Thomas and Bertie
Based upon the story by Rev. W. Awdry
Adapted by Rachel Ravens
Takes place between TAC and TACO
The snow had finally melted on the Island of Sodor, and Thomas sighed in relief.
"Snow in December isn't too bad, it helps to establish the Christmas atmosphere," he commented as he went out to fetch Annie and Clarabel. "But through January and February, it becomes very problematic."
"Well, at least you learned the importance of your snow plow," sighed Annie.
"Indeed," agreed Clarabel. "You left our passengers stranded!"
"I know, I know," Thomas muttered as he puffed off to start his run. "Not my best moment. Doesn't mean I like my snow plow now…"
Thomas puffed over to the first station, ready to collect the passengers for his journey. But much to his surprise, he saw a red bus drive up to the road beside Elsbridge.
"Oh, hello." said Thomas. "Are you new to the Island of Sodor?"
"Who, me?" asked the bus in surprise. He took a careful look at the engine and the coaches. "Hmm… you look awfully familiar."
"Oh, I think I know where we've seen you before," cried Annie. "You were the bus that took Thomas' passengers home when he went fishing."
"Yes, that's it!" said the bus. "My name is Bertie. And what may your names be?"
"My name is Thomas," greeted the tank engine. "And these ladies are my coaches, Annie and Clarabel."
"A pleasure to formally meet you at last, Bertie," smiled Clarabel.
"Likewise, Clarabel," Bertie replied. "And I also helped rescue your passengers when you were stuck in the snowdrift. I've been sent to help you with your passengers today."
"Really now?" asked Thomas. "I bet you won't be as fast as me."
"I don't know about that," responded Bertie. "I can be quite fast on these roads."
"I know a way we can settle this," said the tank engine determinedly. "We can race each other."
"Ooh, I've never done that before," said Bertie, intrigued. "Sounds like fun."
"Ooh, this does sound exciting," said Annie with interest.
"I guess we do need a bit of fun on the branch line every one in a while," agreed Clarabel.
Thomas' crew and Bertie's driver agreed to the race going ahead, and the guard walked over to Clarabel.
"Are you ready?" called the guard. Thomas blew his whistle and Bertie honked his horn eagerly.
The guard blew his own whistle, waved his green flag and hopped into Clarabel. "Go!"
Bertie started with a roar, while Thomas was left in the dust, as he didn't have enough steam to go quickly.
"Come on, Thomas!" called Annie. "You can go faster than this!"
"I know, Annie," responded the tank engine. "But don't worry, I know something's coming."
"What could that possibly be?" asked Clarabel. "Bertie's well and truly ahead of us!"
"You'll see, girls," Thomas chuckled, "you'll see."
"Oh, come on!" grunted Bertie in annoyance. He had been stopped at the level crossing gates, and Thomas gilded merrily through with Annie and Clarabel.
"See you at the station, Bertie!" laughed Thomas.
"Oh, you are a clever little engine, Thomas," Annie chuckled, realising Thomas' intentions.
"Bertie will be far behind us now," added Clarabel.
Bertie meanwhile was coasting along the roads. Though the rails cover much of Sodor, there were some parts where the rails never reached.
"I never knew racing an engine could be so much fun," chuckled Bertie. "I just wish I knew how Thomas was doing."
"Racing?" asked another voice. Bertie looked over to see his friend Algy, a bus which looked nearly identical to him other than the fact he was blue, driving in the lane next to him. "You'd best be careful, Bertie. Passengers may not like being bounced around like peas in a frying pan."
"Don't worry," chuckled the red bus. "I'll be careful and quick too."
"Don't say I didn't warn you," said Algy. Then, Algy had to turn down another road, and he tooted his horn to Bertie in good luck.
"Thank you," replied Bertie as he carried on his way.
Meanwhile, Thomas had to stop at the next station. He looked over curiously at a commotion.
"What is going on over there?" he asked in surprise to his coaches.
"Looks like they are building something," Annie commented. "Maybe they are extending the station."
"That would be nice," said Clarabel. "We'd get more passengers at this rate."
"Perhaps so," said Thomas. "If that's the case, it's a good job Bertie's come to help us." He then glanced at the clock. "Quickly, please!" he called as he whistled. The last passengers hopped aboard, and he took off again. "Come along, come along!"
"We're coming along!" chorused the coaches together.
"Hurry, hurry, hurry!" Thomas laughed, pretending to be Gordon. Then he looked on the bridge, hearing a bus horn.
"Oh no!" gasped Annie. "Bertie's ahead of us again!"
"Oh, dearie me," groaned Thomas, panting for breath. "We'll never win at this rate."
"See you at the finish line you three!" laughed Bertie as he roared off the bridge.
"Come on you two," encouraged Clarabel. "We'll beat Bertie yet!"
"You're right, Clarabel!" Annie said determinedly. "Keep at it, Thomas. We'll win!"
"Thanks, girls." Thomas smiled, then he looked up. "Oh, bother! There's Toryreck!"
His driver applied the brakes and he stopped at the station. To make matters worse, Bertie was up on a hill at a bus stop.
"Heh, well, looks like I may beat you after all, Thomas," chuckled the bus. "You must be tired. Sorry I can't stop. We buses have to work, you know. Goodbye."
