Of the electric engines, Lisa was the most docile and friendly. Perhaps that had been why she had been chosen for passenger traffic over her honoree sister, Carole. Of course, like anyone, Lisa did have her limits.
One day, Lisa was waiting at a red signal. Usually an annoyance to most engines, but not today, for this signal was right at the horse trail, and her friends were going by on their faithful steeds.
"Good day, Lisa," greeted Lara. "How are you?"
"Feeling fantastic," said Lisa. "Just yesterday, I heard from the stationmaster at Abbey station that her son's getting married within the next few weeks."
"That is lovely news indeed," said Keenan. "We were just on our way down to the creek with the horses."
"Oh, I hope they have a good drink while they're there," said Lisa. "I wonder who'll win the race this time."
"Belle is the fastest horse in cross country riding," said Sophie. "We have this one in the bag."
"In your dreams, Sophie," remarked Keenan. Lisa was so caught up in her talk with the horse riders that she hadn't noticed that the signal had changed to show that the line was clear.
"Lisa!" cried Melanie. "The signal's green!"
"Wait, what? Oh, shoot! I might hold up the rest of the branch line if I'm late!" She turned apologetically to the girls. "Sorry I can't talk anymore. I must be off now." And the reddish-orange electric engine quickly made her way to Kirk Machan station.
"What were you thinking, Lisa?" grunted Jess. "Blocking the line?"
"I can make up time for when we make it to Peel Godred," insisted Lisa.
"I swear, those horses are becoming quite a distraction for you and the others," muttered Melanie.
"I don't see anything wrong with horse watching," said Ashley. "And nor do the passengers."
"It was thanks to that we're delaying trains for Carole and the shunting for Stevie," grunted Melanie.
Eventually, Lisa arrived at Kirk Machan, curious to see which of the mountain engines and their coach would be there to greet her.
"Ah, hello, Lisa," greeted a female voice.
"Culdee!" smiled Lisa. "Great to see you and Catherine."
"Got a bit carried away with horse watching again, did we?" chuckled Catherine.
"You could say that," admitted Lisa. "Still just about a minute late, though."
"Ah, it's no real fuss," said Culdee. "I got a bit carried away watching the mountain goats myself the other day."
"Glad you two seem to look on the bright side of things," said Lisa. "Not everyone does." She glanced pointedly at the coach in the middle of the train.
"What, can you blame any of us for trying to have the trains run on time?" insisted Melanie.
"It's not too big a deal," muttered Lisa. "I'll keep a better eye on the signal next time, I promise." She turned back to Culdee and Catherine. "So, how is life on your line?"
"Oh, peaceful as ever," said Culdee. "Except for that mountain goat that strayed onto the line yesterday. And you on this branch line?"
"Belle was on the loose a while ago, and she seems to have taken a liking to Stevie," said Lisa.
"Oh my," gasped Culdee. "I knew you three were fond of horses, but I didn't think one would befriend one of you."
"Nor did we," agreed Lisa. "It was quite a magical experience to say the least, Culdee. Prancer and Starlight seem to be getting closer with Carole and I, respectively."
"Lucky ducks, you three are," smiled Catherine. "No wonder you're always so cheerful. If only we could say the same about Shane."
"Is he shy?" asked Lisa.
"No, he just doesn't come out as often as Ern, Wilf and I do," said Culdee. "It practically makes him restless, to say the least."
"Oh," said Lisa. "Stevie may get a bit pent up from time to time, but she still gets out every day. I can't imagine how being stuck somewhere with nothing to do can do anything good for him."
"I bet it would give him a wild imagination," remarked Catherine with a slight chuckle.
"I guess it would," said Jess. "At least he actually has friends to talk to during the day."
"Yeah, and the thought of being stored away without anyone to keep you company is creepy," added Ashley.
Neither Culdee nor Catherine had an answer to that; they knew what Ashley was talking about.
"You don't think that Shane will be stored away too, do you?" asked Melanie.
"Thankfully, we don't," said Culdee. "He's far too useful for that sort of fate."
