Next chapter coming up right now.

I do not own Thomas the Tank/Thomas & Friends or I would have kept them in their models forms.

Sir Topham Hatt sat in his office enjoying a cup of tea his wife had poured him.

His wife Lady Hatt was a very beautiful woman with smooth brown hair and she was beloved by the engine drivers as she acted motherly to them, They always listened to her even Gordon and James don't dare to argue with her when she is mad.

Though in her youth she was known for complaining and didn't have much interest in trains, but when she met Sir Topham Hatt and saw his passion for it which made her start liking trains too and in the process matured up as she no longer whined. Now she helped keep things in order especially with the engine drivers.

Speaking of engine drivers…

Knapford's Stationmaster Eddy Arnolds came into the office and looked worried. "Sir we got a problem."

Sir Topham Hatt looked over with a raised a brow as Eddy explained. "Henry's train hasn't left and Marcus called up saying he, Gordon and James refuse to do work."

"Well, we can't have that." Sir Topham Hatt said standing up from his desk and quickly grabbed his hat.

"I swear those three never grew up." Lady Hatt sighed.

"Afraid so my dear. Best I get to the bottom of this." Sir Topham Hatt said before giving his wife a quick kiss before rushing off to his car to head to the Knapford sheds.

Soon as he arrived he saw the three Tender Engine drivers sitting on their respective engines and were just chilling around.

"Henry your train is due out." Sir Topham Hatt said coming over to the three, but Henry didn't look away from the book he was ready.

"We all refuse to do work. We are tired of this overwork and everyone just expect us to do it. Also, will not shunt like Tank Engine drivers, that was Thomas's job. Either get him back to do that job again or find someone else who will because until than we refuse to do any work." Gordon said seriously and Sir Topham Hatt raised his brow at that as he had never seen these three this serious before, but it didn't deter him.

"Alright. I will get someone to handle it." He said smiling which he did on purpose to annoy the three before he headed back into his car to head off to Edward's Branchline. "The yard never been the same ever since Thomas got his own branchline." He sighed before driving off.

When he arrived at Wellsworth he saw Edward shunting around the yard there and came over to him.

"Edward! Leave those trucks here. I need you to do some shunting at Knapford and don't worry about your branchline, I'll see to it while you're at Knapford." He called over to Edward who leaned out of Number 2's cab and he nods at that before heading off to Knapford without a fuss.

With Edward handling the shunting and gathering jobs at Knapford the three other Tender Engines drivers got back to work, but they still in very fowl moods.

The next morning Sir Topham Hatt had come over to the Shunting Yards to see how things were going, but he was sad to see a distressed Edward.

"What is wrong Edward?" He asked his employee showing that fatherly side he has and Edward looked at him with a hurt look. "Gordon, Henry and James have been spraying me very time they pass by and they say I give Tender Drivers a bad name because I shunt. When will they learn there is no different between Tank and Tender Drivers as we are all the same? It's ridiculous they think Tender Drivers are superior then Tank Drivers."

"I agree and don't worry about them, I got something planned for them soon, but right now I have news. I recently bought a new Tank Engine and I am having job interviews today to see who will drive it." He said smiling and Edward smiled at that too.

Later on, in his office Sir Topham Hatt had been conducting many job interviews and so far many of them have either didn't make the requirements, had the same opinions like Gordon, Henry & James about Tank Engines and refused to driver one and some of those that came in wanted Diesel Engines & insulted Sir Topham Hatt for choosing Steam Engines.

He sighed as so far it wasn't good and had only one left who he sent for to come in now.

A young man around Thomas's age with a slight pudgy physic and had short light brown hair.

"Hello there young man. Your name is?" Sir Topham Hatt asked smiling as he looked at the young man who smiled back. "My name is Percy."

"Why did you come to work here despite it being one of the only Steam Engine railways left in the world?" Sir Topham Hatt asked as he could sense honesty from this young man.

"Because I always loved Steam Engines since I was a boy. My uncle use to be a driver of one and would let go on rides on his train. I wanted to drive one when I grew up and I heard of this place. I also wouldn't find driving any kind of Engine be it Tender or Tank." Percy said smiling as he was being honest and Sir Topham Hatt smiled as this young man was being truth also answered a question was going to ask.

"Congratulations Percy. You're now a driver for the North Western Railway." Sir Topham Hatt smiled as he shook the young new driver's hand. Percy smiled excited and soon was shown his Engine where he loved green and red stripes combination. The Engine was given the number 6.

Sir Topham Hatt was impressed by Percy's driving as he rode in the Engine with his new employee and had him take them to the Shunting Yards to meet Edward. Edward looked up and saw the new engine coming up before it came to a stop next to him. "Edward. This is Percy I want you to show him around and show him how his job as Station Pilot will be like." Sir Topham Hatt said before leaving Percy with Edward who took a instant liking to the new driver's energetic nature.

Edward had a good laugh when later on when the other Tender Drivers met him and tried to be rude to him…only for Percy to spray them before they could do anything and made the three jump in shock as Percy grinned mischievously.

Later on, at night Edward couldn't help, but chuckle when Thomas met Percy and the two hit off immediately acting like they were best friends for a long time. He can see all the troubles they will give the other three drivers.

Speaking of the other three drivers…

Sir Topham Hatt had called them into his office where he understood their reasons for how they acted, but how they expressed their problems was something he couldn't let go unpunished. He decided they will suspended from driving until further notice and he will ask the bus company to handle the passengers of Thomas's and Edward's branchlines while having all ships that would go to Brendam Docks to go to Knapford for the time being.

After this decision Edward was put in charge of handling the Express seeing he recently had new parts added to his engine to allow him to handle the heavy coaches. Thomas put in charge of the Local Train runs while Percy handled the Goods Trains. All three of them also handle shunting too, but he had no problems with it and all the passengers & workers were fine with being late as they all knew that the three Drivers were getting taught a valuable lesson.

Gordon, Henry and James now felt miserable as not being allowed to work and being stuck at the bunkhouse was very boring and miserable. They now know they should have gone to Sir Topham Hatt to explain their situation in a calm and mature manner, but how they acted instead had now backfired on them greatly.

I think they deserved their punishment, don't you?

Hope you all enjoyed.