THE BALLOON RACE

Based upon the story by Andrew Brenner, Christopher Awdry, David Mitton and Jenny McDade

Adapted by Zack Wanzer and Rachel Ravens

It wasn't long before June had come to the Island of Sodor, and that meant a busy holiday season for the engines on the North Western, Skarloey and Culdee Fell Railways. Holidaymakers would come from all over the world just to see the engines, and many of Sodor's beaches, fairs and various celebrations. Among the engines being kept busy were Julie, Johnson and Lauren, the three engines who ran the Kirk Ronan branch line.

"Can you believe it?" grinned Julie. "We've been serving the branch line together for just about two years now."

"Hard to believe I used to serve it with Nicole for so long," said Lauren. "My, how times have changed."

"But at least she and Katie are safe now," added Julie. "I do wish they were working on the Norramby branch though. Engines have been shifting back and forward to run it since they left."

"I just hope that branch is assigned to someone soon," muttered Johnson. "We've enough to deal with here as it is."


And it was only going to get busier, for one day, Sir Topham Hatt came to see Julie.

"You are to pick up a hot air balloon from Kirk Ronan harbor," he explained. "It'll be part of a balloon race that the prime minister of Sodor has arranged."

"You mean like one of those party balloons that you can blow up into big sizes and they pop?" asked Julie excitedly.

"No, not that kind of balloon, Julie," chuckled Sir Topham Hatt. "Hot air balloons are big and carry people in baskets."

"You mean they can fly people across the island?" asked Julie.

"That's correct," smiled her driver. "My daughter's been very curious about being a bird. This might satisfy that wish."

Julie eagerly rushed off to the harbor to get the balloon. The cloth wrapped up on the flatbed was a very bright red.

"Oh, it's so pretty!" cried Julie. "Katie would love to see this. Can we send her and Nicole a letter on our next break, driver?"

"Okay, Julie," chuckled the driver.


The little red tank engine managed to get the balloon to the starting line at Rolf's Castle, where many hot air balloons were already laid out as far as the eye could see.

"Quite a sight, isn't it?" remarked Lauren from the next track; she had Audrey, Hilary and Mark in tow.

"They'll be even more pretty when they're up in the air, so my driver says," said Julie. She, Lauren and the coaches watched as the red balloon was unloaded from the flatbed and carried over onto the field where it began to inflate.

"What on earth are those?" cried Johnson as he arrived at a red signal close by with a goods train behind him.

"They're called hot air balloons, Johnson," said Lauren. "They're to be used for a balloon race, and after that, they'll take tourists on rides around Sodor."

"But… isn't that our job?" asked Julie.

"Well, yes," said Lauren, "but they wouldn't carry nearly as many passengers as we do. Besides, they predate railways by at least twenty years."

"I don't know, Lauren. They do look odd to me…" muttered Johnson.

"What if the passengers decide they like flying more than they like traveling by rail?" gasped Audrey. "Oh, I can't bear the thought of having nothing to work for!"

"The Coffee Pots were all finished off," added Hilary. "I can't bear the same thing to happen to us."

"Nothing's going to happen to us," assured Lauren. "Not as long as we have Sir Topham Hatt in charge. If passengers were to travel by air, they'd have to use an airplane or a zeppelin."

But unfortunately, Johnson, the coaches and even Julie couldn't agree with Lauren. The big red tank engine sighed when her guard's whistle blew.

"I hope the other engines don't get the wrong ideas…" she muttered.


The balloons were flying in their race all over the island. Mavis glanced up from where she was working at the quarry.

"Wow!" she cried. "Those look so amazing!"

She looked up at the sky so much she didn't watch the track, and ended up bumping straight into Percy when he entered the quarry.

"Oof!"

"Oh dear!" cried Mavis. "Sorry, Percy."

"I-it's okay," said Percy reassuringly, trying to hide his blushing as he moved back. "Accidents happen… Wh-what were you looking at?"

"Those floating baskets with people in it," Mavis told him.

