THE FOGMAN
Based upon the episode by David Mitton and Brian Trueman
Adapted by Zack Wanzer and Rachel Ravens
Edward's branch line runs along a peninsula on the downward journey to Brendam, and to their left, the engines can see views of the sea and smell the salty air getting stronger as the journey progresses. This was especially so as autumn was gradually giving way to winter, and although there was no snow on the horizon, foggy weather was beginning to take hold. Engines and other vehicles often had to take great care when fog was about, for there may be trouble up ahead.
"Oh, good gracious, the cold weather's rolling in again," shivered Derek to BoCo and Edward; the three had spent the night at the docks after a particularly busy day.
"I'm glad that the firelighter came early this morning," said Edward. "If I'm out there with my fire out too long, my nose might turn red and freeze."
"Just as well as it's that and not a bee sting," joked BoCo. Edward and Derek chuckled at that as well.
Just then, the trio of engines saw a young man walking over to them with something in his hand.
"Oh, hello," said Derek. "I don't recall seeing you around before."
"My name is Cyril," replied the young man. "I've just been hired to put out detonators on the tracks all over the island."
"Oh, I see," said Edward. "You're stepping in for Jonathan. Is this your first time on the job?"
Cyril nodded. "I hope I can get this right. I'm a bit nervous, if I'm honest."
"It's natural to feel that way," said BoCo. "Just try your best, that's all we ask. Oh, I'm BoCo, that's Derek, and this is Edward, by the way."
"Pleasure is all mine, you three," smiled Cyril. "Oh, I'd better dash."
Edward, BoCo and Derek whistled and tooted goodbye and headed to work. As Edward was getting his first train ready, he heard a pair of whistles.
"I told you, I won that race this time!"
"Nuh-uh! It was me who won!"
"Bill, Ben?" gasped Edward. "What brings you down from the china clay works?"
"We've been assigned to help shunt trucks at the docks for the next few weeks," explained Bill.
"The clay pits will be closing soon for the winter," added Ben, "so our manager wanted to keep us from getting something called shed fever."
"I think he was referring to you getting hit with boredom, Ben," smirked Bill.
"Was not!"
"Was too!"
"Are you two going to help keep the docks organized, or are you going to sit around bickering and things get messy around here?" snapped Cranky.
Bill and Ben glanced upwards at the crane.
"Er… we're helping," quivered Bill.
"Y-yes," stammered Ben. "R-right away." The twins scampered off to do some shunting, leaving Edward to chuckle.
"Not the first time they've had to work away from the clay pits during the winter," the blue tender engine remarked. "All the same, the docks do need an engine to work there full time."
"Indeed they do," sighed Cranky. "Just when or where we're going to get one, I'm not sure."
Edward didn't know either, but he decided that question would have to sit on the back of his mind for now.
As Edward moved up along the branch line, he suddenly felt a loud bang from underneath his wheels.
"Whoa!" he gasped. "That must be the fog detonators."
"We'd better slow down then," said his driver. "That must be Cyril alerting us."
Edward obediently slowed down and saw the young fogman in question giving a wave.
"Thank you, Cyril!" he called, blowing his whistle in appreciation. Cyril waved back as Edward passed by.
At first, Cyril seemed to do things very well, and thanks to him, the engines of Sodor were quite safe on their rails. But one day, Cyril came to work feeling very sleepy indeed.
"Ugh…" he groaned. "They had to throw that party last night, didn't they…"
Normally, someone would've taken the day off in order to properly recover, but Cyril was determined to make a good impression on everyone.
"There…" he yawned after putting down the detonator. "That should do it…" He moved aside to make sure the engines passed through safely.
Derek had been pulling his trucks past Trevor's field, when he felt the ever familiar bang.
"Ooh, that makes my axles tingle!" he cried.
"We'd better slow down," cautioned the driver. But unfortunately, the detonator was too close to the fog.
"Derek!" called Trevor, whistling. "Watch out for the hay bale!"
Upon hearing the traction engine's warning, Derek quickly applied his brakes. They squealed and locked on tight, and he skidded right to a halt… inches away from Trevor's load.
