The Great Western Way
Duck and Oliver are Great Western Engines. They run the Arlesburgh Branchline, sometimes called Little Western. It is a coastal branch line that operates between Tidmouth and Arlesburgh West. The two engines would always go up and down the line pulling their coaches. Duck pulls Alice and Mirabel while Oliver pulls Isabel, Dulcie, and his breakvan Toad. Sometimes the Scottish twins Donald and Douglas would come and visit to help them with their work. Everyone who visits the Little Western loves the seaside coast that always smells of sweet oceans and sandy beaches.
Duck and Oliver are also good friends with the other engines. The two were fond of them and they were fond of the two. But they did get tired of hearing the two always boast and talk about being great western. Gordon most of all. Gordon was after all very big and that made him very proud. He loves to be boastful and considers anyone elses boasting an insult to him. Duck and Oliver took no notice as they would talk endlessly about being Great Western, much to the annoyance of the other engines. They had hoped that they would talk about something else, but it was no use.
One night Duck and Oliver were resting in an engine shed that was being shared by the three big engines Gordon, James, and Henry. As usual Duck and Oliver were boasting.
"I must say my dear chaps." Duck said with enthusiasm. "If you all were painted in Great Western colors I think you would look marvelous!"
"Yes indeed." Oliver said. "You would gain more respect and recognition!"
The other engines just rolled their eyes as they have heard this kind of conversation before.
"I like my red paint. It makes me feel splendid." James said.
"I like being green." Henry said. "It reminds me of the forest."
"And blue is the only color for a grand express engine such as myself." Gordon said.
The two engines laughed.
"But think about it." Duck said. "I can just imagine you with Great Western colors. You would look almost as grand as my cousin, Truro."
At last Gordon lost patience with the Pannier Tank engine as he let off steam furiously.
"I will not look like that disgraceful domeless scrapheap!" Gordon fumed. "I will not be a Great Western!"
Duck and Oliver were shocked at this insult and were cross.
""Disgraceful domeless scrapheap!?"" Duck fumed. "I'll have you know that back on the Great Western railway-"
"Nobody wants to hear about that tinpot railway anymore!" Gordon interrupted.
"Tinpot railway!?" Oliver fumed too. "It is our legacy!"
"And yet nobody likes it!" Gordon retorted. "It's so stuck up that it was a failure to begin with!"
"How dare you!" Duck fumed again.
"Shut up!" James snorted. "Leave us in peace!"
"I agree! The less we hear of that annoyance, the better!" Henry added.
Without saying more the three engines went to sleep, leaving two Great Western tank engines fuming and offended.
The next morning the two told their rolling stock of their feelings on the matter.
"I wouldn't worry about it, Mr. Oliver and Mr. Duck." Toad said. "We're always proud to have you two."
"Thank you, Toad." Oliver said. "But the hurtful words those big engines said."
"Yes indeed." Duck said. "And to think they had the nerve to call us stuck up, when they're ones to talk. Stuff and nonsense I say!"
"They may be right." Said Alice.
"Indeed. You two have a bad habit of being boastful about being Great Western." Mirabel added.
"Pah! Says you!" Duck fumed.
"We'll show him!" Oliver added.
"Oh dear." Said Isabel and Dulcie. "They're heading for trouble."
"Yes indeed. This won't end well." Said Alice and Mirabel.
And they were right. Duck and Oliver were thinking of ways to pay out the big engines.
Meanwhile, further up the line, Bear was pulling a long goods train up a steep hill. It was easy at first, but then he began to feel the weight of trucks pull against him.
"Come along! Come along!" Bear cheered.
The trucks tried to help as well. They liked Bear as he was very kind to them. But then came their mistake. The trucks pushed Bear, hoping to give him a good start, when it happened. A coupling broke and the last ΒΌ of Bear's train began going back down the hill. Bear felt the jerk but didn't realize what had happened until he reached the next station.
The guard who was on the breakvan was thrown off by the jerk. He quickly stood on his feet and blew his whistle a warning. The trucks then soared down the hill as their speed increased. They soon came round a bend and zipped trite through the yard and passed Duck, Oliver, Alice, Mirabel, Isabel, Dulcie, and Toad, who all gaped, gawked, and gasped in shock.
"What was that!?" Gasped Dulcie.
"A runaway!" Oliver said.
"Come on, Oliver!" Duck said. "We must stop them!"
"Right away Duck!" Oliver said. "Now we'll show those big engines the Great Western Way!"
Duck, quickly gaining speed, roared into life first, and Oliver close behind. The signalman, who had witnessed the runaway too late, quickly changed the points, so that Oliver could push Duck from behind. Both Great Western tank engines, now buffer to buffer, raced after the runaway while the signalman quickly changed the signals to warn everyone about the runaway.
"Come back!" Called out Alice, Mirabel, Isabel, Dulcie, and Toad.
