Here's episode 9, sorry it took so long. My motavation for writing was at an all time low for about a month and when it did come back i started writing/planning for some other stuff i want to have come out in the future and plus with me writing for my most recently new series Sodor Chemical Outbreak, i'll try to not have another 2-3 month wait for the next episode to come out, enjoy (:
Sodor 1928
Two months had passed since Thomas had gone to Edward's branchline and he had enjoyed his time there, but was glad to be back in the yards.
He had returned with a new sense of pride in his work and continued to work hard to try and as a result, everything ran smoothly.
While Thomas was working hard and his whole seeing the world dream had subsided, he was still being teased by Gordon for his incident with Douglas's passengers. This made Thomas cross.
"Make sure you have all my coaches Thomas!" Gordon chuffed, "Don't want to leave anything behind now would we?".
Thomas just scoffed and let off steam in a hiss.
"I can't understand it?" he said to Edward when he next met him in the yards,"I've been working hard and everything's going smoothly but that galloping sausage still teases me for something that happened ages ago!".
"I wouldn't get to worked up over it Thomas, Gordon can get to big for his buffers sometimes but if he keeps this up, we'll have to knock him down a peg or two, won't we?" Edward grinned.
Thomas chuckled, remembering the times when Gordon got stuck on his hill and got switched onto the loop.
"I guess we will" Thomas laughed.
Edward smiled kindly at his old friend, "Like i said earlier Thomas, don't get worked up over him. You've done a wonderful job here and you've matured quite a bit. Im sure you could teach our Gordon a thing or two about trucks".
Thomas smilied back and puffed off to continue shunting.
There was lots of trucks that Thomas had to shunt into their proper sidings, He would often puff pass a coach and some trucks and flatbeds filled with things like rails, ballast and workmen's tools.
"That's the permanent way train" his driver told him, "Workmen ride in the coach and an engine takes them to places along the line where track needs to be repaired. It might seem like nothing, but it's the one of the most important jobs on the whole railway".
Sometimes Thomas would be asked to take the permanent way up the line to fix some sections of tracks, he found it nice as a way to get out every once in a while, he mostly did the job as the other engines weren't to fond of it.
"You don't really like it, do you?" James asked.
Thomas smilied, "Work is work and besides, change is as good as a rest in my case".
James was surprised by this, while he hated the Permanent Way himself, he couldn't help but admire Thomas's attitude.
Gordon on the other hand was still teasing Thomas about his coach incident and at last Thomas lost his patience and went to confront him.
"Gordon, when will you let that go?" Thomas barked one morning in the yards.
Gordon scoffed, "My dear engine, im only making sure you don't screw up again, so you don't get any ideas above you station again".
"Im not!", Thomas snapped, "Im quite happy with my Permanent Way thank you very much".
Gordon laughed loudly, "Hah!, you can keep your silly Permanent way, you'd never catch me near that sort of work".
Gordon puffed off in a huff while Thomas went back to work, in a foul mood.
About a week later, rough weather came to Sodor. Strong winds and lashing rain buffered the engines as they set about their work, some trains were cancelled if not delayed even.
Thomas was on Permanent Way much more often to help clear the line of debris and keep the tracks in check, this ment that the other engines had to arrange their own trains, Gordon didn't like this at all.
"Disgraceful!" Gordon complained, he and Donald were at Knapford with their respected trains waiting to leave, "Thomas goes running off with his silly train and we have to arrange our own trains!,".
"Will y'a put a sock in it?!" Donald groaned, "This weather's bad enough and i don't need your complaining making things worse".
Gordon scoffed, just then a whistle was heard in the distance and Thomas backed into the station looking worried, the workmen hopped out of the work's coach and made their way down the platform.
"Something wrong laddie?" asked Donald.
"Rain is making the ground unstable and damaged some of the tracks before Maron, i've left some workmen there to try and repair the damage, so you lot need to go slow when passing by there" Thomas replied, ".
"I will, thanks for the warning" Said Donald.
"GO SLOW!?" Gordon spluttered, "Im an express engine i don't go slow".
"But the track's dangerous Gordon" Thomas peeped, "You could have an accident".
"Paah!" Gordon snorted, "I've barely had any accidents before and i certainly won't get into one now".
Just then Gordon's guard blew his whistle and the big blue engine puffed out of the station with the Express.
"He heading for trouble" said Donald.
Thomas could only agree.
Gordon thundered down the line as wind howled all around him, he was trying to make up for lost time, "Hurry, hurry, hurry!" he puffed.
"Slow down" his driver called out, "It's too risky to run at high speeds and you know that!".
