Jerks And Jocks!

Based on Sticking Power and Jock by Christopher Awdry

One late afternoon, after returning Annie and Clarabel to the yard, Thomas was bringing some empty trucks over to Arlesdale Junction so they could be filled up with ballast for his Branch Line.

"Ah," he sighed to himself. "Autumn. Always that time of year when the summer bustle winds down and the wind blows and rustles against the trees."

He sighed and took a deep breath to observe the fresh, crisp air as he made his way towards Arlesdale Junction.

All summer long, the Small Controller had kept his three engines Bert, Rex and Mike pulling goods and passengers to and fro to their destinations. The holiday season was drawing to a close, and the small engines seemed very much satisfied.

"Phew!" sighed Mike, as he pulled in with some trucks up next to Rex, then groaned. "Last goods train for today, Rex. Then it's off to the shed for a rest."

"Oh, really?" Rex teased, then laughed. "I'm sure you've been looking forward to that, Mike."

"Well, you would too if you had to deal with grumbling passengers all afternoon," Mike fumed.

Rex chuckled, as Thomas whistled and pulled into the junction.

"Hello, Rex! Mike!" he greeted.

"Hello, Thomas!" Rex whistled.

"Hi, Thomas!" Mike greeted. "What brings you here?"

"Well," Thomas replied, as he pulled his trucks under the ballast hopper, "some ballast is needed for a particular section for my Branch Line, and I'm to take it to Ffarquhar before heading home to Tidmouth, so the workmen can tend to the track first thing in the morning."

As his trucks were loaded, he wondered aloud, "say, where's Bert?"

"Ow!" a voice blurted out, startling Thomas as a familiar blue engine pulled his carriages into the platform.

"That hurt!" Bert grumbled, as he came to a sudden abrupt halt, looking at the carriages behind him. "They bumped me! They bumped me!" he complained.

"Stop your grumbling, Bert," his driver said kindly, as he exited his cab. "I'm sure you'll feel much better when resting in your nice cozy shed.

Frank took Bert's empty carriages away as he made his way onto the turntable.

"Huh! And about time too!" Bert grumbled, as the table turned him round. "And with all the work we've had to all season. It can give one boilerache."

He made his way off and whistled loudly, as he made his way huffily through the Junction towards the sheds. Thomas looked confused.

"What's...wrong with Bert?" Thomas wondered, as his last truck was filled up.

"Take no notice of him, Thomas," Mike suggested.

"Yeah," Rex added. "he just feels a little out of puff. That's all."

"Oh," Thomas thought, managing a slight smile. But he was still puzzled as he made his way out of the junction.

Later that evening, as Mike and Rex returned to the sheds, Bert was feeling just as unwell, as his driver checked him over.

"I don't seem to know what's wrong with you, Bert. But I'll have a fitter look at it first thing in the morning."

Bert sighed, and looked down at his buffers.

"What's the use, sir?" he complained. "It's not like I'll feel much better when I'm out and about doing my usual jobs. I just feel unwell."

"Poor old Bert," Rex whispered to Mike, "a shame he's out of puff."

"Huh! No stamina from old engines these days!" Mike added aloud, then he looked over at Bert and remarked, "what you need Bert, is determination and sticking power."

"Hmph!" Bert huffed. "Sticking power be blowed! I might've known I'd get no sympathy from you two!"

Bert was sure he had a problem but Rex and Mike remained unsympathetic.

Next morning, the fitter came to see Bert and he and his driver examined him carefully.

"I can't breathe properly!" Bert moaned to the fitter.

"Easy now, Bert," his driver soothed. "I'm sure there's a solution."

The fitter thought hard from atop his cab.

"Hmmm...sounds like you're in need of some new boiler tubes. Unfortunately, we can't spare you some at the moment. Tell you what, you keep your steam up as you are at the moment and we'll give you a new set of tubes during the winter."

"Ooh," Bert thought. "That would be nice."

The fitter paused impressively and looked over his shoulder.

"Also, keep it under your dome," he added quietly, "but I did hear rumors about a new engine being built. We need one because if any anything happened to either of you three, than we'd really be in trouble."

Bert dreaded at the very thought of this, as the fitter got to work at cleaning him.

The fitter gave Bert's tubes a good clean.

"Thank you, sir!" Bert whistled, the fitter waving at him as he left the shed.

This helped a little but Bert soon found himself feeling poorly again.

"It isn't working! It isn't working!" he moaned.

"Steady now, Bert," his driver cautioned. "We'll be at the station before you know it."

Bert did his best, and managed to reach the Top Station all in good time. He already felt much better and was very pleased with himself. The train was full, and he had only lost a couple of minutes on the journey.

"Oh finally," one man remarked.

"About time," another added, looking impatiently at his watch.

