what would that be, little James?" asked Gordon incredulously.

"London is not Euston!" chortled James. Thomas was chuckling as well as he pulled up alongside Gordon with Annie and Clarabel.

"James is right, you know," he said. "London station is actually called Victoria. I shunted trains there before I came to Sodor…"

"Don't you dare start!" Gordon and Duck shouted together.

"Well, that's two things you both agree on," sighed James, rolling his eyes.

"Was I not allowed to have my own say on the matter?" asked Thomas.

"Certainly not, little Thomas," replied Gordon. "I know London is called Kings Cross, and if I have to go out of my way to prove it, then so be it!" He then puffed grandly away in a cloud of steam, leaving the four engines behind.

"I swear, most of you have it backwards," muttered Diesel as he shunted Audrey, Hilary and Mark behind Johnson. "London's Paddington. I worked there too."

"Finally, someone who agrees with me," said Duck, departing with his own train. "Though if Gordon does get there and finds out it's Paddington," he said to himself with a slight chuckle, "I can't wait to see the look on his face if that's true!"

Duck didn't get very far before he and Diesel exchanged a shocked look. Thomas, James, Johnson and the coaches all blinked in surprise as Duck and Diesel headed back to work.

"Did they just..." gasped James.

"Now I've seen everything," said Thomas quietly.

As he puffed along the mainline with the express, Gordon thought long and hard about how he could get to London.

"If I didn't have to stop at Vicarstown," he said to himself, "perhaps I could travel all the way to London without having to wait for another engine." Little did Gordon know was that it would be easier said than done.

As Vicarstown station grew closer, Gordon's driver prepared to slow down, but Gordon himself didn't respond to his driver's controls, and he overshot the platform, much to his crew's and the passengers' surprise!

"Stop, Gordon!" shouted his driver. "The signal is red!"

Luckily, he managed to apply the brakes just before Gordon could overshoot the signal.

"Oh, bother!" grumbled Gordon as he slowly backed onto the platform, his passengers grumbling about the mishap.

"That was very reckless of you, Gordon," scolded his driver. "Just be thankful another engine wasn't passing by with a train of their own! I don't know what's gotten into you, but this better not become a habit!"

But Gordon would not give up, no matter what he did. Another time, he tried starting before the coaches could be uncoupled, and even tried to follow another engine as they took the express to the mainland. It wasn't long before Sir Topham Hatt caught wind of Gordon's antics.

"You've been acting very peculiar lately, Gordon," he said firmly. "I don't know what it is, but I'm bringing this to a stop before someone gets severely hurt! In the meantime, James shall handle the express while you take on goods work with Henry for the time being."

Gordon was shocked, but James was pleased.

"Maybe I'll do such a splendid job with the express that Sir Topham Hatt will allow me to travel to London!" he teased. "Wouldn't that be a sight, Gordon?"

"Oh, be quiet, James!" snapped Gordon, backing into the sheds and going crossly to sleep.

For the next several days, James was enjoying his runs with the express. Whenever he saw Gordon taking a goods train, he couldn't resist rubbing it in his face.

"Express coming through!" James boasted as he sped past Gordon, who was waiting at a red signal.

"That's my line!" snapped Gordon, but James was too far away to care. "Oh, the indignity," Gordon lamented. "I shall never get to London now…"

Later that same day, Gordon had brought in his goods train to Vicarstown. James had already arrived with the express and was waiting for another engine to take it on to the mainland so he could head home to Tidmouth.

But then everything seemed to happen at once - James was heading to refill on coal and water, but he was not paying attention as to where he was going. Malcolm was about to back down onto the express to take it to the mainland, but James was in his way! The signalman tried to set the points to prevent the engines from crashing into one another, but it was already too late. Before he knew it, Malcolm felt his tender hit a set of points that were against him, and he came off the rails, hitting the ballast with a loud crunch! James, meanwhile, had managed to stop safely and was surprised to see Malcolm off the rails and now sitting at an odd angle. He hadn't even seen the big green engine behind him!

"You foolish engine!" shouted Malcolm. "Were your crew this poorly trained in keeping a good look out?!"