"Oh dear…" sighed Thomas, heading to the water tower. "We've lost."
He did feel better after a quick drink, He did feel better after a quick drink, and before he knew it, he heard the familiar whistle of an 0-6-0 Midland tank engine.
"Hi, Thomas, Annie and Clarabel." Katie called cheerfully with some trucks, "Lovely day for a passenger train."
"Right back at you, Katie." replied the tank engine. "I'm in a race with a red bus named Bertie."
"You are?" asked Katie. "Oh, have a good time. Wish I could join you, got to fly, bye!" She then giggled. "Fly? Wait, I can't do that."
Thomas, Annie and Clarabel couldn't help but laugh as Katie disappeared and the signal dropped. "Hurrah, we're off!" he cried. "Come on, girls, let's catch up!"
Thomas started to really hit his stride as he crossed over the bridge, and he and the coaches heard an impatient tooting noise.
"I like being red," grunted Bertie. "But red doesn't suit the traffic lights when I'm in a race!"
"Calm down, Bertie," soothed his driver. "We'll catch Thomas up soon."
The light changed to green, and Bertie started with a roar, chasing after Thomas once more.
"I can get him!" Bertie said with confidence. "I just need to… wha…"
"You've got him now, Thomas!" cried Annie with triumph.
"We're almost there!" Clarabel added.
"Heh, hold on tight, girls!" Thomas was now at his top speed, and he whooshed right through the tunnel, leaving Bertie far behind.
"Whoa, that's how fast Thomas can go!?" Bertie exclaimed. "Impressive…"
"We've done it, Annie and Clarabel!" Thomas cried as he came into Ffarquhar and came to a gentle halt.
"Excellent!" smiled Annie.
"We knew you had it in you, Thomas," added Clarabel.
Bertie came in a few moments later, and the passengers all congratulated Thomas on his victory, and gave Bertie a welcome as well.
"Well done, Thomas." said Bertie. "That was great fun, but to beat you over that hill, I should have to grow wings and become an airplane."
"Heh, what about a helicopter?" chucked the blue tank engine.
"That could work too, I suppose."
Later on, Thomas, Annie and Clarabel were on their return run, and at Knapford they saw Sir Topham Hatt.
"Thomas, I hear you completed your run about twenty minutes early on the first half of the run," said Sir Topham Hatt. "What exactly happened?"
"Oh," said Thomas. "Annie, Clarabel and I met a new friend named Bertie. We got into a race!"
"It was very exciting, sir!" said Annie.
"We've never seen Thomas go that fast before," added Clarabel.
Sir Topham Hatt looked thoughtful. "Thomas," he said after a brief pause. "It may be fun to race, but I wouldn't make this a habit. I don't want you going at dangerous speeds."
"Dangerous?" asked Clarabel.
"Indeed," said Sir Topham Hatt. "What if there was a car on the level crossing? Or what if you crash into Bertie?"
"Oh dear!" gasped Annie. "We didn't even think of that."
Thomas was silent for a moment, both possibilities didn't sound very ideal. "Well, I'll be more careful in future, sir." He said at last.
"Very good," said Sir Topham Hatt, and he strolled back to his office.
The next day, Thomas and Bertie met up with each other at Elsbridge.
"That was so much fun yesterday!" Bertie grinned at Thomas.
"Yes, indeed," agreed Thomas. "Although, Sir Topham Hatt has warned me that bad things could happen if I go too fast."
"Like what?"
"Crashing into you at the level crossing for a start," sighed Annie.
"Oh…" trailed Bertie. "Well, the possibility of that is very slim. The gates stop you three, and trains have right of way."
"You do have a point," said Thomas. "Besides," he added, "I did say I would be more careful, not that I would stop racing entirely."
"Uh oh…" trailed Clarabel, "I don't like where this is going…"
"Neither do I," agreed Annie.
"And we do have a score to settle," grinned Bertie. He and Thomas both listened for the guard's whistle. When it blew, the two exchanged a wink.
"Ready, set, go!"
"Thomas!" shrieked the coaches as they pulled out, Bertie roaring in front of the train.
And so, the racing between the red bus and blue tank engine continued. It's a real question as to who was going to win the next race, but that was something they would only figure out when they next got to Ffarquhar.
The End
This ties into the TAB timeline, Classic Sodor Adventures, that Hufflepuff Batboy and I are currently creating. I'd figured I'd tackle these standalone episodes myself, as it always intrigued me to see how they go, but Zack admitted not much would change. I know that much, but hey, it's still fun to try.
Besides Edward, Gordon and Henry, this is the first standalone episode to take place between two specials: The Adventure Continues and The Adventure Carries On - Thomas, Terence and the Snow aside, but since that was a major flashback, I didn't warrant writing out the whole thing. It would need to be in between these specials as Thomas doesn't know Bertie - and the coaches don't know him by name - until the latter special. This also serves as a transition for Annie and Clarabel loving Thomas racing, and them hating it. I also foreshadowed the air field being built at Dwyer station, and gave Algy an appearance. The only thing I didn't include from either canon version was that James was rattling by with a goods train. Just what is he doing on Thomas' branch line anyway?
Overall, I'd say this is pretty good. But I'll let you guys be the judge of this one.
EDIT: (10/29/21) Additional lines have been either added or changed up to reflect recent updates within the Seventyverse.