"Thank goodness for that," sighed Lisa. She then heard the sound of her guard's whistle. "I'll see you later."
Culdee and Catherine started off on their run up the mountain no sooner than when Lisa and her coaches were out of sight.
"I wonder what the hikers will see up the mountain today," said Culdee.
"Well, I'll be keeping an eye out for you," smiled Catherine.
The two began to climb steadily, and they met up with Wilfred and Sharon at Shiloh.
"Ah, there you are, Culdee and Catherine," smiled Wilfred.
"Great to see you too, Wilfred and Sharon," said Catherine.
"How was Lisa and her coaches?" asked Sharon.
"Oh, just a slight delay talking with the girls and their horses," said Culdee.
"That's always the way, isn't it?" joked Wilfred. "I guess they do need to look for sources of entertainment. They're always cut off from the rest of their railway."
"We're practically cut off from the rest of the island, aren't we?" asked Culdee.
"I guess so," sighed Sharon. "The Skarloey Railway at least have their top station which interchanges with the main line, and the Mid Sodor Railway have the advantage of having steam engines on their branch line."
"I'm afraid you're right there, Sharon," said Catherine. The quartet then continued on their separate ways, wondering how their number five was faring.
"This is probably the twenty-sixth time I've counted all the bricks on that wall there, Ernest!"
"Twenty-seventh, if I remember correctly, Shane."
Shane Dooiney - the engines often called him Shane for short - was the youngest out of the mountain engines. Perhaps this was another factor in making him more insecure than the others, but it's never been confirmed or denied. Shane loved being as useful as the next engine, and he would get frustrated whenever he wasn't picked to take passengers up the mountain.
"You know we're not like the other railways, Shane," sighed Ernest. "We have very limited traffic down here."
"Don't think I don't know that, Ernest," grunted Shane. "I'd do anything just to get out of the sheds more often."
"I'm not sure why you haven't been out too often, now that you mention it," said Ernest.
"I guess it's because I've had to let Wilfred take Sharon out," sighed Shane. "She longs to get out more often as well."
"She does like working with both of you," said Ernest. "I'm sure we'll figure something out. Don't worry, little brother."
Back on the branch line, Lisa made it to her final stop, Peel Godred. Carole was close by with a fresh load of trucks from the aluminum works.
"You alright there, Lisa?" asked Carole.
"I just can't help but feel sorry for Shane, constantly stuck in the sheds with nothing to do," explained Lisa.
"Oh dear," said Carole. "It's that bad, is it?"
"He doesn't even shunt trucks or coaches in the yard," Ashley explained. "You know what the mountain railway's like; very limited traffic and all that."
"They can't run all of their engines at once now, can they?" added Melanie.
"Melanie!" scolded Lisa.
"What, I'm just looking at this from a practical point of view," the middle coach insisted. "Coal is a finite resource, and Mr. Richards can't afford to waste any."
"Well, none of us run on coal," said Jess, "so that doesn't apply to us."
"Well, you do have a point there, Jess," said Lisa. "But back to what I'm talking about; I think Shane's lack of coming out of the shed may be why he's the way he is."
"Maybe you should try talking to him, Lisa," said Carole.
Lisa gave a shy smile in response. "I'll do my best."
The next day, Mr. Richards, the controller of the Culdee Fell Railway, came to his engines.
"Good morning, engines," he greeted. "We have a lot of people coming to the railway today. Ernest, Culdee, I wish for you two to go out today."
"Oh, me again, sir?" asked Culdee.
"Well, I heard very positive reports from you yesterday," said Mr. Richards. "You keep up the good work, okay?"
"I will, sir," the purple mountain engine promised. She glanced back to see Shane biting his lip, trying to hide his sadness.
Forgive me for this, sir, Culdee thought, and she puffed over to the tracks, not looking where she was going.
CRACK!
"Culdee!" cried Mr. Richards. "What's happened?"
"I think there was a rock on the track," sighed Culdee.