"How is this my fault?!" snapped James. "You didn't warn me you were heading my way!" The two engines and their crews kept arguing over whose fault it was before the stationmaster came over to stop the noise, and promised that new arrangements would soon be made.

On his siding, Gordon had seen everything and couldn't help but chuckle at what had just happened. He stopped laughing when an inspector came up to him and his crew.

"Malcolm's come off the rails and he can't take the express to London," she said. "So therefore, Sir Topham Hatt's agreed to send Gordon to take the express there."

"How about that, Gordon?" smiled his driver. "We'll show them what a North Western engine can do, eh?"

"Well, what are we waiting for?" beamed Gordon. "Come on! London waits for no engine!" He quickly, but carefully, noting the accident Malcolm had gotten into, rolled out of his siding and then backed down onto the express.

"Well, little James," chuckled Gordon, "looks like I will be heading to London after all, and maybe I'll see whether it really is Kings Cross, right, Malcolm?" Malcolm just seethed in silence, feeling as though Gordon was pouring salt by the truckload onto his already wounded pride.

It felt like ages to Gordon before he was finally allowed to depart for London. "Come on, come on!" he said to the coaches. "We're finally heading to London!" He couldn't wait to see what the big city was like…

When Gordon returned home the next day, he sat at Tidmouth sheds, with his expression a mixture of disappointment and anger. Thomas, James and Duck were also at the sheds. Sir Topham Hatt had spoken severely to James about his carelessness at Vicarstown and punished him with shunting duties for a week. He then turned to Gordon.

"I heard all about your arrival to London in the papers today, Gordon," said Sir Topham Hatt proudly. "You've certainly helped both our railway and the mainland railway out of a sticky situation there. Did you enjoy your trip to London?"

"Certainly not, sir!" Gordon said at last.

Sir Topham Hatt was taken aback by the big engine's response. "Why ever not, Gordon?"

"London's all wrong, sir!" cried Gordon. "It isn't Kings Cross, Paddington or Euston! They've changed its name to St. Pancras!"

"You know, you forgot about Victoria, Gordon…"

"Be quiet, Thomas," muttered Gordon, puffing away to take the express, not wanting to hear anymore about station names.

"Beg pardon, sir," said Duck, "but myself and Gordon got into an argument with an engine from the mainland called Malcolm over what the station at London was called. Which one of us is correct, sir?"

"You all are, Duck!" laughed Sir Topham Hatt. "London is a big city with many railway stations. Since you all came from different railways, I can understand why there may have been some confusion amongst you all."

"Well then," chuckled Duck, "I suppose that clears that up. Wait until Diesel and Johnson hear about this."

"I hope so too," agreed James. "If I hear one more argument about what London is called, it'll be too soon!"

"But sir, shouldn't we tell Gordon about this?" asked Thomas.

"I'm sure he'll be over it soon," said Sir Topham Hatt. "It shouldn't really matter if the station is called Kings Cross, Paddington, Euston, Victoria or St. Pancras; they're all fine stations, but I think the best stations are those here on Sodor."

Thomas, James and Duck couldn't have agreed more. Eventually, Gordon did get over his disappointment about his trip to London and continued to take the express as usual. For a long time afterwards, there was no more talk about station names or going foreign.

THE END

Author's Comments

Another quick one from me, an adaptation of the story that almost ended up on TV but was cancelled due to being to expensive to film, Gordon Goes Foreign! It was originally going to be for series two, but I think it probably would've fit better in series three since they adapted Double Header as Time for Trouble for the same series. Yet despite that, I adapted the story as if it was written during series 17-21 and even fleshed out the roles of James, Duck and Malcolm, the (formerly) unnamed Big City Engine to add a bit more meat to the story. I even included Thomas trying to butt in on the argument and getting quickly silenced for his cheekiness. People often criticize when Thomas appears when he doesn't need to, but I think his small role fits both location-wise and when it comes to his cheeky personality, so I don't think it feels too out of place here. Plus, London Victoria was a station for the London, Brighton & South Coast Railway, where Thomas was built, which further solidifies his appearance; it even doubles as a bit of a call forward to Thomas and the Royal Engine, which referenced Gordon Goes Foreign itself.