The engines were still processing what had just happened to their former number six.

"Falling down a mine shaft…" gasped Phyllis. "By overrunning a danger sign."

"I… I'm sorry I couldn't save him," Mildred said quietly.

"Mildred, it's not your fault," said Albert.

"Albert's right," added Glynn. "You acted quickly and responsibly. Billy was the one who acted recklessly."

"I guess so," sighed Mildred. "We'll have to carry on as best we can without him."

"I know this hurts," said Leslie, "but what's important now is that we welcome the newcomers to Sodor."

"Newcomers?!" gasped Phyllis. "The electric engines! When are they coming again?"

"Today," said Edward. "I'm to go and pick them up for the Peel Godred branch."

"Indeed, Edward," said Mr. Dry. He had come to the sheds while the engines were talking about Billy's unfortunate demise.

"I will admit that under different circumstances," the controller went on, "it would be regarded as too soon to bring in another engine or two with the loss of Billy. However, we had placed an order for the new electric engines while the new branch line was being built, so them arriving the same time we lost Billy is just a case of unfortunate timing."

"It's alright, sir," said Tasha. "Besides, this may give us something else to focus on."


Edward puffed out of the sheds and headed down to Crovan's Gate, giving a friendly whistle to Skarloey, Rheneas and Proteus in kind as he passed by the sheds.

"It's nice to explore new areas of the island," the red tender engine remarked to his crew. "I can only imagine what a fast run from one end to another must be like."

"Ah, thinking back to your express days, I see," chuckled Edward's driver.

"You could say that," Edward smiled to himself. "I don't fancy doing that these days though. Just a nice leisurely trip down a branch line would do me just fine."

The red tender engine came to a stop just outside the entrance to the works at Crovan's Gate. On the front of the building was a large sign that read "Sodor Steamworks".

"This must be it," said Edward, puffing into the building.

"Hey, you! Red engine, over here!"

Edward glanced over in surprise to see three engines with what looked to be pantographs on their roofs. The engine who had spoken was the smallest of the trio, an ES1 painted blue. The one on the blue engine's left, an EE1 painted in purple, rolled her eyes, while the one on the right, an EF1 painted in a reddish-orange, couldn't help but chuckle.

"You'll have to excuse her," said the purple engine. "She can be a bit too excited to meet new faces. I'm Carole, by the way."

"Hi there!" said the blue shunter. "My name's Stevie. My full name is Stephanie, but I thought that was way too girly, so I decided to shorten it."

"Er, hello," the third engine said shyly. "I'm Elisabeth, Lisa for short."

"Well, I'm Edward," the red tender engine replied. "I see you three are for the Peel Godred branch line."

"Of course we are," grinned Stevie. "What do we have to do?"

"Er… I'm not sure how things are handled on an electric line," Edward admitted. "I'm not even sure how things will go down on your new line, other than you have to meet up with the engines on both the mountain railway and the aluminum plant."

"Oh, that sounds lovely," said Lisa. "I hope the engines are friendly."

"That I can confirm," chuckled Edward. "I'm sure you three will settle in nicely."


Edward took the trio down to Killdane and Carole, Stevie and Lisa were hooked onto their new cables.

"That's much better," said Stevie. "Now we can get right to work. Thanks for the lift, Edward."

"Pleasure is all mine," smiled the steam engine. "I hope you settle in nicely."

"Don't have to tell us twice," the small electric engine giggled.

Edward puffed off to get back to work while the electric engines curiously checked out their new environment. Stevie went to shunt some coaches for Lisa.

"Ouch!" cried one of them. "Watch out!"

"Oh, sorry," said Stevie. "Who are you, anyway?"

"Name's Ashley," said the first coach. "That middle one is-"

"I can introduce myself," grunted the middle coach. "I'm Melanie."

"And my name is Jess," the last coach replied.

"Ashley, Melanie and Jess," the blue electric engine repeated. "I'm Stevie; it's very nice to meet you three."

"Likewise," said Jess as Stevie arranged the coaches for Lisa.

"It has been a while since we were moving under our own power," said Lisa. "I just hope I can remember what to do…"

Unfortunately for Lisa, the rails were slippery from a recent rainfall and she hadn't noticed what was going on.

"Whoops!" she cried, slipping on the rails and bumping the coaches, which almost crashed into Stevie.

"Whoa!" cried Stevie, taken aback by the sudden bump.

"Sorry!" called Lisa. "I think I'm trying to get used to moving again."

"Yes, I know the feeling as well," agreed Carole as she was waiting in the shed for her trucks. "But I think we'll be fine after a few days. Just got to settle into the new routine, that's all."

There were a lot of passengers on the platform waiting to ride the inaugural run for the Peel Godred branch line; Mr. Dry and Bertram Hatt were among them.

"Just do your best, Lisa," said Mr. Dry calmly.

"Right," she said with a smile. "I can do this, no problem."

"You got this, Lisa," smiled Carole. "I'll meet you down at Peel Godred with my goods train."


As Lisa and the coaches made their way up the line, the electric engine took in her new surroundings.

"It's so beautiful," said Lisa in awe. She almost felt as if she could drift to sleep by the sounds of soft chirping of the birds or the cool breeze of wind around her.