"Oh, thank throttles for that," sighed Trevor. "Are you alright, Derek?"
"I am, thank you," the green diesel replied. "I thought I'd had enough time to slow down."
"You carry on your way, my friend," said Trevor. "I'll see if I can warn BoCo and Edward to slow down if they come this way."
As soon as his path was cleared, Derek carried on with his train. However, the incident did not go unnoticed…
"What in Godred's name was that for?!" gasped a railway board member.
"I am so sorry," gasped Cyril. "Is Derek hurt?!"
"Thankfully not, but he might have been!" scolded the railway board member. "You're very lucky Edward and BoCo avoided this altogether thanks to Trevor."
"Please," said Sir Topham Hatt, "mistakes like this happen. Derek is a very forgiving engine, and I'm sure he'd be willing to give Cyril the benefit of the doubt, and so am I."
"We cannot risk the engines getting hurt like this," demanded the railway board member. "Remember when Thomas crashed into the stationmaster's house due to the careless cleaner a few years ago?"
"That was different," argued Sir Topham Hatt. "The cleaner acted recklessly of his own volition. Cyril's was a genuine mistake."
"I don't care how this happened," growled the railway board member. "The engines' safety is a high priority."
The board member strolled off, leaving Cyril deeply upset.
"I deeply apologize for Derek's near miss, sir," Cyril said quietly. "I do take responsibility for nearly causing an accident."
"I know you do," said Sir Topham Hatt. "Don't beat yourself up over it. We'll chat with Derek and the other Wellsworth engines later. They are some of the gentlest souls on the island."
Unfortunately, Sir Topham Hatt and Cyril didn't get their chance that day, but what did happen was something that the engines of the Wellsworth branch weren't expecting.
That evening, Edward, BoCo and Derek were spending another night at the docks together, this time with Bill and Ben, when the railway board member came over. The trio were surprised, for it wasn't that often the engines met with any of the railway board, much less at a place like the docks.
"Er… good evening," BoCo said hesitantly.
"Is there a reason for your presence tonight, sir?" asked Edward.
"Indeed there is," said the railway board member. "In light of today's… ahem, incident, we have decided to take measures to make sure it doesn't happen again."
"What sort of measures?" asked Derek.
The railway board brought over a very large piece of machinery. It had three horns branching from the middle of the machine, and a large on/off switch at the back.
"What on earth is that thing?" squeaked Bill.
"This," said the railway board member, "is what's known as a foghorn. This will warn everyone when there's fog in the area. Like this…"
The railway board member flipped on the foghorn, causing the five engines and a nearby Cranky to jump as the noise echoed through the whole dockside. A few tiles even came off the engines' big shed. Eventually, the railway board member shut off the foghorn.
"That was loud!" exclaimed Ben.
"Sounds like a tugboat out of water if you ask me," remarked Cranky.
"That really rattled my dome," gasped Edward.
"I'm surprised no one went deaf from it," sighed BoCo. "But… hold on, if that thing is to warn us of the fog… what about Cyril?"
"He'll be let go within the next week," said the railway board member. "Sometimes, you just have to move with the times."
"That's just ridiculous!" gasped Derek. "Cyril didn't mean any harm!"
"Would you be saying that if you actually got hurt, Derek?" argued the board member.
"Of course I would!" snapped Derek. "Cyril has been trying to leave a good first impression on us, and you decided to toss him aside. I know what it's like to be cast aside by others because of small slip ups, and I won't sit idly by while a goodhearted person is being bullied!"
Cranky, BoCo, Edward and the twins stared at Derek in surprise. The railway board member, staggering at Derek's words, decided to slip off without another word.
"S-sorry you all had to see that…" stammered Derek.
"Don't be, Derek," assured BoCo. "To be honest, I couldn't have put it better myself."
"Not even during Albert Regaby's time had I seen that for myself," agreed Edward. "You're absolutely right though, Derek. We can't let Cyril lose his job due to a genuine mistake."
"But how do we help Cyril?" asked Bill.
"Yeah," said Ben. "It's not like we can use a spell to put Cyril back into the job like nothing happened."
