Thomas Gets Bumped
Based upon the story by Andrew Brenner, David Mitten and Britt Alcroft
Adapted by Rachel Ravens
Takes place between STLOE and F&W
Thomas was very glad to be back on his branch line, and was relieved to see that Bertie's roads had been mended. The blue tank engine had also requested that Duck look after his coaches during that time period, and he was left deep in thought.
"I'm very surprised Duck hasn't been offered a branch line yet, or promoted here or onto Edward's branch line at the very least," he was saying to Annie and Clarabel one afternoon when he was coasting along the branch line; they were coming up to the watermill. "He'd have well and truly earned it by now; several times over in fact, and Julie is very capable of handling the shunting in the main yards."
"Indeed, Thomas," agreed Annie. "Duck's always so gentle with Clarabel and I."
"And he handles the trucks very well too," added Clarabel.
"Do you think Sir Topham Hatt's could put Julie in as the new station pilot so he can get his chance?" asked Thomas.
"I certainly hope so," said Annie. "The last thing we need is a repeat of the strike."
"Though, if not for that strike," put in Clarabel. "Percy may not be here."
"I think he would have come anyway, Clarabel," Thomas admitted. "No station pilot means the big engines would need to tackle corners too sharp for their wheels to handle. Though that would mean he wouldn't have spent as much time with you until later."
"What's done has been done," called Terence; now the trio were passing by his field. "Sometimes bad things happen so good things can happen."
"Terence does have a point," Annie smiled. "For example, if Edward hadn't gone to the Steamworks when he did… maybe Donald would have come alone." She shuddered at the thought, and so did Thomas and Clarabel.
"I'm very glad he did not," sighed Thomas. "Or, if Sir Handel hadn't faked ill that day, while Peter Sam would have been okay, Duncan may not have been brought in."
"Yes, I remember James telling us about that." Clarabel put in. "I wouldn't have guessed Duncan had a narrow escape too."
"I guess both Sir Topham Hatt and Mr. Percival share a good habit of saving engines," chuckled Thomas. "No wonder they get along so well."
The trio then came to a bridge, and Thomas glanced up at the signal.
"Oh, good, it's red." he smiled. Usually, engines don't like being held up, but not this time. The bridge was a special place for Thomas, Annie and Clarabel.
"Hey look!" said a little girl excitedly, "There's Thomas!"
"And there's Annie and Clarabel!" cried a little boy. "Hello you three!"
"Hello," grinned Thomas. "How have you all been today?"
"School was boring today," said another little girl. "But it's well worth it to see you!"
"It's good to see you too," agreed Annie. "Did you know that the Skarloey Railway has five new additions to the line?"
"No," said another little boy, "I thought it was only one. That little diesel that isn't like Diesel."
Thomas, Annie and Clarabel went on to explain about Rusty and Duncan.
"And there's three open coaches that have been newly made too," Thomas went on, "Ada, Jane and Mabel. Oh, and Gordon's also taken Skarloey back home a couple of days ago."
Just then, Percy arrived with a goods train from the opposite direction and his signal turned red.
"Thomas!" cried Percy. "Your signal's been green the whole time I've been coming along this straight piece of track."
"What?!" Thomas glanced up to see the signal had dropped, and then saw a clock on the wall. "Oh, cinders and ashes; five minutes behind schedule!" He glanced up at the bridge. "Sorry, everybody, we've better go!"
Thomas took off, and the children waved until he was out of sight.
"I can't believe I didn't notice the signal drop," sighed Thomas. "I'll be in for it now…"
"Go as fast and carefully as you can, Thomas," encouraged Annie, "let's make up for lost time."
"As fast as you like, Thomas," called Clarabel. "Just… don't pretend you're in a race."
"Okay, girls; hang on tight." Thomas sped up, going at his steady but rapid pace.
Thomas did thankfully manage to make up for that bit of time, and reach the other stations on the dot, if not earlier.
"Note to self," sighed Thomas. "Always be on the lookout, and listen carefully for the clunk of a signal."
"What's this I hear?" sneered a voice. Thomas, Annie and Clarabel looked up; there was a yellow bus they had never seen before.
"Who are you, and where's Bertie?" asked Thomas.
"The name's Bertrand; Bertie's in for minor repairs." said the bus. "And was I right in hearing you missed your signal down at the bridge?"
"Er… yes…" Thomas said quietly.
"Engines and buses must stick to the time table." he said firmly, "if you're late again, you might be replaced by another engine."
"Sir Topham Hatt would never do that! Besides, I made up time on the way." retorted Thomas. Though he was thinking back to what he said about Duck. What if Sir Topham Hatt swaps our jobs around? I don't want to lose Annie and Clarabel forever…
Down at the garage that evening, Bertrand met up with Bertie and Algy.