"Oh, hot air balloons," chuckled Percy. "I heard something about a race on the grapevine. They should be taking tourists after that."

"Hot air balloons, that's a new one on me," said Mavis. "Whatever will people dream up next?"


Further ahead, at Haultraugh station, Dallas the duck could see some of the balloons flying towards the area and quacked excitedly.

"Dallas," gasped Duck, "what's up, boy?"

Dallas pointed his beak to the sky, where Duck, Dilly and the ducklings - now much bigger than they were in the spring - caught sight of the race.

"Goodness me," cried Duck. "There's so many of them."

"I've read about the balloon race happening in the papers," said Lily, who was serving as Duck's guard. By this point, her stomach had grown a bit since she and Patch had gotten married. "Patch and I are hoping to get a ride once the balloons open to tourists."

"Hopefully not while you're still pregnant," said Duck. "I know my driver's wife was a bit particular about what she did during that time."

"When are you due?" asked Duck's fireman.

"I think around October or November," said Lily.

"Well, you can be assured that his or her 'uncle Duck' will give them a lot of smooth rides when they're born," chuckled the pannier tank.

"I can count on that," smiled Lily.


Later on, the balloons were on the return leg of the race, and Johnson and Julie were halted at a red signal between Kellsthorpe Road and Rolf's Castle.

"If it takes the passengers away," said Julie, "there'll be no use for us engines. I mean, we were shuffled around so much before we were officially North Western engines."

"I know," sighed Johnson. "You and Katie really got shuffled when the coal mine was close to collapsing, and sometimes, I was on different branch lines depending on how busy it was. Lauren and Nicole were lucky to get consistent jobs early on."

Little did either engine realize that one of the balloons, the red one that Julie had delivered earlier, had sprung a leak.

"Huh? Johnson, do you hear something?" asked Julie.

"What the…?!" cried Johnson, glancing up. Suddenly, a thick red cloth covered him from smokebox to tender.

"Argh!" the red tender engine cried. "What's happening?!"

"Our balloon's sprung a leak," said the leading balloonist. "We'll have to patch it up."

"You look like a giant red ghost with that balloon on top of you, Johnny," giggled Julie.

"Oh, shut up, Julie!" grunted Johnson. "I told you and Lauren before, it's Johnson! Not John. Not Johnny. Johnson! Sometimes I wonder why Sir Topham Hatt grouped us for the branch…"

The two had gotten into such bickering that they hadn't noticed the balloon had been patched up, and Johnson had gotten so worked up he let off steam. This had caused the balloon to inflate again, and then slowly but surely, it rose off of the ground and back in the air again. Thankfully, the leading balloonist and his crew had gotten back inside the basket.

"Thank you!" cried the leading balloonist. "We're back in the race now."

"Well, how about that, Johnson old boy?" remarked his driver. "Your steam's done the trick!"

"Oh no!" exclaimed Julie. "We're sure to lose our passengers now."

"I'm sorry," groaned Johnson. "I didn't know my steam would do that."


Back at Rolf's Castle, Lauren had arrived just as the race was coming to an end. All the balloons had been accounted for and timed for their flights… except for one.

"Hmm," said the person at the finish line. "Didn't we have twenty balloons fly out today?"

"We did," said the prime minister of Sodor. "Where did that last one get to?"

"There it is!" exclaimed Lauren, looking up at the sky. "And it looks like it may have had a mishap on the way."

The person at the finish line and the prime minister saw that the red balloon had a brightly colored patch sewed into the cloth. The crowds and participants cheered as it came to a landing, and the lead balloonist and his team were given a hero's welcome despite coming in last.

"Thank goodness for steam engines," smiled the lead balloonist.

"Why, what happened?" asked Mark. The lead balloonist and his team explained what had happened, and as they did so, Johnson had arrived at the station.

"Well, speak of the devil," remarked Lauren. "Never known you to come to a balloon's rescue, eh, John?"

"It's Johnson!" snapped the dark red tender engine. "And I did not intend on saving that thing which would steal our passengers; Julie got me riled up."