Just then, Lisa heard the beating of some hooves further down the line.

"Oh?" she said curiously. "What was that?"

"Call me crazy," said Ashley, "but I think I hear some horses."

"Horses?!" cried Lisa in astonishment. "Wh-where are they?"

"I think they're down there," said Jess. "There's usually some set trail rides each weekend; part of it runs by the fence close to the tracks."

Excitedly, Lisa glanced over across the way. True to the coaches' words, there were some horses with riders on their backs; some of the more advanced riders were cantering gracefully ahead of the pack. One was a chestnut horse with white socks, a white spot on her nose and a star. The horse in question gilded gracefully over a log jump in its path.

"Aww, she's beautiful," gasped Lisa.

"How do you know it's a mare?" asked Ashley.

"Er… I don't," Lisa admitted sheepishly. "But that's just my guess. Oh, wait until Carole and Stevie hear about this!"


It wasn't too long before Carole had followed Lisa up the line with some trucks.

"I do wonder what those little engines will be like," said Carole. "Probably like those down at Crovan's Gate, I reckon."

"I wonder how many engines there will be at Peel Godred and Kirk Machan," said Carole's driver.

"Only one way to…" She gasped as she heard some hoofbeats. "Horses? Here? Oh, my goodness, where are they?"

"I think they're over there," said Carole's driver.

Carole was mesmerized as she gazed upon the four legged gentle giants. One of the horses, this one colored buckskin with a blaze and a star, was in a particular prancy trot near the middle of the group.

"You're a real beauty, aren't you," smiled Carole. The horse seemed to give a nod in response to Carole's question, causing her to giggle.

"Oh, this just made my day," grinned Carole as she continued up the line.


Unfortunately for Carole, she hadn't realized that she had left some of her trucks behind when she left Killdane.

"Oh dear!" cried Stevie. "I'll have to follow her up with this lot," she grunted as she buffered up to the trucks. "She can't be too far ahead, I hope."

She rushed on, hoping to make up for lost time. As she continued up the line, she too heard the hoofbeats.

"Horses? No way!" she cried. "I didn't realize that they were along our line."

"Horse riding must be a popular pastime for the locals," remarked her driver.

Stevie grinned as she, like her friends, saw the equines out on their ride. One of them, a black horse with a star, came out of another riding track back onto the main trail.

"I'd love to be able to do that," she grinned.


At the end of the day, the three electric engines all met up at their shed at Peel Godred.

"So," said Carole, "how was your passenger run, Lisa?"

"Went smoother than I thought," replied the reddish-orange engine. "I was so worried I'd slip again, but everything turned out fine. Culdee and her coach Catherine were very friendly too. Did you have many problems with your goods train?"

"Er…" Carole was a bit embarrassed. "Unfortunately, I left the last few trucks behind."

"Good thing I was able to swoop in and save the day," chuckled Stevie. "I'd say that was a blessing in disguise because I was able to see some horses on my way to meet up with Carole."

"You saw them too?" asked Lisa excitedly.

"As did I," said Carole. "One of them even acknowledged me as I passed by."

"Oh, that's so lucky," said Stevie. "I caught sight of one coming out of a rough riding trail!"

"And I saw one of them jumping," added Lisa. "They are quite a sight to behold, aren't they?"

"Indeed they are." The three electric engines turned to see that Mr. Dry and Bertram Hatt had arrived at the sheds.

"You three have certainly done well today," said Mr. Hatt.

"We did… kind of slip up," said Stevie sheepishly.

"Some more literally than others," Carole added.

"But even so," said Mr. Dry, "your trial runs proved to be successful, and we can guarantee that this line will be in operation for many years to come."

"Thank you, sir," smiled Lisa. "We'll do our very best to manage the branch line."

"I second that statement," agreed Carole.

"Yeah, what they said," grinned Stevie.

"You all get a good night's rest," said Mr. Hatt. "It'll be a busy day tomorrow."

That was the start of a very bright future for the trio of engines. They loved their new branch line and were quick to befriend the other engines on the island, even though they couldn't go beyond Killdane; the only exception was when they needed repairs at Crovan's Gate, but even then, it was usually another engine who took them there. But even though they had their disagreements, they all agreed their favorite thing to do was watch the horses ride past on weekends during trail rides.


Author's Comments

Zack: Two chapters in, and now we get to meet with the first three engines of the Peel Godred branch line - Carole the EE1, Stevie the ES1 and Lisa the EF1! All three of them are of North Eastern Railway origin, with the only other early electric engines being from overseas, but I think it's far more likely that British designs would have ended up on Sodor in the early years. Expect each of them to receive a focus story on their own for the first volume.

Rachel: Did you guess the crossover yet? Well, I'll say this: Each of the horses are based off three very specific horses in another TV show I grew up with. The names of the electric engine trio are another dead giveaway if you're paying attention. Our horse companions and their riders will also be given supporting roles throughout the arc.

Zack: As a side note, I've noticed that I received just one review, and yet I've been unable to see it here. I'm not sure what the issue is, but I reckon it's probably a glitch with the site. All the same, make to let both of us know what you think about the story as the narrative progresses.

Next time, we begin to see more of the electric trio as we Run Away with the Horses!