Bert smiled and ignored them as he ran eagerly around his coaches and onto the turntable.

"Ah. That gives me some time to catch a good breather before I head down again," he said to himself. It turned him round, then he backed eagerly down on his carriages.

He simmered happily as he waited for the guard to blow his whistle and wave his green flag.

Bert sighed happily as he shut his eyes.

CLANK!

CRASH!

Bert gasped and opened his eyes with a start, looking over to where the noise was in a familiar-looking building nearby him. The passengers chartered and murmured quietly with curiosity.

"Relax, old boy," his driver chuckled as he hopped aboard. "It's only the ol' engine workshop. A workmen must have dropped something, I suppose."

Bert inched his train slowly forward to see what was going on. The doors to the workshop were open and he could see what was inside. A set of wheels lay against the walls and the workmen used their crane to lift a round, hollow, heavy object.

"Hmm," Bert thought. "Looks like a boiler to me. I wonder if it could for an e-…"

His thoughts were suddenly disrupted by the sound of the guard's whistle, and he waved his green flag as he hopped aboard the brake van.

"Come along, Bert," his driver told him. "You seem to be making it up to steam okay. Let's make another run at it."

"Steam," Bert wondered thoughtfully. Then he chuckled.

"Of course! A steam engine. Just wait until Mike and Rex hear about this!"

"Take it easy, Bert," his driver suggested. "An ol' boiler and a set of wheels could be for anything, you know."

Bert felt quite determined as he made his way along.

"Come along! Come along!" he panted hurrilly.

"What's the hurry, Bert?" his driver wondered.

"That small hill near the station," Bert replied. "Every time we go over it, we always seem to run the train home on time. So the quicker I go, the less I'll have to worry about losing any time."

"I'd be careful, Bert," his driver cautioned. "You haven't necessarily been in the best condition lately."

Bert rolled his eyes and took no notice.

"Come on! Come on! Come ON!" he huffed, but was caught off guard by a sudden jolt. "Oof!" he groaned, widening his eyes with surprise.

Suddenly, there was a jerk and everything seemed easier. Bert's driver looked back and stopped the train.

"Oh, now what?" Bert grumbled.

"We've left our train behind," his driver told him, before reversing back down the hill. "We must go back and give it another go."

"Oh, dear," Bert moaned, as he backed down the hill. "We were going so nicely too. Rex and Mike will never let me see the end of this."

The guard waited at the bottom of the hill, as Bert reversed back down on his train. Then he walked up and spoke with Bert's driver.

"The coupling on the tender is broken," the guard told the driver. "Looks like we're just going to have to stick around till someone can bring us a spare one."

"Stick around?!" Bert spluttered, then he grumbled, "oh, you what Rex and Mike will say about sticking."

His driver thought for a moment.

"Hmm, sticking…" he wondered.

Then he laughed.

"Sticking!" he said at last, then chuckled. "You've just given me an idea. Well done, Bert! Well done, guard! Why didn't I think of it before?"

Both Bert and the guard looked confused, as the driver disappeared back towards the station.

He returned with a small box. Bert looked over as his driver and the guard looked inside.

"Glue! It's supposed to stick anything!" the guard pointed out.

"Even trains?" Bert wondered with disbelief.

"Yes, Bert," his driver chuckled, patting him on the side. "Even trains."

Bert waited as the driver and the guard took the glue and quickly set to work at fixing the coupling.

"Now I've heard everything," he said to himself. "I wonder how the others will…"

Then an idea flew into his funnel, and he just smiled.

"This ought to stop their teasing," he thought. "Now that I actually have experience with sticking power."

At last, the job was finished.

"There's no hurry," his driver said, as he hopped aboard his cab. "We'll take it steady and make sure the passengers all get home. The guard's explained everything, so they don't mind being late."

"That's good," Bert yawned, as he made his way along up the hill.

The hill was quite a difficult climb, but Bert eased over it gently and carefully.

"That wasn't too difficult now," he thought.

"Slow and easy does the job, Bert," his driver reminded him. "You oughta keep up that momentum now for the journey home."

Bert smiled with agreement.

And even though he handled with care, it was with growing confidence that Bert managed to bring the train home.

Bert took a deep breath and sighed with exhaustion as he brought the train to the platform. He smiled though as the passengers cheered for him and chattered amongst themselves."

"Well done, Bert," his driver congratulated. "You've done your very best at getting the train home safely. I'm sure the passengers will now tell the Thin Controller what a fine railway this is."

"Sticking power," Bert remarked confidently. "That's what done it. Surely the others won't tease me now."

Later that night, Mike and Rex returned to the sheds, both exhausted from a hard day's work.

"Phew!" Mike sighed, then remarked, "it's a good thing we're not busy like that every day!"