No one knew what to do right now, and decided to sleep on the issue.
The following day, the engines were back at work as usual, and Edward was puffing through the branch line with the red coaches, Sean, Mick, Harry and Randolph.
"Cyril's lost his job?!" gasped Sean in shock.
"It's not like Sir Topham Hatt to fire people who are genuine," gasped Mick.
"This doesn't sound like his doing," said Edward. "I've known Sir Topham Hatt for many years, and he wouldn't get rid of anybody for admitting when they made a mistake. But now that I think about it, the arrival of that member of the railway board was rather sudden…"
"You think that railway board member could have done it?" asked Harry.
"I have my suspicions, Harry," said Edward. "I'll have to talk with Sir Topham Hatt when I-"
TOOT TOOT TOOT!
"What in the Great Railway?!" gasped Edward.
"Must be that foghorn that's just been installed," said his driver. "We'd better slow down."
Edward did so, but the foghorn was so loud that it caused a rock to fall from the nearby hillside. Then another, and another, and another.
"Edward, quickly!" called Randolph. "Rocks are coming!"
The blue engine puffed as hard and quickly as he could; thankfully for him and the coaches, they just barely avoided being buried in the rockslide. However, the track was now completely blocked.
"We'll have to warn the next station!" cried Edward. "And maybe get the Pack over to clear this mess." As the old blue engine made his way to Brendam, he and the coaches hadn't noticed what had happened to the foghorn, which now lay crushed among the rocks.
Meanwhile, further up the line, BoCo was taking some trucks down to Brendam docks.
"I hope we can find a way to help out Cyril," sighed BoCo. "Do you have any ideas, driver?"
"I'm afraid that nothing's come to mind, old boy," the driver replied.
"Hmm…" BoCo pondered for a moment. "There was something that the engines tried with Donald and Douglas once; a deputation, I think Edward called it."
But before the big diesel could say anything else, he suddenly found himself surrounded by fog without warning.
"Brake blocks and buffers!" exclaimed BoCo. "What's happening?!"
"It must be some fog," said the driver. "I wonder what's happened to the-"
CRASH!
"Ouch!" yelped BoCo. He had come off the rails and his front was dented and scratched.
"BoCo!" His driver got out to check him over. "Don't worry, I'll call for Judy and Jerome to get you to the Dieselworks."
"Never mind that now!" cried BoCo. "Look over there! It's the foghorn!"
BoCo's driver looked over to see the crushed remains of the foghorn.
"Well, no wonder we weren't given any warnings!" he exclaimed. "It must've caused that rockslide to happen! How can we warn any approaching trains about this mess?"
"Leave it to me!" called a voice.
"That's Cyril!" smiled BoCo. "I hope he warns the other engines in time."
Meanwhile, Derek was taking some trucks down the branch line to the china clay works.
"Hmm…" Derek was pondering on what to do. "Maybe we could convince Sir Topham Hatt to get that railway board member fired."
"Given the board member went behind his back," said Derek's driver, "I don't see why not."
"Heh, maybe Bill and Ben can pull one of their little pranks on that board member for good measure," chuckled Derek to himself. Then suddenly…
BANG!
"I say, what was that?!" exclaimed Derek.
"Must be a fog detonator," said his driver. "We'd better slow down!"
Derek slowed right down, and with his axles still tingling from the detonators, he was very glad he did.
"BoCo!" cried Derek. "What in Beyer's name happened here?!"
"Rockslide," the Metro-Vickers diesel explained. "That foghorn clearly wasn't the ideal replacement for Cyril; had it not been for him, this branch line would likely be down two engines."
Eventually, Judy and Jerome had been brought down by Donald to help clear away the rockslide. Sir Topham Hatt had also arrived on board.
"Urr ye a'richt, BoCo?" asked Donald.
"I will be," assured BoCo. "Though if not for Cyril, Derek could have ended up in a worse accident than me."
"How did this rockslide happen?" asked Sir Topham Hatt.
Judy glanced over and found a squashed object amongst the rocks. "Eugh, what on earth is that old thing?"
"Maybe it's a bunch of old soft drink cans mashed together," suggested Jerome.