But it was too late. They were already gone.
Further down the line, Duck and Oliver put every ounce of weight and steam into chasing the runaway trucks. They passed by Gordon who was running the express on another piece of track heading in the opposite direction. He gaped in shock as he saw the runaway pass by him as well as Duck and Oliver a few seconds later. The tank engines gave a brief glare at the express engine as they ran down the line.
"Just you watch now, Gordon!" Duck called out. "We'll show you the Great Western way!"
At a crossing, a signalman heard about the runway and was quickly opening the gates to avoid an accident. But it was too late. Just as he opened the third gate, the runaway came hurtling through and crashed through the fourth gate. The signalman was thrown flat on his stomach on the grass when he jumped out of the way. Duck and Oliver soon followed.
"Well there goes my crossing gate." Grumbled the signalman.
Meanwhile further down the line, a bridge was being rebuilt. It was overdue its deadline when it's supposed to be finished and it caused inconvenience for the other engines. It was meant to be finished before the end of the summer but has taken longer than hoped. The contractor's company who was hired to build the new bridge, have only built houses before. One of the workmen was having an argument with his employer, the contractor himself who was too smug and proud. Unfortunately no one was told about the runaway yet.
"We're ready to reopen the bridge soon." Said the contractor.
"No we're not!" Argued the workman. "We haven't tested the bridge! We need to see if the weight will harm the structure first!"
"We've built magnificent skyscrapers that could withstand a hurricane. No testing needed." He said proudly.
"You have no knowledge of locomotive functionality!"
"So what? If it stays on the bridge, it's fine. It's built to hold the weight of the express anyway."
"Maybe so. But what happens if it breaks?"
The contractor was starting to lose his patience with his workman.
"You listen here, you insubordinate drip!" Growled the contractor. "I am here to say what goes! And if I say the bridge was certified two days ago-"
"Which has yet to be fully certified by the proper inspection groups." Interrupted the workman.
But the noisy argument was interrupted when they heard the rumbling of trucks. Everyone looked up and saw the runaway zip across the line and over the bridge. Amazingly, the bridge was still standing. The contractor then turned to the workman and smiled a smug grin.
"See? I told you so. Now I believe some apologies are in order." He said triumphantly.
But he spoke too soon. Duck and Oliver were still close behind the runaway and chasing it at top speed. Their drivers and firemen then saw the construction on the new bridge and gaped in shock.
"Brakes!" Cried Duck and Oliver's drivers.
"No!" Duck bellowed. "We must stop the runaway!"
"We must stop it before it causes an accident!" Oliver said.
But their drivers ignored this and pulled the brakes hard. Before they were near the bridge, Duck could make out the runaway from the other side. The signalman on the other side was told about the runway and quickly set the points to veer it to a siding. It bumped hard against the buffers and a few goods scattered all over the place. Duck and Oliver were relieved. But not for long as they soon remembered they needed to stop. They blew their whistles hard to warn the workmen.
"Get down!" Cried the workman.
The others dropped their tools and lunches and ran out of the range of the bridge and ducked uder some hedges. Duck and Oliver braked hard, but it was too late as their weight forced the flooring of the bridge to collapse with a shrieking crack. The men quickly came out of hiding and ran to the scene. There was Duck head first crashed into the wall structure, while Oliver was head first crashed into Duck's back frames. The two tank engines grained in pain. Their suspension was all cracked up and their pistons were severely damaged.
The men looked on in shock. All of their hard work was reduced to a mess. The contractor was more shocked than anyone and tried to come up with a snarky answer.
"I quit!" The workman shouted as walked furiously away.
So did another and another and another. The rest of the workmen who didn't quit all swarmed around their employer like angry bees. The contractor had never been rebelled like this before and felt rather small and harassed.
An hour later Gordon came along with the breakdown train. He saw the devastation and couldn't help but chuckle.
"Hello Duck. Hello Oliver. Is this the Great Western way? Begging your pardon but it certainly doesn't look like it to me." He chuckled.
Duck and Oliver fumed furiously. They were cross.
Eventually Gordon was able to pull them out of the wreckage and the breakdown train lifted them and placed them on flatbeds. Then Gordon pulled them back to the yard.
The Fat Controller spoke severely to the two tank engines.
"Well Duck and Oliver! You wanted to show the other engines the Great Western way? You certainly showed them that it's foolish to chase runaways! It is dangerous and reckless! You must never do that again!" He scolded.
Both Duck and Oliver were sad and ashamed. Donald and Douglas both took the damaged engines to the works to be mended. But before they went, they heard a voice from the engine shed.
"And this is the reason why no one, NO ONE likes the Great Westerns." Said a voice from somewhere behind them.
Both Duck and Oliver were once again cross at this dreadful remark. But they didn't cross for long as they once again felt ashamed. They didn't feel like Great Western Engines now. They felt very silly.