"Why would you think that balloons would take visitors away from you engines?" asked the lead balloonist.

"Because we found out that they would take passengers all over the island," said Hilary. "That's our job!"

"Well, that is true," said the lead balloonist, "but many of us will need a ride home… on a train."

"Indeed so," said Lauren. "That's what I was trying to tell you."

"And even getting to the balloons in the first place will need you lot to give us a ride," said another balloon member.

"Well…" said Audrey with a smile, "how can we say no to that?"


And indeed, the engines were now much busier than ever. People from the various branch lines, main line and even from the mainland would come to Sodor to ride in the hot air balloons, and the engines watched eagerly from the ground… so long as they didn't crash into each other, of course.

"Oh, we've got to send a letter to Nicole, Katie and the others now," said Julie when she, Johnson and Lauren were in the sheds that night.

"Great idea," smiled Lauren. "Drivers, could you help us with the letter?"

"Of course."


A few days later, Amanda Hatt was rushing up to her engines. She had acquired quite a few over the years since she and her husband had opened up their heritage line. Alongside Katie and Nicole, there were Flora - Toby's sister - Neville, Jackie, Katrina - Duck and Oliver's sister and cousins, respectively - and of course, their newest engine, Tasha. Even the likes of Mildred, Albert and Samson were there, three faces from Sodor back in its olden days, and a few other faces.

"Engines," she said warmly, "I have a gift from Sodor for you."

"Oh, what is it?" asked Nicole excitedly.

"It's a letter from the engines of the Kirk Ronan branch line - Julie, Johnson and Lauren."

"Oh, fantastic!" grinned Katie. "What does it say?"

"It says:

Dear everyone,

You wouldn't believe the craziness we had on Sodor this week. We had a massive balloon race and Julie, Johnson and the old coaches assumed they'd be replaced. But after Johnson accidentally rescued a balloon, it was proven things would be fine. Better even, because we get to take passengers to and from the balloon landing area. Who knows? Maybe some of the tourists on your line will give more details.

Your faithful Midi Sudrian trio,

Julie, Lauren and Johnson

P.S. Tasha, we're not sure you've been told, but Lily is pregnant with her and Patch's first child."

"Oh, what a crazy balloon race," laughed Mildred. "I forgot how chaotic Sodor can be."

"There's never a dull moment on Sodor," agreed Albert.

"I would have loved to have seen the balloons," said Katie.

"Lily's pregnant?!" gasped Tasha. "Oh, that's wonderful. I'll have to meet Lily and Patch's child one of these days."

"I'll see if I can organize a day for you to visit Sodor after Lily's given birth," said Amanda.

"I'm so glad the Sudrians still remain in touch with us even though we're so far away," said Nicole.

"Well, you know what my father-in-law and husband always say," said Amanda, "once a North Westerner, always a North Westerner."

And with that, the heritage engines had to be content.

THE END


Author's Comments

The second entry into Series 6-7 Redux is here, being adapted from James and the Red Balloon, an episode with probably the most interesting behind the scenes history behind it. It started off as a magazine story by Andrew Brenner in 1989, then it was adapted into a mini book by Christopher Awdry the following year, and then became an episode in 2002. So basically, an adaptation of an adaptation, if that makes sense. Anyway, we've decided to give the spotlight to the Kirk Ronan trio this time around, given that they've not had much to do since Series 5 Redux, timeline-wise. They're such a fun group of characters to write for, especially with Julie's excitability, Johnson's grumpiness and Lauren being the most level-headed of the group, although she still has a bit of a snarky streak. We've also given out our first glimpse into the Rolling Hills Railway, a fictional heritage railway in the Seventyverse. We don't know where it is right now, but most likely a line that was shut down in real life and close enough to a closed-down narrow gauge line.

Upcoming stories:

- Percy's Chocolate Crunch

- Dunkin' Duncan

- Twin Trouble

- The Fogman

- Jack Jumps In