"Had a pleasant run in my place, Bertrand?" asked Bertie.
"That engine you often meet up with," grunted Bertrand. "He missed his signal going down!"
"Was Thomas late?" Bertie asked.
"No, he was two minutes early, mysteriously." he muttered. "I swear, if that's how Thomas acts all the time, he shouldn't run a branch line! You can't trust a thing that runs on rails."
"It's a minor mishap!" scolded Bertie. "Thomas was the one who found out the mystery of the missing tar tanker. I know I can trust an engine, especially if his name is Thomas."
"And you said he was two minutes early," added Algy. "He realised his mistake and made up time on the way."
"Huph!" grunted Bertrand. "It's better to be on time than late."
"If Thomas wasn't running late one day," said Bertie, "my passengers would be stranded for hours!"
Bertrand was too tired to argue anymore, and fell asleep.
"Some buses these days," sighed Algy, and Bertie grunted in agreement before they fell asleep too.
The next day, in the afternoon, Bertrand was on his way to pick up the children from school to take them home.
"Being late saved the passengers," Bertrand muttered. "That's a joke. You must be on time in order to manage the railway and the roadway correctly." He started to think about what he'd say to Thomas, but he didn't realize danger lay ahead.
There was a building site on the way to the school, and one of the construction workers was carrying nails to it. Unfortunately, he tripped on a rock and dropped the box, spilling some of them on the road.
"Oh, bother!" he cried, and went to pick the nails up. He thought he had them all, and left the road just in time to hear Bertrand's horn.
"We must keep to time, we must keep to… wh-whoa!" his tire hit one of the nails and burst on the road. "Ouch!"
"That's torn it!" grunted the driver. "We won't be able to pick up the children now." He went to phone for help.
Meanwhile, Thomas was hurrying along the branch line again.
"Got to prove that Bertrand wrong." He said determinedly. "Come along, come along." He sang to the coaches.
"We're coming along, Thomas," said Annie.
"We're running well," agreed Clarabel.
He eventually reached the bridge again. He took a look at the signal.
"Green," he said. "Okay, girls, let's-" but much to his surprise, he was slowing down. "Huh?! Driver, the signal's green."
"But Thomas, there's a red flag!" his driver pointed out, and he was right. The station master was indeed waving a red flag.
"Something's definitely wrong here," Thomas gasped as he halted. "This station is for goods, not passengers."
"What's happened?" asked Clarabel anxiously.
"Clattering carriages!" cried Annie. "Thomas, look up there!"
The blue tank engine stared up at the bridge. There were the school children, looking very worried indeed.
"Thomas!" called a little girl. "Are we glad to see you."
"Bertrand's broken down." added a little boy. "We can't get home now."
Thomas wanted to laugh at Bertrand, but he realised the children would need to get home now.
"Annie, Clarabel, how much room do you have?"
"I think we can handle these children," smiled Annie.
"Indeed," added Clarabel. "Just don't bounce on our seats!"
The children agreed, and scrambled gratefully into the coaches, and Thomas puffed away to the next station.
"Hey, Bertie!" called Thomas as he braked to a halt. "Good job you're here. The children missed their ride home."
"Thanks for bringing them, Thomas," smiled the red bus. "I heard Bertrand's been giving you grief."
"That's one way of putting it," sighed the tank engine. "He thinks another engine should run the branch line instead of me."
"Never mind, Thomas," soothed Bertie. "I think this will teach him a lesson. Though, just between the four of us, be mindful of when signals change."
"I will," said Thomas. When the guard's whistle blew, Thomas was away.
When the three friends came back from their journey, they were ten minutes late.
"What happened this time, Thomas?" cried Toby.
"Bertrand broke down and we had to take the children to the next station." Thomas explained.
"Oh!" Henrietta was surprised. "Well, in that case, I don't think Sir Topham Hatt will be cross at you for that."
"Indeed I am not," said Sir Topham Hatt walking onto the platform. "You did very well to help out the children, Thomas."
"Thank you, sir," said Thomas.
"But I'm not pleased with you not paying attention to the signals the day before," he added.
"I understand, sir," sighed Thomas. "I did make up time on the way."
"Just be more mindful of when the signal changes in future." Sir Topham Hatt replied. "It's a miracle no other trains were severely delayed."
The next day, the sun baked down on the railway.
"Phew!" Thomas panted as he puffed along. "It's days like this where I wish steam engines didn't need fires to keep moving."
"I think my paint is about to peel off," agreed Annie.
"Ugh!" cried Clarabel. "A child spilled ice cream on my floor!"
"Oh dear," sighed Thomas. "We'll have to get that cleaned out at the next station."