"We'll have to get you repaired, Culdee," sighed the controller. "Never mind, it's not your fault. I guess it's Ernest and Wilfred then."
"Er… one issue, sir," said Wilfred. Mr. Richards looked over to see that Culdee was now also blocking Wilfred's berth.
"Oh, crooked cucumbers," groaned the controller. "Make it Ernest and Shane then."
"Let's go, Shane," said Ernest.
The two engines puffed off, but Shane saw Culdee give a quick wink at him.
This can't be deliberate on her end… can it? the green mountain engine thought as he went to pick up Sharon.
"Hello, Shane," his coach greeted as he coupled up to her. "Good to see you out and about for once."
"Culdee had an accident outside the sheds," Shane explained. "And Wilfred's trapped as well."
"That's not good," said Sharon. "Is Culdee hurt?"
"I think she'll be fine," Shane assured before they headed out. "I just can't wait to stretch my wheels again!"
Shane was filled to the brim with excitement as he and Sharon backed down into Kirk Machan station. Many passengers were on the platform, and got on board the train with friendly smiles, though there was one small figure on the platform who stared at the green steam engine.
"Do I know you?" she asked curiously.
"Oh, er, my name's Shane Dooiney," said the green engine. "After one of the mountains. My name means 'The Old Man' in Sudric."
"Oh… you're one of dad's engines, aren't you?" said the little girl. "I don't see you very often."
"I'm usually left in the sheds," explained Shane. "Kind of drives you mad after a while."
At that moment, Lisa pulled into the station with her coaches.
"Hello, Shane," she greeted warmly. "Great to see you out and about."
"Good day, Lisa," he replied. He wasn't sure of what to say next; being left in the sheds for a while had compromised his outside social skills. "Er… have you seen those horses recently?"
"Yes, just yesterday," said Lisa. "I didn't see them this morning; the kids would be going to school."
"Indeed," said the little girl. "I thought dad mentioned Culdee would be out this morning."
"She, er, had a bit of an accident this morning," Shane explained.
"Aww," sighed the little girl. "I was hoping to see her today. She was going to tell me about her trial trip!"
"Louise, we're going to be late for school!" called a slightly older male voice.
"Coming," she muttered to her brother. "I can't believe Culdee didn't show up…"
"Not what I was expecting from her," muttered Shane, sounding slightly hurt.
"She always has been… uptight," said Lisa, trying to put it in the most delicate way possible. "I know how that feels."
"Hey!" snapped Melanie.
"For once, I didn't mean you," retorted Lisa. "I was referring to my first driver when I first entered service."
Shane and Sharon looked curiously at the reddish-orange electric engine.
"Your first driver?" asked Shane.
"It's a long story…"
Past
I came out of the workshops of the North Eastern Railway one day, very eager for my test runs.
"Alright!" I grinned. "What's my first run going to be?"
"Calm down, Lisa," chuckled my old controller. "Your first run will be a passenger train to Shildon."
"I'll do my best, sir," I said warmly.
"This will be your driver for the journey, Lisa," he gestured to a female figure nearby.
"Ah, so you're the new form of technology then," my new driver said with a smile. "And my, what a nice livery you've been given." Back then, I was painted in apple green like the rest of my siblings.
"Oh, er, thank you," I said modestly. "I hope we can make a good first impression on everyone with the train."
"Of course we will," said my driver with confidence. "With a friendly smile and bright paint like that, nothing will go wrong."
I headed off to find my coaches. While there, I met a tank engine with the unusual configuration of a 2-2-4T.
"Hello there," he said politely. "New to the railway, are you?"
"Yes," I smiled. "I'm Elisabeth, Lisa for short. What's your name?"
"I'm William," replied the tank engine. "Oh, I'd love to stick around and chat, but I have to get going."
He coupled up to some coal trucks and started away. Unfortunately, the trucks were up to mischief and started clashing with each other.
"Oh my!" I said through coughs.
"Sorry about that!" called William. I gave him an understanding smile as he left.
"This just had to happen now!" grunted my driver. "We'll have to get you a washdown, Lisa."