Rex sighed with agreement, but Bert just laughed from the shed on the right end side.

"Sorry you two are tired," he said. "I thought you younger engines had sticking power." Rex and Mike both looked confused and surprised at him as he went on. "What YOU need is a box of glue...and determination to get your passengers home in the midst of a delay."

"Delay?!" Rex wondered.

"Glue?!" Mike wondered baffledly. "Whatever for?"

Bert just chuckled and explained.

"Oh, never you mind...in case you have an old coupling like me. You younger engines seem to make it over hills easier than older ones like me, so that's where sticking power comes in handy. Some of us have it, some of us don't, I guess."

Rex and Mike were speechless, not sure of what else to say as Bert went on…

"Say," he told them, "do you know what I think?"

"Huh! It's new to me that you could!" Mike remarked cheekily.

"Well, I suppose it would be, never having done any thinking yourself!" Bert fired back.

Rex chuckled, as Mike glared at them.

"Well, go on!" he said impatiently. Then he cheekily remarked, "aren't you going to announce with your thoughts after all?" He winked at Rex.

Bert paused impressively.

"Something…" he said at last, "...is going on in the workshop."

"Work?" Rex muttered innocently.

"I think…," Bert went on, taking another slight pause, "...that the men are building something."

"What sort of something?" Mike quibbled.

"I was waiting in the platform today and the front door was open," Bert continued, "I couldn't see much, but there was something big, round and hollow on the floor inside. It looked like a boiler!"

"Heh," Rex murmured disappointedly. "Is that all?"

"Probably a spare for one of us," Mike guessed.

"I don't think so!" Bert argued huffily. "There were wheels as well!"

"Wheels?" Rex and Mike, looking over at each other with confusion.

"So what I think…!" Bert went on, pausing dramatically, "...is that they're building a new engine!"

"What?!" Rex gasped.

"Impossible!" Mike denied.

"There's more!" Bert added, catching the others by surprise. "The fitter did tell me this morning that he heard a rumor about this engine being built."

"Hmm, well it's about time too," Rex added.

The three small engines looked hopefully at one another, hoping that somehow engine would come along to help them.

Next morning, Mike was still dozing when his driver came to get him started.

"Come along, Mike," the driver said as he hopped aboard, startling him as he shoved a lump in his firebox to get his fire going.

The driver laughed as Mike chuffed slowly out of the shed.

"We don't want to keep our passengers waiting. Do we?" his driver.

Mike yawned loudly.

"They can wait," he remarked, slowly opening his eyes as he looked out at the bright blue sky.

"Perhaps this new engine can take them in my place," he said to his driver, assuming he'd know what he was talking about.

"Begging your pardon, Mike?"

"The one being built," Mike clarified. "What's his name anyway?"

The driver laughed.

"How did you know about the new engine?" he wondered. "It's supposed to be a secret."

"I have my resources," Mike replied wisely. "Bert and Rex know all about it as well."

The driver sighed and chuckled.

"Well, I don't think the Small Controller has chosen a name yet. But when he does, I'll be sure to tell you."

Mike felt rather pleased with himself, knowing that the new engine would be arriving soon, as he arrived at the station to pick up his passengers.

"Come along now," he whistled as he backed down on his coaches.

The passengers boarded the train and Mike waited for the guard to blow his whistle. When he did, Mike chuffed steadily out of the station.

"Just wait till Rex and Bert hear about this new engine," he said to himself.

The weeks passed, and it wasn't long before the new engine was finally built and came out of the workshops for testing. Although, the Small Controller had still not chosen a name for him yet.

Bert, Rex and Mike watched with interest as the engine made his way to the station platform.

The engine was yellow in color with a long funnel, a square top dome and a tender with the ARLESDALE label on it.

"How odd…" Mike remarked, as he looked at the engine's square window and top dome.

"And what a funny color," Rex added.

"No, it's not!" Bert snapped. "I quite like it, really."

The new engine smiled.

"Thank you," he said. "So do I. Driver says it'll be different in the end. This is something he calls an undercoat."

Duck arrived at Arlesburgh Junction with Alice and Mirabel to pick up passengers.

"He looks doubly useful," Duck remarked, as his passengers exited and boarded the train. "Wouldn't you agree, Alice and Mirabel?"

"Mm, yes…" Alice responded, observing him closely.

"Interesting color," Mirabel added.

PEEP-PEEP!

Douglas had just arrived with some empty trucks to to pick up ballast for Duck's Branch Line.

"Right on time, Douglas," Duck said. "That new little fella is just being put to his paces."

"Aye!" Douglas added. "I can see that."

He chuffed beside Duck's train, then backed his empty trucks down under the ballast hopper. Jock chuffed up and stopped to face him on the next track.

"Och! Nice color!" he complimented. "Ochre, isn't it?"