"Huh!" grunted Gordon, "Bad weather can't stop me, im the pride of the line!, now come one!" Gordon snorted as he charged up his hill.
Gordon's words would soon come back to bite him as he made it over the top, as down the line near Maron, the workmen had tried everything to fix the track, but the ground wasn't firm enough and it was clear that any heavy weight would cause the ground to give way. Defeated, the workmen went up and down the line placing warning signs near the tracks to alert incoming trains to slow down.
As Gordon came rushing down the hill, he whoosed pass a Signalbox, the Signalman was fast asleep and had forgot to switch Gordon to the correct line, he was now on the unsafe track, but there was worse to come.
The wind was so strong that it knocked over the warning signs and flung them high in the air, with no signs warning him and no idea that he was on the wrong line, Gordon was now in trouble.
The Workmen waved and shouted, Gordon saw them and quickly realised what they were shouting abouted.
"DRIVER, BRAKE!" Gordon cried, his driver braked hard but Gordon's wheels just skidded along the rails.
"OHHH HELP!" Gordon cried, he ran over the damaged track and immediately fell off the rails, he toppled down onto the ground and was shoved againest the dirt for a few moments before he came to a stop lying on his side.
Luckly only one of Gordon's coaches had come of the rails with him and it stayed up right. Nobody was too badly injured too, just a few cuts and bruises here and there.
"Ohhhhhh" Gordon groaned in pain, "D-driver, fireman, are you alright?" he asked weakly.
"We're fine" his driver replied as they came running up to him, they had jumped clear before the crash, "Are you?".
Gordon didn't respond and just groaned, steam was hissing everywhere from him and his boiler was dented and dirty.
Gordon's fireman went along the train to check on the passengers while his driver went up to Maron to call for help.
Thomas was back at Tidmouth Sheds filling up on water when the alarm bell began to ring, he looked up at the signalbox to see the signalman shouting at him.
"Gordon's off the line!, the breakdown train quickly!" he called out.
Thomas gasped and quickly puffed over to the siding with the breakdown train, once all the workmen climbed in, he let out a determined whistle and set off to help Gordon.
"Bother that big pompus fool!" Thomas said to himself, "I did try to warn him, but no!"
He sighed to himself, "I hope he isn't hurt to badly though".
The wind and rain began to calm down slightly when Thomas arrived at the scene of the crash, he was shocked at the scene and the sight of Gordon off the rails, he quickly set to work. First James arrived with an extra set of coaches to take the passengers on.
Thomas then took the coaches away one by one, each time he felt more and more tired, but he didn't complain, he kept on pushing only stopping to take on coal or water if he was very low.
At last all the coaches had been taken away and the cranes were now ready to lift Gordon up and onto the rails again.
Thomas watched curiously as the cranes lifted Gordon up into the air, Gordon looked nervous, "it must feel strange to be drangling up in the air and not on the rails" Thomas thought.
After many careful movements, Gordon was back on the rails, he tried to move under his own power, but he couldn't, so Thomas helped him back to the sheds.
The journey back was quite for awhile until Gordon spoke up.
"I-im sorry i've been so rude to you as of late little Thomas about your coach" Gordon sighed sadly, "Can you forgive me?".
Thomas smiled back, "Of course Gordon, im should be sorry too y'a know, for rambling on about seeing the world so much, let's just put this behind us for now, friends?".
Gordon just beamed, "Friends indeed".
The two engines soon arrived back at Tidmouth Sheds where The Fat Controller was waiting for them.
"Well done Thomas, im very please with your actions today" said The Fat Controller, "Gordon shall go to the works later to be mended and as for you Thomas i have a reward for you" .
"For me Sir?" Thomas asked, "What is it?".
"Well for the longest time now i've been needing an engine to run the Branchline that starts from Wellsworth and ends at Brendam, i was considering buying another engine for it" He paused impressively, "but you have proven to me that you are a hard worker and a credit to my railway and i have full faith that you will be able to run the line".
Thomas's face lit up with joy, he thought his boiler would burst, "OH THANK YOU SIR!" he whistled.
Now Thomas is as happy as can be on his new branchline, he runs backwards and forwards along the line delivering goods and passengers to their destinations.
He is never lonely as he often meets the others engines at Wellsworth. Alyssa, James and the Scottish Twins keep him up to date on all the news, Edward even sometimes drops by to see him, the old blue engine has never been more proud of Thomas and isn't afraid to say it.
Gordon will thunder by with the Express, he's alot more careful when it cames to bad weather conditions now and even though he can't stop to chat, he'll always whistle a greeting to Thomas, who'll always return it with a friendly, "Peep Peep!", everytime.