"And abandon the passengers?" I asked. "No, we have to do this whether I'm covered in coal dust or not. I'm sure they won't mind that much."
"This is your first trip, Lisa," said my driver. "You must make a good first impression. Do you think they would be impressed if you showed up like this?"
"W-well… when you put it like that…" I said quietly. "I guess a quick washdown won't hurt."
But it wasn't as quick as we'd have thought; by the time we made it to the station at Newport, we were already behind schedule.
"What kind of train is this?" snapped one of the passengers.
"S-sorry…" I said quietly. "We had a bit of a problem getting ready."
"But now we are ready," said my driver. "And we can make up for lost time."
"I hope I can do this…" I said to myself. With that, I started away as fast as I could. The route was only eighteen miles long, and there weren't too many electric engines around, so I would have had a fairly easy run… if not for my late start.
As I continued along at a rapid pace, I hadn't taken into account the recent rainstorm. Puddles were all over the track, and perhaps it wouldn't have mattered that my washdown happened because muddy water now replaced my coal dust.
"Good thing my cab doesn't allow my driver to check the sides of me," I muttered to myself.
However, one puddle was bigger than the rest, and I had almost hit my top speed by this point. Without stopping to think about the situation, I plowed straight through it.
CRACKLE! SIZZLE!
"What the…" Suddenly, I felt myself slowing down. As I later found out, water and electricity do not mix.
"Lisa, what's going on?" asked my driver. She hopped out of my cab to check.
"I've run out of electricity and now I can't run," I explained.
My driver then walked over to a nearby box of some kind. "The electric box got wet," she grunted. "This will halt all traffic on this branch line!"
"Now what are we supposed to do?" grunted one of the passengers. "You waste all your time getting washed and now we can't even move!"
"I guess buses will have to be arranged," said the guard. "Or maybe we can get a steam engine to pull the train."
It turned out to be the latter, as a T2 tender engine had come to pick up my train while William came to collect me.
"Trying to put out an electrical outlet," muttered the eight-coupled tender engine. "That is not the right way to handle things."
"Go easy on her, Francis," said William. "She's fresh out of the workshops."
"Whatever you say," grunted Francis while pulling out with the coaches. "This will delay my goods train…"
"I'm so sorry," I said quietly. "So much for my first impression."
"Never mind," soothed William. "Just remember that next time, you should put your passengers above your cleanliness." He chuckled. "Do you think I work with coal trucks all day and not a speck of it gets on my paintwork?"
"No," I said, unable to help but laugh. Though my happiness was short lived, as my controller came to me with a scathing expression when I got back to the sheds.
"There have been so many delayed trains today!" he scolded. "Lisa, what were you thinking?!"
"I… got covered in coal dust and I…"
"I will not put up with these excuses, Lisa," he grunted. "It'll take a few days to fix that electric box. This is most inconvenient for our line." He then walked sternly away.
"Great first impression," I muttered to my driver. "Now he hates me."
"You agreed to getting that washdown before," my driver argued. "And then you had to ruin it by splashing into every puddle on the way."
"That delayed our train!" I snapped.
"I'm going to find another engine," retorted my first driver. "One that will not be so reckless as you were." Much to my shock, my driver walked away. I swallowed hard; what was I going to do without a driver?
True to my manager's words, it did take a few days for the line to be back in order. When the electric box was finally fixed, the other electric engines could carry on their jobs, but…
"The controller wouldn't want a klutz like you!" cried one of the Class H tank engines.
"Yeah," agreed his twin. "I say they should just scrap the electric engines and have us steam engines running the line."
"Barnaby, Daryl!" snapped William. "You two get back to work now!"
The two scampered off as William came up with an apologetic glance. "I'm so sorry about this, Lisa. What happened was a mistake pressured on by your driver."
"I know…" I sighed. "I just wish I could be given another chance…"
Present
"Oh, Lisa…" gasped Shane. "That's just awful. No driver should treat their engine like that."