"That's nae a bunch o' soft dram cans," said Donald. "Tis a foghorn!"
"A foghorn?!" cried Sir Topham Hatt. "Since when did the railway have one of those things?!"
"Since last night, sir," BoCo told him, and he quickly explained about what he and the rest of the Brendam branch engines had witnessed at the sheds.
"Really now…" muttered Sir Topham Hatt. "I shall have a word with that railway board member next time we meet up. But in the meantime… Cyril, I'm very proud of you for saving Derek from crashing. You are clearly a very reliable worker on the railway, and instead of replacing you with the foghorn, we'll replace the beat up piece of junk with you."
Cyril beamed. "T-thank you, sir," he said quietly.
"And thank you, Cyril," smiled Derek.
"Right, I'm taking this 'foghorn' with me," said Sir Topham Hatt, picking up the crushed up piece of metal. "Now, where's that member of the railway board?"
Just then, Edward bustled up, having left the red coaches on a siding near Brendam station. "I think I found who you're looking for, sir," said the old blue engine.
"Ah, thank you, Edward," smiled Sir Topham Hatt. "Now you and Derek go back to work as best you can. Donald, you take BoCo to the Dieselworks. Cyril, feel free to check the other lines for potential foggy areas."
"My driver's also informed the Pack about the situation," called Edward as he, Donald and Derek departed; Cyril got in his car. Sir Topham Hatt managed to keep his smile until everyone was gone.
"Now, as for you…" Sir Topham Hatt said darkly, turning to the railway board member. "Answer me this question… what in blazes were you thinking with firing Cyril and buying a foghorn behind my back?!"
"Douglas went behind your back to rescue Oliver and Toad, and so did Bear with Emily," protested the railway board member. "And then there was Thomas, Percy and Diesel doing it with Old Slow Coach and you had no problem with any of the five engines doing that."
"That's a different situation! " snapped Sir Topham Hatt. "My engines were saving lives and benefiting the railway by bringing them here. But you… you hurt Cyril's feelings by not giving him a fair chance. And just look at poor BoCo! That foghorn caused a rockslide which got him hurt, and Derek could have ended up hurt too!"
"I… I didn't think of that…"
"And do you know why Derek didn't end up getting hurt?" asked Sir Topham Hatt. The railway board member didn't say anything. "It was Cyril's quick thinking that saved the day."
The railway board member was stunned by that revelation. "I… I really misjudged him…" was all that the board member could utter before sighing. "It appears I don't have a place here, Sir Topham Hatt. You'll receive my resignation as of tomorrow. And… give Cyril and BoCo my deepest apologies if I don't see them by then."
Sir Topham Hatt was greatly surprised, but nodded in agreement.
Cyril is now a very well-known face on the Island of Sodor, and the engines never forget to give him a friendly whistle or toot whenever they passed him, and he would always give a friendly wave back. They always know that whenever there's fog on the island, they can rely on Cyril to put out fog detonators all over the railway to keep them safe.
But as for the foghorn, as it was damaged beyond repair, it had been taken to Crock's Scrap Yard to be broken up.
"For once, I'm happy to see something be broken up," said BoCo.
"I have to agree," sighed Edward. "If we hear another foghorn on our railway, it'll be too soon!"
THE END
Author's Comments
Here's episode six of Series 6-7 Redux, based upon The Fogman! It's another of my personal favorites out of series six, mainly for its message about not fixing something that wasn't broken. I feel as though it's also a metaphor for how Britt Allcroft tried to make her vision of Sodor a reality, only to blow up in her face after the failure of Thomas and the Magic Railroad. Ah well, hindsight's a wonderful thing, isn't it? Anyway, I liked using the Brendam branch line crew for this rewrite as their line, alongside the Little Western, is pretty close to the sea, since Misty Valley didn't really have a specific location to it. That pretty much suggests that they didn't seem to care about the mapping of Sodor (at least until 2014), which is why the engines appeared at random locations besides where they're usually situated at.
Upcoming stories:
- Jack Jumps In
- A Friend in Need
- Gordon and Spencer
- Too Heavy for Harold
- Salty's Secret