"I believe that's my driver calls it," Jock replied. "I think of it more yellowish. It's only an undercoat after all."

He chuckled, but Douglas just smiled, as Mr. Duncan walked outside the station in time to hear the commotion.

"Ah," he sighed. "Puts me in mind of the ol' days in Scotland. Some of the engines up in the highlands were painted in yon color. "Jocks" we used to call 'em."

"Jocks?!" the engine wondered confusedly.

"Jocks," Mr. Duncan thought. "Hmm…"

"Aye!" Douglas went on. "They pulled goods an' passengers all round de highlands and usually wer never late of the sort. Widnae be a bad name for yerself. Eh, Jock?"

"I suppose not," the engine responded, slightly unsure.

"Name's Douglas, by the wee..."

"Well done, Douglas!" Mr. Duncan replied, catching both engines by surprise. "If only I'd thought of it before." He then turned to the new engine.

"Well," he asked, arms wide out. "What do you think? It'd mean you'd have to keep the same color for the name to have some point. Would you mind?"

"Not a bit, sir!" the engine responded. "I quite like the color, really. And the name would suit me fine."

"Very well. Off you go to work then, Jock. I'm sure you'll manage splendidly."

"I'm sure I will as well," Jock whistled.

PEEP-PEEP!

"Thank you, Douglas!" he called. "It was nice meeting you."

"Ay! Likewise, Jock!" Douglas called, as his last ballast truck was filled up, and he set off back for Duck's Branch Line.

"Nice meeting you," Duck whistled, as he left the Junction with his passengers. "Good luck."

Jock whistled back at him as he went about his morning work.

"Jock's the name. I like it! Jock's the name. I like it!" he said to himself.

"Hmm…" Mike thought, as he watched Jock slowly back down on some empty trucks, gasping as he bumped into them. "There's definitely something strange about that new engine. Perhaps one of us could show him the ropes."

"He'll learn as he goes, Mike," Rex told him. "It's only his first day after all."

"Yeah," Bert added cheekily, as he watched Jock pull the empty trucks out of the sidings. "Like the rest of you young engines, he may only just need a bit of sticking power."

He left the junction, as Mike and Rex looked at each other baffled, before glancing over at Jock.

"Must be careful. Must be careful," he stammered to himself, then chuckled nervously. "Slow and easy does it now."

And with that, Jock, the Small Controller's newest engine set slowly and carefully about his work, ready for a bright new life ahead of him on the Arlesdale Railway.

And that wraps up my Fall portion of my Thomas stories for this year. This was a fairly simple one to write, being an adaptation. It was pretty short compared to my other stories, really. Anyway, it really fun to write. The dynamic/banter between Bert, Rex and Mike was fun to bring to the screen here as if it was in S20 compared to the book, and giving Thomas a role away from his Branch Line to interact with the three also seemed natural. Jock was fun to introduce as well, and the whole point of giving him more interaction with Douglas here was really to expand on the dynamic between the two and take my own liberties with it; Douglas may appear in Teamwork! if there's a place for him. Bert was also fun to write about in the first half, especially with the added workshop scene. The title refers to Bert's part in the first half (a sudden jerk in his train causing the series of events) and Jock's part for the second half ('Jocks' being plural, as a reference to Douglas' story). The next Awdry adaptation will obviously be more about Jock and Mike really, the other two Arlesdale engines this set in need of development. I will be taking a short break from writing stories now that the first ten in set are done. If I'm lucky, I'll have the next one down on the list ready by Thanksgiving. Till then, stay tuned for...

Thomas & Friends in Seasons Of Giving

Jack's Snow Rescue (based on canceled episode of the same name)- when the first big snowfall of the year traps Duck, Dexter and the schoolchildren of Harwick, Jack is fitted with a shiny new snowplough and jumps into heroic action.

Busted Headlamp! - Henry's headlamp needs repairs, so Rosie lets him borrow her headlamp so he can pull the Flying Kipper. However, Henry forgets to give it back to her and Rosie doesn't know how to ask, whilst having a train due out to Bridlington...

All Alone On Christmas - Theo notices how lonely Beresford is at the canal and wants to cheer him up by bringing him a party, but is too afraid to ask Frankie who feels rather out of the holiday spirit.

Percy And The Christmas Tree (based on 1986 Christopher Awdry annual of the same name) - it's Christmas Eve, and Percy is late with the holiday mail due to heavy drifts of snow, so Elizabeth bluntly calls him out for it. However, when Elizabeth breaks down delivering trees to Tidmouth market, Percy comes to her rescue and delivers the trees on time.

Millie Plays It Safe - a firework display is to be put up at Ulfstead Castle for New Year's Eve, though Millie thinks the spot Samson has chosen is unsafe and looks around the castlegrounds for a safer spot.