But the trio never got there, because the sun can cause more serious problems to the railway than spilled ice cream.
"OUCH!" cried Thomas and the coaches in shock.
The blue tank engine looked at what happened. "Oh no… the tracks are buckled and bent."
"That's done it," sighed the driver. "We shan't get any further today."
Just then, Bertie arrived.
"Thomas, Annie, Clarabel, are you three alright?"
"Just a bit derailed," Annie admitted.
"Don't worry, I'll take your passengers on and get help at the next station," said Bertie.
The passengers all boarded Bertie and he drove away.
"Thank you," called Thomas.
Soon, Thomas, Annie and Clarabel were back on the rails. Thomas, Percy and Toby were all assigned to jobs elsewhere while the track was being mended. Thomas was helping Edward on his branch line; and he had Henrietta with him as well, Toby was shunting at Brendam Docks, and Percy was helping Duck in the yards.
"I'm glad I got you lot here to help me," said Edward to Thomas and the coaches as he came into Suddery with a goods train. "I'm a bit lonely being the only engine here."
"What about Bill and Ben?" asked Annie.
"They are a handful, but they mean will," said Edward. "Even so, they do only really work at the China Clay quarry; maybe a bit at Brendam Docks."
"Donald, Douglas and the Midland engines do come down here on occasion, right?" asked Henrietta.
"That's true, but they are used all over the railway," sighed Edward, "we may need another engine here, and quickly."
"Indeed," said Thomas, "I hope the passengers don't become too attached to Bertie… what if they like him better than us?"
Back on the branch line, Bertie was happily pulling up to stations along the line to pick up Thomas' passengers.
"Thank you for helping us out, Bertie," smiled one of them. "We do miss Thomas, but we're glad you're here."
"A pleasure," replied the red bus, "Thomas helped me before; one good turn deserves another."
"Oh, Bertie," called one of the passengers, "do you think you can stop here? My house isn't far away from this spot."
"Of course I can," smiled Bertie, and pulled up at one of the houses down the street.
Meanwhile, on the Wellsworth branch, Bertrand saw Thomas dropping off passengers.
"Thomas, Annie, Clarabel," said Bertrand when he rolled up. "I heard you helped rescue the children when I broke down."
"That we did," smiled Thomas proudly.
"Thank you for stepping in where I could not," he said quietly, "and I'm sorry I was rude to you."
"It's my own fault," said Thomas. "I should pay more attention to the signal dropping."
"Not just then, I'm sorry I was rude to you about rescuing Bertie's passengers and finding the tar," said Bertand. "You did Bertie and the roadways in general a huge favor. Thank you very much."
"That's alright," smiled Thomas.
A few days later, Sir Topham Hatt arrived with good news for Thomas, Percy and Toby.
"The branch line's been mended now, you three can go back there." He said, "and Thomas, I'll rearrange your timetable so you can work together with Bertie more."
"Thank you, sir!" beamed Thomas.
With the schedules changed, Thomas saw all his passengers with beaming smiles.
"We missed our train rides with you, Thomas, Annie and Clarabel." smiled one of the passengers. "We're glad to have you back."
"It's good to be back on the branch line," grinned Thomas.
He then saw Bertie down the line.
"Bertie, we can't thank you enough for looking after our passengers," said Thomas.
"Ah, my pleasure," said the bus. "You three helped me when I was in trouble."
"That's what friends do," smiled Annie.
"And we may be in for another new friend," said Clarabel. "I think Sir Topham Hatt's getting an engine for Edward's branch line."
"Oh good," said Bertie. "He'll need help with the trains, especially since Bill and Ben are permanently set at the China Clay works and Donald, Douglas and the Midland engines go 'as needed'."
"I'm glad to make new friends," said Thomas, "but I'm even more glad to share them with you."
And Bertie and the coaches had to agree.
The End
When Zack positioned this episode directly after Trust Thomas, I didn't even piece together that this would be Bertie repaying Thomas' favour. But it works so well. I'm honestly surprised not many people consider one a sequel to the other.
Bertrand is based on the yellow Algy we see in some of the annual stories (Algy is blue), and Bertrand is Bertie's name in the French dub. We also get more lamp shading about how Duck doesn't have a branch line yet. That will come in about... nine standalones and three mini specials, give or take. (By the way, this set of standalones is quite a big block; nine total. Seven more plus this one and Trust Thomas). More foreshadowing comes in the form of an engine that will debut on the Wellsworth branch line coming up next. That's right, we'll get into some Dieseal business next time.
At the time of writing the description, the last of these standalones, Ghost Train, is in production. The rest of the one-shots in this block are all Rev. Awdry originals, four of which are from the same book.