"No indeed," Lisa replied. "I was rather thankful to receive a new driver after this mishap, but I was still ridiculed by many of the engines, save for William and later on, Carole and Stevie. When we were asked to transfer to Sodor, I jumped at the opportunity for greener pastures and so I could have a fresh start."
"I'm so glad to hear that," Shane said. "But… I never really had an incident like that, so… I'm not sure why I'm not chosen over the others."
Lisa paused for a moment to collect her thoughts.
"Shane," she said, "is there anyone who's picked more often of the rest of the engines?"
"Well, I've seen Culdee picked for passenger runs a lot," said Shane, "most likely because the railway was named after her."
"And Mr. Richards' daughter did seem interested in her stories," said Jess.
"You don't think Mr. Richards has 'engine favoritism', do you?" asked Ashley.
"Now that you mention it," said Sharon, "that is starting to add up."
"We need to find him, and fast," said Shane as his guard's whistle blew. "Thank you, Lisa. You've been a massive help."
"It was my pleasure, Shane," the reddish-orange electric engine smiled.
While Shane had a good stretch of his wheels with Sharon, it was unfortunate that he, his brothers and sister didn't find Mr. Richards all day. By the time he and Ernest were back in the sheds, Culdee had been re-railed and inspected for damage. Thankfully, little damage had been done, and she was fit to run for tomorrow.
"How was your run, Shane?" asked Culdee.
"It was great," said Shane. "I'm sorry about the accident though."
"Oh, it's not your fault." She then lowered her voice. "It was mine."
"So that was deliberate," Shane gasped.
"What?!" Mr. Richards had come over while the two engines were talking. "Culdee, what in blazes were you thinking?"
"With all due respect, sir," said Culdee, as calmly as she could, "I noticed that I had been picked far more often on runs than Shane over here, and I'm usually picked alongside either Ernest or Wilfred. I get that the railway is named after me, but I don't need to be constantly running just to showcase how important I am. We all are, sir, and that includes Shane."
"That's correct!" Shane added quickly. "I spoke with Lisa today. She told me about how she was almost never chosen to run back on her old line due to some misunderstandings and manipulation from her first driver. What have I done to deserve being shunted aside?!"
Mr. Richards was a bit taken aback by what his number four and five engines had said to him; he almost wasn't sure of how to respond.
"I…" he said quietly. "Shane, I… I'm really sorry for mistreating you like that. I guess… since that incident from our early days of the line, I… kept thinking of Culdee being our best choice to go out due to the trial trip she went on. I promise to reorganize the schedule so you all get a fair chance to go out."
And recognizing is just what Mr. Richards did. He made a roster so that the engines could go out in twos each day; no one getting any more jobs than the other. Lisa was pleased to see Shane was much happier when she next saw him at Kirk Machan.
"Lisa, I can't thank you enough," Shane smiled. "Same with Culdee. You really helped change our railway for the better."
Lisa blushed modestly as Shane winked at her.
Author's Comments
Zack: Here's chapter four, starring Lisa the electric passenger engine! Not only that, but we also get appearances by the Culdee Fell engines, particularly Shane Dooiney, someone who has never made a physical appearance in the books. I've seen people say that the mountain engines aren't particularly interesting as characters, but you know what I say to that? It's all a matter of tapping into that potential. With Shane, he's very much the locomotive equivalent to the middle sibling (even though, at this stage, he's the youngest of the fleet), always having that sense of feeling overshadowed and wanting to do something to stand out from the rest. Being the engine numbered after the one for whom the railway's named for certainly doesn't help Shane's case that much.
Rachel: So, here we get to star my favorite of the Saddle Club trio, Lisa. She has a bit of a wandering eye when it comes to boys and many male characters are subconsciously attracted to her. At the same time though, she's very genuine in what she has to say and many folks listen to her. Her mother, unfortunately, doesn't treat her very well, which is reflected in her first driver. Granted, Lisa's mother doesn't ever get to this point in the show, but I'd be darned if it comes close.
Next time, for the final chapter of volume one, we sing a Christmas Carole!
